“Increasing diversity is not the responsibility of women or the minority group alone,” says Roger Mitchell. “What is often overlooked is that everybody benefits from diversity, because there is a clear impact on the bottom line, and strong correlation to increased performance, engagement and innovation.”
On his journey to becoming a strong champion of diversity, Mitchell began his career in the UK with Ford Motor Company in a series of human resources roles.Ford eventually offered him the opportunity to move to Detroit, where he lived for 15 years. After a stint as head of HR for Ford’s global IT group, Mitchell segued into a position leading the global IT strategy team. He later joined Fidelity as a member of the HR leadership team. Mitchell subsequently came to TIAA-CREF as the managing director of IT business and resource management, and as a member of the IT leadership team.
Throughout his career, Mitchell has identified the need to expand roles for women as a business imperative. “In IT specifically there’s already a shortage of talent, and it’s tightening even more,” he says. “There’s a necessity to attract and retain both talented women and men, because we are under a tremendous amount of pressure for those skills.”
The Light Bulb Moment
Mitchell first became a diversity champion during his time at Ford when he ended up in a significant disagreement with his boss over missing a meeting to take his kids to the doctor. “When he asked me why my wife couldn’t do it, I had to explain that she worked too, and she had an important meeting at that time and couldn’t miss it,” Mitchell recounts, adding that was when he realized that everyone benefits from flexibility.
He recalls that earlier in his career it was expected that men would put in unlimited numbers of hours as the breadwinner, and he found there were times he didn’t get to spend the time he wanted to with his own family.
Part of changing this traditional mindset is challenging premises such as “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus,” as espoused by John Gray in his best-selling book.
“I don’t believe that our differences are so extreme, that we might as well be from different planets. I frame it more as men are from earth, and women are from earth too.”
While he agrees that there may be some differences in communication styles, he points out that there are differences even among people of the same gender or across different cultures. “I find it more productive to spend my time focusing on similarities between men and women and any other groups,” he said emphasizing how focusing on differences is divisive and can be the catalyst for unconscious bias.
Identifying and Managing Unconscious Bias
Mitchell is sensitive to unconscious bias, and one example he has seen is how women are judged more on performance than on their potential. He also finds that they are remembered for their mistakes more than their achievements, and that they continually walk a tightrope between being too masculine or too feminine.
“You are either not liked or not respected when you get on the wrong side of the tightrope,” he says.
In Mitchell’s view, systemic change is what will count. He sees his role as impacting those systems to advocate for diversity and inclusion — whether that’s in the areas of employee development or compensation.
“Early in my career we would look at numbers and targets and make symbolic appointments but if they were the wrong appointments, that would set everything back,” he said.
One systemic change he is working on is reviewing job descriptions to check for unconscious bias. He has found implied hours of work or exaggerated amounts of travel that might deter women when in fact they might not really be necessary. To help solve the problem, he says he asks his team to really think about whether the targets they are offering are typical or an extreme example.
Other areas ripe for diversity opportunities are talent review meetings where high potential females are identified. Mitchell says he has challenged his peers in those meetings to validate their selections and compare them to the female candidates.
“We have to look at all of our processes and make sure that there are no unconscious biases,” Mitchell said. “My role as an advocate is to remind people to make sure we’re not missing those who might not be getting the attention and exposure they deserve.”
He also knows that you have to interrupt unconscious bias as it is happening – maybe when you notice that someone is not being heard in a meeting, try to stop the flow of conversation and help them get the floor to make their point.
Spending Political Capital Wisely
Throughout his career, Mitchell has often acted as a sponsor, and in doing so realized that it requires him to use some of his own political capital. He also appreciates that his own sponsors, who value his judgment, help him lobby for those whom he is sponsoring. “It is crucial to focus on talent and use your political capital wisely or you lose the trust of your peers and your own sponsors.” He tries to maximize female opportunities by looking for talented women and putting them on key projects that allow them to exhibit their best capabilities. He also says that as a strong advocate for expanding talent, he tries to hire people who are better than himself and to not feel threatened but to see this as an opportunity to challenge himself. A crucial part of identifying and developing top talent is providing them support and placing them in challenging stretch assignments.
“It is crucial to focus on talent and use your political capital wisely or you lose the trust of your peers and your own sponsors.”
Mitchell admits that his blind spot earlier in his career was to pick people who were just like him, assuming that if he was successful and chose people close to his profile, that they would be too.
“I know now that is flawed logic, and that you need employees with different perspectives and backgrounds,” he says. “I learned that hiring those in my own image wasn’t giving me as successful a team as I could have had. You need spirited conversation and push back to arrive at the right viewpoint.”
Advice for Leaders
Mitchell says that having two daughters of his own in the workforce gives him a unique perspective since he’s heard their stories. He advises others to listen to the experiences of female colleagues and never assume you understand how they feel.
“When you’re speaking, all you’re doing is repeating what you already know. When you’re listening, you’re potentially learning something new.”
He also believes that women have a role to play – notably by making sure that they state their needs rather than letting someone make an assumption. For example, a woman back from maternity leave or one with a young family needs to tell her boss if she’s willing to travel. If she has a partner who will follow and therefore is mobile, say so. People will make assumptions based on stereotypes so you have tell them what you are thinking.
And that includes being specific about career aspirations. He finds that women tend to be more modest and talk about growth and development, whereas men are more likely to be specific and state that they want to be CTO in three years.
A key component to success will be establishing a strong network which is how you create connections that may lead to opportunities, whether it’s volunteering to be engaged in high-priority projects or finding an empathetic sponsor.
“With men still holding many of the senior corporate roles, we must make sure that they in turn become sponsors for women, and help move them into senior roles, “says Mitchell.He views his role in mobilizing other men behind this cause as crucial to the success of any firm’s diversity and inclusion effort.
