We celebrate Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month 2015 by acknowledging both achievements and unique challenges for Asian-American women in climbing to top leadership roles in business.
On a global front, increasing women at the corporate helm in Asia inspired Fortune to introduce a Most Powerful Women in Asia-Pacific ranking for the first time ever in 2014. Over 1/3 of recognized leaders were new to Most Powerful Women, including Arundhati Bhattacharya (No. 4) of State Bank of India and Nishi Vasudeva (No. 5) of Hindustan Petroleum, each the first woman to lead their Fortune Global 500 companies.
Meanwhile corporate all-star Indra Nooyi, Chairperson and CEO of Pepsi Co (for the 9th year running & outlasting the CEO median tenure of 5 years), has been called one of the six most powerful business women in America and ranks #13 among Forbes’ “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women”. Yet she is the only Asian-American business women in the top 50.
48.7% of the 3,922,000 Asian women in the USA labor force in 2014 were in management/ professional occupations, comprising 3.4% of positions. 16.5% were in management, business, and financial operations occupations, holding 2.8% of those positions.
Catalyst 2015 data indicates Asian women make up 2.9% of S&P 500 Companies employees. They hold 2.5% of first/mid-level positions, 1.7% of executive/senior level positions, and .2% of CEO positions. Asian women are more likely than other minorities to be represented in executive and senior management jobs relative to their population size, but less likely than white women.
Catalyst data shows that Asian women occupied only 3.7% of S&P 500 women-held board seats in 2014, or less than 1% of total board seats. For Asian-American women, the glass ceiling and the bamboo ceiling more than overlap, especially at the top.
More than Two Ceilings
A recent paper into the barriers of success for Asian-American women by Peggy Li at University of California, Berkeley focuses on external societal obstacles to success. Asian-American women are commonly and mistakenly regarded as though a “monolithic group”, when the opposite is true – cultural backgrounds and origins are highly distinctive.
Li argues that current approaches to understanding barriers for Asian-American women are not enough. “By using a single-axis analysis where race and gender are mutually exclusive, the ‘glass ceiling’ and ‘bamboo ceiling’ exclude and delegitimize the experiences of Asian-American women.” Simply put, the glass ceiling ignores their (diverse) Asian identities and the bamboo ceiling ignores their womanhood, and neither capture the unique biases they face.
Li clarifies, “The barriers Asian-American women face are not only distinct, but also more than the sum of the discrimination faced by women and Asian-Americans.” For example, only Asian-American women face both culturally embedded stereotypes around Asian femininity as well as the subversive discrimination of the “model minority” myth. Together these two compound to project traits of passivity, submissiveness, humility, service, and compliance – and create unique barriers to career advancement.
Also when discrimination is only judged through discrete categories, the challenges for Asian-American women are overlooked by employers.
Li urges researchers and companies to take the approach of intersectionality to address societal barriers to progress. “To comprehend the experiences of Asian-American women and create appropriate strategies for counteracting their oppression, we must look at how race, gender, and national origin interact to create unique obstacles, stereotypes, and stigmas for Asian-American women.”
Social Perception Affects Self-Perception
Of course, externally created barriers can become internalized ones. Research into race and leadership perception has demonstrated that Asian-Americans are more likely to be pre-consciously perceived by others as competent leaders but not as agentic leaders on the basis of race (compared to Caucasians), and as a result they also internalize lower leadership self-perceptions and leadership aspirations in a USA context.
The research methodology focused on perception of males. As women in general are less likely to be perceived as having agentic leadership qualities such as assertiveness, dominance, and self-promotion, Asian-American women would seem to face a race bias, a gender bias, and a double-stacked racial gender bias against being perceived as “prototypical” leaders. Research implicates the real risk that internalizing these biases can impact on self-perceived leadership identity and aspirations.
