The NEW inclusion of men! I was truly honored to facilitate The NEW Male Champion session at the Network of Executive Women (NEW) Leadership Summit, Thursday, September 30th in Dallas, Texas. NEW is engaged in a 10­20­30 growth program that includes their membership being 10% men, 20% millennials and 30% multicultural. The NEW Male Champion session was a complement to this initiative because it was the first time there had been an all­male session at the NEW Leadership Summit. Over seventy men attended the working session that had three objectives:

1. Accelerate organizational progress by transforming more men into effective women champions within their companies

2. Learn an approach to help men gain the mindset, skillset and toolset that aids this

transformation 3. Increase support, relationships and networks to sustain and continuously improve this

transformation The session also incorporated several prizes to engage men and aid their transformation. Those prizes were THE LIFO® METHOD (Life Orientations®) survey assessments and Calling Cards. The men truly embraced the session, openly shared their aspirations, challenges and developed individual and group action plans to advance women. Accelerate individual and organizational progress Having worked in the Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) field for over twenty years, I’m amazed at how much has changed, and not changed, with respect to the advancement of women in business. Men, predominantly majority men, can make or break the careers of women. Women need male champions to advance. What has changed is that there are more male champions today than twenty years ago and their level of cultural competence has improved. Moreover, there are even a few women with enough clout as CEO and senior executives to enact change for women as well. Finally, the volume of talented women who want to advance their careers to the highest levels has increased dramatically. Today, the primary challenge of the NEW male champion is not finding talented women, but fostering the organizational cultural change so that women can strive and thrive in corporations. To address this challenge, men developed individual and group action plans during the session. The NEW Career Accelerator and Summit Planning Guide were used as resources to create individual action plans. Executives from several companies recognize the value of women’s leadership and will be incorporating goals outlined in the workshop into their individual personal development (PDP) plans. The group action plan incorporated results from The Conference Board CEO Challenge® 2015 to ensure our initiatives would align with business results. Participants such as Dirk Herdes, Vice President – Retail Services, Nielsen Company, have already volunteered to be catalysts and coordinators to work on the group action plan. I believe using the resources was critical because for a NEW Male Champions’ efforts to be sustainable they must clarify a win for themselves and a win for their organizations. A major obstacle to NEW Male Champion sustainability will be apathy, the feeling that efforts to advance women are purely altruistic and have no business impact. To change culture, men

must recognize that championing women means a win for themselves and their organizations. I urged men to consider these three benefits: Greater customer affinity: Understanding women better means understanding markets

better, More co­worker engagement: Understanding women better means accelerating their

and your performance, and A stronger personal brand: Understanding women better means better fine­tuning and

improving your personal brand. Again, this major obstacle of apathy was addressed head­on by aligning the group’s aspirations to the top challenges faced by CEOs. Learn a new approach The NEW Male Champion has the mindset, skillset and toolset to identify, support and advocate cultural change within organizations that benefit women. The mindset is one of high self­awareness and knowledge of others, particularly women. The skillset can generally be described as being a good listener, observer and communicator. And the toolset is having the ability to align strategies that advance women with achieving business objectives. During the session, men challenged each other with questions such as the following:

1. How well could others articulate why gender advancement matters to me? 2. Who are my female role models? 3. How do I foster gender knowledge? 4. What is my aspiration regarding the advancement of women? 5. How much time do I spend mentoring and being mentored by women?

After these discussions, the male participants developed a clear and poignant list of behaviors they will model, obstacles they will overcome and personal actions they will take to become male champions. We also discussed how to incorporate the LIFO, Life Orientation Effective Communication model to ensure they were matching their communication style to the communication needs of their audience.

The LIFO model is one method to ensure what they say, do, prioritize and measure with respect to advancing women is well received by colleagues within their organizations. Elements of The Male Champions of Change and Chief Executive Women of Australia Leadership Shadow model were also incorporated into this section. Foster a support system The NEW Leadership Summit was an excellent opportunity to explore the NEW Male Champion because the Network of Executive Women has the women (and men), resources and track record to serve as a powerful organizational ally. As I mentioned during the session, NEW’s membership includes “plenty of women who have the power to be role models for men in their listening, learning and leading efforts.” NEW’s regional chapters, national conferences, workshops and career planning tools, such as the NEW Career Accelerator, can be of tremendous value to men who want to advance women in business.

