Hardly a day goes by without reading strong commentary about the important but insufficient contribution of women in business and government. Joanne Lipman proclaims in an op-ed in the New York Times, 10/23 that women have not come as far as we would have expected 25 years ago, “and attitudes have taken a giant leap backward.” Lipman, a former deputy managing editor at The Wall Street Journal, was founding editor of Conde Nast’s Portfolio magazine. She notes that “progress for women has stalled” in partner positions at law firms, on corporate boards or in corporate officer positions.

As might be expected from a journalist, Lipman attributes the shift in how women are perceived in our society to the surge of disrespectful, derogatory opinions on the Internet after 9/11.

“The war in Iraq tore America apart. The Internet gave everyone a soapbox. The louder, the more offensive, the better…The conversation online about women, as about so many other topics, degenerated from silly and snarky to just plain ugly, and it seeped into the mainstream,” says Lipman.

Other voices portray women as victims of corporations, incapable of advancing unless management creates a supportive climate of leadership development. These advocates propose a wider use of feedback and professional networks within the corporate culture. But corporate transformations need long lead times to gain traction.

My approach to developing women leaders is very different. People are better served when they take charge of their careers. It’s a formula for success. The most successful women executives seek and get the support they need. They perform, they plan, they ask, and they keep going. They focus on today and the future, understand and test their options, and engage key decision-makers. 

Through probing interviews with scores of senior leaders, I have seen how women create opportunities for their companies, their constituents and themselves, an especially important fact because so many high potential women believe they will not achieve senior leadership roles. A defeatist mindset is a defensive one, prompting women to be too careful, too rehearsed, too worried about how they might be perceived, too afraid to ask for assignments that could make a difference, perhaps because it’s too risky, too difficult.

Success for women is more about the executive’s mindset and focus than inherent feminine qualities or attitudes about women projected in the media.

Yet advocacy groups use stereotypes to portray women in business, the professions and politics. They say that women are uniquely capable because they are women. These sweeping generalizations fail to capture what drives success and upward mobility in the context of specific companies and business challenges. In the realm of leadership, it is only through the rigorous study of many women leaders, and men as well, that we understand what makes them distinctive and effective.

Instead of using stereotypes, it’s time to recognize that women in leadership positions are not all the same. The most successful ones are extremely diverse on many dimensions – their abilities, interests, personalities, communication styles, and presence.  Importantly though, a vast majority of women who drive repeated exceptional results share a mindset that produces business growth and measurable impact. Their approach, which is learnable, applies equally to men and has been applauded by respected male leaders as a better way to run modern businesses. What an exciting thought!

Through my research I have found  that women leaders with a strong track record of successes are not stuck in their ways. While experts talk about “the best and only leader” to run a business at a given time, these top women executives adapt their leadership, depending upon their experiences as well as  changes in the economic environment, the consumer, the competitive marketplace, societal needs and attitudes.  We should look for and expect this kind of change in our own capabilities, and those of our colleagues.

In my view, we place too much focus on gender as an issue and not enough on the opportunities women can make for themselves. Women who actively manage their careers are reaping the rewards today.  They know that success requires big ideas and results, personal confidence, a sensitivity to constituents, a willingness to take risks and work hard. Clearly it’s not easy, but why should it be.