Speaking to overcoming the “imposter syndrome” of being an Asian-American woman leader, CEO and Founder of Care.com Sheila Lirio Marcelo writes about breaking away from what she calls the 3 P’s internalized in her own upbringing: pleasing, passivity, and perfection – which comes down to being self-aware, finding your voice, and embracing and owning your leadership journey.
The unique challenges facing Asian-American women underline the need for high visibility among existing leaders in order to inspire and empower other Asian-American women to follow suit as well as to continue to challenge unconscious biases around race, gender, and leadership.
A Seat at the Head of the Table
When CAUSE, the Center for Asian-Americans United for Self Empowerment, brought together a panel of prominent female Asian-American executives for a Women In Power Quarterly Luncheon centered on “Leadership in the Boardroom” in 2014, the message was clear.
Cyndie M. Chang, Managing Director of Los Angeles Office Duane Morris L.L.P., stated “What I want to do (in monitoring this panel) is to have an insightful discussion in the challenges, not just of getting a seat at the table, but getting a seat at the head of the table.”
Indeed, in the Fortune 500, “women of color” (Asian, black, or Latina) represent only 3.1% of board seats but only 2.8% of board directors, because a small number of minority women sit on multiple boards, and are twice as likely as white women to do so.
The discussion spanned inspiring advice on getting ahead of the curve within your industry, managing feedback, being willing to fail, the importance of sponsorship, and leveraging strength and humor as an outlier. Linda Greigo, Board Member of both CBS and AECOM Technology, said, “The big challenge for me is once you get in the door, how do you keep the door open for others to follow?”
Standing up despite racial gender stereotypes. Stepping out from behind socially projected traits.
Speaking out despite culturally internalized norms. That’s just some of the stuff Asian-American women executives are made of and frankly put, it’s the stuff leadership is made of.
By Aimee Hansen
Derailed but not Deterred: How Women Leaders Can Get Back On The Success Track
Career Advice, Guest ContributionAnswers to this question abound: Be more aggressive, capitalize on natural people skills, speak up more, avoid organizations with glass ceilings – the list can go on.
There’s nothing wrong with any of these answers except that they can sometimes have limited value, as we often struggle to succeed due to internal rather than external reasons.
For over twenty years, I have used a leadership assessment tool developed by well-known psychologist Robert Hogan that identifies and helps manage what he refers to as “derailers”. Hogan’s definition of derailers is personality traits that emerge under stress when we lose our ability to regulate behaviors because our brain goes into a self-protection mode. Unaddressed, these actions can sabotage relationships as well as careers.
In my book, Beauty Queen: Inside the Reign of Avon’s Andrea Jung, I wrote extensively on the impact of Andrea’s pleaser “derailer” – avoiding conflict or the tough calls and trying to appease others in order to maintain harmony. Andrea was a brilliant and highly successful leader, but the combination of intense stress and difficult circumstances (the loss of her second-in-command) allowed her derailer to diminish her effectiveness. I have coached many women who possess this derailer and I’ve witnessed how it causes them to stay quiet and fail to speak up. This derailer is related to risk taking, and it affects not only business decisions but also taking personal risks such as voicing a minority opinion in a meeting or making a controversial comment. In these women’s minds, the self-protection mode can kick in and often unconsciously, they believe it is better to “play it safe” and not say anything versus having their opinions disparaged.
Be aware, too, that understanding the context is crucial when it comes to assessing the impact of derailers on women leaders. For example, I coached Joan, a senior vice president with a large organization. Her derailer was mischievous – under stress she circumvented the rules or created her own rules to get results. In Joan’s previous organization, this behavioral mischief resulted in her being labeled a true innovator who broke through outdated processes to turn around a tired brand. In Joan’s current role, she is being labeled as non-collaborative and a lone ranger. Her previous organization’s culture was more aligned with her values and personality while her current organization’s culture is known as more conservative and operating by the book. Recall that all derailers possess a flip side. In Joan’s case, the daring and provocative moves that helped her succeed in one organization are causing her to fail in another company. Context means a lot, especially for women leaders who tend to be given labels that are difficult to shake.