By Cathie Ericson
Men Who Get It: Roger Mitchell, Managing Director, TIAA-CREF, IT Business and Resource Management
Men Who "Get It", PeopleOn his journey to becoming a strong champion of diversity, Mitchell began his career in the UK with Ford Motor Company in a series of human resources roles.Ford eventually offered him the opportunity to move to Detroit, where he lived for 15 years. After a stint as head of HR for Ford’s global IT group, Mitchell segued into a position leading the global IT strategy team. He later joined Fidelity as a member of the HR leadership team. Mitchell subsequently came to TIAA-CREF as the managing director of IT business and resource management, and as a member of the IT leadership team.
Throughout his career, Mitchell has identified the need to expand roles for women as a business imperative. “In IT specifically there’s already a shortage of talent, and it’s tightening even more,” he says. “There’s a necessity to attract and retain both talented women and men, because we are under a tremendous amount of pressure for those skills.”
The Light Bulb Moment
Mitchell first became a diversity champion during his time at Ford when he ended up in a significant disagreement with his boss over missing a meeting to take his kids to the doctor. “When he asked me why my wife couldn’t do it, I had to explain that she worked too, and she had an important meeting at that time and couldn’t miss it,” Mitchell recounts, adding that was when he realized that everyone benefits from flexibility.
He recalls that earlier in his career it was expected that men would put in unlimited numbers of hours as the breadwinner, and he found there were times he didn’t get to spend the time he wanted to with his own family.
Part of changing this traditional mindset is challenging premises such as “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus,” as espoused by John Gray in his best-selling book.
“I don’t believe that our differences are so extreme, that we might as well be from different planets. I frame it more as men are from earth, and women are from earth too.”
While he agrees that there may be some differences in communication styles, he points out that there are differences even among people of the same gender or across different cultures. “I find it more productive to spend my time focusing on similarities between men and women and any other groups,” he said emphasizing how focusing on differences is divisive and can be the catalyst for unconscious bias.
Identifying and Managing Unconscious Bias
Mitchell is sensitive to unconscious bias, and one example he has seen is how women are judged more on performance than on their potential. He also finds that they are remembered for their mistakes more than their achievements, and that they continually walk a tightrope between being too masculine or too feminine.
“You are either not liked or not respected when you get on the wrong side of the tightrope,” he says.
In Mitchell’s view, systemic change is what will count. He sees his role as impacting those systems to advocate for diversity and inclusion — whether that’s in the areas of employee development or compensation.
“Early in my career we would look at numbers and targets and make symbolic appointments but if they were the wrong appointments, that would set everything back,” he said.
One systemic change he is working on is reviewing job descriptions to check for unconscious bias. He has found implied hours of work or exaggerated amounts of travel that might deter women when in fact they might not really be necessary. To help solve the problem, he says he asks his team to really think about whether the targets they are offering are typical or an extreme example.
Other areas ripe for diversity opportunities are talent review meetings where high potential females are identified. Mitchell says he has challenged his peers in those meetings to validate their selections and compare them to the female candidates.
“We have to look at all of our processes and make sure that there are no unconscious biases,” Mitchell said. “My role as an advocate is to remind people to make sure we’re not missing those who might not be getting the attention and exposure they deserve.”
He also knows that you have to interrupt unconscious bias as it is happening – maybe when you notice that someone is not being heard in a meeting, try to stop the flow of conversation and help them get the floor to make their point.
Spending Political Capital Wisely
Throughout his career, Mitchell has often acted as a sponsor, and in doing so realized that it requires him to use some of his own political capital. He also appreciates that his own sponsors, who value his judgment, help him lobby for those whom he is sponsoring. “It is crucial to focus on talent and use your political capital wisely or you lose the trust of your peers and your own sponsors.” He tries to maximize female opportunities by looking for talented women and putting them on key projects that allow them to exhibit their best capabilities. He also says that as a strong advocate for expanding talent, he tries to hire people who are better than himself and to not feel threatened but to see this as an opportunity to challenge himself. A crucial part of identifying and developing top talent is providing them support and placing them in challenging stretch assignments.
Mitchell admits that his blind spot earlier in his career was to pick people who were just like him, assuming that if he was successful and chose people close to his profile, that they would be too.
“I know now that is flawed logic, and that you need employees with different perspectives and backgrounds,” he says. “I learned that hiring those in my own image wasn’t giving me as successful a team as I could have had. You need spirited conversation and push back to arrive at the right viewpoint.”
Advice for Leaders
Mitchell says that having two daughters of his own in the workforce gives him a unique perspective since he’s heard their stories. He advises others to listen to the experiences of female colleagues and never assume you understand how they feel.
“When you’re speaking, all you’re doing is repeating what you already know. When you’re listening, you’re potentially learning something new.”
He also believes that women have a role to play – notably by making sure that they state their needs rather than letting someone make an assumption. For example, a woman back from maternity leave or one with a young family needs to tell her boss if she’s willing to travel. If she has a partner who will follow and therefore is mobile, say so. People will make assumptions based on stereotypes so you have tell them what you are thinking.
And that includes being specific about career aspirations. He finds that women tend to be more modest and talk about growth and development, whereas men are more likely to be specific and state that they want to be CTO in three years.
A key component to success will be establishing a strong network which is how you create connections that may lead to opportunities, whether it’s volunteering to be engaged in high-priority projects or finding an empathetic sponsor.
“With men still holding many of the senior corporate roles, we must make sure that they in turn become sponsors for women, and help move them into senior roles, “says Mitchell.He views his role in mobilizing other men behind this cause as crucial to the success of any firm’s diversity and inclusion effort.
