Voice of Experience: Margaret Enloe, Principal and Associate General Counsel, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

By Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

Life lessons that come from one’s parents are not uncommon. But when your parent is the founder of an NGO—specifically, UN We Believe (which ultimately became the Business Council for the UN)—such lessons are as likely to come from a speech as from casual dinner conversation.

And it was a speech by her father that taught Margaret Enloe one of her most treasured life lessons: If it is meant to be, it is up to me.

Ms. Enloe, Associate General Counsel in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Office of the General Counsel explained, “You can hope or expect others to act, but it’s almost never a given. If you really want something to happen, it’s up to you. You have to be proactive. And, it’s not about complaining, or worrying or blaming someone else when things aren’t going right. It is much more ‘let’s try to figure this out and where do I start.’”

Enloe has had many occasions to apply her “adapt and overcome” skills, including the time when, at the age of 14, she went to live with a family in Geneva, Switzerland. “It was very tough at first. With just one year of junior high French under my belt, I was suddenly learning everything—math, Latin, biology and Swiss history—in French. It was an uphill climb for the first three months. And I was very homesick, so it was difficult in that respect as well. But I just studied very hard and translated everything and, by the time Christmas vacation came around, I was very comfortable with the family, the school, my French, and, of course, all the skiing.”

“That was a difficult number of challenges to take on at that age. Yet, I think it helped me understand later on in life that, even if something seems really difficult or unpleasant, I can probably get through it and succeed.” Adapt, and overcome.

Taking an Alternative Path

Enloe returned to her hometown—a small, idyllic village in Westchester County, New York—and finished high school. She then went off to college at Swarthmore, but soon began to question whether she really wanted to be in that environment at that time. “Good friends of mine were on a trans-Pacific sailing adventure that was being filmed for a movie and there I was at school, studying my tail off. It made me think that I could be doing other things.”

She decided to leave college in the middle of her first semester, not knowing exactly what she was going to do, but knowing she would have to figure it out quickly. “This was not the mainstream thing to do. My parents were very nice about the whole thing. I always knew I’d ultimately go back to school, but I needed to get a job.”

Enloe found a position as secretary at an advertising agency, rented an apartment with two other young women in Manhattan and started to create an entirely new life for herself in New York City. Although she never intended to build a career there, she worked her way up the ladder in the agency, first to traffic manager and, ultimately, to office manager, positions that came with an office, a secretary and responsibility.

She was doing so well that she chose to continue at the agency while working on a bachelor’s degree in English and Political Science at Hunter College in the evenings. “I was not ready to give up work and career, my independence and money to go back to a purely academic existence. By continuing at the agency, I was able to pay for my college education and post graduate studies, which I’m happy about.”

After graduating magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Hunter, Enloe decided to go to law school. “I thought it would give me a foundation in something that was understood by many and would make it easier for me to get a good job. It was a way to invest in myself. But it wasn’t as if I grew up thinking I wanted to be a lawyer. It was a stepping stone towards another career that would be enhanced by having a J.D.”

Enloe attended New York Law School, where she excelled academically and in Moot Court, a trial simulation program that helps future litigators develop their oral argument skills. She followed that with a 15-month federal judicial clerkship with the Honorable James T. Giles in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “I was immersed in trials, settlement conferences, plea agreements and a lot more. It was very much a training ground for a litigation career.”

Following her clerkship, she joined Skadden Arps in New York as a litigation associate and worked on mergers and acquisitions, hostile takeovers and general commercial disputes. Three years later, a headhunter approached her with an opportunity to join Coopers & Lybrand, a legacy firm to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

She was initially apprehensive, concerned that an in-house position with a large accounting firm wouldn’t offer her the same variety she had experienced in prior jobs. “But what I learned fairly quickly was that each matter, each case is different. There are the underlying concepts of accounting standards and auditing principles that often come into play, but there is a lot of variety. The issues, the facts and the people are always different.”

As one of 32 attorneys in the Office of the General Counsel, Enloe represents the firm in a variety of legal matters but focuses primarily on the management and oversight of litigation as well as SEC, and other regulatory matters. “Working with the partners and employees of the firm, all of whom have a lot of dedication and discipline, is a very rewarding experience,” she says.

Five years after joining the firm—while out on maternity leave with the first of her three children—Enloe was made a principal with PwC. Since then, she’s logged some of her proudest career achievements, including the successful outcomes of two important trials she managed. “In both those trials, our lead trial lawyer was a woman and they did outstanding jobs. I was able to support them but also had to distill a lot of information coming at me for eight to ten hours a day from fact witnesses, experts and endless documents to keep the home team abreast of what was going on so we could make decisions as things came up.”

Stay Flexible to Manage Work and Home Obligations

Enloe believes that flexibility is key when trying to manage competing work and personal obligations. “I always try to stay flexible. Deadlines change, meetings get scheduled and kids get sick; you have to learn to take it in stride, to adjust and revise plans and roll with it. Unexpected things are always happening. You have to deal with it, and quickly.” About a year ago, as her son was getting ready to embark on college visits and applications, Enloe was diagnosed with breast cancer. This suddenly meant many more doctor visits, chemotherapy and finally radiation. “It was out of the blue, for sure. But, I had to deal with it and keep going, with help of course, on a number of fronts, including at home and at the office. I’m doing fine now.” Again, adapt and overcome.

Enloe does have to plan her days, often carving out time early in the morning to handle work matters before the craziness of the day starts. “I get up early – to get some time with my work before the kids get out of bed. I find that early time is best for me. I generally don’t do work at night except Sundays; I might get online to see what’s going on and review what’s in my briefcase. I use that time to get organized for Monday and make sure there are no surprises I may have forgotten from Friday.”

She adds that having reliable help is important as well. “My husband and I hired a very good nanny to watch our kids and, as a result, I didn’t have to fret about them each day getting to school, getting home and getting a good dinner. This took a lot of strain away. It gave me a lot of peace of mind, and generally, more time to play with the kids. Playing is good.”

Advice to Women in Business

“This may sound strange or trivial, but make sure you learn to have a good handshake,” said Enloe. “When I came to Coopers & Lybrand, I was in competition with someone from an Ivy League school. I was given the job, in part, because they liked the way I shook hands. It obviously stuck with me. If I get a good handshake, I like it. If I get a hand shake that doesn’t feel right, I remember it.”

Enloe also advises not to be intimidated by others. She says her father, who met many business and political leaders during his NGO career, shared a “great truth” with her that helped him: “Don’t forget, everybody is 95% water.” Remembering that, she says, can help at times to overcome the fear of someone who otherwise might be intimidating. “It can calm the nerves.”

Finally, she counsels to seize opportunities, to try to stand out and do something out of one’s comfort zone. “Men are better at that than women, which is why mentors, advocates and role models continue to be important.”

But, in the end, Enloe says, it’s up to you.