As part of disability awareness month, we are giving a platform to women to tell their stories. 
Successful, career oriented, and a visionary, Marie Heron has transformed her $100,000 funded agency into multiple delivery sites and more than 1.5 million dollars in funding. Over the years, she has been an adult educator, career counsellor and eventually an Executive Director. Heron’s career path, however, was far from barrier free.
At the age of 24, Heron worked as a sales representative for an International Personnel Agency. A self described over achiever, Heron strived to climb the career ladder to become a site manager. Her life, however, was about to take an unexpected turn, beginning with an emergency visit to St. Michael’s Hospital. After three days of testing, Heron was diagnosed as having the chronic illness Multiple Sclerosis.
Left with more questions than answers, Heron returned to work, where she quickly learned that life was not what it was before. ”After the initial diagnosis, I had three successive relapses, which required time off of work,” said Heron. “My employer had to let me go because I was taking so much time off work.”
Taking a Step Back to Move Forward
Not wanting to repeat this experience, Heron made the decision to take on shorter-term contracts while she adapted to life with a chronic illness. Although, it was a choice that resulted in significantly less money, it was a necessary step to gain a better understanding of her illness and what she would need to do to adapt. Over time, Heron realized that she could either sit and wallow in self pity or proceed forward with her dreams. And so, she moved forward, determined to construct her own career path. “Physically I was having periodic episodes of vertigo, vision loss and falls, intermixed with periods of remission,” said Heron. “I recognized that I was the only one responsible for my career, so I took control.” The answer for Heron was to start her own business, the Art of Reception, a training company for receptionists. The business started out small, with a few key staff members that she could trust to take the lead during periods of relapse.
After a few years, Heron recognized the company’s potential for growth, but to do so she would require additional capital. “I went to a local politician’s office, every week, for a year and half, with the hopes of obtaining federal funding,” said Heron. Her perseverance paid off. “I was the youngest and first woman to get that much federal funding,” said Heron. “But it was what my contact said when the funding was received that was both surprising and inspiring.” The politician shared that he had helped to knock down the doors, but what Heron did beyond the doors was up to her.
And that is exactly what she did, continuing to break down barriers and expand her company. With the growth of the company, Heron became less forthcoming about her illness to her staff. “When people heard that I had multiple sclerosis, immediately they started to research and develop biases that impacted our interactions,” said Heron. “And so, I made the decisions to not tell people about my illness, as it did not define who I was.”
Strange Side Effects of the Illness
Navigating a career with a chronic illness, equipped Heron with both a positive attitude and perseverance that helped to both inspire and motivate her clients. Because she had such high expectations for herself, she, found herself expecting her staff to follow her example. “Because I had done so much myself, “said Heron. “I found that I had developed extremely high expectations for my employees.” To help manage her expectations, Heron hired a human resources consultant to assist her with both management techniques and to develop policies and procedures for her company.
Over the years, Heron has learned a lot about growing her career and the importance of self-care, but this wasn’t always the case. In her twenties and thirties, Heron, would often find herself working overtime, including weekends, to get in documents days before the deadline. Today, she’s learned to take things a bit slower, still ensuring that the deadline is met, but also taking the time to rest and rejuvenate.
“I recently read an article by Jack Osborne, who shared that there is a silver lining with being diagnosed“, said Heron. “He said, that if you can maintain your positivity, you can steer your progression. It resonated with me because I’ve always tried to be positive.” Although, multiple sclerosis does not define Heron, there is no question that it has helped evolve her to the person that she is today.
About Marie-Heron
Marie Heron, Executive Director at On-Track Career & Employment Services, was diagnosed with M.S. at 24. She has created a new podcast, “Truth Be Told” so that young people living with M.S. can find a safe resource for hope, inspiration, and advocacy.
Op-Ed: How Seed Crowdfunding is Unleashing Female Entrepreneurial Potential
Career Advice, Career Tip of the Week!Guest contributed by Aoife Flood
I recently had the privilege of being part of an exciting PwC research project undertaken in collaboration with The Crowdfunding Centre culminating in the release of our Women Unbound: Unleashing female entrepreneurial potential report.
