The May 2008 issue of the Leading Effectively newsletter from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) deals with women in leadership. Here’s an interesting tidbit, the term ‘glass ceiling’ was coined by journalists Carol Hymowitz and Timothy Schellhardt in 1986. A lot has changed in 22 years, but women still lag far behind men in reaching the top rungs of the career ladder. According to the CCL,

“About 23 percent of chief executives of all organizations as well as presidents of colleges and universities are women, and low- and mid-level management is heavily populated with women. Hillary Clinton, Condoleeza Rice, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, among others, have been very visible in roles that were unimaginable in the 1980’s. Yet women make up only three percent of Fortune 500 CEOs. Is the glass ceiling the cause, or is something else going on?”

Good question. As a woman, I know that my path to senior leadership in a Fortune 500 company was different than my male colleagues. My path looked more like a windy mountain road than a stretch of desert highway.

“The paths that today’s women leaders take is one that involves many choices and trade-offs,” says [CCL’s] Sara King. “Women have to negotiate organizational and cultural norms and build their careers in ways that differ, in many ways, from men.”

Many women, especially mothers, give up the fight and leave corporate life behind, either temporarily or permanently. In the past few months, I’ve met several women in their late 40’s who have alternated working in corporate leadership roles with multi-year stints as independent consultants. I think we’ll be seeing much more of this pattern in the future and not just with women, but that is a topic for another day.

The CCL newsletter highlights a new book written by Alice Eagly and Linda Carli entitled Through the Labyrinth: the Truth about How Women Become Leaders. The authors believe the image of the labyrinth is more apt than the image of the glass ceiling for today’s women. “There isn’t an absolute barrier stopping progress at a high level but rather a progressive falling away of women at every level,” [Eagly] says.

CCL’s King and Eagly describe the factors facing women in leadership roles as:

“Walking the narrow band. Women have to work within a narrow range of acceptable behaviors, notes King. “Women have to be tough and demanding but easy to be with. They have to have the desire to succeed but can’t appear too ambitious,” she says. In most organizations, the range of acceptable behavior has expanded in recent years but the narrow band still exists.

Being owned by the job. Many high-level professional jobs are becoming “extreme jobs” for both men and women, Eagly notes. The 40-hour work week is expanding, and employees are often expected to be available by e-mail and phone. “Those who put in longer hours generally rise faster, making it very difficult for people with family responsibilities,” Eagly says. Work demands can cause problems for both men and women, but may affect women more acutely.

Traversing the Balance Beam. The struggle for balance seems chronic as demands on women’s time and attention increase. Although experience of multiple roles has been shown to enhance managerial effectiveness and women’s overall well-being, such commitments - partner, parent, care-giver, friend, volunteer - do create challenges. “Women do experience conflict between their various roles,” says King. “Managing their time is a challenge, they often feel pulled in many directions and they struggle to define and find balance.”

So, it seems that the glass ceiling has been shattered, just watch out for the shards.