I worked with another woman, Tanya, who was overly cautious and worked in an organization with an overly cautious culture and business strategy – they were never the first to market but followed the market leader with decreasing success. As part of a corporate shake-up, more aggressive managers were brought in. Tanya’s new manager gave her some pretty tough feedback about not only the need to speak up but to push the envelope with her plans and programs. Again, a changing context affected how Tanya’s overly cautious behavior was perceived. What helped Tanya succeed in one context caused her to struggle in another.
Derailers are part of who we are, so you can’t get rid of your derailers. But you can learn to manage them. The management process can be more difficult for women leaders than men, in part because bosses are sometimes more willing to give tough feedback to men because it’s assumed they can “take it”. In some companies, too, male leaders are more likely to receive coaching than female leaders. Therefore, you may need to learn how to manage your derailer yourself.
Here are some tips for doing so:
Finally, be aware that in many organizational settings, women are reluctant to admit to themselves or others that they have a flaw. We’ve been conditioned to believe that we have to be better, stronger, and smarter than our male counterparts if we want to succeed. Thus, we can be reluctant to consider that we might have a derailing tendency.
But all of us have them, be we men or women, young or old, CEOs or neophytes. By being aware of your most impactful derailer and making an effort to counteract its effect especially when you’re under stress and it’s causing you problems, you can counteract its negative effect. Managing your derailer doesn’t guarantee women leaders success, but it certainly levels the playing field in more ways than one.
Guest Contribution by Deborrah Himsel
Deborrah Himsel is the author of Beauty Queen: Inside the Reign of Avon’s Andrea Jung. She is also an educator and executive coach – www.himselandassociates.com
Guest advice and opinions not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com
Career Tip of the Week
Career Tip of the Week!, Thought LeadersWaiting for a promotion? Think about what you have actively done in the past 3 months to ensure your boss/manager/sponsors knows you want to move head to the next level.
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
Jo Natauri, Partner, Investment Banking Division, Goldman Sachs
Voices of ExperienceIntersection of Healthcare and Finance
During her time as an undergrad at the University of Virginia, Natauri’s interests shifted from pursuing a career practicing medicine to one in finance. Working with a quadriplegic while in school, she was struck by the many difficulties he was having obtaining adequate medical care, as well as the financial means to cover it. “Seeing an accomplished individual still having these issues changed my course. I realized I wanted to be involved in healthcare in a meaningful way on the business side.”
Because of previous coursework, she had the flexibility to earn a degree in both economics and biology, and went into investment banking. Her plan when she started in 1998 was to spend time learning and understanding the business side and then eventually transition into policy, but instead she has spent her entire career in various roles in the healthcare business. She started at Goldman in 2006 as a vice president, and became a managing director in 2008 and partner in 2012.
Natauri is excited by her work on transactions in the sector with cutting-edge companies that are focused on helping people and curing diseases. “The altruistic component to the finance I’m doing is really important to me,” she says, “And, due to the profound changes in healthcare, the industry will continue to offer new opportunities.”
Passion = Success
Though Natauri has always felt a passion for the finance industry, she suggests young women who might be considering a career in banking recognize the demands the job may have on personal time. She says though work in investment banking can be all consuming, she likes working with smart people who want to make decisions quickly and produce the best work for clients.
She shares a passion for her work with the other women with whom she interacts in Goldman’s robust mentoring groups. “I was pleasantly surprised when I came here to see how important mentoring is, both formally and informally.”
She finds mentoring particularly helpful in addressing one of the main challenges she sees for women in the industry — the limited number of female role models at the higher levels. “If you haven’t seen a lot of women in senior positions, which I didn’t, you might feel pressured to mimic the few examples you do see instead of forging your own path, which can be challenging if that doesn’t match your personality,” Natauri said. “You have to figure out what success looks like for you, without having the benefit of a large number of role models.”