The report explores the experience of women in achieving finance raising success through seed crowdfunding compared with more traditional finance raising routes and brings to the fore a lot of powerful and scary insights and opportunities. For example, while challenges like the gender leadership gap and the gender pay gap receive widespread media attention, the barriers that female-led businesses and entrepreneurs face in accessing finance have been much less visibly reported. For me personally being part of this research process was certainly somewhat of a rude awakening.
The fact is most decision makers in the venture capital industry are male, and research shows that male entrepreneurs are 86% more likely to be venture capital funded than their female counterparts, and 59% more likely to secure angel investment. Meanwhile, a $300 billion financing gap exists globally for formal, women-owned small businesses, and 70% of women-owned small and medium sized enterprises have inadequate or no access to financial services.
One thing is clear, female entrepreneurs receive less than male entrepreneurs through traditional funding channels and this funding gap is a missed opportunity. Investing in or supporting women-led business has the potential to deliver some of the highest-returns – for investors and societies. Take for example the UK, if they could match US levels of female entrepreneurship they could potentially add £23 billion gross value add to their economy.
What the data in this Women unbound report shows clearly is that when women choose to access crowdfunding they are more than capable – and very often more capable than men. Thanks to crowdfunding, female entrepreneurs can now access the market directly – and this makes a huge difference because when they do, female crowdfunders are 32% more successful than their male counterparts.
The report analysed data from over 450,000 seed crowdfunding campaigns, from nine of the largest crowdfunding platforms globally over a two year period.
What the analysis told us is that men clearly crowdfund more than women, 72% of crowdfunders globally were male compared with 28% who were women. Yet, globally, women are more successful at crowdfunding than men: 22% of campaigns led by a women reached their target, compared to 17% of those led by men. And this is not a collective anomaly, women-led campaigns performed better (in terms of securing their funding goals) than campaigns led by men when we segregated the data for every sector and every territory.
Even in what are considered more masculine sectors, for example technology where just one in every ten crowdfunders is female, 13% of women were successful in achieving their funding goal compared to just 10% of men.
So despite their clear underrepresentation, women are more successful at crowdfunding than men. But why is this?
The main factor seems to be because crowdfunding attracts, enables and empowers far more female decision makers as project backers. In essence, just like the dominance of male representation in traditional financing channels can create barriers for women, the more gender-level playing field of the crowd provides one explanation for why women are more likely to succeed at crowdfunding than men.
Female crowdfunders also tend to use more emotional and inclusive language in their videos and pitch descriptions than men. This language is more appealing both to female and to male backers and positively correlated to funding success. While the use of business language, the style typically favoured by male crowdfunders, has been shown to be negatively correlated with money raised irrespective of what product or service is being pitched.
Yet, while women are outperforming men in achieving their funding targets across the board, the fact remains that significantly more men are crowdfunding than women, and as result, men raise substantially more finance via this channel. Men are also more ambitious in establishing higher funding goals than their female counterparts and we see them dominate in the highest funded campaigns by sector.
In fact, while there were 63 campaigns that raised over $1 million, only seven of these were led by women (11%), with the most funded campaign created by a woman placing number 18 on the list. However, progress is being made, 2014 data illustrates that only 7% of campaigns raising over $1million were led by women, and the most funded campaign created by a woman placed 37 on the list. On another positive note, on average female-led campaigns receive 5% more per individual pledge globally than male-led campaigns.
Despite this, significant opportunity still remains for women to become more active and represented in crowdfunding and to be more ambitious when establishing their finance raising goals.
I truly hope that the success of female crowdfunders highlighted in this report inspires and motivates more budding and established female entrepreneurs to explore crowdfunding.
Overall, the findings of our Women unbound report pose a strong challenge to existing entrepreneurial and business norms by seriously questioning whether there are deep-rooted biases that are preventing greater access to funding by female entrepreneurs. It is extremely positive to see that the growth and global reach of seed crowdfunding presents several major opportunities, each with the potential for major social and economic impact. Including the understanding and acceptance that seed crowdfunding is now a well-established environment through which women can thrive.
Learn more about these opportunities by reading our Women unbound report or visit our data explorer to check out the geographical and sector crowdfunding trends for yourself
Contributed by Aoife Flood. Based in Dublin, Ireland, Aoife is Senior Manager of the Global Diversity and Inclusion Programme Office at PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited. A version of this op-ed was originally published in PwC’s Gender Agenda Blog.
