How Women Leaders Can Navigate the Glass Cliff

If worrying about how to break through the glass ceiling wasn’t enough, women are faced with navigating yet another barrier to succeed in the workplace: the glass cliff. This phenomenon describes instances in which women are given leadership roles in a corporation when company performance is doing poorly. Women are intentionally given these positions when the chance of failure is great, and then are held personally accountable when they can’t save already struggling companies. In other words, women are being set up to fail.

So why do women even take on these precarious positions in the first place? Many feel as if it could be their only opportunity at a top role, and that it’s worth the risk. Thankfully, there are steps women can take to face the glass cliff head on and avoid falling off. Start by analyzing industry trends to get a good idea of the potential risk, define what success in the role will look like, and surround yourself with a strong cross-departmental network to draw on for support.

For more tips on how to navigate the glass cliff, check out the infographic from Fundera below:

For more about the glass cliff, visit the source on Fundera: What is the Glass Cliff?