Gain results The NEW Male Champion session was both pragmatic and poignant. Below is a snapshot of the session results:

My aspiration for the Network of Executive Women (NEW) is that by Leadership Summit 2016, at least one of the initiatives listed above will be accomplished. For example “Bring One” is a simple yet powerful challenge to the men who attended the session to bring a male colleague to next year’s summit. The idea to roll­out “The NEW Men Champion” sessions to the regions can complement “Bring One” by engaging men throughout the regions with a similar process, mindset, skill set and tool set approach. It was quite a humbling and rewarding experience being part of the NEW Leadership Summit. I know the organization will be successful implementing their 10­20­30 growth plan, with a cadre of NEW Male Champions playing an active role in the process.

NEW male engagement in women's advancement! I had the opportunity to co­facilitate the Engaging Men Who Get! session with Mary­Frances Winters, President & CEO, The Winters Group on two occasions during the Network of Executive Women (NEW) Leadership Summit, October 1st in Dallas, Texas. The workshop was a companion to the NEW Male Champion session I wrote about last week. Approximately 100 men and women attended the two sessions. In summary, the workshop contained five components essential for women to engage men who get it:

Grow your strengths to achieve effective performance balance. Identify “it”. Interact with interculturally competent men. Partner with male champions. Develop a business­aligned women advancement plan.

The session also incorporated two learning tools presented as prizes to engage participants and accelerate their professional development and organizational success. Those prizes were THE LIFO® METHOD (Life Orientations®) survey assessments and Calling Cards. Let’ review the five components of male engagement in women's advancement.

Grow your strengths The first component of engaging male champions is actually better understanding your own strengths, blind spots and developmental opportunities. Understanding your professional strengths helps you enter into the journey, some might say battle, for women's advancement with confidence. Knowing your blind spots and developmental opportunities also ensures you do not become your own worst enemy. Moreover, projecting and leveraging your strengths identifies you as a natural leader, someone others want to mentor, advocate and champion. LIFO and Calling Cards are tools I use to help individuals know and leverage their strengths.

Identify it. The second component of engaging men who get it is confirming what is “it” A major obstacle to the sustainability of women’s advancement efforts will be male apathy, the feeling that efforts to advance women are purely altruistic and have no personal benefit or business impact. Confirming “it” is ensuring that championing women means a win for men, and their organizations in three ways: Greater customer affinity: Understanding women better means understanding markets better, More co­worker engagement: Understanding women better means accelerating their and your

performance, and; A stronger personal brand: Understanding women better means better fine­tuning and

improving your personal brand.

A lack of “It,” or apathy, becomes a major obstacle in advancing women, if not discussed early, often and convincingly. A recent study illustrated that even with hard evidence of gender bias, some men don’t believe it. Interact with cross­culturally competent men. The third component of fostering women’s advancement is knowing engagement when you experience it. Engagement can be viewed from an intercultural competence perspective. For me, intercultural competence is the knowledge set, skill set and tool set to work effectively across different cultures. Intercultural competence can be measured using the Intercultural Development Inventory and is based on the Intercultural Developmental Continuum below.

True engagement is at the adaptation stage of the continuum. At this stage, one recognizes the value of having available more than one cultural perspective. One can intentionally change their culturally­based thinking and/or behavior to other perspectives. The business impact of this mindset is that a person knows they must apply a deep understanding of other people’s perspectives and needs to shift their thoughts and behaviors to think from their perspective, develop innovative solutions, and adapt traditional ways and business accordingly. And this behavior is what women should be looking for in their male champion, someone who is not only curious and knowledgeable about a woman’s perspective but can also adapt their thinking and behaviors in advocacy of women. (To learn more about this topic, sign up for the Winters Group’s Cross Cultural Virtual Learning Lab series). Partner with male champions.

The fourth component of fostering women’s advancement is knowing and supporting the behaviors of a male champion. During the “Engaging Men Who Get It” session, we incorporated elements of The Male Champions of Change and Chief Executive Women of Australia Leadership Shadow model to illustrate a formal process that develops and assesses a male champion. We believe it helps men confirm their advocacy by analyzing what they say, do, prioritize and measure to advance women. For example, the action plan below that was developed from the NEW Men Champion session September 30, 2015 exhibits the spirit of the Leadership Shadow process.

In short, a male champion makes the demonstrated effort to listen, learn and lead women’s advancement in an thoughtful, thorough and culturally competent manner. Develop a business­aligned women advancement plan. The fifth component of the engaging men who get it is developing a business­aligned woman’s advancement plan. The soul searching, personal development and melding of components one through four should come together in a business plan that betters the organization. During the “Engaging Men Who Get It” session we shared the action plan developed by men at a prior session. Below is a sample of a completed business­aligned women’s advancement plan.

A solid plan identifies two to three measurable and mutually beneficially initiatives that helps the organization fulfill one or more of its business objectives with customers, employees or the community and advances women. Conclusion. I was honored and humbled to be part of the 2015 NEW Leadership Summit. I hope the two sessions Mary­Frances and I developed and facilitated help the Network of Executive Women implement their 10­20­30 growth plan. The two sessions are interrelated and complementary. For women to advance, an organization needs both male champions and women who know how to engage men who get it.