Natauri knows that success doesn’t come immediately, which also can be challenging when first starting your career. “When you’re young, you are promptly rewarded for good grades and hard work, and then you find when you enter the corporate world that it’s not as linear,” she says. “You have to have patience that your trajectory will take off.”
A Heart for Kids
Natauri spends much of her time away from work with her husband and their three children, ages four, two and one. She was also formerly on the board of a nonprofit organization called Everybody Wins, which she describes as a cross between literacy advocacy and Big Brothers/Big Sisters. The organization brings professionals to low-income schools to mentor and read to kids. “I’m a practical person at heart so I really appreciated its mission of getting busy people involved in an impactful way with the limited time they have available.”
Women Take the Lead in Scottish Politics; What About Business?
Leadership, Managing ChangeNicola Sturgeon, leader of the SNP — the Scottish National Party — is Scotland’s First Minister and leader of the Scottish Parliament. She has recently announced that 50 percent of her cabinet appointees will be women. Johann Lamont recently resigned as the leader of the Scottish Labour Party. Ruth Davidson leads Scotland’s Tories. Maggie Chapman is co-convener of the Greens in Scotland, though Patrick Harvie is generally considered the party leader.
Read more
Mover and Shaker: Molly Tu, Thomson Reuters, Director of Business Planning and Operations
Movers and Shakers, PeopleTu started her career working for two large professional firms in China but satisfied her desire to experience the world by coming to the United States to attend business school at Columbia. After graduation, she decided she wanted to turn her career path to the corporate side, and recognizing the potential in the information industry, she started with Thomson Reuters’ rotational program. There she experienced everything from M&A to investor relations to product management, ultimately deciding to join global account management, a division whose goal is to constantly assess how to deliver increased value to Thomson Reuters’ largest customers. There she spearheaded the Geneva Program, for which she received the 2014 Chairman’s Award.
And, less than a year ago, she was named to her current role, where she is tasked with rolling out the Geneva Program companywide.
“I have always viewed my experience here as similar to working in a startup, but still being part of a large company,” Tu says. “It is very satisfying to transform business processes and also help customers at the same time.”
Sponsors in the Workplace; Role Models Close to Home
Tu knows that sponsorship is key to corporate success. “As I grew in my career, my mentors and sponsors were the people who directed me to look at new things in different ways, and that vision got me to places I would not have otherwise.”
She’s often asked how to find a sponsor, but her experience is like many — professionals don’t seek out their own sponsor, but rather it happens in a more organic process that usually involves managers with whom you’ve worked or who otherwise are familiar with your work and want to champion the traits you offer that will allow you to succeed in increasingly responsible roles.
“At the end of the day, sponsorship comes from faith in you as a person, and there has to be an accumulation of experience to build that trust.”
In terms of role models, Tu found hers much closer to home — her grandma. Tu has always been inspired by how she puts her heart and soul into work about which she is highly passionate, including risking her life in the founding of new China. When she retired, she raised money on her own to preserve folk music in her area of China.
“Her passion and satisfaction remind me to always focus on what is meaningful,” Tu says, and that includes defining success by pursuing something you love. “Even if your life might appear to be successful in the eyes of those around you, deep in your heart you won’t be satisfied if you’re not doing something you love.”
She notes a famous quote by Confucius that sums up that philosophy. “Choose a job you love, and you won’t have to work a single day in your life.”
Different, Yet the Same
Throughout her working life, Tu has frequently found herself in environments quite different from where she came from, and that has led to many observations about adapting to these differences. But then she finds that she soon spies commonalties amidst the differences and has realized that people are fundamentally very similar.
“Seeing the commonality helps me address challenges with other people,” she says, adding that her work to reshape the company’s business practices would be unimaginable if she wasn’t able to find the similarities in cultures and genders.
Her company has a strong focus on diversity, including many programs for women. One in which she has been active is the Leadership Program for Women (LPW), which is a training program and forum where women across regions, functions and businesses form a community to bring in professional trainers twice a year. “There are unspoken business rules pertaining to women so this group finds professionals who really know the space and can share what’s happening and how we can maximize and leverage our positions.” She also helps plan events as part of Women at TR, which is designed to develop the talents and champion the contributions of female employees, thus promoting women as equal partners in the success, achievement, and profitability of Thomson Reuters.