By Cathie Ericson
OP ED: Men should be Gender Champions, so I started with myself.
Op-Ed, Thought LeadersSo I recently published a book to do something about it. Make Way For Women: Men and Women Leading Together Improve Culture and Profits documents the overwhelming evidence that companies led by women and men together are more profitable and sustainable. Also in the book are clear strategies for making this culture change happen across industries.
A little background.I have held high-level executive positions in the corporate and not-for-profit worlds for 40 years. During this time I have worked with many highly effective leaders, many of whom are women.These women inspired others with their business smarts and their people skills, and that is leadership.
Yet, while a few of these highly skilled women made it senior leadership positions, way too many were limited by that damned glass ceiling. And yet men at the top would never admit that. Why? In my mind, it’s because men tend to make assumptions about women. “Yes, she’s very capable, but her family responsibilities will prevent her from traveling as necessary, or as a woman, she can’t handle our largest and most difficult clients.”
I hear these assumptions by men over and over again, unfounded assumptions, and I know that often these decisions are made without discussion with the women in question. These women are not even asked if they are in a position to take on stretch opportunities!
All too often, a man who is less qualified and has not earned the promotion or assignment will be given the job.
In my opinion, capable women and men leading together strengthen a company’s leadership at a time when highly effective leadership is needed.
(subtitle) Creating equal leadership opportunities for both genders?
In my experience, women need advocates in the C-Suites to create pathways to leadership. For example, a very accomplished woman I work with in my coaching practice wanted to continue to advance within her company. The next step would be a seat on the management committee, all male.
She was given the opportunity to join the committee, and she was certainly nervous. Her strategy was to listen intently, be ready to handle negativity and criticism toward her with grace and then to thoughtfully offer her ideas. To come out from behind herself, to believe in herself and her voice.
So she spoke up and sure enough, there were men who shot down her ideas, yet she learned to roll with it, to keep speaking up until she got comfortable with how it worked. And that persistence is how she broke through the glass ceiling to become one of the very top executives in the company, a true leader.
With the help of my friend and a writer, Adrienne Hand, we undertook the mission of the book Make Way for Women.
The first part of the book identifies research studies that validates that companies with gender diverse leadership outperform companies that do not have as many women in key senior positions.
I also share my own views and experience, and those of 45 successful men and women we interviewed including Nicki Gilmour, the Founder and CEO of theglasshammer.com. We selected these men and women as they are highly respected in their fields. The men we spoke with understand the value women bring, and the women are highly accomplished and skilled leaders who are succeeding in male-dominated environments.
I hope the book is good as the messages are, I believe, very important!
Now is the time to be forward thinking leaders, be out in front of the change that is coming, and help it happen! I started with myself.
By John Keyser
What’s keeping white male leaders from leading Diversity & Inclusion efforts?
Career Advice, LeadershipWhite male leaders are being not only invited, but implored to join the case for diversity and inclusion. The predominant argument is not just that diversity advocates want white male leaders to join in, it’s that the success of diversity efforts could be greatly enhanced by their participation due to their continued formal and informal positions of power and authority within companies.
With men holding over 82% of board positions in Fortune 1000 companies, and a significant number of those men being white, their participation in Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) efforts has been proposed as “Creating a New Normal” in the Huffington Post.
So with the invitation in their hands, what keeps white male leaders holding back on their RSVP to diversity and inclusion?
With all of our editorial focus on engaging white men, we thought it useful to take a step back and remind ourselves of the barriers we must navigate in doing so.
Challenges to Engaging White Men
As Chuck Shelton, Chief Executive Officer at Greatheart Leader Labs and moderator of the recent event that theglasshammer.com held on the topic has said, “No business strategy, including D&I, will deliver optimal results when many with position power (white men, in this discussion) disconnect from the strategy.”
The landmark study to date on engaging white men in diversity & inclusion efforts remains his organization’s “White Men’s Leadership Study” which pointed out that white men are less likely to be engaged in diversity and inclusion initiatives at companies.
White male leaders hold both the purse strings when it comes to D&I programs and the social influence necessary to make these programs work. Authors Shelton and Thomas noted that white men are “a significantly underperforming asset in every company’s global D&I investment portfolio.”
The report identified many dynamics into why while male leaders remain both an underperforming – and perhaps undervalued – asset in the movement for diversity and inclusion.
Feeling Excluded
You can’t RSVP to a party you don’t feel invited to. Just a couple years ago, the biggest factor revealed in the study was that white men did not feel included in Diversity & Inclusion. Nearly 70% of white male respondents agreed with the statement, “It is still not clear diversity initiatives are meant to include white men.” 60% of women and minority leaders agreed, too.
This was not limited to a perception among white male leaders. Women and minority leaders didn’t necessarily see the value of including white men in inclusion and diversity programs. “Leaders who are not white and male may quietly doubt that white male inclusion will open doors for them,” the WLMS report said. But when Diversity & Inclusion efforts don’t actively engage white men, they are prone to exclude them.
When women and minority leaders shoulder D&I initiatives, and those initiatives are not seen as owned by all and in everybody’s interest, it creates counter-dynamics. A study published by the Academy of Management illustrated that diversity-efforts on the behalf of women and minorities can be negatively viewed as scheming and (social group) self-serving. The researchers reported, “Ethnic minority or female leaders who engage in diversity-valuing behavior are penalized with worse performance ratings than their equally diversity-valuing white or male counterparts,” which only reinforces the glass ceiling. The research also points out the paradox that for white men “valuing diversity gave a significant boost to ratings for warmth and performance.”
The authors of Gender in Organizations: Are Men Allies or Adversaries to Women’s Career Advancement write, “By excluding men from the focus and development of strategies to attentuate gender disparities, businesses are missing an opportunity to effect change.”