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Intrepid Woman: Marie Heron, Executive Director at On-Track Career and Employment Services
Intrepid Women Series, PeopleAs part of disability awareness month, we are giving a platform to women to tell their stories.
Successful, career oriented, and a visionary, Marie Heron has transformed her $100,000 funded agency into multiple delivery sites and more than 1.5 million dollars in funding. Over the years, she has been an adult educator, career counsellor and eventually an Executive Director. Heron’s career path, however, was far from barrier free.
At the age of 24, Heron worked as a sales representative for an International Personnel Agency. A self described over achiever, Heron strived to climb the career ladder to become a site manager. Her life, however, was about to take an unexpected turn, beginning with an emergency visit to St. Michael’s Hospital. After three days of testing, Heron was diagnosed as having the chronic illness Multiple Sclerosis.
Left with more questions than answers, Heron returned to work, where she quickly learned that life was not what it was before. ”After the initial diagnosis, I had three successive relapses, which required time off of work,” said Heron. “My employer had to let me go because I was taking so much time off work.”
Taking a Step Back to Move Forward
Not wanting to repeat this experience, Heron made the decision to take on shorter-term contracts while she adapted to life with a chronic illness. Although, it was a choice that resulted in significantly less money, it was a necessary step to gain a better understanding of her illness and what she would need to do to adapt. Over time, Heron realized that she could either sit and wallow in self pity or proceed forward with her dreams. And so, she moved forward, determined to construct her own career path. “Physically I was having periodic episodes of vertigo, vision loss and falls, intermixed with periods of remission,” said Heron. “I recognized that I was the only one responsible for my career, so I took control.” The answer for Heron was to start her own business, the Art of Reception, a training company for receptionists. The business started out small, with a few key staff members that she could trust to take the lead during periods of relapse.
After a few years, Heron recognized the company’s potential for growth, but to do so she would require additional capital. “I went to a local politician’s office, every week, for a year and half, with the hopes of obtaining federal funding,” said Heron. Her perseverance paid off. “I was the youngest and first woman to get that much federal funding,” said Heron. “But it was what my contact said when the funding was received that was both surprising and inspiring.” The politician shared that he had helped to knock down the doors, but what Heron did beyond the doors was up to her.
And that is exactly what she did, continuing to break down barriers and expand her company. With the growth of the company, Heron became less forthcoming about her illness to her staff. “When people heard that I had multiple sclerosis, immediately they started to research and develop biases that impacted our interactions,” said Heron. “And so, I made the decisions to not tell people about my illness, as it did not define who I was.”
Strange Side Effects of the Illness
Navigating a career with a chronic illness, equipped Heron with both a positive attitude and perseverance that helped to both inspire and motivate her clients. Because she had such high expectations for herself, she, found herself expecting her staff to follow her example. “Because I had done so much myself, “said Heron. “I found that I had developed extremely high expectations for my employees.” To help manage her expectations, Heron hired a human resources consultant to assist her with both management techniques and to develop policies and procedures for her company.
Over the years, Heron has learned a lot about growing her career and the importance of self-care, but this wasn’t always the case. In her twenties and thirties, Heron, would often find herself working overtime, including weekends, to get in documents days before the deadline. Today, she’s learned to take things a bit slower, still ensuring that the deadline is met, but also taking the time to rest and rejuvenate.
“I recently read an article by Jack Osborne, who shared that there is a silver lining with being diagnosed“, said Heron. “He said, that if you can maintain your positivity, you can steer your progression. It resonated with me because I’ve always tried to be positive.” Although, multiple sclerosis does not define Heron, there is no question that it has helped evolve her to the person that she is today.
About Marie-Heron
Marie Heron, Executive Director at On-Track Career & Employment Services, was diagnosed with M.S. at 24. She has created a new podcast, “Truth Be Told” so that young people living with M.S. can find a safe resource for hope, inspiration, and advocacy.