One example related to the Geneva Project, where women volunteer to apply their specific skills to understand and better position different products for the company’s largest customers.
“Sometimes women tend to get tied up 100 percent with their current task and don’t always look at other opportunities. Being involved in these types of projects allow you to build your network, for example by having the chance to interview sales people and customers, to extract the information we need that will be useful to others.”
Juggling Work and Family
Away from the office, Tu focuses on her 16-month old daughter. She has found that balancing work and family responsibilities has helped her view her career in a more strategic way, knowing that there are times that you won’t be able to focus 100 percent on her career. However, it also drives women to become more effective and prioritize better; in short, to work smarter rather than harder.
“I feel lucky for the advice I’ve gotten, often as part of the women’s groups, on how you have to work with your partner to focus on balance.” As many senior women leaders have told her, they can only do what they do because they have a supportive spouse. She has realized that whether it’s work or family, more gets done when everyone works together.
Women, Leadership, and Higher Profits
Guest ContributionRead more
Career Tip of the Week
Career Tip of the Week!, Thought LeadersNetworking in a productive way
Have a think about the last 2-3 networking events that you attended and go back over your contacts from that meeting. Did you maximize those connections? If not, go back and make a few lunch or coffee dates or even send them an email framing an idea that could be mutually useful to you both.
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
Voice of Experience: Betty Ng, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Moody’s
People, Voices of ExperienceNg’s high school career vision was to pursue the field of international corporate law, which combined a variety of elements that interested her. Though she ultimately chose a different journey, she was able to create a career that still mirrored those interests through seeking challenging, fulfilling leadership roles at international firms.
After earning a B.A. in Economics with a focus on international relations from Stanford University, she began her career with Arthur Andersen in the San Francisco and Beijing offices. Though she earned her CPA license, she didn’t want to devote her career to accounting, so she attended Harvard Business School for an MBA to enhance her general management and leadership skills, and then worked at Amex managing product and international program office initiatives.
Career Success through Networking
In 2004, a friend referred her to Citigroup where her interview catapulted her into an M&A execution role. This was an early lesson in being open to any opportunity, since although she had never thought about a career in mergers and acquisitions, the hiring manager convinced her that she had all the skills and experience she needed to be successful, including finance, international business, leadership, project management and foreign language. In fact, Ng found it to be the perfect role to leverage her skills and interests.
After a brief hiatus to be with her children, a former colleague at Citigroup hired her into Moody’s where she is now a senior vice president for corporate development, leading M&A and other strategic initiatives.
This experience leads her to offer the advice to women toalways be at your best since you never know who’s watching you and when your paths will cross again.And that means that in addition to delivering great work products, you have to focus on building relationships and expanding your networks.
“You want to be the first person someone thinks of for that job or assignment that can help you advance your career,” Ng says. She believes a crucial element of that is executive presence, a skill she believes can be learned and developed. “Have an open mind about enhancements that can impact your personal brand and success,” she says.
“Paying it forward”
Diversity is very important to Ng, who appreciates that Moody’s has a wide variety of programs and initiatives to support a diverse workplace, from women to LGBTA to multiple cultures to veterans.
Ng devotes time to two important groups: she is co-chair of Moody’s Women’s Employee Resource Group in New York and is concurrently working with other Asian professionals to develop an initiative to further develop the Asian talent pipeline in the company.
Her focus as co-chair of the Women’s ERG is to deliver strong content in the areas of networking and professional development, which involves collaborating with her co-chair and subcommittees to develop programs that cover a spectrum from Lean In circles to fantasy football groups.
Ng also highlighted Moody’s leadership programs for women, including a Senior Women’s Leadership Forum, which she will participate in later this year, and other programs which help participants refine their skills and gain visibility across the company.
