What Happens After You Break the Glass Ceiling?

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Welcome to Loud and Lifted Quick Lift, where

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we take the key takeaways from my longer conversation

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and break them down into something practical

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you can use this week. I'm Betsy Ham. We talk

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a lot about breaking the glass ceiling, get the

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promotion, earn the seat at the table. Finally,

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things will be different. But what happens when

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you get there and you're still dealing with politics,

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double standards, and questions about whether

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you even belong? That's what I talked about with

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Shannon Nutter, co -author of Walking on Broken

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Glass. Shannon and her co -author Julia both

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had successful executive careers, and they still

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found themselves asking, when does this get easier?

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I have felt that question. I've been a CEO, and

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on paper, you could look at that and say, well,

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Betsy, you made it. But getting the title didn't

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mean the path suddenly cleared. I remember walking

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into executive gatherings looking around at a

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room full of older white men. and realizing there

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really weren't many women there. And when I did

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find other women, we weren't always talking honestly

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about what it took to navigate those rooms. Shannon

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and I covered a lot, so I wanna pull out five

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things you can use in your own career. The first

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takeaway, doing great work is essential, but

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it isn't the whole story. Shannon said, meteorocracy

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is a myth, and I know that stings a little. Many

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of us grew up professionally believing that if

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we worked hard, delivered results and kept proving

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ourselves the next opportunity would follow.

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And performance absolutely matters. But so does

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visibility and relationships. And we've talked

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about this a gazillion times. But the other part

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is the way decisions are actually made. Shannon

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describes that there's often two org charts,

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the official one and the invisible one. The invisible

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one shows who has influence, who talks to whom

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and whose opinion carries weight. when a big

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decision is made. I've learned this the hard

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way. At one point in my career, I asked a senior

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executive what I needed to do to get to the next

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level. Where was I falling short? And I was told

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I was aligned with another executive who had

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already left the company, and that was my problem.

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I didn't even know that association was affecting

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how people saw me. And I can tell you that if

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I'm working an extra 10 hours a week, would not

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have fixed it. Your action, think about a decision

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you'd like to be part of, whether it's a promotion,

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a project, a bigger role. Who actually has a

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voice in that decision? Who knows your work?

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And who would speak up for you when you're not

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in the room? If you can't answer those questions,

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that's useful information. Start building the

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relationship that will help people know what

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you bring to the table. The second takeaway,

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listen for the but. Shannon calls this the Goldilocks

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syndrome. A woman can be too assertive or not

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assertive enough. Too ambitious, not ambitious

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enough. Great at her job, but difficult. Strategic,

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but abrasive. Shannon asked me to think about

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the last time I heard a woman's strengths described

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with a period at the end. She's decisive. She

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helps her team deliver. Full stop. No, but she

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rubs people the wrong way, tacked on afterward.

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I thought about how many times I've heard that

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a woman needs to work on her executive presence.

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Sometimes there may be specific feedback underneath

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that phase, but if no one can tell her what she

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actually did, what impact it had, and what she

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could do differently, how was she supposed to

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use that? And this isn't only something to watch

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for when we're receiving the feedback, but we

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also have to pay attention about how we talk

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about other women too. Your action, the next

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time you hear someone describe a colleague as

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too much or not confident enough or lacking executive

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presence, ask for an example. Well, what happened?

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How did it affect her work? Keep the conversation

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tied to behavior and results. And when you're

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recommending a woman, try naming her strength

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without adding the automatic but. The third takeaway,

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notice patterns before you talk yourself out

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of what you're seeing. One of the most powerful

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parts of this book is called The Takedown. Shannon

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spoke with people who had been strong performers

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and then found themselves suddenly being pushed

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out. She described signs like being excluded

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from meetings you used to attend, losing input

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on decisions you used to make, or having expectations

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change again and again. Now, one canceled one

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-on -one does not mean your career is over. We

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do not need to get paranoid and you know who

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I'm talking to. But I know what it feels like

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when small things start to add up. I share with

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Shannon that there were times in my own career

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when I wasn't asked to speak at a public or investor

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facing event where I normally would have been.

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At the time I wondered, am I being paranoid?

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Am I being too sensitive? Looking back, I could

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see those moments were part of a bigger shift.

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It was just much harder to see while I was in

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it. Your action, if something feels off, write

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down what happened and when. Look for a pattern

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rather than trying to explain away every individual

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moment. Keep a record of your results, positive

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feedback, and change your responsibilities, too.

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That gives you something concrete to work from

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if you need to have a conversation or decide

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what comes next. The fourth takeaway, keep your

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network alive outside your company. Shannon made

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a point I think a lot of senior women need to

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hear again and again because we've talked about

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this before, but we can become so focused on

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our company that our whole professional identity

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lives inside it. Our relationships are there,

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our voice is there, we share what the company

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wants us to share, and somewhere along the way

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we stop talking about what we think. I understand

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how it happens. When you're leading a team and

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carrying a lot, building an external network

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can feel like one more thing on a list that's

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already too long. But your experience and your

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perspectives belong to you. They don't disappear

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because you change jobs. Your action, reach out

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to one person outside your organization whom

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you genuinely want to stay connected with. Share

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an idea in your own voice. Have a conversation

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with someone in your field. This does not need

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to become a giant personal branding project.

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Just don't wait until you urgently need your

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network to remember it's there. And the fifth

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takeaway, make the path easier for another woman.

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This is where Shannon and I really connected.

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If a woman shares an idea in a meeting and someone

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else gets credit for it five minutes later, We've

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probably all seen it happen, but Shannon's suggestion

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was to have a phrase ready, something that sounds

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like you, so you can step in without making a

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big speech. You might say, I'm glad this idea

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is getting traction. I love to hear her build

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on what she raised earlier. Or maybe you're going

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into a meeting with an idea you feel a little

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nervous about sharing. You could ask a colleague

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beforehand, if you think this makes sense, will

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you help me make sure we discuss it? That kind

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of support can be intentional. We don't just

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have to hope it happens by accident. So your

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reaction, pick one woman whose work you know

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and find a specific way to back her up. Give

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her credit in a meeting, put her name forward

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for an opportunity, or ask her directly what

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support would be useful. Shannon said that if

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another woman needs to pass you, give her a passing

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lane. And I love that. The title, Walking on

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Broken Glass, captures something we don't talk

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enough about. Breaking the glass ceiling doesn't

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mean everything underneath is magically going

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to become easier. But we can get better at seeing

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what's around us, trusting what we notice, and

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helping each other move forward. If you want

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to hear more, listen to my full conversation

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with Shannon Nutter on Loud and Lifted. We get

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into the invisible work chart, the signs we tend

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to explain away, and what we can actually do

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about them. Until next time, stay loud and keep

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lifting.