Being protective about diversity and inclusion doesn’t ultimately advance its interests, and engaging white men – who might not feel invited by default – cannot be a passive exercise. It must be an active effort.
Being Skeptical
Another of the biggest challenges identified was skepticism on behalf of white men on the value of diversity and inclusion programs, as well as the suspicion that some people may receive jobs or promotions that they are unqualified for through these programs. The WMLS researchers explained, “Progress is stifled by the perceived tension between the qualifications of diverse employees and the organizational commitment to diversity.”
Another form skepticism took was deflection of relevance. Some white, male respondents seemed irritated to be part of a study on race and gender, and responded with what the report authors called “deflective comments”, such as asserting the questions were unfair or that race and gender doesn’t matter these days. Shelton and Thomas wrote, “We need to recognize deflections, and respond to such viewpoints through honest, straightforward dialogue.”
While prejudice is something you can put your finger on, unconscious bias often is not. Becoming aware of the unconscious bias in each of us, and how it’s at play in the workplace, for example through stereotype threat, helps to reaffirm the importance of D&I efforts.
Also male leaders who are trailblazing in diversity and inclusion have repeatedly advised that to engage men in leadership positions with the value of D&I programs, focus on measurable results (and measuring results) of diversity efforts such as impact on the bottom line and driving innovation in the workplace.
Having Perception & Communication Gaps
A third major factor in struggling to engage white male leaders was that they already perceived themselves to be effective at diversity and inclusion…way more than their peers did.
White men were twice (45%) as likely as women and minorities (21%) to view white male leaders as effective in the areas of diversity and inclusion. The perception gap extended to white men’s effectiveness at coaching and improving the performance of diverse employees (33 points gap); building strong, diverse teams (36 points); promoting diverse talent on merit (36 points); and including diverse voices in decision making (40 points.)
While perception is subjective, statistics showing underrepresentation of diversity are not. The authors suggested that with such a disparity in perception around effectiveness, conversation requires “care and focus,” in which some conflict is to be naturally expected and handled.
“Candor among peers and co-workers is a very important element to this whole process,” said Shelton. “Real diversity and inclusion requires care and ensuring everyone feels that they are part of the effort, including white male leaders.” They noted, “Findings in this research build the case for conversations of care and candor, as we seek to engage and equip white men to integrate diversity and inclusion more effectively into their leadership work.”
Invitation & Opportunity
With the invitation to men being extended on more fronts, as far as the United Nations, perhaps exclusion is becoming less of a barrier for engaging men – perhaps now, the invitation is clear.
Speaking recently with Shelton, he shared, “We’re seeing a lot of organizations in which male leaders are up for ally development. The real measure will be when more men are actually active and accountable as allies and sponsors.”
Equally important is how we co-host the party with men. When we sit together at the table of diversity, we’ll be more likely to evoke change if all parties feel involved and invested in the process, the potential, and the outcome.
By Aimee Hansen
Gender Champion: William “Bill” Johnson, CEO, Citi Retail Services
Men Who "Get It", PeopleFor Johnson, that shadow extends to a deep passion for diversity. He credits this focus to two strong female role models that he had in his mother and grandmother, who both overcame adversity in their lives to become successful beyond what their education and opportunities would have normally allowed. He was always very aware of the decisions they made and the activities they pursued to advance themselves, and how those decisions helped them overcome some of the bias they faced in life. “Seeing what those two strong women accomplished helped give me better perspective on how to guide talent, irrespective of gender, to achieve their potential,” he says.
Carving Out His Path
Bill Johnson joined Citi in 1999 and has held a number of roles in the North America cards business over the years. Currently he serves as CEO of Citi Retail Services, a leading provider of private label credit cards to a virtual “who’s who” of retailers: major chains like The Home Depot, Best Buy, Macy’s and Sears; prominent specialty retailers like Staples, Brooks Brothers and The Children’s Place; large gas companies like Shell and ExxonMobil; and leaders in the automotive space, including Goodyear, Ford, Lincoln and Volkswagen U.S. In addition to private label and co-brand cards, Citi Retail Services specializes in research, data and analytics to help retailers grow sales through enhanced customer marketing, loyalty and compelling value propositions.
Prior to joining Citi, he spent 10 years at GE Capital, where he learned the retail card industry along with skills that have served him well in business development, relationship management and operational discipline.
A Diverse Team Starts at the Top
Johnson says his goal is to make sure thatevery person on the team has the right opportunities to succeed and that those who are smart, hardworking and committed to the business get exposure to the company’s leaders and retail partners. “I see this as doing the right thing for our business and our people. I look at our team and see diversity, which I’m proud of, but I’m more proud of the performance of the team,” he said.
To continue to build the team’s diversity, it’s important to him to ensure that a diverse slate of candidates is available. He believes it’s important that those in the organization who are doing the hiring expand where they look and source a diverse slate to encourage a range of perspectives and experiences that provide fresh ideas and expertise.
Twice a year, the business conducts rigorous talent reviews, and Johnson requires the entire leadership team to participate so that each member is familiar with the broader talent base as well as emerging talent deeper in the organization.
And that commitment to diversity manifests itself in his core leadership team:four of his six direct reports are women as well as two of his matrix reports. He has either hired or promoted each of these women, who lead major roles in partner management, marketing, risk, strategic initiatives, human resources and compliance.The next level of management is approximately one-third women, and they are always working to continue to grow that number.
Presenting Choices to Promote Sound Decisions
Over the last 30 years Johnson has mentored and sponsored a number of women, sharing his perspective on how to be successful in an environment that isn’t typically gender-diverse.