Personal Branding Strategy: Why Strong Careers Begin Here
Career Advice, Guest ContributionGuest contributed by LIz Harr, Partner, Hinge
Image via Shutterstock
You know them. Executives who secure all the media mentions, deliver keynotes at top conferences and attract the best clients. Interestingly, most of these experts aren’t much different from the rest of us. In fact, many of them admit that they aren’t the smartest or most knowledgeable people in their fields. They weren’t born writers. They weren’t born orators.
Instead, they climbed to success by developing personal branding strategy with a very specific set of tools, trying and discarding a host of techniques along the way. My firm has produced some powerful research around what helped these individuals reach their respective levels of success and I’d like to share with you what really works – and what doesn’t – so you don’t have to endure the experimentation others have had to.
What Is a Personal Branding Strategy?
At the heart of their success is a strategy. A personal branding strategy. This is essentially a plan to take your reputation and career from relative obscurity to high visibility. It describes where you stand today and what level of visibility you want to achieve in the future. It lays out the tactics, tools and skills you will need to attain your goal, including the daily content calendar you will follow.
The Five Levels of Visibility
In our research on how personal brands can catapult a professional to higher levels of visibility – and career success – we identified five progressively more visible levels of expertise:
Level 1: Resident Experts. These experts are well respected within their firms and by their clients, but they have little visibility outside of those audiences. Most Visible Experts start their journey here.
Level 2: Local Heroes. These individuals are beginning to become known outside of their firms. They are more active in their local business communities, often speaking at business functions and blogging. They may even bring a little new business to their firm.
Level 3: Rising Stars. These experts have developed a regional reputation. They are fairly well known among peers in their area, and they speak and write frequently on their area of expertise. Rising Stars tend to bring in higher-quality business and higher fees.
Level 4: Industry Rock Stars. These names are well known across the nation for their niche areas of expertise. They attract premium clients and fees. As a result, they become significant assets to their firms.
Level 5: Global Superstars. The world’s elite experts, Global Superstars have broken out of their niches and household names. They command the highest fees, and firms around the world want to be associated with them.
Your first job is to figure out which of these levels describes you today. Then you need to decide what level of expertise you would like to achieve.
The Benefits of a Strong Personal Brand
As you’ll see in a moment when I go over specific tools for building a strong personal brand, it’s not for the faint of heart. But there are some very tangible benefits that these experts have realized. For starters, their earnings are higher. The chart below shows the relative billing rates for each Visible Expert level.
Figure 1. Relative Hourly Rates Buyers Will Pay, By Visible Expert Level
Our research showed that buyers are willing to pay over 13 times more for a Global Superstar than an average professional. But even Level 1 experts hold a significant advantage over their undistinguished brethren.
The reason? Buyers are willing to pay a premium for the confidence that a Visible Expert will solve their problem more quickly and with greater precision. Higher billing rates aren’t the only benefit. Here are a few others:
The 7 Critical Tools for Personal Branding
One of the most important things we learned from our research was which marketing tools have the greatest impact on an individual’s personal brand. Here are the top tools from our study, rated on a 1 (least impactful) to 10 (most impactful) scale:
Figure 2. Total Impact of Tools
I recommend you prioritize around these seven as you build your personal brand:
This list, of course, just scratches the surface. There are dozens of tools that you can use to engage your audience. Webinars can be used as a different take on public speaking for example.
One last tip. Our research showed a clear correlation between specialized expertise and length of time it takes to groom yourself as a visible expert. Specialization eliminates the clutter like nothing else, and allows you to forge ahead without the noise that generalized knowledge brings to the table.
Disclaimer: The opinions and views of guest contributors are not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com
Why One Type of Advice Doesn’t Fit All
Career Advice, Career Tip of the Week!When I am writing this column I go through a range of emotions due to the fact that any article giving advice is just an opinion. It is easy to be opinionated, to live in the dogma of the binary of this way or that way, but it’s often not that useful for the person on the receiving end.
The best that I can do is base the advice on a combination of expertise, research and intuition. However, I do not know you personally, I do not know what your specific situation is that you need advice around. I also do not know the environment you are operating in, nor the developmental frames or mental models that you have accumulated through your own interpretation of your experiences during your life until this day. I do not know your reactions to bad bosses, stress, wins, systemic gender issues . My point is, this is the internal diversity that matters to you in your career advancement, the cognitive and emotional differences and capacities that every human has, not the just the social identity version of diversity that is touted in companies which way too often feels like Noah collecting animals for his Ark.
