Posted on May 13, 2012 by Cynthia Pladziewicz

Changing the Boardroom One Awesome Woman at a Time

melisa%20denis-1.pngThis morning I received another email from Melisa Denis, Senior Partner at KPMG and President of The Board Connection. It struck me that I've been getting these emails for two years now, week in and week out without fail. They start with a heading such as "New Board Opportunity-Global Glassware Company" and are followed by Melisa's request to "contact me if you have the required credentials." Many of the opportunities come through her fellow visionaries at the fifteen regional groups (such as The Board Connection) who comprise a network called InterOrganization Network (ION).

This morning I responded to Melisa's email and thanked her. I just can't believe how consistently committed she is. Her reply: "Changing the boardroom one awesome woman at a time." 

Here's the other part that inspires me. Melisa's passion is not about her personal ambitions. As a Partner at KPMG, Melisa can't serve as an outside director on a public corporate board. What I've noticed though is that in her life and in her work she is fueled by a strong system of beliefs and values. One of her core beliefs is that diversity matters to all of us.  She says: 

On any board of directors, if you can only fill the room with people who think like you, how can you get the best result for customers, shareholders, and everyone in between?  Women think differently,--That difference adds value.  It is that diversity that makes a board stronger.

So this morning I would like to help find find a few more awesome women. Do you know any? Perhaps you?

If so, check out The ION website to learn more about the whys and hows of corporate board membership and how to join with Melisa and men and women like her across the country.  They are changing the boardroom-- one awesome woman at a time.  

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Cynthia Pladziewicz

Microaggressions: How we unintentionally injure our friends and clients

Everyone has experienced it, a brief back-handed slight wrapped in the form of praise. Sara Martin writes in this month's issue of Monitor on Psychology about the ways in which these sometimes unintentional acts leave lasting damage. She points by way of example to the "praise" that others have bestowed on Asian-American educator and author, Dr. Derald Wing Sue with repect to his "excellent" English language skills. According to SuThumbnail image for diversity.jpge, such statements only serve to remind him that he is a "perpetual alien in my own country." 

As professionals, most of us do not intend aggression or ill-will towards our clients and colleagues.  It's just hard sometimes to understand what it's like to be in the other person's shoes.  What are some of the most common microaggressions you can look out for?  Here are a few suggested by Sue, Martin and others:

  • Praising the English language skills of Asian-Americans
  • Praising the articulateness of an African-American
  • Suggest that a position could be filled by a "qualified" member of any diverse group (as if that's an anomoly)
  • Speaking louder to someone who is blind
  • Commenting on the hairstyles, weight or attire of female employees
  • ignoring the partner of gay, lesbian and transgendered clients in invitations or conversation
  • Assuming that a female partner does not want to work on a weekend when a new opportunity comes along
  • Asking a Latino where he was born
  • Suggesting that "white men" view the world in a particular way
  • Suggesting that a man's taking paternity leave is not as legitimate as a woman taking maternity leave

Have you experienced a microaggression?  Let me know.  I would love to share an expanded list in a future blog.  

 

Thanks to Sanjay for the great photo.  

 

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Cynthia Pladziewicz

Do Women Wait Too Long Before Claiming Power?

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Do women handle recognition and power differently than men?

In a recent interview, Karen Moses, Chief Operating Officer of Australia's Origin Energy put it this way:  

The key difference I see between men and women at work is that the men are prepared to demand to be heard and recognized before they have demonstrated their worth.  Women wait to be recognized well past the time when their value is clear to everyone around them.  
I encourage women to accept that they have an equal right to be there, to recognize the value of their contribution and to not apologize for their difference.  

Moses really hits it on the head.  Women on the whole undervalue their contributions and are more likely to stand back and wait for someone (often a male leader) to recognize them.  Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, we valiantly lead and encourage our peers, craft novel solutions to all sorts of dilemnas, bravely take on flying monkeys and witches, yet wait for the man behind the curtain to “grant” us the power that we carried inside us from the very beginning.  


Why is it that women hold back?  Do we avoid, fear, even disdain power?  In her book Powering Up, Anne Doyle quotes Kim Campbell, former prime minister of Canada and a woman with a great attitude towards power: 

 

I love power.  I want it.  I'm power hungry. Not for myself but because when I have power I can accomplish things.  I can serve my community, I can help open doors for deserving people and I can influence decisions.  If you think you would exercise it ethically, don’t disdain power.  You must embrace it as the essential currency for making things happen.”

Put that way, embracing power seems much more authentic and congruent with my values.  What do you think?

