Glass Cliff: Women Leader Barrier

Why are women leaders more likely to accept high risk leadership positions?

Most folks in professional leadership have heard of the glass ceiling, when unforeseen or invisible barriers prevent women from achieving leadership positions. In contrast, there is the glass escalator, when invisible forces that expedite men into positions of leadership. The glass cliff is the next progression of this leadership position that combines the two concepts and includes the intersectionality of women in a larger context as they pursue leadership positions with great risk.  In this article you will gain new terminology and tools to recognize the glass cliff and how to better support women leaders.

Term origin

The term glass cliff was coined by scholars Michelle K. Ryan and Alexander S. Haslam. They originally defined the glass cliff as “women are now achieving more high profile positions, they are more likely than men to find themselves on a ‘glass cliff’, such that their positions are risky or precarious” (Ryan & Haslam, 2005). Ryan and Haslam assessed 100 companies on the London Stock Exchange to observe organizational productivity before and after the appointment of women leaders. They recognized a common trend across the companies and created the term the glass cliff.
In application to DEI leadership, the glass cliff is a pattern of behaviors when women take on leadership positions despite a high possibility of leadership failure. Oftentimes the high risk components include and are not limited to gender norms, finances, organizational crisis, cultural/political scandal, etc. The women leaders risk their career and credibility to salvage seemingly impossible situations similar to the Kobayashi Maru training exercise from the popular tv show Star Trek (Stemwedel, 2015). Women leaders are put into professional scenarios where they cannot succeed and are set up both intentionally and unintentionally for failure by their organizations, leaders, and team.

It is a precarious climb up the cliff, the journey is full of gender bias, discrimination, and status quo bureaucracies. Each woman skillfully navigates her unique journey up the fragile glass cliff to earn her highly coveted leadership position. Once at the top of the glass cliff there are three options: a) Remain on the top of the cliff as she has succeeded in an impossible leadership situation, b) Descend the glass cliff through resignation to a lower paying and lower position, c) Stick to her leadership work by jumping off the glass cliff committing professional suicide through being fired and/or sticking with the organization until the very end.
ImportanceMainstream media sources such as Harvard Business Review and Vox have recognized the glass cliff’s increasing common occurrence. If this is such a prevalent issue, why does it continue to occur and what are the impacts?

In an article by the Harvard Business Review a study reported “a company’s leadership history and common assumptions about gender and leadership contribute to the glass cliff” (Bruckmüller & Branscome, 2011). This phenomenon occurs when organizations are struggling and male leaders no longer want the leadership position due the high risk and low reward assessment. In this small window of opportunity, women step into leadership positions to save the Titanic after it has already hit the metaphorical iceberg. 

The ambitious, self-motivated, and determined mindset of female leaders reinforces gender roles that frame the challenge as a once in a lifetime opportunity to cut their teeth and prove themselves. In contrast, men leaders have already consumed the best foods on the leadership table and left the crumbs and clean up to their women successors.

Expanding the scope of relevance Vox reporter Emily Stewart stated “it’s not just a phenomenon reserved for women. It happens with other minority groups too.” Stewart explained in times of crisis “organizations look for change of pace and often believe they find it in someone who isn’t their typical executive - in other words someone who isn’t a white man.” This exponentially increases the burden and tokenization placed upon women of global majority, diversabilities, and other minority identities.

Recent tech trends of multi-round layoffs of DEI directors, coordinators, and program managers included women of global majority. The glass cliff played out in the public eye with organizations when “Google and Meta have cut staffers and downsized programs that fell under DEI investment” (Stewart, 2018). As organizations continue to experience financial challenges they lay off and reduce the resources to help the most vulnerable populations of minority leaders in their own organizations. 

Key Takeaways

​Proactively recognize glass cliff situations to remove barriers for female leaders to increase success, retain quality talent, and improve organization productivity.

Engage in transparent communication with women leader appointments so she can best prepare her leadership tool kit and personal well being to succeed long term.

Remember transferability of glass cliff to intersectional identities of women and other leaders of minority groups to equitably support success through fair pay, professional development budgets, robust staffing, and organizational cultural buy-in.

Empathetically listen and act with women leaders to make sustainable organizational changes.

Glass cliff is not a series of isolated cases, this is a common trend behavior that validates the structural barriers women leaders face. Women leaders should not feel alone nor deal with the class cliff on their own. Women leaders are part of a larger community that regularly experiences discrimination in the workplace. This is a call to action to develop a robust professional and personal support network for women leaders. Strive for the big picture win and assess organizational practices to end this professional suicide from continuing.

References

Ryan, M.K., Haslam, A.S. (2005). The Glass Cliff: Evidence that Women are Over Represented in Precarious Leadership Positions. British Journal of Management 16, 81-90. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8551.2005.00433.x  

Ryan, Michelle K.. Haslam Alexander S. (2007). Exploring the Dynamics Surrounding the Appointment of Women to Precarious Leadership Positions. Academy of Management Review 32(2):549-572. DOI:10.5465/AMR.2007.24351856.

Ryan, M.K., et al., (2015). Getting on top of the glass cliff: Reviewing a decade of evidence, explanations, and impact, The Leadership Quarterly. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.10.008. 

Bruckmüller, Susanne. Branscome, Nyla R.(2011). How Women End Up on the Glass Cliff. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2011/01/how-women-end-up-on-the-glass-cliff. 

Stemwedel, Janet D. (2015). The Philosophy of Star Trek: The Kobayashi Maru, No Win Scenarios, and Ethical Leadership. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/janetstemwedel/2015/08/23/the-philosophy-of-star-trek-the-kobayashi-maru-no-win-scenarios-and-ethical-leadership/?sh=549adce95f48 

Stewart, Emily (2018). Why struggling companies promote women: the glass cliff explained. Vox. https://www.vox.com/2018/10/31/17960156/what-is-the-glass-cliff-women-ceos 

Elias, Jennifer (2023). Tech companies like Google and Meta made cuts to DEI programs in 2023 after big promises in prior years. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/22/google-meta-other-tech-giants-cut-dei-programs-in-2023.html