The career advice you probably didn't get | Susan Colantuono

You’re doing everything right at work, taking all the right advice, but you’re just not moving up. Why? Susan Colantuono shares a simple, surprising piece of advice you might not have heard before quite so plainly. This talk, while aimed at an audience of women, has universal takeaways - for men and women, new grads and midcareer workers.
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[@mikkomallikas4621]

All the men here in the comments do not seem to understand that to us (the men) this is obvious, because it has been said a million times. But to people who have grown in a whole "different world" (women) this is not the case. Women are being taught different things without people even realizing it. It's quite simple no need to get mad.

[@pardillo81]

I am male and I have seen this happening in the companies I have worked for. I just didn't notice before, and now I do. I do see that she could have shown more supporting evidence, but apart from that, the negative votes are not deserved. I think they are mainly from people who didn't fully get it. It is an original view on the problem. Also this is not a feminist talk..! In those talks they normally complain about society and a general "gender bias" while she digs into the actual reasons without the easy solution to just blame it on men. Thumbs up

[@lianamumford]

Absolutely agree with you! Also she said both men and women need this to excel

[@bobpearsall7737]

yeah, totally agree. most points in her talk, replacing "women" with "people" is true. i'm guessing that perhaps there is a small percentage of men get the info, a smaller percentage of women get the info - the total number of top-level positions is few

[@SAsgarters]

63% of viewers didn't get what they were watching.

[@TrueCorventus]

Misleading title.

[@JakeVoorhees]

Wow great talk, love the ideas here. I think this missing 33% idea can be spread around to balance gender in upper managemetn :) thank you!

[@SCAREDBANANA]

I hope this doesn't lead to another gender war in the comments.

[@incompetentlogistics]

Anthony Dach women, amirite? lol!!!!111111211233

[@JoyGoodchild]

Sounds like you guys would be the kind that starts conversations about women generally with: " I'm no sexist, but..." I like them just as much as: " I'm no racist, but..." Make of it whatever you want. I don't have the illusion that my comment will produce anything else than a rant.

[@DIVAD291]

Joy Goodchild i think theres a difference between im no sexist, but... and im no racist, but... the difference being that im no racist simply implies that the person speaking is not racist. im no sexist implies that the person speaking is not racist but more importanty it often implies the person they are speaking to or group of person, is sexist.

[@kouhaisempai4800]

Yeah, well...

[@DIVAD291]

Joy Goodchild you are the kind of person that would start a conversation about sexism and equality by stating its a discussion about women.

[@ritacannella3651]

This is my favorite TED talk because it's so relevant for women! I watched it months ago, but then couldn't find it when I wanted to share it with other business women...so I'm saving it as a favorite, and if you're reading this, do yourself a favor and watch it too!

[@C3yl0]

Excellent ted talk! She has said a very important and valuable point. Finance, accounting and analysis are very needed for women. Strategy and how to allocate resources properly and effectively to generate revenue.

[@EaRenDeL]

Why is somebody that is not at the top trying to tell others how to get there?

[@junaxp55]

This is a new insight for me and it makes total sense! I have also gone through a lot of training and "business impact" is not a subject they bring up for leadership advancement.

[@mattway-0x00]

I have always considered the green box solely as a leadership quality. Leaders don't ask for validation and advice, they see a big picture and they do whatever they can to realise it. She may have seen misunderstanding anecdotally skewed towards women, but I see this in almost everyone I meet. Stop trying to please others.

[@dienamites]

The title and the talk is a whole different story. I can't believe Ted just let this woman to talk

[@maxcoseti]

I don't understand the comments saying this is some feminist claptrap, if I were a woman I'd be pissed at her for basically saying women don't get to the top because they fail to understand something that is obvious to men

[@mianormalis]

I hope other people see the irony too how this speech is called feminist and at the same time nearly states that the gap is caused by women simply being worse at leadership. It may not say it is something inherent to them but still... wtf?

[@kittenforbunny]

+mianormalis finally! ... the right thread. Giant agree. Sheesh. .. At least there's two smart people on the Internet.

