How To Keep A Woman From Leadership

There are many ways to achieve this goal. And we saw one of them in a Washington Post article written by Ed Rendell, former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania. He insists that he likes Elizabeth Warren — a lot. Then goes on to label her a “hypocrite.” The article is an example of how women’s careers can be, and often are, stalled by supposed friends praising them before they cut the legs out from under their advancement. Here is the response I posted to the article:

How do you keep a qualified woman from reaching the top of her field? I’ve addressed that question in my research and writing, particularly in The Secret Handshake. One way is to pretend you like her, even praise her, but juxtapose that with an undercut. “I like Barbara – a lot. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees” and “Laura is a star. We all know that. Some people worry that she’s even too nice” are examples of the subtle ways women’s career can be stalled. The prevalence of this type of compliment-based (“I like her”) derogatory communication is why so many women remain in pipelines to leadership – in part why there has never been a female U.S. president. It’s clever in a way. While you’re embracing a candidate, you’re smirking over her shoulder. Rendell has employed this technique. It’s a tried-and-true method for getting your guy the job. In this case Rendell’s guy is Joe Biden. I like Joe Biden – always have. I’ve blogged about that on Huffington Post. Like Warren, Biden has faults. Rendell could have said that about Warren and continued with his criticism. After all, he supposedly likes her. Instead, he went for an attention-grabbing headline – right before tonight’s debate. It’s a cheap shot which he hopes will stick. I hope we’re smarter than that.