Breaking Through Resistance: Achieving More by Overcoming Your Blocks

By Robin Madell (San Francisco)

Do you find yourself repeatedly facing a particular type of task or experience that you just don’t want to deal with? What is it that keeps us stuck in some areas, unable to move forward even when we desperately want to do so?

According to the American Psychological Association’s Stress in America survey, participants list lack of willpower as the top reason they fail to move forward with changes. But while you may think that you can push your way through your blocks by the force of sheer willpower, that may not be enough.

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Voice of Experience: Beverly Anderson, Executive Vice President and Head of Consumer Financial Services Group, Wells Fargo

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

According to Beverly Anderson, Executive Vice President and Head of Wells Fargo Consumer Financial Services Group, one of the most important lessons she has learned during her career is what it means to be a leader.

“I got some really good advice a few years ago from one of my mentors, and it has helped me so much as a leader,” Anderson said. “I’m an intense person and I push pretty hard to achieve at a high bar. And what I’ve learned about that style is that it sometimes keeps people from coming along with me.”

She continued, “If my style impedes people from getting on board, that destroys my leadership brand and my ability to lead effectively.”

“What I’ve been working on is taking all of that passion and excitement and energy around business achievement, and funneling it in the right way to motivate and inspire the team I work with. It’s a fundamental shift in the way I lead and connect with my teams and partners. It’s been transformative for me.”

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Time to Rebuild: What to Do If Your Personal Brand is Killing Your Career

Contributed by CEO Coach Henna Inam

Do you have a personal brand? Trust me. We all do. “It’s what they say about you when you’ve left the room,” says the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. But what if what they’re saying about you is killing your career?

I had an executive coaching client who was absolutely brilliant. She could see several steps ahead of anyone else on strategy & execution details, was the go-to person when the impossible needed to be done and no one had the guts to do it. There was just this one tiny issue. She didn’t know how to manage people. She left bodies in her path and this was preventing her from getting additional bodies reporting to her. While she had made some progress in this area, she couldn’t shake off the bad reputation. Do you know the skeletons in your personal brand closet? How do we shake these off?

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Voice of Experience: Paula Anderson, Partner, Litigation, Shearman & Sterling

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

At just 36, Paula Anderson, a partner in Shearman & Sterling’s litigation practice, has already earned a national reputation, having been named to Crain’s NY Business Magazine’s “40 Under 40” list and having received the National Organization for Women’s 2012 Women of Power and Influence Award.

It is not lost on her that these are significant achievements for an African American woman in an industry where diversity is still too rare.

“I’ve been interested in diversity in the legal industry since I began my career, and it still concerns me,” she said. “I go to industry functions and there are hundreds of attorneys there, and I am often the only person of color or maybe one of about five out of hundreds. I’ve always been driven to find a way we in the legal industry can address that, to better reflect the students graduating from law school.”

Anderson is doing her part at Shearman & Sterling. She is a member of the firm’s Diversity Committee, has been active in the firm’s WISER (Women’s Initiative for Success, Excellence and Retention) inclusion network, and was the first chairperson of the firm’s African American inclusion network BLAQUE (Black Lawyers Aligned in the Quest for Excellence).

“Through our various inclusion networks, we aim not just at recruiting diverse lawyers but promoting them as well,” she explained. “At the mid-level we lose a number of these lawyers. We see too many people opt out or pursue other careers. It is an industry-wide issue.”

Anderson adds that Shearman & Sterling’s inclusion networks are designed to enable people to advance by providing two key factors for success in a legal career: mentoring and programs focused on business development and networking. She has been very open in talking with young lawyers about the stereotypes that women and people of color must contend with in their line of business.

“Access to the pathways to success also means dealing with some of the unconscious biases that may exist,” she said. “For example, there are certain preconceptions some people have with respect to women not having boardroom presence or not being aggressive enough. Particularly in the litigation field, there are certain ideas of what a successful and capable litigator should look like, and that’s often something akin to a Perry Mason.”

That’s why visibility is so important for successful role models, she added. “We need examples of women who are successful, who have their own unique style and are being themselves, and are able to relate to a board or a jury. We are making some progress in addressing these types of challenges.”

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Movers & Shakers: Latasha Brown, Senior Manager, Assurance, PwC

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Latasha Brown, Senior Manager, Assurance, at PwC says she is cautious about speaking for all women in accounting when it comes to the challenges associated with gender or race. “But,” she continued, “I can certainly speak for myself, and the experiences of my close associates and colleagues. And I would say one of the main barriers or hurdles is holding onto the belief that it’s enough to just show up and be good.”

“It really is important to develop meaningful relationships with your clients, advocates and sponsors. I still find that some of our male counterparts tend do a better job of selling themselves, and putting themselves out there,” she explained.

“In my experience the challenge for women is not to put those limitations on yourself, by staying inside your comfort zone.” She added, “I have learned that opportunities come to those who step outside that comfort zone.”

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Voice of Experience: Dayle Davison, Managing Director, Citi Private Bank

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Dayle Davison, Managing Director at Citi Private Bank, spoke enthusiastically about the importance of networking – particularly for African American professionals.

“Are there challenges for African Americans and women in this industry?” Davison asked. “Sure. But I don’t think they are as prevalent as they might have been in the past. We have come a long way.”