We are all a product of our ability to self-reflect on our conscious thoughts and actions. The unconscious beliefs we all hold are harder to access as they are unknown to us but often hold in place competing agendas that stop us from achieving our goals via behaviors that are not aligned with goal attainment. I have mentioned Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey’s book Immunity to Change a couple of times in this column. They don’t know who I am, this is one of the few books I wax lyrical about, but I can honestly tell you their work is a must read for anyone who is wondering how to really get to why some of those goals and resolutions around career, fitness, family are still outstanding. I just wrote a paper integrating their work with the Columbia Coaching Program Process, as it is my firm belief that unless you access the murky unconscious of how you construct your big assumptions, and say them out loud to yourself to check for validity, your self-efficacy around goal setting for you as an executive can’t be totally effective- even if you are the most motivated person on the planet.
So, this week instead of telling you to do this strategy or that strategy, I am going to ask you to think, pre-holidays, about what you want to achieve in the next 12 months and then to look long and hard at what you are currently doing to reach those goals. Not the should or ought to do but what you are doing or not doing. Then ask yourself whats really going on? What is your competing agenda hidden in all of this?
We have 20 places left for individuals for our next round of individual coaching starting in November.
We also have a group coaching starting in December- join a cohort of peers.
Get in touch! Nicki@theglasshammer.com or book an exploratory call here to learn more about what we are doing and how much it costs.
Hispanic Heritage Month
NewsThis month we have celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month in the US. We have profiled senior Latina women and discussed how corporate America needs to shake up how boardrooms are filled.
Take a look at the following articles published during previous Hispanic Heritage celebrations.
Latina Leadership: Will Companies Ever Catch On?
If you scan Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in 2016, you will be hard-pressed to find a Latina executive, amidst an overall drop in female CEOs to 4% in the Fortune 500 in 2016.
According to a 2016 report from the American Association of University Women (AAUW), Hispanic women make up 6% of the workforce but only 1.3% of senior-level executive roles in the private sector.
Hispanic Heritage: Latina Women are Ready to Lead. Are Companies Ready?
As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month 2015, Latina executives remain scarce in the corporate landscape. But ambition to lead, and ability to bring leadership advantages, are not scarce.
Walmart’s EVP and COO Debra Ruiz ranks 28 in Fortune’s current 50 Most Powerful Women in Business 2014 list. Latina Style celebrated ten executives in February, with Calline Sanchez, VP of IBM Enterprise, taking Corporate Executive of the Year 2014. Ana Dutra made history when she was appointed the first Latina president and CEO of the Executives’ Club of Chicago.
Hispanic Heritage Update: Where are the Latina Leaders in Corporate America?
Where are the Latina Leaders in financial services, in technology and in the Fortune 500 at large in the United States?
At first glance, it is easy to think they are almost entirely absent from the top echelons of business since only 35 women sit in the most senior executive management positions in the whole of the Fortune 1000. The 2012 Fortune 50 Most Powerful Women list includes only Gisele Ruiz, COO of Wal-Mart US.
Intrepid Woman: Dr. Marilyn Fraser, CEO, Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health (AAIUH)
Intrepid Women Series, PeopleBy Cathie Ericson
Dr. Marilyn Fraser has always had a passion for patient education and talking to people about health, considering it one of her favorite aspects of medicine. That’s why when she was facing a crossroads regarding career direction after completing medical school, she was delighted to hear of the opportunity at the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health (AAIUH), located at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. The more she went into the community to talk about health, the more she realized it was a career path where she would stay.
The Institute was founded by Arthur Ashe, an activist, tennis champion and humanitarian interested in addressing health inequities, including the underrepresentation of people of color in the health profession, and implementing innovative community outreach programs. The Institute has a stated long-term goal of reducing morbidity and mortality by improving health knowledge, facilitating behavior change and expanding access to care among the most vulnerable populations in urban areas.
A central component of the mission is to create partnerships and research the needs of communities, then develop best practices or make policy recommendations to address the issues, she adds. The Brooklyn Health Disparities Center, a key collaboration of the Institute with SUNY Downstate and the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President, is a great example of such a partnership.