He finds it most valuable to help emerging talent – women in particular – think about the future and understand how the choices they make might be different from the choices others make. “It is important for anyone to understand that their career choices may be impacted by their personal choices. People – women and men – have to do what is right for them, personally and for their family. Making a choice isn’t a bad thing; it’s just part of life.”
He believes that his role as a sponsor isn’t about helping someone make those choices, but rather to help the individual give full consideration to all the aspects that go into making the decision and considering all the possible outcomes. By ensuring they consider all the consequences of their decisions, they not only can make the best choice for themselves, but they are also owning the choice themselves. “If you make a decision for someone, it gives them the liberty of not taking ownership for the outcome which is where regret and blame originate.”
Balancing the Team
Johnson recounts a story of a young woman who worked for him as a sales representative many years ago, when the industry was dominated by male clients. One particular client team was very traditional and was uncomfortable having a woman in the room. While it would have been easier to remove her from the account, Johnson believed she was a fantastic salesperson with potential to advance and was aware of the impact a reassignment could have on her career. Instead, they worked together to improve her executive presence. In future meetings, she was better able to contribute and ended up being very successful.
Johnson has carried that ethos during his work in Retail Services, where they believe in making the best decisions in the interest of the business while balancing the needs of the teams and their partners. They look for people who are curious and agile and who act with integrity but also realize that ensuring someone is a cultural fit is just as important as having the right skill set. “Given two candidates with similar skills, we gravitate every time toward the candidate who embodies our principles and values,” he said. “Over time, we’re more concerned with people who will do the right thing personally and make sure that others do the right thing. You have to hire the right people for the right reasons.
Johnson has a sign in his office with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson that reads, “This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.”
He believes that can be extended to apply to people as well – that it’s easier to succeed with a positive attitude, and that it’s critical to always try to find the best in people by assuming their thoughts and actions are intended positively. “With that comes the understanding that men and women may be different, yet both are equal.”
By Cathie Ericson
7 Voices That Weaken Women’s Leadership
Career Advice, Guest ContributionBarbara is in her late twenties and speaks with a relentlessl
y cheerful voice that can get on people’s nerves. She is always smiling, happy, and eager—and sounds as though she’s ten yours younger than she really is.
Our instructor asks her whether she used another voice during any time in her life. At first, she replies, “Oh no, this is the way I’ve always spoken.” Then upon reflection, she blurts out. “Oh my goodness—I remember now! I used to have a completely different voice when I was head of my debating society at university! . . . . It was way, way lower. People would say I was one of the best debaters they’d heard.””
“So what happened,” our instructor asked.
“Ever since I started working for my boss—six years ago when I was straight out of university—he’s asked me to smile. Every morning during those first few months I reported to him, he’d walk up to my desk and say, ‘Where’s that smile?’ Sometimes he’d say it twice or three times in one day. I guess that made my voice cheery and nice sounding.”
This story says a lot about our voice—and how it is shaped by external realities. Finding your true leadership voice often requires getting rid of vocal patterns we have acquired in our past. Do you have any of the “voices” described below that can undercut your leadership?
Our Many Voices
The little girl voice. This high-pitched, thin, and wispy tone makes the speaker sound younger and less confident than she really is. Often the little girl voice is accompanied by lifting the voice at the end of sentences as though asking a question, rather than making a statement. People won’t take you seriously if you sound 10 years old.
The cheerleader voice. This hyped up voice makes the speaker sound weak because she is trying so hard. The cheerleader pulls out all the stops, pushes her voice into the higher registers, picks up her pace, smiles a lot, and uses lots of fly-away energy. This voice lacks the gravitas and grounded commitment of a leader.
The maternal voice. This voice can be either loud and controlling or quietly domineering. A client came to us for coaching because she whispered when she spoke. She had worked as a kindergarten teacher and learned to get children’s attention with a quiet maternal voice. The problem is that people have to lean in to hear her speak, and her voice sounds manipulative to a business audience.
The helpful voice. This voice positions the speaker as a subordinate. A woman in one of our courses was the sort of person who could probably run a company. But her voice made her sound much lower in rank than she was. The helpful voice is submissive and always obliging. It turned out that she had begun her work life in a secretarial position; her voice got “stuck” in that lower role and never matured.
The girlfriend voice. This is a sweet, coy voice that may get attention in the office, but for the wrong reasons. It’s the vocal equivalent of short skirts and cleavage. It may have its side benefits, but it doesn’t work for someone who is career focused. This is not uncommon even among women who have no hidden agenda.
The nice voice. This is one of the more common voices women use because girls are raised to be “nice.” Unfortunately “nice” lacks power. In fact, being nice in the board room, conveys the impression that you are trying to make others feel good—thereby putting them in the power position and belittling your leadership.
The grateful voice. This tone can suggest that a woman feels she doesn’t deserve to be heard. One woman explained, “That gratefulness suggests we are not comfortable being at the table, and indicates we’re not as invested as other participants present.”
The manly voice. This is less common today than it once was, when women took on the male style to fit into a male-dominated work environment. This voice is low, often aggressive, and shows little or no warmth. In the movie, The Devil Wears Prada, Meryl Streep plays an executive who adopts those tones.
If you identify with one of these voices, consider whether it serves you well as a leader. These voices play to a different audience and reflect a different time or role in our lives. It’s important to leave them behind if you want to sound like a leader.
What can you replace them with? A voice that is grounded and assertive without any of the overtones mentioned above. A leader’s voice is true to the thoughts being delivered—it has no other agenda. So connect your voice to the words you are delivering. Speak with conviction and power and depth. This will make all the difference in how your audience perceives you.
Guest Contributed by Judith Humphrey
Guest advice and opinions are not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com
Career Tip of The Week
Career Tip of the Week!What are you recognized and rewarded for? Are you experiencing task creep?