“When I first joined the bank, women wore a uniform – nondescript suits with weird ties. Now we are able to wear clothing that doesn’t try to hide the fact that we’re women,” she continued. “But I think the biggest barrier is the absence of an historical network for women, and definitely for African Americans.”

She referred to a recent Fortune Magazine interview with Bob Johnson, the founder of BET. “He speaks very broadly about building strategic partnerships and your brand identity, but also, he discusses challenges that African Americans in business have faced in breaking through barriers.”

“It comes down to that historical network we haven’t had,” she continued, “but we’re building it, and I feel very good about the future.”

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Movers and Shakers: Harlo Holmes, Research Fellow and Head of Metadata, The Guardian Project

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Harlo Holmes, a Research Fellow at the Guardian Project, says she is just getting started in her career. But as a lead developer on two of the Guardian Project’s biggest endeavors – ObscuraCam and InformaCam, the latter of which just received a sizeable grant from the Knight Foundation – she is certainly a rising star in the open source technology space.

She believes there are some challenges for women and people of color in the tech world, but it depends on the norms of each particular area of the industry. “It’s really difficult in any field for anyone who doesn’t fit the status quo to thrive. But I’m incredibly optimistic about it,” she said.

In the Silicon Valley atmosphere – of which, Holmes emphasized, she is not a part – those challenges may be more pronounced. “I think it’s difficult for anyone who’s not in the status quo, but I think it’s less a problem of overt sexism or racism, but rather more of nepotism or a level of comfort with people who look like them, who fit a model they have seen in college or their grad program. It’s harder to get attention if you don’t fit the mold.”

The open source space is different, she continued. “Why I’m incredibly optimistic about my field is that it feels more like a meritocracy. You can contribute for years and no one knows your identity. The ethos is that we all work together where we can be useful so our project thrives.”

“In the circles we run in, there are more minorities – you’re not the only one in the room. You’re not a unicorn,” she continued with a laugh. “There need to be more and I believe there will be more. You can see the result of increasing diversity – we’re getting better and better.”

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Developing Multicultural Competence

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By Robin Madell (San Francisco)

“Everyone has a cultural lens based on their own socialization. It’s important to realize that we all make assumptions. The important task is to check that assumption for validity.”
–Tonnie Martinez, PhD, Assistant Professor, Kansas State University

It’s impossible to avoid unconscious biases, and being able to recognize and work through them is a critical skill for the leaders of today’s diverse, global companies.

Attorney Jennifer Passannante at the New Jersey firm Hoagland Longo Moran Dunst & Doukas, LLP has had conversations with friends and colleagues about how dangerous “latent as opposed to blatant” discrimination can be. “Subtle but pervasive discrimination often manifests itself in workplace patterns, as opposed to acute incidents,” says Passannante.

“Psychological research has shown that issues regarding racism, sexism, and homophobia (to name just a few) run deep into our unconscious process and influence the way we view the world,” adds Silvia Dutchevici, president and founder of the Critical Therapy Center. “Reflection plays a big part in identifying these biases and in changing them. Examining one’s own biases and prejudicial attitudes, particularly when one is learning about and working with different identity groups, facilitates a process of change.”

To that end, leaders can take the initiative to begin recognizing their own blind spots when it comes to diversity, and start to change behaviors that may be holding others and themselves back. Here are some ideas on how to develop your multicultural competence:

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Voice of Experience: Anne Robinson, Chief Counsel, Global Commercial Services and U.S. Consumer Travel, American Express

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

After graduating with Honors from Hampton University, Anne Robinson went on to study law at Columbia Law School. She joined the law firm of Milbank Tweed, and then moved to an in house role at Deloitte Consulting before joining American Express. What attracted her to the company, she said, was its female General Counsel Louise M. Parent, who had a reputation for supporting women in the company and in the legal profession at large.

Now, having worked for American Express for nine years, Robinson is Chief Counsel for Global Commercial Services and US Consumer Travel, leading the legal team supporting several of the company’s lines of business.

Robinson says she enjoys working in the office of the General Counsel. “It’s not a business unit that has to deliver products or services, and it’s not like marketing or advertising either. We’re business advisors, and for me, the greatest achievement is feeling like I’ve been consistently able to gain the trust and respect of my clients and serve them as a trusted advisor.”

Building those relationships every day is what she likes about her job, she continued, “If I didn’t like the day-to-day, my job satisfaction would be limited. If my clients are excited, I’m excited and that’s why I’ve been here almost ten years now.”

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The Praise Paradox: Why Praise Doesn’t Always Lead to Confidence

Contributed by Tara Sophia Mohr

Growing up, I was often told I was a “great writer.” In school, when I handed in essays, short stories, or research papers, I usually got them back with an A at the top. I even won writing contests and awards.

For a while, I felt confident about my abilities. Yet as time went on, particularly through college and graduate school, I started feeling more and more insecure about my writing ability. When I landed in elite writing workshops at a top university, the negative feedback I got from professors was hard to recover from. Did it mean I wasn’t a good writer after all? Eventually, I became too overcome by insecurity to enjoy writing or to write much at all.

My story is a common one. Many women find themselves full of paralyzing self-doubt about the very things they’ve been praised for. It’s the opposite of what we’d expect. What’s going on here?

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