The feeling of having hit a glass ceiling is relatively common and classic for many executives.
After a few years in their company, or upon reaching a particular stage in their career, they can indeed find themselves stuck without knowing how to continue to move forward and progress.
The feeling is often difficult to manage, as it is destabilizing and can create various emotions ranging from frustration to helplessness, to incomprehension, and sometimes even victimization.
In this article, we will give you five reasons describing and explaining the situation as it can be felt by business executives, and we will give you some tips to put into practice if you feel concerned about the subject.
Note in passing: this article is part of a series of posts related to the topic of business coaching and executive coaching aimed at entrepreneurs and business executives just like you – happy reading!
The glass ceiling for business executives, what does it look like?
To start, what does the feeling of hitting a glass ceiling look like? The answer will vary of course from person to person, but it is correct to say that hitting a glass ceiling often leaves the feeling of being blocked, stuck, and unable to progress.
Sometimes, this feeling is due to a lack of opportunity for progression within the company. It can also be due to having exhausted one’s position without seeing any particular interest in it anymore, or to wanting some form of renewal in our career, but not knowing how to approach the subject.
The question that then arises is: what is blocking, and how can it be remedied?
The answer does not necessarily involve changing jobs: the issue may also (and more simply) involve taking or regaining power over the way things are organized, and that changes everything!
Five classic explanations
Our daily discussions with entrepreneurs, top managers, mid-managers, and general executives have allowed us to identify five reasons why an executive struggles with the impression of a glass ceiling.
1. Being everywhere (and nowhere at the same time)
The first reason is that it is common to talk to business or service managers for whom responsibility means burden.
By wanting to be everywhere and by wanting to dominate the situation, they invest and give themselves without really counting. But they also pay the price, because being everywhere also means being nowhere.
The consequences are significant for everyone, that being said. For the manager in question, but also for the company.
Some have exhausted the position and no longer find it fulfilling. The company then risks losing an experienced manager who creates strong added value.
Others get lost in a too-demanding and consuming reality, and in the process end up wondering what their real contribution is. The company will also pay a high price for this.
In these cases, the glass ceiling appears because executives no longer find their place in a zone of discomfort that hinders them more than it serves them.
The challenge for the company then becomes to rethink the working framework to recreate an environment conducive to the development of a new ambition (and of course to its achievement).
2. A misalignment between personal expectations, reality, future opportunities
The second reason why executives struggle with a glass ceiling is the existence of a misalignment between the individual’s personal expectations and their perception of the company’s reality and the opportunities it offers them.
We all have personal expectations. Some are related to a need for satisfaction, recognition, and personal or collective success. Others may be related to a need for continuous education, a desire to push boundaries (one’s own, the industry’s, etc.)
In any case, the glass ceiling appears as soon as the company fails in its role of creating a favorable environment.
The reality offered to the teams diverges from the desired reality, disappointment arises, and interest and motivation are lost.
Solutions also exist for this. Promotion from within and new responsibilities, for example.
Or implementing measures aimed at creating an environment conducive to taking initiative and offering an opportunity for continuous learning for those who attach fundamental importance to not stagnating professionally.
The glass ceiling may be imposed on the individual, but the company still holds a certain power to give wings to its executive team – it’s time to act.
3 – A blind spot regarding the next step and what needs to be put in place to achieve it
The appearance of a glass ceiling does not solely rest on the company’s shoulders, however, and the executive themselves may be the cause of their own frustration.
We all have blind spots (like in a car), in which important elements are hidden from view for one reason or another.
For example, an ambitious collaborator may expect to be offered new responsibilities because they believe they deserve them. They may, however, not have realized that these new responsibilities are part of a process and that certain boxes must be ticked before anything happens.
Or, a manager may want to carry out a project that has been entrusted to them, without having the ability to finish the project due to reasons such as lack of resources, lack of competence, lack of self-confidence, and lack of a sounding board. They want to but cannot, and the glass ceiling draws closer.
A young manager may be given the responsibility of leading a department or developing an essential innovative strategy, but without knowing where to begin and without having someone to explore ideas with.
Leadership development is another equally fundamental and challenging topic for many executives who are rarely taught how to manage a team. Some may believe that leadership means being forceful at the expense of their team(s), while others may simply find the concept of leadership impressive and unattainable.
Each of these glass ceilings has its own solution, but it is often hidden in a blind spot that is invisible to the employee, at least from their current position.
4 – A lack of internal training and mentoring
That being said, companies have many effective ways to address these types of frustrations.
A promotion process can be put in place and explained, and an onboarding program can be created to give ambitious executives every chance to progress internally. Of course, manager coaching programs can also be organized to help teams improve their performance and autonomy, with massive returns on investment in terms of productivity.