Have a look ( or make a list) of what you do every day for a period of a week to see what is officially within your remit and what creeps in there. It might be illuminating to see how you are paid for driving the train but also at times asked to lay the track, clean the engine etc which is time consuming and often not conducive to your time management or skill set.
Welcome to Career Tip of the Week. In this column we aim to provide you with a useful snippet of advice to carry with you all week as you navigate the day to day path in your career.
By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist
Contact nicki@glasshammer2.wpengine.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work.
Voice of Experience: Monica Boll, Managing Director, Accenture
People, Voices of ExperienceThis advice has helped Boll throughout her career, which began working in and around the outsourcing business in a variety of roles involving process improvement, transition, change management and global sourcing. For the past nine years, she has held a variety of functions in Accenture Operations, including leading an HR transformation program, delivering finance and accounting, procurement and marketing services and cost management initiatives. Currently a managing director in Accenture Operations, Boll leads accounts in the Financial Services and Communications, Media and Technology industry groups and manages a team of 250 Accenture associates in India, Costa Rica and the United States.
As such, she is on the forefront of seeing how technology is disrupting industries in a positive way in her various roles. In Accenture Operations, it’s the use of automation – for example, robotics to improve quality, turnaround times and overall customer experience or leveraging a cloud-based solution to deliver a new capability or system to a client. And in Financial Services, it’s disruption through the advancement of digital services like Apple Pay – what will life will be like without cash? How will purchases and sales be funneled through a smart phone versus a computer or other system? “It’s fascinating to me how quickly technology is advancing and then, on the flipside, how we always need to be trend spotters in order to remain relevant and stay ahead.”
Women in Finance
Boll has recognized that across all of the industries in which she’s worked, there is a severe shortage of women in senior leadership positions. She notes that in the financial industry, for example, the barons in centers like New York, London and Hong Kong have been men, with rarely if ever a woman to be seen at any leadership level. “True or not, most women believe that they have to exert more effort to prove themselves; history shows it takes much longer to achieve parity. Women have to work a lot harder and be a lot smarter to be recognized,” she says.
In addition, she notes the increased obligations outside of the office that traditionally fall to women, from bearing children to raising a family and caring for aging parents, and how striving to achieve balance among the demands of work and life make it harder for a woman to succeed.
However, it is a career where the rewards are vast for those who push past these barriers. She advocates that young women be bold by being innovative, vocal and open to learning as much as they can all the time, as well as by actively volunteering for work opportunities to improve their skills. “They should treat themselves as an equal to their male counterparts,” Boll says.
In addition, Boll hopes that senior women will be more supportive of one another. “Only we have the direct experience and have lived or recognize the limitations that women might face in their professional careers,” she said. Because of that, they need to advocate for young professional women and dedicate the time to coach and mentor them so they can advance faster, and more effectively, than they would on their own — to help young women navigate a professional world that can be, or appear to be, incredibly complex.
Paying it Forward
Boll walks the talk in all those areas. Looking back on her career, she is most proud of how she’s been able to leverage her industry experiences – those at Accenture and previous roles – to be the executive sponsor of the Accenture Operations North America Inclusion & Diversity mentoring program.
“It is a rich and gratifying experience, and I am particularly passionate about this because it focuses specifically on both men and women from diverse and LGBT backgrounds, a reflection of what I offer as a woman who is LGBT and Hispanic.” The program focuses on mentoring in various ways: professional development, work-life balance, career management and even reverse mentoring.
Boll also acts as a sponsor in the mentoring program which is gratifying because of her positive experiences as a mentee. “I have had a variety of excellent mentors and role models throughout my career who have helped me become the person I am today – both professionally and personally. I am very passionate about paying it forward to the next generation.”
Accenture has a number of programs in place to further that mission. The company has a global women’s theme, “Defining success. Your way.,” which is designed to encourage the more than 115,000 women at Accenture to find their own paths to professional and personal success by supporting their goals and aspirations and striving to provide an environment and culture that empowers women and enables them to thrive.
Speaking Out For LGBT Rights
Boll is actively involved in the firm’s LGBT initiatives, including the New York and Atlanta LGBT Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) which help bring the LGBT community and allies together for leadership development training, networking, mentoring, information sharing and recruiting activities.
Earlier this year Accenture joined more than 300 companies in signing an Amicus Curiae brief urging the Supreme Court to affirm that all couples share in the right to marry. “I am extremely proud to work for Accenture, a company that offers its people and their partners, regardless of sexual orientation, access to the same benefits.”
On a personal note, she and her wife Ellen were associate producers of a feature film “Love is Strange,” a story about love and a network of friends and family that come together to support a married gay couple during a time of need.It premiered last year at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to achieve global acclaim. “For me, that was a great opportunity to take a risk on something topical – gay rights – and something that I’m passionate about. We wanted to be, and indeed it felt like we were, part of the movement that will lead to the Supreme Court case on gay marriage to be decided this summer.”
She and her wife have been together for 23 years and married since 2012. They are involved with the Human Rights Campaign, the Trevor Project and the True Colors Fund which works to end homelessness among LGBT youth.
When they are not splitting time between Atlanta and New York for work, they make the commitment to take an annual vacation to somewhere exotic. She also describes herself as a huge tennis fan: “a formal recreational player, an avid spectator, and one who one day will pick up a racquet again.”
Men Who Get It: John Covington, CISSP; Infrastructure Manager, Production Services; TIAA-CREF
Men Who "Get It", People“My main message is that people who feel more comfortable at work are more productive. I want to show people that my career has not been limited because I am gay.”