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Cynthia Pladziewicz

A Landmaam and an Engineer: Investing in the Next Generation of Women Leaders

g2e22e20000000000004e0fee540c16331dc1fe07fe94f803649f5d30c1.jpgRecently I spoke to an impressive group of women leaders attending the Women's Energy Network North Texas leadership conference.  As I looked out on this successful group of women, I couldn't help but think how proud June Brooks (pictured here) would have been.  I was privileged to know Mrs. Brooks in the 1970's when I was a young woman coming of age in the oil patch town of Ardmore, Oklahoma.   An accomplished speaker who proudly introduced herself as a "landmaam," she was the only woman delegate to the World Petroleum Congress held in Tokyo in 1975.  For those not familiar with the term, a landman refers to men and women who handle the business end of oil, gas and mineral production. In the 1970's, most landmen were in fact men. So back then knowing a landmaam, much less one who had travelled from Ardmore all the way to Japan, was important to aspiring young women like me.  

Today, more women have entered the energy industry, but few hold top leadership positions. That's why it mattered deeply that Lisa Stewart gave a good part of her day to speak to the Women's Energy Network leadership group. Stewart, a petroleum engineer by training, Founder and CEO of Sheridan Production Partners and former President of El Paso Exploration & Production, spoke with wisdom, humility, humor and grace. (How could you expect anything less from a woman who named her company after her yellow labrador retriever?) But what mattered more than her words was her presence.  This is a woman who has a lot on her mind at the moment, including how to invest almost $3 billion in capital.  She could have met with the group by video conference or rushed in and out.  But she didn't do that.  So her presence sent a message that was more important than any words she, or those of us following her at the podium, could express:

You can do it.  Your leadership matters.  You are someone I'm willing to invest in.

Really the same message June Brooks sent back in 1975. 

So thanks to June Brooks and thanks to Lisa Stewart.  I think your investment is going to pay off.  

 

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Cynthia Pladziewicz

Women Lawyers: So many achievers, where are the leaders?

AnneDoyle5_72.jpgAnne Doyle, author of Powering Up, a new field guide for women leaders, asks:  

So many achievers, where are the leaders?

Her question is particularly relevant for women lawyers. In a nation where women have comprised half of law school graduates for the past 10 years, a percentage that has steadily increased from 35% in 1985, how is it that so few women fill leadership positions in law firms, industry and government? A recent survey by the National Association of Women Lawyers revealed that only 15% of equity partners in America's largest law firms are women, a number that has changed very little over the past five years. And, according to the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, only one in five Fortune 500 General Counsel is a woman. Women comprise half of American voting public, yet women comprise less then 18% of the U.S. Congress.

At a reception sponsored by Marsha Clark, former President of EDS's health care unit, I joined a group of men and women leaders who gathered to discuss these questions with Doyle, a Hall of Fame sports journalist and former auto industry leader. When it comes to moving from achiever to leader, Doyle speaks from experience. Today women sports broadcasters are commonplace, but when Doyle entered the profession, some sports teams threatened to close locker rooms to reporters altogether rather than admitting her.  Doyle persevered, succeeded and now shares her own insights and those of over 125 women leaders she interviewed for her book.

How do women achievers become leaders?  Doyle's research suggests seven components:

  1. Discover your purpose.  Know who you are, whom and what you care about deeply and lead from that awareness.
  2. Raise your voice. Get past your fears, especially of criticism from others, polish up your communications skills and share your vision.
  3. Break the rules.  Doyle says that women leaders break the rules, but they do that with skill and knowledge.  
  4. Claim power.  Don't wait for someone to give you power.  You have to claim it.
  5. Drink at dangerous waters. Travel, spend time with diverse people, interact with your rivals and take risks.  According to Doyle, it is in these "dangerous waters" that leadership is forged.
  6. Get back in the saddle.  Welcome and learn from setbacks and keep moving.
  7. Embrace the strength of your "womaninity."  To fully understand this concept, you need to read the book.  But here's the gist:  Effective women leaders don't try to be one of the guys. Rather they "relax into their own skin" and bring to the leadership table their unique skills and strengths. They often approach things differently than the guys would, but are equally or more effective.  

Why is it important for women to lead?  Doyle says "size matters."  Citing a 2009 report published by Ernst & Young, Doyle reminds us that when female leadership reaches a critical mass in an organization, specifically one-third of the highest level leaders, bottom line performance increases significantly.  For the typical law firm management committee, that translates to 3 to 4 women members.

Doyle closes her book with a quote from poet and author Maya Angelou that pretty much sums it all up:

If you're born a girl, grow up and live long enough, you can become an old female.  But to become a woman is a serious matter.  A woman takes responsibility for the time she takes up and the space she occupies.

Maya Angelou

If your firm or organization has more than one-third women in top leadership positions, I would love to feature you in my blog and share with others what your experience has been.