Yes, working with a coach and a mentor has a cost, but if that cost allows a young manager to develop a sustainable high-value strategy for the company, as well as the necessary leadership for the team to follow the initiative, then the return on investment is rapid and exponential!
Similarly, a private and confidential sounding board can be made available to senior executives through leadership and team management coaching.
The exercise is common and does not create any complexity for the company, as long as a competent coach is made available to the individual.
However, its impact on the feeling of a glass ceiling experienced by the executive is significant and fully capable of transforming an uncomfortable situation into a considerable opportunity.
5 – A bad mindset
Finally, the mindset of the individual plays a key role in the appearance of his glass ceiling, and his disappearance.
More particularly, it turns out that a manager often thinks in two opposite ways: as a victim who is surprised that the world is turned against him, or as a leader capable of taking responsibility when a difficult situation arises.
When the collaborator feels blocked because the environment is not favorable to him, that others put a spoke in his wheels, or that things are not moving forward, his naturalness leads him to think that the rest of the world l prevents him from doing and realizing.
On the other hand, a more determined executive may also decide to take over the few elements that he can influence (if he cannot control them), and will in fact have an opportunity to push back his own glass ceiling by himself.
Another common subject, the collaborator may feel inadequate in his role and not know how to approach the challenges to come. “I don’t know”, “I can’t”…
This impostor syndrome is extremely common during executive coaching sessions, but of course, few talk about it internally and management often struggles to react. Being a senior manager implies knowing how to manage, a senior manager must know how to lead the subjects head-on, blah blah blah… so we keep quiet. But is it constructive?
In all cases, the key element is the employee’s mindset and two situations then appear for the company.
In the first, the top management can offer to their senior executives the type of sounding board we were talking about earlier, via coaching and mentoring intended to develop our approach. In this case, the collaborator(s) will be offered support, which will allow him (them) to look at things from another angle and to act.
Note in passing: if employees do not necessarily dare to ask for support, they generally welcome it very positively when the option is put on the table.
In the second, the collaborators could decide to take matters into their own hands, which of course can also lead them to decide to leave for a greener garden if they judge that the current environment will no longer provide them with enough opportunities – which brings us back to our previous points.
Three ideas to implement to maximize the use of executive coaching
Ultimately, the subject of the glass ceiling must therefore be shared between the employee and his company, and solutions must be found to give everyone a productive and constructive environment consistent with their expectations. For example…
Idea #1: Clarify expectations on both sides
First idea, clarify expectations. The subject is important but is too often left aside!
In reality, the only time when you ask your teams what they want is very often the only annual employee interview. Except that this interview is often used to judge their performance rather than to open up new opportunities for them.
It’s a shame because there is a real possibility here of taking an interest in the desires of the team, and at the same time pushing back the glass ceiling that is slowing everyone down – senior executives or not!
Often, people’s motivation goes far beyond status, job security, salary, payment of public holidays, vacation pay, and overtime.
If having an attractive remuneration is the basis, for many the real challenge in a company that does not belong to them will be to have responsibilities of which they can be proud, a great independence in the management of files, a certain freedom to make decisions, and the freedom to work either largely independently or within a stimulating team.
Idea #2: Create an environment conducive to the development and achievement of personal ambitions
Being interested is good. But putting it in place is even better. Another idea, therefore, is to create a work environment conducive to the development of everyone’s aspirations.
Nothing too complicated, really. It is enough to start from expectations and give everyone a degree of autonomy allowing them to get closer to their own goals.
Developing a culture that encourages innovation and initiative-taking is very relevant in this kind of situation, as it allows each person to have space while strengthening the already-established relationship of trust
Idea #3: Consider executive coaching
Finally, considering implementing a coaching and mentoring program for high-potential managerial talents is often an excellent way to move forward faster.
On the one hand, in a context where pressure pushes employees to think twice before speaking and exchanging their ideas, a business coach quickly becomes the best right-hand man of modern leaders as he offers a sounding board that is both secure and conducive to managerial reflection.
We see it every day – the managers we work with often submit their ideas, proposals (and presentations!) to their coach and mentor before submitting them to their own teams and leadership.
On the other hand, the return on investment of a coaching and mentoring program is enormous – close to 800% according to a study published in the prestigious Harvard Business Review – because a supervised employee becomes exponentially more effective than an employee left to himself.
Conclusion: Action, action, action
To conclude, the glass ceiling is a classic passage in professional life, to which top executives are also subject. The leader is often alone at the top, and this is a reality that must be acknowledged and taken into account!
The best way to solve the problem is to create a corporate culture conducive to the continuous evolution of employees, but it is up to the leadership to take the necessary steps!
Ensuring that top executives are and remain effective and committed is exactly the stake behind business coaching and mentoring. If you are looking to give wings to your teams, this is the solution to implement!