Tackling Challenges to Advance the Mission
From growing up in the West Indies to her time living in Brooklyn, Fraser knows firsthand that there are communities that are underserved, with limited access to care. In addition, education is sorely needed as some people are not aware of resources that are available. “We try to link them to those resources because sometimes they can’t afford the care they need or lack access to care,” she points out.
In addition, groups like AAIUH play a key role in dispelling myths about health and disease. “We want people to be aware of what’s going on in their bodies and not be afraid,” she says, adding that they are realizing that even simple conversations can provide clues to social issues that might be coming into play and hampering the ability of the community to access healthcare.
“One of our biggest challenges is funding and how to conduct effective programs, including research as budgets are often cut with no warning,” she says.
Recently, the AAIUH, under Dr. Fraser’s leadership, was awarded a grant to lead a consortium to develop a strategic plan for community-based organizations (CBOs) to share their knowledge. The program, part of Delivery Systems Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program received a $2.5 million dollar grant to work with community-based organizations to lead a consortium to build the capacity of CBOs to address the DSRIP deliverables focused on improving health outcomes .
They are currently a little more than halfway through the one-year grant, which they hope will promote sustainability and also create systems to address healthcare inequalities. “The award recognized the Institute’s leadership, and I personally found that being acknowledged by peers and selected to carry out this important mission is one of the greatest honors anyone could have,” Fraser says.
Relationships Are the Key
Fraser has helped keep her passion alive by building relationships within communities. But she adds, “It’s important to realize that we must stay mindful of the fact that the people who live these experiences are the experts, and you can’t come in with preconceived notions. In medical school they taught us to listen to our patients because it can be all too easy to rely on our own ideas and discount what is actually being said.”
She acknowledges that nothing is done overnight and that it takes time to foster relationships, especially while also handling administrative needs. “You have to find a balance between the many relationships and create and maintain a culture that speaks to people with varying needs, priorities and agendas,” she says. While she knew that politics would play a big role, she has come to realize just how important it is – and how much time is needed to devote to political issues, compared to her former deputy role.
As the years go by, Fraser says she finds that the general public isn’t as aware of Ashe and his mission, which is why they work to keep his legacy in the forefront. “If we are cognizant of making sure that we maintain the essence of who he was and why he created the Institute, I am confident we will do the work in the same vein that it was intended and sustain it, which is the important factor,” she says. She particularly appreciates how her role is made easier because of the support she is offered from her entire team, including the board.
Dr. Fraser carries her love of cultures over into a passion for travel, always wanting to experience new places and people. One of the Institute’s programs has been replicated in Trinidad & Tobago, in collaboration with the University of the West Indies. In addition, she notes that a big part of everything she does is spurred on by her faith, and she finds that her family, including her nieces and nephews, keep her grounded. Friends play a key role too. “In addition to prayer, cooking is my stress reliever and I love to invite groups over to join me,” she says.
What Microsoft’s New Ad Should Be Teaching Leaders and HR Professionals
Career Advice, Guest ContributionImage via Shutterstock
Disclaimer: The opinions and views of our Guest contributors are not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com
“I Want to Be a Really Good Listener”
Career Advice, Guest ContributionGuest contributed by Linda O’Neill, VP of Strategic Services at Vigilant
Image via Shutterstock
Over the past several weeks, I’ve noticed a pattern in what I’m hearing from my professional colleagues. Many of them are having what they describe as difficult conversations with employees, whether it’s about redundancies, new roles, new expectations or even coverage for the holidays. When I ask my clients how they want to “be” for these conversations, most are saying, “I want to be a really good listener.”
Throughout our lives we are taught a lot about speaking effectively. Unfortunately, most of us have received little training on being a “really good listener.” There are, however, resources and information available to enhance listening skills. Read on for information about the different levels of listening as well as some tips for being more effective.
Levels of Listening
Most listening experts agree there are different “levels” of listening. As the level of listening goes up so does the sophistication. Otto Scharmer, a senior lecturer at MIT and co-founder of the Presencing Institute, developed a set of principles on listening and they are among my favorites. He describes four levels: 1) Downloading; 2) Factual; 3) Empathic; and 4) Generative.
