The Glass Ceiling Isn't Yours to Shatter
The barrier is real. Dismantling it is not your job
I’ve gotten increasingly cranky about the glass ceiling. Not because the barrier isn’t real — it absolutely is. But because the metaphor has been lying to us for decades, and the lie has a cost.
Here’s the lie: that if we work hard enough, smart enough, strategically enough, we can break through. That our advancement — or our stalling — is primarily a function of what we do or don’t do.
It isn’t.
Three things the glass ceiling metaphor gets wrong
First, women don’t build the glass ceiling. It’s constructed by the managers, executives, and board members whose decisions — about who gets opportunities, stretch assignments, and sponsorship — create the barriers. Since we didn’t build it, we can’t shatter it.
Second, the metaphor is factually wrong. What actually exists isn’t glass — it’s a semipermeable membrane. Not even all men make it to the top. What the membrane does is filter out certain personas and allow others through. Any woman who has reached unprecedented levels has either fit the profile the filter recognizes, or has benefited from a filter that changed — because the culture shifted or individual managers’ behaviors shifted.
Third, even if you accept the glass ceiling as the right image, it’s rarely shattered. One woman breaking through doesn’t guarantee others follow. If it were truly shattered, the path would be open. We know it isn’t.
What this means for us
For individual women, this reframe is both a relief and a reality check.
The relief: stop internalizing the barrier as your failure. Decisions that create career obstacles are being made by them — by managers whose mindsets about women, ambition, motherhood, and leadership are filtering us out. We are not responsible for their beliefs.
The reality check: this doesn’t mean there’s nothing within our control. Do an honest assessment. Are there skill or experience gaps to close — particularly in business, financial, and strategic acumen? If so, close them. If the gaps aren’t yours, and especially if no or few women around you are advancing, seek opportunity elsewhere or name what’s happening clearly.
What this means for organizations
For organizations, this reframe is an accountability statement.
The glass ceiling doesn’t exist in spite of your culture — it exists because of it. Because of the managers you promote, retain, and fail to hold accountable. Because of the mindsets you allow to govern hiring decisions. Because of the policies, practices, and norms that quietly make advancement harder for women.
Until you address the cause — manager mindsets and organizational systems — no amount of leadership development programming for women will solve the problem.
What women who actually get through have in common
My research on women who’ve reached executive leadership reveals consistent patterns:
They accumulate both line/operations and staff experience
Their networks are strong internally and externally — and shift increasingly outward as they progress
Their work shifts from operational to strategic as they advance
They apply Business Savvy to deliver concrete outcomes: launching new businesses, turning around failing ones, leveraging acquisitions
They take leadership roles in professional and then industry associations
They let go of comfortable skills to take on the next challenge
Notice what’s not on the list: breaking through anything. What they did was build the profile that opened the filter — often in organizations whose cultures had already begun to shift.
The bottom line
If you’ve been blaming yourself for a ceiling you didn’t build, stop. If you’ve been shouldering responsibility for breaking through, stop. Instead, own your path forward. The findings about highly successful women serve as a map. And maps are most useful when you know where you are. If you’re not sure where to focus next, that’s exactly what Be Business Savvy is here for.
And, what about organizations? If you lead an organization where women still aren’t advancing, look at your managers. Look at your systems. Look at your norms. And look at your leadership development ecosystem. Business savvy isn’t optional. Developing it in women is only half the equation. The other half is on you.
Lead ON!
Susan
If you’re looking for content that directly addresses the business, financial and strategic acumen you want more of - the kind of development that complements the presence and relational work you’re doing - the Be Business Savvy Course is built for exactly this purpose. Self-paced, with coaching support, designed to be accessible even if you didn’t come up through finance or strategy.
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Susan