Hello All
WIT Updates the Culture Code
Better Allies Snippet #10
You can learn more at the Better Allies Website.
This month we are wrapping up the Better Allies book by covering Chapters 11–13. Chapter 11 is focused on giving feedback, Chapter 12 is full of tips on opening doors for others, and Chapter 13 is a call to action. These three final chapters combine to round out the section on increasing our impact as allies.
First, Catlin points to research from Stanford University’s Clayman Institute. The research (p.11) points to one of the reasons that more women aren’t in corporate leadership roles, and that is “the vague feedback that women tend to receive over their careers.” She writes that the “researchers uncovered telling differences in the kind of feedback given to women versus men… they found that women were less likely than men to receive specific feedback tied to outcomes and that was true for both praise and constructive feedback. By contrast men were offered a clearer picture of what they were doing well, how their performance was impacting the business, and what they needed to do to get promoted.”
They also found that “when women were praised they were praised more for team contributions and also received 76% of the references of being too aggressive.”
She cites other research from Kieran Snyder, who collected and analyzed actual feedback reviews and uncovered that suggestions given to women for improvement were more likely to focus on emotions, personality, and tone, while those given to men were more concrete, direct, and actionable.
More research described by Catlin in the chapter (p. 75) lays out the double effort that people of color and women of color have to put in to receive the same recognition. The 2020 LeanIn Report documented that Black women typically received less support from their managers than white coworkers and that these dynamics disadvantage women at promotion time. The 2024 Report is now online and worth a read.
All of this research leads Catlin to suggest describing the impact of the work when doing performance reviews or giving kudos, rather than just describing the work, and carefully striving for equity and fairness in the feedback and performance appraisals we give.
In Higher Education our outcomes are efficient operations, legal compliance, community engagement, customer satisfaction (internal and external), student learning, growth of enrollment, growth of research activities, student and employee retention rates, and student graduation rates among others. If we can connect our work to these outcomes and use these outcomes when giving and receiving feedback, it will be easier to be more specific and more equitable going forward.
In Chapter 12 Catlin focuses on the role allies have in opening career doors for others. She starts the chapter by listing several anecdotes from her own career about people who helped her and opened doors for her. She references an article on How to Be a Better Ally to Your Black Colleagues by Wharton Professor Dr. Stephanie Creary. The simple strategy (p.189) goes like this: “ask them about their work and their goals.” Dr. Creary writes that inquiry can be a powerful tool to create connection and has to be done with care in order to avoid being overly invasive or harmful. Focus on the “actual work including what they hope to accomplish, concerns they have about doing that, and how you might be able to help them reach their vision.”
Catlin includes the following tips:
- Avoid assumptions about career goals: Don’t assume women have career goals different from men, and look for ways to accommodate the specific needs of women while meeting organizational benchmarks.
- Glamour work matters: The best stretch assignments are high-profile, high-visibility promotable tasks. Lower-profile assignments can also prepare someone for larger roles.
- Mentoring matters: Mentoring provides task knowledge, confidence, insider organizational tips, and connections. Allies can increase their impact by mentoring across identities.
- Give wholehearted recommendations: Even slight hesitation in a recommendation can hurt a candidate—especially women. If you recommend someone, do it wholeheartedly.
- Promote on potential: Watch for “prove it again” bias. Ability, social skills, and drive are key for assessing potential.
Catlin also reminds us (p. 201) to stay aware of the multiplying impact of intersectionality and that “women of color may need different support and allyship because of the additional and compounded bias and harassment they confront.”
- Speak up and speak out: Allies have a duty to speak up, speak out, and take action. Tell coworkers you believe in workplace diversity. Express gratitude. Share what you've learned.
- Challenge biased behavior: Call out bias when you see it. Advocate for systemic changes to address non-inclusive behavior.
- Commit to sponsoring four people: Catlin repeats a challenge by Tom Peters (2018). Sponsorship means speaking someone’s name when they’re not around, sharing their career goals with influencers, recommending them for stretch assignments, inviting them to high-profile meetings, giving them speaking slots, and endorsing them publicly.
- Start a ripple effect: Being an ally is a journey. Start small; one act can create a ripple effect.
- Own and apologize for your mistakes: If you make a mistake, apologize, learn, and take action.
- Define or refresh your values: Ask yourself: How do we want to operate? How should we treat people? What business will we not take because of conflicting values? Catlin writes that “committed allies remember their values and live them out.” (p. 212)
- Continue the journey: Seek out allyship resources, connect with others, use social media for its diversity benefits, and subscribe to betterallies.com.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this journey through the book with me and have taken away at least a few useful strategies for your ally journey. Next year we will start a new book, and I’d love to get a few recommendations from SICAS members. You know how to reach me!