With 30 years of IT experience, initially as a technician, Covington currently manages two teams – the Service Now infrastructure team and the Identity and Access Management team. Having molded both teams, a total of 13 members strong, into a cohesive, collaborative unit, he is proud of how they work together to share information. “I encourage all of them to work hard and understand the value of attitude, cooperation and teamwork.”
Being a diversity champion is important to Covington because of how much the work environment has changed since he started. “When I entered the workforce, it was not the norm for someone to be out at work,” he said; in fact, he personally didn’t come out at work until he came to TIAA-CREF in 2006. “I feel like my goal is to provide a role model for others to help create the environment where people can be more comfortable at work,” he said.
Creating a Culture of Compassion
As the current co-chair of the Charlotte LGBT employee resource group (ERG), Covington helps plan and promote the monthly meetings, lunches and speakers. In addition, the group participates in community events like Charlotte Pride and the Human Rights Campaign. He is also a member of the IT Diversity Council, which is focused on attracting and retaining a diverse IT workforce.
He sees that even though he works for a very diversity-conscious company which has superior support from the senior leadership team, there is still room to improve the culture through social awareness and acceptance.
“I think a lot of young people still don’t feel comfortable at work. They don’t want to be on the LGBT ERG mailing list because they are concerned that if people see their names on that list, then it might hurt their careers.” He notes that the group only has 40 members in Charlotte, out of 5,000 employees. “If you do the math, that doesn’t add up.”
He urges LGBT individuals to be more active and visible and create the environment where people feel and offer acceptance.
Importance of Mentors and Allies
One plan in place to help move the needle is a mentor program that they are in the process of forming for LGBT associates. While the ERG requires attending meetings, having a mentor will provide someone the opportunity to meet privately, until they are ready to be more open.
He says that he wishes he had understood earlier the value of a mentor, and that he’d felt more comfortable, but most of all that the time had been different. “I worried that people wouldn’t want to work for a gay manager,” he said, adding that he believes that LGBT youth who are not yet comfortable would be well advised to have an LGBT mentor; not just for social reasons but to help navigate the workplace.
In addition, the ERG is also working to introduce a new Ally program in June to help promote a “Safe Place” at work.This would increase the number of people at ERG events and perhaps “provide cover” for those who might not yet be comfortable. “They can have a sticker in their office or wear a pin and it can be an ice breaker. It might be an easier entrée for those who are not yet ready to say, ‘This is what my partner and I did this weekend’.”
He also believes that if leaders get involved in the Ally program, it will send a very positive message, and help bring the issue to where it should be – just an everyday thing, and one that supports the core values of TIAA-CREF.
Covington is a native of North Carolina and has lived in the Charlotte area most of his adult life.He is an active cyclist, hits the gym regularly and participates in charity cycling events. He lives in Charlotte with his 92 lb. Doberman; Scarlette.
Mover and Shaker: Jennifer Macdonald, Director of Product Management, NYSE
Movers and Shakers, PeopleMacdonald first attended Brown University and then graduated with honors from the School of Visual Arts in New York. With her partner, Hillary Leone, she founded a fine arts collaborative and successfully exhibited internationally, becoming well-known as the only practicing lesbian art duo in the United States. As up-and-coming artists they showed in the Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, among other places. Their collaboration ended 10 years later in 1999, when her partner decided to move to Washington DC and they realized that collaborating long distance would be too challenging.
Macdonald wasn’t daunted, because she had always been given the message that there was nothing she couldn’t do from her mother, who had been an opera singer, poet and then psychoanalyst. “She made me feel like I could do anything I put my mind to– it might be harder as a woman and a lesbian, but with hard work, definitely possible.”
From Arts to Tech
This confidence led her to accept an opportunity at Sotheby’s, which was her first stop in the transition from artist to executive. Leveraging her art background and her knowledge of computers, Macdonald accepted a position as vice president to launch Sothebys.com taking the 260 year old Sotheby’s auctions, magazine and educational foundation content online in the space of year. She was soon promoted to senior vice president where she led a partnership with Amazon, as well as oversaw the development of the first live arts and antiques auctions streaming with transactional bidding online.
Being in the arts had always been Macdonald’s expected path but when a friend told her the New York Stock Exchange was working on launching the first ever 3D trading floor experience with real-time trading data mapped to it Macdonald says she figured, “I’ve never done anything in financial services; what an amazing opportunity to find out what that would be all about,” and went to work for the company that handled technology for NYSE and Amex. “I had started my career so far on the right brain side, how could I not want to challenge myself to see how far the left brain side might be able to go?,” she said.
Working for the NYSE as a director of product management, Macdonald moved into developing strategic technology for enterprise monitoring and operational tools as well as several major relaunches of NYSE’s core trading platform. She also developed enterprise platforms for consolidating trade desk customer tools and currently is overseeing a major process reengineering initiative creating a plug and play product management practice that will be used across the company’s disparate asset classes that have come online as mergers and acquisitions have brought new products and services in house.
And that is the professional achievement she currently points to as the one she is most proud of. “The processes that my team first instituted in the NYSE Equities Market are being held up as an example of best practices from a regulatory and compliance perspective,” she said. “When we were audited by key regulatory agencies without whose approval we cannot operate our business, it showed that the model I was able to put in place is top of its class, and will make us highly efficient and more profitable as we look to bring new services and products online.”
Finding Strong Women
Over the years, Macdonald has learned how important it is to find a mentor and cultivate that relationship. But it can be a challenge, she acknowledges, given that the lack of women in many industries mean there are fewer choices from which to select. While she says that you can find good men as mentors, she believes it can be an advantage to choose a woman because they often better understand the challenges that other women face.
She advises women to consider mentors at all levels of the organization — not just at the highest levels. “Don’t discredit a middle manager who can be your mentor when you’re starting out; they know a lot you don’t know,” she says, adding that a mentor doesn’t have to be someone who has achieved absolutely everything you want.
