Carol Bartz: Legend in the Making

By Liz O’Donnell (Boston)

Carol Bartz has the makings of a legend. Recently plucked from software maker Autodesk to head the struggling Internet giant Yahoo, Bartz is one of a very, very small group of women who have ever led more than one large, public company. That she has broken through the glass ceiling, not once, but twice, is story enough. But her legend is more than that. It’s the breast cancer diagnosis the day she started at Autodesk; the months of chemotherapy while she worked. It’s her tough-talking, tell-it-like-it-is approach. According to Valleywag, a Gawker Media blog, she threatened to “dropkick to f*****g Mars” anyone at Yahoo who leaked company information to blogs. And then there is the time she opened a meeting at Autodesk by asking her direct reports, “Tell me why I shouldn’t fire the lot of you.” Whether the details are exact or not, they follow Bartz from job to job, from one media story to the next. It’s all part of the legend.

A big part of the legend, for working women everywhere who struggle to meet the demands of office, home, family, friends, parents, personal health, etc. is Bartz’ attitude when it comes to work/life balance. Bartz eschews the idea of balance. “Balance equals perfection. None of us are. So I think we just need to get over it,” she has said.

“I’ve heard her balance speech,” says a female manager at Autodesk. “I love it. I quote it to my team. She encourages people to have a longer view of balance instead of trying to cram it into one day or one week. Sometimes you have to be dedicated to work and then you put the brakes on and take care of your personal life.”

“Basically, you have to catch things before they hit the floor,” Bartz has said.

More legend-making material: Bartz reportedly used to sit down with her daughter and a calendar at the beginning of the school year and negotiate which school events she would attend and which she would miss. “Supposedly, she’d book five and then add two or three surprises,” says the Autodesk manager.

This isn’t typical working mom role-model material. The media is saturated with stories of working mothers, typically celebrities, who do it all: regain their killer figures weeks after giving birth, find complete satisfaction in motherhood and want for nothing more than the bliss of breastfeeding and diaper changing, continue to work at the top of their game, and never miss a key moment with their family. But negotiating with children? Admitting you will miss a school play? Refusing to strive for perfection? These things aren’t discussed in polite circles. For the women ready to embrace the truth, Bartz is a breath of fresh air.

“In reality, I’ve never met anyone who truly has a work/life balance, but it’s a choice that many of us make. It’s a personal choice,” says Marie Domingo, senior PR and social media consultant and former Autodesk employee. “She’s not alone, as most of us in this industry are tethered to our iPhones and Blackberrys. Bartz is an excellent example of a savvy, career-driven senior executive who exemplifies strength in leadership.”

Of course, so much of the legend will depend on how she performs at Yahoo. Two weeks into the job and the predictions are varied. Since her appointment on January 13 as Yahoo’s Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, industry watchers and analysts have commented on her lack of web and media experience. Autodesk was hardly cutting-edge they say. Can someone used to the slower moving software world handle the fast pace of the Internet arena?

Harry McCracken, founder and editor of the tech news site Technologizer, and the former editor-in-chief of PC World, says, “Yahoo went with someone who has a very strong reputation. Terry Semel had experience. He didn’t work out. Jerry Yang had experience. He didn’t work out. I know other examples of people who didn’t have direct experience who did well — Lou Gerstner at IBM, for example. So it can be done.”

Says Domingo, “Whether or not experience is in question, she’s a quick learner and can bring intelligent senior executives under her to help bring the Yahoo brand back into a more positive light for both consumers and investors alike. What’s a sure bet is that Bartz brings new vitality to a company that was starting to lose its luster.”

The Autodesk manager agrees. “She’s a total change agent. She has sales, engineering and CEO experience. She’s highly driven and she has vision.”

And as far as the rest of her legend she says, “She’s awesome and she intimidates the best of them –even the senior, trash-talking men in the industry. She made me want to shit bricks.”

And that may be just what Yahoo needs.