Bypassing the glass ceiling

YOUNG women are told they can have it all, they're smart, educated and savvy. But when it comes to moving into leadership positions, they face a special brand of challenges.

Perceived inexperience, stereotypical sexual bias and the inability to find a work-life balance are some of the barriers preventing young women from climbing the sticky ladder.

The Underworked Solution: Women and the Talent Crunch, a paper based on research by Manpower, says inflexible work structures are the biggest global barrier to workplace engagement and retention of women.

Kelly Baker is among a growing number of young women who've bypassed the corporate glass ceiling by using leadership and entrepreneurial skills to start up their own businesses. Baker is managing director of Edible Blooms, a gift delivery service across Australia and New Zealand offering edible arrangements. Baker started her company three years ago when she was 27; it now employs 20 people.

Baker worked in marketing for a legal firm before starting her own company. Age rather than sex proved to be the initial challenge in setting up her company.

"While I had a good corporate track record, I didn't have a track record running my own business," she says. "What I did have to do was to convince my landlord that I was a good bet, that I was someone that would be sticking around, so getting that first lease, getting that first credit relationship up and running with suppliers: it's getting that confidence with your suppliers and your business relationships that you're here for the long term." Baker now has stores in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

She says youthful energy is one of the advantages to being a young leader. "I've noticed other young women in leadership who are extremely enthusiastic: that is infectious and can take you a long way."

Melissa Taylor had a successful career in retail management in one of Australia's leading fashion stores for 14 years before leaping into the male-dominated transport industry. "I've always believed when it comes to management it doesn't matter what industry you're in, you can always apply the same skill set," she says.

Taylor, 37, is the general manager of Taylors Storage and Removals in Toowoomba, a company founded by her great-grandfather in 1918. Being in a leadership role in a family business within a male-dominated industry has had its challenges. Taylor says there is a perception by some that she was given the role just because she is family.

"I constantly have to prove myself above and beyond what anyone else would have to because of the relationship."

Taylor says she has taken a lot of steps to prove she is a capable businesswoman. For instance she is on the boards of the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce, Empire Theatre, University of Southern Queensland and on the committee of the Australian Institute of Management (regional).

Says Taylor, "There is always the perception of a lack of experience, being young. I tend to think you get pigeonholed into more stereotypical administration roles, and to break through that perception is not easy."

Taylor says it can be hard for women to fit into a blokey culture where networking occurs during a game of golf or at the pub. She stresses the value of mentors for young women in leadership positions. She has been mentored by older women in other industries who are chief executives in Toowoomba. She also has access to an executive coach from the Australian Institute of Management, with whom she discusses ideas and issues.

Initially there was resistance to her from older men who'd been in the industry for many years, but she says you earn their respect by sitting back and respecting their wisdom and knowledge.

"If you've got very good leadership skills and you combine that with the knowledge of the men you work with, I think that's a powerful combination."

Taylor says one of the main risks for young women in leadership is burnout. There is a high risk of women burning out very quickly because they try to do it all very early, out of a need to prove themselves. Work-life balance is very important.

And the stakes get higher for young women when they have their first child. Karen Miles is a mother of two young children and a consultant and author of Career Advice You Wish Your Mum Had Told You.

Miles, 35, says there is no one telling young women how they can manage a career as well as motherhood.

She believes the workplace needs to be redesigned so as to provide the flexibility needed to enable women to continue their careers after they become mothers. And while many companies have flexible policies, many haven't taken the next step and implemented them, says Miles.

Miles advises companies and individuals on how to manage maternity leave and has developed a parents' toolkit that is a guide as to when to tell your manager you are pregnant, right through to how to redesign your job and negotiate flexible work arrangements on your return to work.

It takes the pressure off companies to come up with all the answers and it puts the emphasis on the employee to put some thinking and planning into this period of theirlife.

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