[@paintedcrow]

Yeah, pretty much! Got through half of it waiting for her to explain why what she's saying isn't sexist in itself and I'm just done with this talk.

[@drphil8281]

I came here for career advice, God dammit!

[@kouhaisempai4800]

If you have taken business or marketing classes, you should know that a lot of stuff is very subjective and this kind of talk with very generic bubbles of 'information' is highly common. I'm not sure it's appropriate as a TED Talk (but, then, I guess that's why it's at TEDx). That said, this isn't bad advice. It's extremely pertinent to someone in the business trying to make their way to the top. Is it a lot of corporate jargon? Yeah, sure. But anyone trying to make it to this point needs to jump into it, like it or not. About the feminism - this is only feminist-colored. This is good advice for anyone. Statistics about women's leadership roles aside, anyone should take this advice to heart. Learn more about your business and its strategy if you want to move up. Everyone should pay attention to this.

[@kouhaisempai4800]

Still probably not earth-shattering enough for TED, though.

[@bobpearsall7737]

"feminist-colored" ... interesting phrase.

[@Gourgandise]

And I'm wondering why we just want to always go higher, and higher, and higher. For what? If you are happy where you are... To help building the dream of somebody else? I have the example in my life of somebody who is at the top and who counts every single day to retirement because life is miserable for him at the top. Yes you probably have more money, but careful what you wish for my friends.

[@lianamumford]

Indeed!

[@bobpearsall7737]

this is not aimed at people who are happy where they are... it is aimed at those who are looking to move up. different talks for different folks, perhaps.

[@dianetersigni7359]

I agree. I never wanted to be a career woman, but the traditional stay at home mom.

[@TheExecutiveProducermaster]

Many women are performing very well in the business of show business. Based on my experience, women are perceived as more authentic and thrustable to deal with artistic content. I started a channel for people looking to move in entertainment . Over the last years, majority of people doing the crossover from tradition to creative content world are women.

[@sofia.eris.bauhaus]

maybe the first step to be successful in business is to stop talking like a sane person ("business strategic and financial acumen") and making ugly diagrams..

[@chocoboasylum]

It's not like they're specifically not telling women about the 33%. I think in a way (at least from what I've seen) they withhold that part to see who will 'get it' naturally. Those'll be more likely to do well.

[@JilHeimensen]

What's up with the cans in the background?

[@bananian]

A vice-president who doesn't know she is supposed to provide business strategies and advice? Huh?

[@tommytoranger8318]

As well as this is for the gender gap at the top, I would want somebody to adress the issue of the gender gap at the bottom. Men rule that place, as well as the most hazardous jobs. Work related injuries as well. I want someone to talk about that, and how we can make that equal. That's when we will get true equality in the work place.

[@chrisgreen3378]

This is an interesting TED topic...I completely agree with the discussion contained. My disagreement is centering the topic on gender bias. A modern leader should have an awareness of operating not on a gender basis, but on the qualities of the colleagues working for them. I feel the topics discussed are applicable to both male and female, and oreiented in the way it was in this discussion, continues to drive and define the gender gap wedge into the workplace envirnment.

[@TigerPrawn_]

I literally don't understand 73.934% of the lingo being used.

[@EmilyGingham]

SHE WAS BEING INFORMATIVE to reach a female audience. I thought this was very informative. So many times I thought what I had learned was more advanced than it actually was in terms of "confidence" and middle - management goals. I am in that 50%, luckily (seeing how the job market is horrific at the moment). But, anything I can hear, read, and see on how to further my understanding of job placement is a win. That said, I am still a bit hesitant about her appearance in this video. Appearance being one of the top things to get you, initially, to a higher level job. Not saying she has to look any particular way except for maybe a nicer haircut and a better suit.

[@marijebcn]

As a woman in Finance i found very difficult to imagine an abitious career woman that is missing the business, Finance acumen & strategy (for me is the ABC of any managerial candidate, regardless of the gender)

[@Ceronocero]

Is she John Malkovich?

