1. Take the poll! pollev.com/leaderly
Have you ever taken on a stretch assignment? No
Yes
Yes, and I have assigned them to others
What the heck’s a stretch assignment?

2. Women, Men, and Readiness to Stretch Jo Miller
Early in her career, Cindy Pace got an unexpected visit from her boss.
A colleague had become ill while planning a 200-person conference.
Cindy’s boss came into her office and said:
“I know you’ve been contributing behind the scenes, but I really need you to step up and lead this thing.”
Cindy said, “It was one of those put on your big girl pants conversations.”
Even though she felt terrified, she had the self-awareness to realize:
“someone sees the leader in me. I should see the leader in me.”
She accepted the challenge, planned the conference, and the experience and exposure changed everything for her.
That assignment was turning point in her career and in seeing herself as a leader.
She’s now Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion, and head of the global women’s initiative for one of the world’s largest insurance companies.
Picture a pint-sized dynamo travelling the globe, encouraging women to step into the leadership pipeline.

3. What is a stretch assignment?

4. Stretch Assignment
A temporary assignment that helps an employee gain new experience and prepare for future roles from within their current position —while solving a real business issue.

5. For example… Forming a new alliance/partnership
Representing a division in a “reorg” or realignment
Relaunching an
Managing a VIP initiative that
client account previously failed
Getting closer
to the customer
Transitioning a process from manual to automated
Managing and communicating a change
Leadership of a turnaround or crisis
For example…
Re-engineering a broken process
Convening a taskforce to solve a tough problem
Analyzing your product mix

6. What is NOT a Stretch? Volunteering on the Fun Committee Office
housework
Volunteering on the Fun Committee
“More of the same” type work

7. An employee can benefit from a “stretch” when they want to:
Move up
Rebrand
Get “unstuck”
Make a comeback/be resilient
Be associated with a new department, leader or product
Any other benefits?

8. Employers can benefit from offering a “stretch” when they want to:
Offer a trial run.
Develop skills, at lower cost and higher return than other forms of development.
Provide cross-functional networking and knowledge-sharing.
Make an employee’s skills, value, and work ethic more visible.
Rapidly deploy talent to address business issues.
Any other benefits?

9. But can a stretch assignment create a true career breakthrough?

10. “21st-Century Talent Spotting,” Harvard Business Review, June 2014
Pop quiz!
? % of senior leaders named stretch assignments as the #1 factor in unleashing their career potential? 71
Egon Zehnder
“21st-Century Talent Spotting,” Harvard Business Review, June 2014

11. The most valuable career development experience
Action learning
Mentoring
Relationships
360° assessments
Exposure to more senior leaders
Formal classroom training
Stretch or rotational assignments
Planning a leadership development journey, Korn Ferry, 2014

12. Women In The Workplace Study 2017, McKinsey & Co. and Lean In
People who land stretch assignments are more likely than other employees to get raises.
Women In The Workplace Study 2017, McKinsey & Co. and Lean In

13. Describe a time when you took on a stretch
Group discussion & report-out.
Describe a time when you took on a stretch

14. Have you ever taken on a stretch assignment?

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16. Do men and women have equal access to stretch assignments?

17. Women are less likely than men to obtain stretch assignments.
Women In The Workplace Study 2017, McKinsey & Co. and Lean In

18. Out of the Comfort Zone How Women and Men Size Up Stretch Assignments — and Why Leaders Should Care
Knowing the career-transforming power, and that women are less likely to attract them, we were surprised to find how little study had been done.
We wanted to understand whether men & women sized up stretch assignments different, and what criteria they took into account, and how employers could create a more stretch-friendly workplace.
So we surveyed 1500 US professionals.

19. Equal ambition
Women have equal (if not greater) ambition than to move into VP-level or C- level roles. (51% vs 48%)

20. What Be Leaderly’s Research Reveals…
"I feel engaged and passionate
in my current job."
"My company makes it easy for me to gauge my readiness to advance."
Out of the Comfort Zone: How women and men size up stretch assignments — and why leaders should care.

21. Women feel they need to arrive great not become great
We found women less likely than men to be comfortable applying for a new role that’s a stretch while meeting only the ”bare minimum” requirements. (55% vs 65%)
Women are more likely than men to underestimate or “round down” their skills when assessing how ready they are for a new job (and less likely to “round up.”)

22. Criteria that makes a stretch assignment “Yesable”
Out of the Comfort Zone: How women and men size up stretch assignments — and why leaders should care.

23. Men and women agree…
Office politics, not lack of time, is the greatest practical challenge to taking on a stretch assignment.

24. Women are more likely than men to prioritize exposure to key mentors and sponsors (18% vs 11%.)
Men are 3.5 times more likely more likely than women to cite ‘pay’ as a factor that makes a stretch assignment appealing.

25. How can leaders level the playing field?
Small group discussions

26. Who has done unconscious bias training?

27. How companies can create a culture of “stretch”
Initiate more stretch conversations
Encourage a growth mindset
Create an open marketplace for stretch opportunities

28. What is 1 thing you'll do differently after today's session?

29. — Jo Miler & Selena Rezvani
“When an organization has a well- thought-out plan for offering and overseeing stretch assignments, they are less likely to be seen as political, biased, or promoting favoritism.”
— Jo Miler & Selena Rezvani
Small group discussions

30. Be an L3
Don’t just be a leader – be an L – to the power of 3 – be a leader who develops leaders who develop leaders. If you’re in, repeat after me: L-YES!
Pat on back, fist-bump with sparkles.

31. What is 1 thing you'll do differently after today's session?