When a listener moves to Levels 3 and 4, he/she brings forth more of the heart and will.
The first step in increasing your own listening skills is to notice your tendencies when you’re listening. What’s going on your head, heart and body when you are working to be a “really good listener”? From this place of noticing, you can begin to gain sophistication and effectiveness in your skills. Read on for some tips.
Tips for Effective Listening
An unknown source said, “We were given two ears but only one mouth, because listening is twice as hard as talking.” Developing listening skills is hard work; putting the skills into action is even harder. You’ll know you’ve been listening effectively when at the end of a conversation you’re tired! You’ll feel like you’ve extended some effort. Listening is active, especially when you engage at Levels 3 and 4. I promise the rewards will be worth the effort!
Voice of Experience: Ximena Herrera-Bernal, Counsel in the International Arbitration Group; Shearman & Sterling, London
Hispanic Heritage, People, Voices of ExperienceBy Cathie Ericson
For counsel Ximena Herrera-Bernal, a multi-cultural background offers plenty of advantages including better emotional intelligence about how to adapt to different cultures and changing environments. Versatility and resilience also come as the result of operating in different legal cultures. “Starting my career in Latin America, where barriers for women are perhaps more evident than in more developed countries, forced me to developed a thicker skin for the challenges of being a woman lawyer,” she says.
“Early on I found the professional world wasn’t as gender-neutral as might be hoped. You have to learn to deal with those barriers and not let it get to you. However, one can find one’s own strength actually developed because of such obstacles”, she says, adding that it is highly gratifying to see positive change over the years, particularly in Colombia where the number of women working in prominent positions is increasing.
Her multicultural background also ensures she can successfully relate to a diverse clientele, which has been beneficial throughout her journey.
Pivoting to The Ideal Law Specialty
While earning her JD in Colombia, Herrera-Bernal began working at a local law firm, finding it valuable to gain practical experience while completing her studies. She then clerked for two Justices of the Constitutional Court of Colombia. She found this to be an exciting experience, given the country’s historical moment, which involved constitutional reform and the transition of a guerrilla group to civil society. She felt that she was involved in making a difference.
After completing her LL.M. degree at Harvard, Herrera-Bernal practiced corporate law in New York. But she soon realized that she preferred the more “contentious side of law”. So when she was offered the opportunity to work on an arbitration, she discovered an appealing new career direction. “When you’re fresh out of law school and your choices are all open, it can be challenging to decide on your career path. Many people don’t take the time to decide what they really like. When you’re planning on a long career, it’s worth taking the time to explore the different areas that are available.”
And Herrera-Bernal has never looked back from her career trajectory. From there she interned in the Latin American team at the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris and then joined Shearman & Sterling’s Paris office. She practiced there for over eight years, until four years ago when she and some colleagues went to England to expand the firm’s London arbitration team.
While being named “of Counsel” last year was a significant achievement for Herrera-Bernal, she stresses that it’s also important to recognize the smaller achievements throughout your life and career that are less evident. “Every time you overcome a new challenge, realize that you can do it and do it right, even if you were initially unsure. That makes you become a better professional. Those moments are ultimately just as important and rewarding as the major milestones we tend to focus on.”
Herrera-Bernal’s current cases are wide-ranging, including two arbitrations that she describes as “David vs. Goliath” cases. She finds all her cases fascinating, including the many investment treaty arbitrations that she does. She enjoys them particularly because they combine international dispute resolution with public international law. She is also involved in a case with historical and legal implications.
Recognize Your Strengths as a Woman
Herrera-Bernal believes that women have many advantages in the world of dispute resolution, including their ability to appreciate different angles of a situation. However, she has noticed that women lawyers often hesitate to speak up in front of their colleagues. “It is imperative to believe in your abilities and to make your views appropriately known,” Herrera-Bernal says.
This does not, in her view, mean becoming unnecessarily aggressive. She believes that women can be equally successful by staying true to themselves, without adopting an artificially aggressive shell. “When you’re doubting yourself, imagine that you are giving advice to a female friend who is experiencing the same issues. Then listen to your own advice,” she suggests.