[@87vortex87]

This does not make any sense. Career advice given to men is most likely equaly flawed. I can't imagine that woman receive different career advice compared to men, which she does not rule out. Where is the analysis? What method of research did she use? How big was the research population? This is not science, this is just every day opinions and small talk.

[@dattebenforcer]

Feminism!!!

[@ashleyashleym2969]

we don't this woman's making up stuff, the only people who get different advise are the rich people. They get better advise because they're rich. It's not a gender thing.

[@bobpearsall7737]

yes. a talk from personal observation and perspective. that is what TED talks are usually.

[@bobpearsall7737]

@@ashleyashleym2969 not only "rich" but successful at something. i met a gal who was a natural using the sheet material cutter at Home Depot.. she learned specifics on the job, but had some background from working with her dad, who did a lot of shop work.

[@GameTestPlay]

When you start your speech with "women" you're already dividing your audience. TED needs to filter better speakers.

[@Loathomar]

It is TED+ which TED does not directly control and there is all kinds of poor crap. Though to be far, while she is technically talking to women, the advice is just as true for men as women.

[@molewizard]

Loathomar TED uploaded it. Seems like TED control that to me.

[@stinkleaf]

Its TEDx not TED.

[@kyarochanda]

Clearly, 50% of the world isn't enough of an audience. And clearly, there's no way men would be interested in something that relates to women.

[@danielmethner6847]

Caroline Hutchinson Your statement is unfortunately outright wrong. There are very interesting and exciting TED talks about women and feminism, amongst them talks that made me understand very well all the different reason why we do need feminism - yet, those are in oppose to a lot of other talks which make feminism look like a ridiculous movement which has lost focus, which is very sad.

[@LittleSpaceCase]

A friend of mine manages a team of people in tech (managing servers). They were considering promoting a woman and an actual quote from my friend's boss was "Well, you know if you promote her we'll have to watch what we say around here"

[@tnb2111]

This speaker is saying that women aren't at the top of management because they were not given the right advice. She talks about her friend who has taken all management classes available and didn't succeed. Great management people I know didn't need that advice and didn't need to attend all management classes available. I doubt that this is the reason.

[@JoyGoodchild]

This woman lives in a world I like to live in as well...

[@ashleyashleym2969]

how can women not know about the things that bosses actually do or are suppose to do: better the business. How is that not a duh? I'm a women and I have never been told this but it's been a duh from we learning from bosses. If you are going to be given a leadership role then you need to be able to guide people in the direction the business is going and have a vision in line with your bosses of the direction they want....duh.... Obviously it should be mentioned though because some people can't see the obvious.

[@Kathryn-ox1ck]

Yet another person telling women they need to "fix themselves" in order to move up in their organisation. It is the system that allows unconscious bias to persist which is preventing women from progressing to the top of our organisations, not their lack of business strategy and financial acumen. Such a shame to hear another woman reinforcing such gender stereotypes.

[@BombasticLove87]

There are no women mentors in the corporate world. Women in positions are too buys trying to get higher, than trying to groom assistants, whereas in the male corporate world they do heavy mentoring, with associates etc...

[@safepethaven]

I don't disagree that what's presented isn't accurate but it stops very short at where the root cause of the "missing" originates and that is the abysmal job done by most so-called guidance counselors especially at the high school & college levels. IMO they do more harm than good by either their actions or inactions for many students who do not have access to better guidance and mentorships. I received much better career guidance from those already in industry, not within the faux environments of the "education industry", but not one person helped me, as a female of the 1960's & 1970's with a career that had always been 99.9% male dominated [chemical R&D], I had a much harder time than anyone else. I achieved, but it was unnecessarily difficult, and never reached even 30% parity pay-wise with my male counterparts after decades of excellent dedication, service, performance & acknowledgement. Face it, it's still a good-ol'-boy system. I give you in evidence, the two Bush presidencies, and others.

[@Yashendwirh]

I think a good counter question, that would help get a full picture of why women AREN'T being given more complete advice, would be: Where are men getting this advice then, and how?

[@bobpearsall7737]

mentors. parents/family. peers.