In addition to strong relationships, she believes you have to value your own ability to be ambitious about your accomplishments, to exhibit confidence that you can achieve your goals despite obstacles.
Macdonald observes that financial services is an industry that still has a high fall off rate for women as they reach a certain level. “Add in being a lesbian, and you exponentially reduce the number of women in the industry in my shoes.” That doesn’t daunt Macdonald, though, who says that it just takes courage.
Back in the Closet – and Back Out
And that courage led her to be the first woman ever to come out at the NYSE. What was surprising was that she slid back into the closet when she first joined the industry, on the advice of a colleague He told her that even though she had been well known as an artist, that the worlds were so far apart no one would ever connect her with her fame and identity in her other career and it would be best to start this way.
Ultimately she made the decision to come out at work when she and her partner, now wife, decided to have a child. “Regardless of any real or perceived risks to my career it seemed clear to me that it would be unethical to raise a child from within the closet,” she says.
And that’s one of the reasons she believes in being an agent of change in the industry. “It’s still hard for many individuals in our industry to be comfortable with their identity as LGBTQ. Diversity has been proven to be good for corporations and for individuals. It’s a win for all if we can improve the diversity in financial services.”
Toward that end, Macdonald as Co-Chair of OPEN Finance, runs an organization with a mailing list over 5,000 strong that is comprised of more than 40 LGBT ERG networks across major financial services firms, such as Citibank, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America. OPEN Finance shares best practices for fostering diversity to member firms. At OPEN, Macdonald is also working to boost women’s involvement. “It’s not unusual for me to be one of two or three women in a room with 80 men,” she says.
Macdonald likes to talk about driving positive change through OPEN, citing the group’s support of marriage equality in the upcoming case before the Supreme Court. “Marriage equality is good for financial services firms. We don’t want a patchwork of different classes of marriage for HR to manage in every state and every country. That makes no sense from a bottom line perspective and we have numbers to prove it, not to mention the injustice of it and inconvenience if you move state to state. Married in one, not in the other? “‘ she said. The group actively worked with member firms to collect a record number of signatures in support of marriage equality in a brief that will soon go before the Supreme Court.
On the home front, she and her partner concentrate on raising their five-year-old son, as well as launching their new business, the first urban mushroom farm in New York City which will grow mushrooms from waste such as coffee grounds and sawdust. They also make time as a family to visit their house in the Catskills. “That’s my refuge”.
By Cathie Ericson
Moving On Up
Career Advice, Guest ContributionAlthough Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, is credited with the “keep your nose to the grindstone and good things will come your way” school of thought, this skewed belief is a lot more prevalent than we would like to believe. Perhaps the most important outcome to these foot-in-mouth moments, besides sending the culprit on a heartfelt public mea culpa, is to start a conversation on the issues women still face in the workforce. Let’s face it, gender inequity is alive and well in America.
But this is a complicated issue borne from deeply ingrained biases on both sides of the table. Biases for which we are often unaware. Accepting this as a fact of life provides leverage to females who seek to move up the corporate ladder. Knowing what we are up against provides us the ability to strategize a plan. By the way, women are not immune to biases and accepting this as another fact of life provides the opportunity for us to overcome the filters within us.
For years, my career was on the fast-track. I had consistently proven my technical abilities and was convinced that my hard work would suffice in getting me noticed as I approached upper management levels. My naiveté anchored me and it was not long before I found myself on an extended professional plateau. I watched helplessly as others raced up the corporate ladder while my career played in slow motion speed. When I inquired as to the reasons for the stall, the responses were without substance. “You’re on the cusp,” was a recurring theme conjuring vivid images of a barren and abandoned promontory where I watched the action from afar and from which I was unable to escape.
I needed to do something although it was unclear as to what exactly. But what was clear was that I was awakening from a fairy tale in which the heroine gets the prize through hard work alone. I’d like to say that I had a clearly defined plan but I would be lying. Instead, it was more desperation leading to motivation. Perhaps that is exactly the recipe for success. My leadership skills were suddenly put to the test in real time and I armed myself with courage as I took action. In retrospect, my experiences can be rolled up nicely into 3 steps that ultimately led to jump start my career.
1. Believe in yourself!
If you don’t believe in yourself, you’ve already lost the battle. This will be the single most important thing that will get you through any setback and help you up when you stumble. Self-doubt reflects like a neon sign. No one will take you seriously if you lack confidence. Most importantly, remain true to yourself. Never allow anyone to push you past that imaginary line in the sand beyond which you lose sight of yourself.
2. Be bold!
Mr. Nadella is just plain wrong. His advice has never been applicable in any era. Competition is fierce. Men are constantly seeking ways to stand out from the pack. Why would things be any different for women? Get your nose out of the grindstone and take risks. Leap outside your comfort zone and ask for those challenging assignments. Better yet, demand them. Have the courage to risk failure as it will only lead to growth and that gets you further along than through inaction.
3. Be discoverable!
Make your presence known. Women feel uncomfortable in touting our accomplishments and owning our success. This is our issue and we must overcome it. We risk having others see right through us when we sit quietly in the sidelines. Leadership is all about speaking out so let’s get used to it. Yes, go ahead and sit at the table, lean in, raise your hand, and never be afraid to proclaim “Enough!”
These are exciting times where change is in the air. But it takes all of us, collectively and individually, to achieve true gender balanced leadership. So believe in yourself, be bold, be discoverable, and never give up!
Each one of us has an imaginary line in the sand that we refuse to cross and I felt that I had allowed myself to be nudged over my threshold.
It is only in hindsight that I am able to share my lessons learned.
By Rossana G. D’Antonio, PE, GE