Ng is grateful that Moody’s sponsored her attendance at the Stanford Business School Advanced Leadership Program for Asian American Executives in 2013, which she describes as an incredible professional development experience that inspired her desire to focus on developing the pipeline of Asian talent at Moody’s. While the effort is still in its early stages, its goals are to reach out to Asian talent and help senior professionals impart their experience and “pay it forward” as role models. They have held a pilot speed mentoring program and look forward to other initiatives as the group grows.
She feels that it is important for organizations to raise awareness of unconscious biases and overcome leaders’ tendencies to hire and advance people who are more like themselves rather than gaining the benefits of a more diverse pool of candidates. “Also, a lack of role models can create a psychological barrier for women, who may feel that achieving higher ranks is too difficult.”
In fact, she cites her ability to meaningfully “pay it forward” by co-chairing these groups, while still performing well at her demanding position, as the professional achievement of which she’s most proud.
Family First
Ng credits much of her success to her mother, who has served as an impressive role model by balancing family with an impactful career. A widow at 32 with four young children, she has devoted decades of her life to her career as a social worker and was recently recognized as a pioneer by the Chinese American Planning Council (CPC) for her contributions to the community. Ng had the honor of speaking at the awards event.
Having benefited greatly from CPC’s programs, Ng sought and received a grant from Harvard Business School in 2001 that allowed her to establish a sustainable youth employment program for CPC. “It was an incredible experience to help impact the lives of underprivileged youth,” she says.
Ng treasures her time with her seven-year-old daughter and five-year-old son, particularly relishing morning drop-off time and evening reading time. “My goal is to focus on my job during the day and have real quality time focusing on them when I am home.”
By Cathie Ericsson
Do Asian-American Women Face a Glass Ceiling or a Bamboo Ceiling? Both, and More.
Featured, NewsWe celebrate Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month 2015 by acknowledging both achievements and unique challenges for Asian-American women in climbing to top leadership roles in business.
On a global front, increasing women at the corporate helm in Asia inspired Fortune to introduce a Most Powerful Women in Asia-Pacific ranking for the first time ever in 2014. Over 1/3 of recognized leaders were new to Most Powerful Women, including Arundhati Bhattacharya (No. 4) of State Bank of India and Nishi Vasudeva (No. 5) of Hindustan Petroleum, each the first woman to lead their Fortune Global 500 companies.
Meanwhile corporate all-star Indra Nooyi, Chairperson and CEO of Pepsi Co (for the 9th year running & outlasting the CEO median tenure of 5 years), has been called one of the six most powerful business women in America and ranks #13 among Forbes’ “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women”. Yet she is the only Asian-American business women in the top 50.
48.7% of the 3,922,000 Asian women in the USA labor force in 2014 were in management/ professional occupations, comprising 3.4% of positions. 16.5% were in management, business, and financial operations occupations, holding 2.8% of those positions.
Catalyst 2015 data indicates Asian women make up 2.9% of S&P 500 Companies employees. They hold 2.5% of first/mid-level positions, 1.7% of executive/senior level positions, and .2% of CEO positions. Asian women are more likely than other minorities to be represented in executive and senior management jobs relative to their population size, but less likely than white women.
Catalyst data shows that Asian women occupied only 3.7% of S&P 500 women-held board seats in 2014, or less than 1% of total board seats. For Asian-American women, the glass ceiling and the bamboo ceiling more than overlap, especially at the top.
More than Two Ceilings
A recent paper into the barriers of success for Asian-American women by Peggy Li at University of California, Berkeley focuses on external societal obstacles to success. Asian-American women are commonly and mistakenly regarded as though a “monolithic group”, when the opposite is true – cultural backgrounds and origins are highly distinctive.
Li argues that current approaches to understanding barriers for Asian-American women are not enough. “By using a single-axis analysis where race and gender are mutually exclusive, the ‘glass ceiling’ and ‘bamboo ceiling’ exclude and delegitimize the experiences of Asian-American women.” Simply put, the glass ceiling ignores their (diverse) Asian identities and the bamboo ceiling ignores their womanhood, and neither capture the unique biases they face.