[@TraxxStudios]

I really expected the career advice. Instead I got feminist's bullshit about gender inequality. I'll give one advice: find what's your passion, work hard and you will achieve your goals. It's a common advice, but at least it works no matter what gender you are.

[@sherrillperez9796]

Thank you. I think you are right on point. So do men more naturally share strategic financial goals with each other and not to women in the same way they might share similar sports interests, etc.? Is there a difference in the business information given to men vs women in a company? If so is it as more of a comradery thing in that it does not intentionally exclude women?

[@lolt1614]

Your comment is from 3yrs back, but I'm reading it today, and I wanted to share my views on your question.. I have noticed that guys are always talking about work, even at lunchtime, and women are more detached to work and tend to talk about likes and dislike and social matters

[@medviation]

I hate it when people unnecessarily categorize what kind of genitals they have.

[@tarphuer]

set the title right please. it's career advice for women. not career advice for everyone.

[@MMVTW]

It's not gender gap. I have the same problem and I am male.

[@bobpearsall7737]

Not everyone fits the trends. This is good advice for everyone.... She frames it in a gender gap package, because that is what she has observed and it matters to her. It sounds like she has a consulting business with that focus. I have found that the "business advice for women" has good tips for everyone. Read lots, take the best, keep improving!

[@MartyD]

no one wants to give up their seat

[@bigbiffer7710]

Can I haz op?

[@Wifi_Cable]

In the few years I've been watching ted talks. This has to be the slowest and most long winded speech I've ever seen.

[@jl2200]

This speakers assumes that 50/50 gender parity in upper management should be everyone's goal and target? Why? The so called "level playing field"? Why not 50/50 black/white upper management? Why not 50/50 LGBT/straight upper management? If I'm a gay, black man why shouldn't the corporate playing field be tilted on my behalf. rather than for straight white women who are the largest beneficiaries of arbitrary sexual quotas in upper management? This video is a great example of how unchallenged crap ideas are easily promoted as innovative, great ideas.

[@lashedxl208]

Woman like me are here to break that statistic (:

[@How.Dare.You.]

2.00 and then you see a dating profile among men: looking for a successful girl. Yeah..

[@mac195000]

So being a go getter is not enough. To make it to the top you also need show people you have a head for business. Who knew? Seriously though, why does the speaker believe that women don't know this? Why would female business people be less aware of the need to display acumen than their male collegues?

[@lulz1978]

bait and switch

[@Black-lv4bi]

U should said it in other way ur point it’s a good point but how u delivered to audience is wrong

[@HigherPlanes]

Job Advice 101 for women. If you wanna get to the top, you gotta drop the top.

[@northernbohemian]

CLUELESS! The best way to get to the top - have Daddy buy the company. That's basic capitalism. Daddy can't get you there? Don't sweat it. Your job will be moved to India or China soon anyway, just like his was a couple years back.

[@richardl6132]

clicked randomly on the loading bar - gender gap, oh right, this is TEDx

[@mar504]

Jordan Peterson brought up the point that one of the reasons why women who work at big law firms he has advised don't hold many top positions or have left them is that they realize those positions are for crazy people who want to do nothing but work ALL OF THE TIME. These women are usually married to men who are at a similar or higher socio-economic level so they have enough money, the insane hours required makes it impossible to have a family, so why would they even want these positions? Men are much more likely to be willing to work the 60-80 hours a week some of these positions require, so competition is going to be tougher for women. Of course there is a gap, it's the same reason there is a gap for commercial fishing, plumbers, electricians, oil rig workers, logging, garbage collection. I certainly don't blame them for not wanting their entire life to be about their job (I wouldn't want that either!), but it always strikes me as odd folks like Susan look elsewhere for a smoking gun.

[@slaterrox23]

Your/his argument assumes that "successful women usually marry successful men" is the unquestionable reality we live in, likewise that "men are more willing to work long hours", to name just a few. But I'd implore you to do your own research into the statistical evidence supporting such perceptive before you adopt any of them as inarguable fact. I'm not disregarding everything Peterson says, and I definitely believe sometimes he has true merit and value, but I guess I though it was important enough to reply to this 2 year old comment just to say: Once you start noticing how heavily he relies on manipulative framing devices, it's hard to stop. With all due credit to him where it's deserved... he's pretty much just a greasy used cars salesman.

