Northeast Ohio women leaders who are breaking through barriers in business consider themselves part of a continuum of change, according to a panel of women leaders convened by Squire Sanders and the Key Executive Women’s Network Business Development and External Networking Committee.
Nearly 100 local business women attended the event to hear five Northeast Ohio women business leaders share perspectives on executive leadership.
The panel included Beth E. Mooney, chair, chief executive officer and president of KeyCorp, Jenniffer D. Deckard, president, Fairmount Minerals; Laurie Brlas, executive vice president, finance and administration, Cliffs Natural Resources; Geralyn M. Presti, general counsel, senior vice president and secretary, Forest City Enterprises and Valerie Gentile Sachs, vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, OM Group, Inc.
Carolyn J. Buller, Squire Sanders partner and chair of the Squire Sanders Women’s Initiative Steering Committee, started the conversation with sobering statistics. She cited 2010 research that found even though women make up half the American workforce and more women than men have four-year college degrees, women hold a mere 14 percent of Fortune 500 senior executive positions.
Carolyn posed the question: “So, what’s the hold up?” Here is a brief summary of panelists’ collective perspective on executive parity for women and best practices for breaking through.
Do your job. Be willing to roll up your sleeves and figure out solutions.
“Take the opportunity to work on something and surprise people,” one panelist said. Another added: “Try to build a reputation as being the ‘go-to’ person.”
Take credit for your successes. Make your ambitions known.
“Showcase what you can do,” one panelist advised. Another noted a key difference between professional men and women is that “men ask for the job, the raise, the title, the promotion.”
Find a sponsor.
“Sponsorship means more than serving as a sounding board or providing advice – that’s a mentor’s job. Sponsorship means helping to advance your protégé’s career by opening doors, introducing them to the right people and getting them on key projects and accounts.” Another panelist noted, “sponsors reinforce your [personal] brand.”
Support others along the way. Providementoring, sponsorship and constructive feedback to women who work with you so they can benefit from your journey.
Understand you are part of a social movement.
“We are transforming the workplace,” one panelist said. “We are part of a continuum. Consider where we were 40 years ago when job opportunities in many communities were separately listed in newspapers as ’employment for men’ and ’employment for women.’ The pace of change will only accelerate in the future. The more work we do now, the easier it will be for those who follow us.”