Li clarifies, “The barriers Asian-American women face are not only distinct, but also more than the sum of the discrimination faced by women and Asian-Americans.” For example, only Asian-American women face both culturally embedded stereotypes around Asian femininity as well as the subversive discrimination of the “model minority” myth. Together these two compound to project traits of passivity, submissiveness, humility, service, and compliance – and create unique barriers to career advancement.
Also when discrimination is only judged through discrete categories, the challenges for Asian-American women are overlooked by employers.
Li urges researchers and companies to take the approach of intersectionality to address societal barriers to progress. “To comprehend the experiences of Asian-American women and create appropriate strategies for counteracting their oppression, we must look at how race, gender, and national origin interact to create unique obstacles, stereotypes, and stigmas for Asian-American women.”
Social Perception Affects Self-Perception
Of course, externally created barriers can become internalized ones. Research into race and leadership perception has demonstrated that Asian-Americans are more likely to be pre-consciously perceived by others as competent leaders but not as agentic leaders on the basis of race (compared to Caucasians), and as a result they also internalize lower leadership self-perceptions and leadership aspirations in a USA context.
The research methodology focused on perception of males. As women in general are less likely to be perceived as having agentic leadership qualities such as assertiveness, dominance, and self-promotion, Asian-American women would seem to face a race bias, a gender bias, and a double-stacked racial gender bias against being perceived as “prototypical” leaders. Research implicates the real risk that internalizing these biases can impact on self-perceived leadership identity and aspirations.
Speaking to overcoming the “imposter syndrome” of being an Asian-American woman leader, CEO and Founder of Care.com Sheila Lirio Marcelo writes about breaking away from what she calls the 3 P’s internalized in her own upbringing: pleasing, passivity, and perfection – which comes down to being self-aware, finding your voice, and embracing and owning your leadership journey.
The unique challenges facing Asian-American women underline the need for high visibility among existing leaders in order to inspire and empower other Asian-American women to follow suit as well as to continue to challenge unconscious biases around race, gender, and leadership.
A Seat at the Head of the Table
When CAUSE, the Center for Asian-Americans United for Self Empowerment, brought together a panel of prominent female Asian-American executives for a Women In Power Quarterly Luncheon centered on “Leadership in the Boardroom” in 2014, the message was clear.
Cyndie M. Chang, Managing Director of Los Angeles Office Duane Morris L.L.P., stated “What I want to do (in monitoring this panel) is to have an insightful discussion in the challenges, not just of getting a seat at the table, but getting a seat at the head of the table.”
Indeed, in the Fortune 500, “women of color” (Asian, black, or Latina) represent only 3.1% of board seats but only 2.8% of board directors, because a small number of minority women sit on multiple boards, and are twice as likely as white women to do so.
The discussion spanned inspiring advice on getting ahead of the curve within your industry, managing feedback, being willing to fail, the importance of sponsorship, and leveraging strength and humor as an outlier. Linda Greigo, Board Member of both CBS and AECOM Technology, said, “The big challenge for me is once you get in the door, how do you keep the door open for others to follow?”
Standing up despite racial gender stereotypes. Stepping out from behind socially projected traits.
Speaking out despite culturally internalized norms. That’s just some of the stuff Asian-American women executives are made of and frankly put, it’s the stuff leadership is made of.
By Aimee Hansen
Voice of Experience: Carol Nelson, Regional Sales Executive and Seattle Market President, KeyBank
People, Voices of ExperienceShe left to become president and CEO of Cascade Bank, a community bank headquartered in nearby Everett, Wash., where she spent 10 years transforming it from a savings bank to a commercial bank, serving businesses as well as consumers. In fact, that is one of the professional achievements of which she is most proud. As she notes, changing culture can be challenging, and she found it extremely rewarding to make such a profound change and still be named the “No. 1 Medium-Size Business to Work For” by Washington CEO magazine in 2005. “That much change can be threatening, so the fact that we could also sustain and build morale was really meaningful.”