[@bobpearsall7737]

@@slaterrox23 Peterson uses pretty good data generally. No one is perfect, but by and large his stuff is useful. It is very different to discuss generalities vs giving advice tailored to individuals. He has discussed this numerous times reflection on normal distributions and outliers. Sorry to hear you got jaded about him, because he does offer things of value. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses - it is a life skill to take in lots of info, then filter, do the smell test, etc., and improve working model for dealing w/ life.

[@alexciobanu246]

First 30 seconds were enough to make me skip it.

[@Bazo1337]

Let's go guys... nothing to see here. TED, please fix the title, disliked.

[@batmanarkham5120]

Misleading title. I didn't expect this

[@lycantico]

It's all about making woman be better than men.

[@outlawJosieFox]

I'm sorry but this seems obvious? Surely you would not have the job in the first place if you did not demonstrate business acumen? I think it's more to do with most women not fitting in to the traditional male business environ of the bars and strip clubs where a great many business deals go down. Also, there is a perception that women are not as ruthless as men, not such prostitutes to profit.

[@kyarochanda]

There is the issue of hours put in too - women tend to put in fewer hours per week on average, although they do more housework. But I do think she has a point in terms of the advice that women are given, which is skewed away from demonstrating those obvious skills towards the personal and intra-personal skills she mentions. If men show up to interviews without this warped advice and without the intimidating knowledge that fewer women make it to the top, they are perhaps more likely to emphasise the core skills management are looking for.

[@kittenforbunny]

Caroline Hutchinson Wow! You really think a significant number of business deals go down in step clubs? Men are cartoons in your mind. I've never heard it even suggested in my whole business life.

[@outlawJosieFox]

KITTEN for BUNNY Not step clubs dear...obviously...

[@kittenforbunny]

Josie Fox haha swipe type on my phone strikes again!

[@maggitPL]

Uhh... I have nothing against discussing and addressing gender issues but all this corpo-lingo is making me sick.

[@alvarogaravito6185]

oh look... yet another feminist TedTalk.

[@Cybernatural]

I think she has the right idea. Stop with the stupid social justice warrior advice and get good at what actually matters. Actually judge people on what matters as well, and people (I guess the women they are trying to help) will understand what they need in order to achieve their goals. This is good because it should show those women what they need to have been concentrating on the whole time. The kind of things guys are taught growing up playing with other guys.

[@muntedhippy]

help a great woman leader here... www.chuffed.org/project/women-in-sustainable-leadership

[@codylink]

Tldr

[@eamonn9586]

A fairly complete tableau of "leadership" hot air... "engage the greatness of others"- disney level rubbish. It is well known that the key to leadership is ... not known. Its like defining "goodness"- depends for whom, in which circumstances, for which ends

[@javohirsodikov9950]

Many problems with this video: 1. Title is irrelevant to the topic Content is about women. 2. Speaker is horrible speaker. No intro, bad pitch, nothing 3. Content is outdated. Nobody cares anymore about gender equality, because it is not a big problem anymore. We have other more significant issues today. Overall, it sucks!

[@VEVOJavier]

When i heard the first sentence i just thought, "damn, the amount of feminism in the internet is too damn high"

[@luisdanielmesa]

All she said was, "bullshit bullshit bullshit, be better than others to move up" #ListenAndBelieve Let's get an answer for this paradox... Imagine you want to close the gender gap at the top, and imagine there's a company that has 1 president. If the president is a man there's a "need" to close the "gender gap" but if it's a female, the gap has been closed... LOL so much for gender equality.

[@Aar0nMD]

So essentially it's male managers fault that female managers don't know they need business, strategic and financial acumen to be a successful high level manager? Did none of these female managers go to business school? This is business 101. When she said that the panel said this was a given, they are absolutely right. If you don't know that, then you need to take control of your own learning and not wait to just be told stuff.