The NEW Male Champion: The Tools of Engagement

This post is the third in a series about two companion workshops, The NEW Male Champion and Engaging Men Who Get It, that Mary­Frances Winters, President & CEO, The Winters Group and I developed and facilitated during the Network of Executive Women (NEW) Leadership Summit, October 1st in Dallas, Texas.

This article goes into more details about one of the tools used for those sessions: the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI).

Intercultural Competence and Women’s Advancement

A critical component of fostering women’s advancement is knowing true male engagement when you experience it. Engagement can be viewed from an intercultural competence perspective. Intercultural competence can be measured using The Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI® and is based on the Intercultural Developmental Continuum pictured above. Intercultural competence is the knowledge set, skill set and tool set to work effectively across cultures.

The knowledge set is self­knowledge, knowledge of others and groups

The skill set is good listening, observing and communicating skills and

The tool set is instruments such as The IDI® and The Winters Group cultural identity exercises and DNA model

The IDI® assesses the capability to shift cultural perspective and appropriately adapt behavior to cultural differences and commonalities. It is a 50­item questionnaire available online that can be completed in 15–20 minutes. A wide range of organizations and educational institutions use the IDI (click here to view a number of organizations using the IDI).

The Intercultural Development Continuum is grounded in theory, research and evidence to explain predictable stages people go through, based on their intercultural experiences. The model can predict one’s ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in a variety of cultural contexts.

The journey of intercultural competence is from a Monocultural to Multicultural Mindset. The Monocultural mindset uses one ­ one’s own ­ cultural values and practices to make sense of other culture’s differences and similarities. A global, intercultural, or, multicultural mindset can view interactions from multiple cultural perspectives.

The first stage along the Continuum is Denial. In this Mindset, one is comfortable with the familiar, not interested in complicating life with “diversity” and “cultural difference,” and may avoid interacting with other cultures. The business impact of this mindset is that we just plan and manage our business the same way we always have. There is no difference; everyone accepts this. And we believe we will continue to succeed as we always succeeded. The Denial mindset to women's advancement can be depicted as: “The corporate environment and system works for me, it should work for you”

The next mindset is Polarization, where one has a strong commitment to a way of thinking and about their culture. Typically, either their culture is superior or inferior. One probably has some distrust of, and discomfort with, other (cultural) behaviors or ideas. Polarization signifies a we vs. them attitude.

The business impact of this mindset is that people appear so different; so confusing that they make one uncomfortable. Our wish is that others conform to our ways, like our products and services, be happy as “we” are, and stop complaining; or go elsewhere. The Polarization mindset to women's advancement can be depicted as: “If women adapt to the system, they will succeed in the system”

Minimization is a transition stage from Monocultural to Multicultural. In this mindset, we are beyond feeling that other cultures pose a threat to our own. We believe that people from other cultures are pretty much like us, under the surface. Thus we minimize cultural difference. We may believe in simply following the “golden rule,” or being color, or gender blind. Thus, while all differences don't make a difference, someone in minimization will miss differences that do make a difference. The business impact of this mindset is that deep down, because I believe we all have so much in common, I assume that I understand other people’s needs, so I do not need to ask many questions. I may have to adjust my business plans slightly; but I am confident I know how to procedure. The Minimization mindset to women's advancement can be depicted as: “Universal, consistent and equally applied standards are the key to women's advancement.”

The Acceptance Mindset, however, deeply comprehends the nature, effect, and consequences of diversity and cultural difference. One sees their own culture as just one of many ways of experiencing the world. The business impact of this mindset is that I am fully aware that people’s backgrounds are different than my own and that I need to speak with people to know their mindset so that I can deeply understand their perspectives and needs. The Acceptance mindset to women's advancement can be depicted as: “What is the work environment our behaviors foster that impedes women's advancement?”

Finally, in the Adaptation Mindset, one recognizes the value of having available more than one cultural perspective. One can intentionally change their culturally­based thinking and/or behavior to other perspectives. The business impact of this mindset, is that I know I must apply my deep understanding of other people’s perspectives and needs to shift my thoughts and behaviors to think from their perspective, develop innovative solutions, and adapt traditional ways and business accordingly. The Acceptance mindset to women's advancement can be depicted as: “We model behaviors and adopt policies, practices and systems that advance women.”

Research and experience show that virtually everyone over­estimates how well they fully understand and work with people of different cultural backgrounds! 67% of population in Minimization.

What are your thoughts on the connection of intercultural competence and women's advancement?