As Nelson has progressed throughout her career, she has learned the importance of building relationships. During the Cascade Bank transition, she learned that “if others in the organization understand and know you, they are more willing to accept your leadership and any changes you might need to introduce.” She also gained an appreciation for the power of process. “Giving participants the opportunity to buy in will increase the likelihood of success, whether it’s a single project or an overall company transformation.”
Nelson eventually orchestrated the sale of Cascade Bank to Opus Bank and, and following a period of transition, moved on to spend two years as agency director and CEO of the Department of Revenue for the State of Washington. “Having the chance to serve the public and give a portion of my life to public service was a tremendous opportunity, and I thoroughly enjoyed being a member of the Governor’s Executive Cabinet,” Nelson said.
Future of Banking is Bright
Banking called her back though, and she accepted her leadership role at KeyBank in January 2015. “I love being on a steep learning curve, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to bring my passion for diversity and leadership here to KeyBank,” she said. “I feel very fortunate that I found a career that I’m excited about and have a passion for – some people don’t ever find that and I’ve had it from the start.”
Nelson notes that it’s an exciting time in the industry. People have long predicted the rise of a purely cashless society, or the demise of branch banking as technology advances. But that’s not what her bank is experiencing – she says that customers still want the mix of touch points and so she will continue to lead efforts to deliver a broad cross section of products that can meet the needs of virtually every business and consumer.
“I don’t see that we will ever be able to harness technology to give people the sound advice and financial solutions that bankers do,”
Nelson finds banking to be an ideal career for women, due to the breadth and depth of the financial sector. She encourages women who are interested in career growth to seek a broad range of experience in multiple lines of business.
An Environment of Inclusivity
Though the career is particularly welcoming to women at the entry level, she has seen that as they continue to move up, it becomes more challenging and very competitive. “There are some stereotypes and management styles that can get in the way, but women just need to be smart about how they navigate them.” She notes a strong culture of advancement potential at Key in particular – it is led by a woman and women comprise 36 percent of the leadership team.
Since coming to KeyBank, Nelson has been appreciative of the networking group structure the bank offers. Employees are encouraged to form smaller networking groups where shared interests and backgrounds reinforce employee engagement and a sense of belonging. Current groups bring together Asian Americans, African Americans, employees with disabilities and employees of military families.
There is also a robust Key4Women group that supports the advancement of business women of all levels through networking and professional development events. Nelson says the program got her attention long before she came to the bank because it served employees as well as clients. “Our bankers are passionate about making sure women business owners have access to capital,” she said, adding that since 2005, KeyBank has lent more than $6 billion to women-owned businesses.
Giving Back
Nelson encourages women who want to become leaders to develop their skills by being active in the community early on. “Helping a nonprofit translates into valuable work experience and great connections,” Nelson said.
Her philosophy of giving back has created a mentoring mindset. “I believe that women leaders need to help other emerging women leaders advance their careers in the community,” she says. “Whenever someone asks for some of my time, I try to make it work. Someone paid it forward for me, and I want to do the same for others.”
At the same time, she notes that all senior women have to make savvy use of their time. Which is one reason she is such a believer in volunteer work and its ability to accomplish simultaneous goals.
Nelson is active in the Washington Roundtable, which focuses on economic development. “I am passionate about contributing to a thriving economy. At the Roundtable, I’m networking with peers and serving a mission while being visible on behalf of the bank. Time is finite – I really believe you have to be laser focused with how you spend it.”
She also serves as a trustee to Seattle University, where she is a double alum, and says she is energized by visiting the campus and interacting with the students.
And in her off time she participates in CrossFit – she is a certified instructor and while she doesn’t currently teach, she exercises her right to fitness with thrice-weekly sessions.
By Cathie Ericson