[@bobpearsall7737]

No fault. It is a lost opportunity.

[@TheNearFantastica]

Her voice is too shaky to be convincing.

[@fisheatsyourhead]

Someone not at the top telling people how to get to the top.

[@Skweepa]

People at the top are too busy to talk to the kiddies. Obama probably didn't speak to a president to learn how to become president.

[@salma31000]

lol

[@molewizard]

Skweepa No, but he probably spent a lot of time talking to senior congressmen.

[@littlestworkshop]

Never heard of coaches?

[@GalenAus]

Big Phat Walrus actually no, she works with a lot of fortune 50 corporations...try doing some research first.

[@karthikraju7098]

You're forgetting about gender bias.

[@chromanin]

The average man is naturally more goal oriented (think: shopping) and less concerned with feelings as opposed to results than the average woman. This is likely due to our historical roles as the predators and guardians (muscle) while women nurtured our young. We've only been an agricultural species for a relatively short time, so we must keep in mind as society progresses that the genders may have natural tendencies which predispose them to success in certain areas, and this does not necessarily mean that anyone is being suppressed or diminished. The advice thing might be a bit misleading since the advice you get depends in part on what you project. It may be more useful (and less dependent on male attitudes) for women to simply recognize the power of the 'results matter' attitude that men tend to adopt, and make it theirs too (and many do!).

[@CreatableGaming]

GG LIFE

[@SirTimothyWilliam]

If women were paid less than men in an equivalent role/position, large companies would only hire women to lower their employment costs. Your salary directly reflects the amount of value you bring to your employer. Period. Here's a question, why don't feminist talk more about gender equality and less about eliminating only the things they dislike?

[@gaarasabure9261]

14 minutes of zero value.

[@MLLOCO2012]

I was expecting something interesting....

[@DEO777]

Women, if you want to lead, the best opportunity for you is in your role as a wife and mother in the home leading your children.

[@kouhaisempai4800]

Here's a cookie. Can I go over the bridge now? =D Pretty please?

[@teacake6941]

Your bait needs more blood on it:-)

[@MonicaMovieStar]

I feel sorry for you...

[@stinkleaf]

Leading on what experience? there is not much one can learn staying isolated at home. Where would her wisdom come from? TV? dont make me laugh.

[@theunbelievableme7615]

Yes, take care of your children. They might end up misogynistic and close-minded youtube commenters.

[@melissatasteswggg4243]

Lol - I liked the part where she´s saying your skills or experience doesn matter, if you´re a woman you should be in the leader position. We are in for some bad business if she gets her will through.

[@cams1894]

Why is this guy dressed as a woman?

[@CUM2america]

i thought this would have helped me. come to find out its just feminist bullshit

[@samirafriis]

She sounds so annoying, I struggle to follow what she says.

[@Laughing_Chinaman]

arn't these women just waiting for their much older male ceos to retire?

[@mournblank]

I stopped watching before it reached half of the video. As a male, I don't do sexist. Never. But why women are always superior in everything ? Example: International woman's day and no International man's day ? Why ? I believe there is no superior gender or inferior one. We are all human and all gender are at the same priority. Stop being sexist to Men. I kinda fed up with everything that related to gender whining story and talks about how super your gender is.

[@arthurrosa9403]

"I helped the woman build confidence and the man learn busines" Well thats beacause any man that wasn't fully confident on himself, and a great communicator, and had total control over his emotional state and how others percieve it, and full understanding over the company and it's methods. Would have been discarded at least 2 steps before in the ladder, and if he ever gave up on something or started to cry or lost one or any deal of importance over one or any personal motivation he would have lost his job or would be pointing pencils. He taught each what they needed to learn and have to feel bad because if not some feminist will call him a motherfucking sexist. LMFAO

[@SteveSmith-yg4kr]

This is ridiculous, TED must be running out if speakers.

[@kevendubin]

Does the "X" in TEDx stand for "Womens Studies" ?

[@umangb3149]

I saw that happening.

[@hitishasharma6014]

This is a masterpiece.