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drown in much greater numbers than adolescent and adult females. But in business, being risk averse
can result in stagnation. An analysis of senior corporate management appointments found that women
are significantly more likely than men to continue to perform the same function even when they take
on new duties. And when female managers move up, they are more likely to do so internally instead of
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switching to a different company. At times, staying in the same functional area and in the same
organization creates inertia and limits opportunity to expand. Seeking out diverse experiences is useful
preparation for leadership.

I understand the external pressures that force women to play it safe and stay put. Gender stereotypes
can make it hard to move into positions traditionally held by men. Women are also more likely to
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accommodate a partner’s career than the other way around. A job change that includes moving to
another city may be a nonstarter for a woman in a relationship. The result is the unfortunate tautology
that the tendency to stay put leads to staying put.

Being risk averse in the workplace can also cause women to be more reluctant to take on
challenging tasks. In my experience, more men look for stretch assignments and take on high-visibility
projects, while more women hang back. Research suggests that this is particularly true for women in
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environments that emphasize individual performance or when women are working closely with men.

One reason women avoid stretch assignments and new challenges is that they worry too much about
whether they currently have the skills they need for a new role. This can become a self-fulfilling
prophecy, since so many abilities are acquired on the job. An internal report at Hewlett-Packard
revealed that women only apply for open jobs if they think they meet 100 percent of the criteria listed.
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Men apply if they think they meet 60 percent of the requirements. This difference has a huge ripple
effect. Women need to shift from thinking “I’m not ready to do that” to thinking “I want to do that—
and I’ll learn by doing it.”

My first day at work at the World Bank, Larry Summers asked me to perform some calculations. I
was at a loss on how to proceed, so I turned to Lant Pritchett for help. “Just put it into Lotus 1-2-3,” he
advised. I told him that I didn’t know how to do that. “Wow,” he exclaimed. “I can’t believe you’ve ◇◇網◇

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gotten this far, or even how you can understand basic economics, without knowing how to use Lotus.”
I went home convinced that I was going to get fired. The next day, Lant sat me down. My heart was
pounding. But instead of firing me, he taught me how to use the program. That’s a great boss.

Women are also more reluctant to apply for promotions even when deserved, often believing that
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good job performance will naturally lead to rewards. Carol Frohlinger and Deborah Kolb, founders of
Negotiating Women, Inc., describe this as the “Tiara Syndrome,” where women “expect that if they
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keep doing their job well someone will notice