Herrera-Bernal also notes the benefits she has received from being part of firm initiatives such as WISER (Women’s Initiative for Success, Excellence and Retention). “I have been fortunate to have wonderful woman partners at Shearman who are role models, and a head of practice who is supportive of women in the workplace.”
Even in her “off” time, she is devoted to the practice of law, conducting pro bono work in public international law. One highlight of that work was her secondment in 2012 to the UNCTR in Arusha. But despite the hectic pace of her professional life, most evenings Herrera-Bernal indulges herself in the luxury of pleasure reading, to disconnect from work and relax, along with her two dogs. She also ensures that she takes holidays in a new and exciting place every year.
Voice of Experience: Lina Woods, Director, Global Digital Go-To-Market Leader, PwC
Hispanic Heritage, Voices of ExperienceWhen you’re just starting out, you’re not an expert in anything and that’s ok, says PwC’s Lina Woods. “There were times of stress when I should have realized it was ok to learn along with everyone else, and I see now that I could have harnessed that perceived vulnerability and realized you should just dive in and do your best.”
Using Her Expertise To Educate Up
Woods’ career began in the agency world, where she worked for respected public relations firms, including Fleishman Hillard and Brunswick Group. When the opportunity arose to join PwC, she knew that the in-house experience would be the perfect complement to help her understand the full construct of communications programs pubic relations. Her agency skill set has been a major benefit in her role in public relations and social media for PwC’s advisory consulting arm, as she has learned that client management is similar whether the clients are internal or external.
Given how large and diverse PwC is, Woods has found that her department is invaluable to creating a cohesive narrative within a multi-channel strategy. “My passion right now is digital tech and using the firm’s current digital transformation to tell our story,” she says. No longer is there one “silver bullet” or single approach to strategic communications, as the disciplines and available tools intersect. Whereas earned media used to be the main way that companies could tell their stories, now blogging and social media are powerful ways to cut through the clutter with strong visuals and messages, she notes, adding that it is an exciting time for communications professionals to truly add value.
As the communications function, marketing and PR continue to evolve, part of her role is educating leadership on what she does and why she does it. They might cling to tried-and-true PR tactics like press releases, but she is able to work with them to show how to reach audiences in a way that engages them, even though sometimes that means moving away from techniques and tactics that people are used to. “We are driving the line of service in a different way as we modernize it to better reach today’s consumers,” she says.
Part of Woods’ role has been to help to rebuild the PR team as they work to stay ahead of trends and push people outside of their comfort zones by developing an integrated approach to telling the PwC story. Her leadership has helped create a team that is confident in sharing their expertise and counseling the senior leaders of PwC’s largest line of service.
A Multicultural Background Helps Create Success
A native of Colombia, Woods says that growing up in a multicultural environment has helped boost her career because she has learned that people may understand the same message differently. “Effective communication has never been something I’ve taken for granted, and that is one of the reasons why I love working in this industry,” she says.
In fact, she learned the importance of communication early on when her family fled Colombia when she was 12, leaving everything and coming to the United States for their safety. Woods says she “became her mother’s voice, making use of the English I had picked up in my bilingual grade school to help navigate our new community,” including enrolling herself in school, and negotiating with landlords. That early experience helped shape her ability to speak up in situations where others might feel uncomfortable, a skill that has proved useful throughout her career.
Working in agencies, for example, you are surrounded by diverse viewpoints but you have to show that you deserve to be at the table, even in situations where you might doubt yourself. “Sometimes that’s easier for men but it’s really important for women to be confident and find their voice,” she says. “Trust your gut; you’re there for a reason and you should add value and not be afraid to be loud and proud.”
She also urges women to support one another and advocate for each other, becoming a community where as a leader you allow your team to be themselves and help them to thrive and grow in their roles. Woods says that within her PR advisory team she looks up to her leader, Caroline Nolan, who always makes sure everyone has the information they need and empowers her team members to improve every day.
An avid traveler, Woods particularly loves seeing new places and having unexpected experiences. Last October she visited India and hopes to go to Australia and Vietnam for her next adventures. She loves challenges and learning something new; whether it’s a new culture or just putting together a puzzle.
A strong supporter of Save the Children, Woods notes that growing up with a mom who dedicated her life to help children as a psychologist has helped inspire her to do her part to educate women in the world.