You’re probably already familiar with the term “glass ceiling”, the metaphor used to describe barriers that keep women from achieving the highest positions in their job fields. But as women take on more leadership roles and see the glass ceiling begin to crack, the challenges facing businesswomen have started to evolve into new forms. Among those new forms is the “glass cliff”. The glass cliff is a phenomenon where a female leader finally reaches a position of power only to realize that the company she’s been appointed to lead is on the precipice of failure. While they’re technically able to break through the glass ceiling in this situation, women on the glass cliff are set up to reach that summit only to fall right back off and back to where they started.
But the glass cliff doesn’t have to be as deadly as it is expected to be. Businesswomen can find their footing and overcome the difficulties of the glass cliff by studying their company’s data trends, building a network of trusted colleagues, and playing to their own unique strengths as a leader.
Just as women are equally as capable as men to hold positions at the highest altitudes of power, they are equally as capable to manage the crises bound to occur in those positions. The glass cliff is a difficult position for anyone to be in, but it’s not one impossible for women to overcome.