"Lean In" Techniques in Practice

I have been reading Lean In by Sheryl Sandburg a lot on my college visit to Rochester and not only is it incredibly relevant in terms of my project, but I found that it has been a great resource for this trip. --briefly, I want to talk RIT for paying for my trip, unfortunately, I have decided they are not the school for me, now the decision is Trinity University of University of Rochester-- Sandburg talks a lot about how women should and should not represent themselves. I am going to describe how this book just helped me make some invaluable connections.

Sandburg spends a lot of time in her book urging women not to be afraid, to raise their hands, to take seats at the front of the class, to make sure to be noticed and confident. She has observed that women don't want to be seen as abrasive or aggressive. Sandburg sees this as one of the major factors holding women back. She wants women to be confident, brave, and unapologetic. On the topic of confidence, she gives the advice of faking it, until you feel it, noting that many women are conditioned to be self-conscious while men are encouraged and tend to be self-confident.

At rit and university of rochester I decided to use just this technique. I was very nervous. I was one of the only students, if not the only one, that was not accompanied by her parents. So I decide to be (or at least act) confident. When asked "does anyone have any questions?" I was consistently the only student to respond. I also would pipe up and actually ask questions without being prompted. When going to classrooms, I sat front row.  I also choose not to be afraid to talk with people I didn't know. I happened to sit across from a gentleman on my plane who was also returning from u or r after a simon business school event. We talked for the whole flight and be gave me invaluable advice about my future career path. This connection could possibly help me in the future when I am looking for internships or even just more advice, and I probably never would have made it if not for this project.

In one chapter, Sandburg says how in her COO position she once had an acquaintance call her asking for a job, but instead of listing references and experience she asked in what area did Facebook need help. The applicant made it about the company, not herself, saying she would do whatever she need to do in order to help the company and fix any areas that needed help.  Sandburg hired the applicant on the spot in the human resources department, an area in which she had no experience. That women still works in that position to this day.

When I visited the financial aid office, that is what I tried to do. I made it about the university, asking what they need me to do for them, honestly telling them that I would do whatever I need to do in order to earn all financial aid they were willing to give me. The response I got was amazing. Also, I used some advice from Amber Smith, and greeted them with a firm, not a floppy, girly, handshake.

I am incredibly happy with how my college visit went and it is because of  this project. From observing how people like Amber and Linda act in professional settings, I was able to emulate them which I think made me stand out from the over 150 other students on my college tours. I am incredibly happy with the opportunity this has provided for me. I could write more, but I simply don’t have the time right now.

Amber Smith Interview

                Starting this Wednesday I will be starting my internship with Amber Smith, so I wanted to share things I learned from my original interview with her.

                Ms. Smith is the Executive Director of the Metropolitan Pima Alliance. She earned her degree in Public Administration Policy from the U of A. Soon, I will be able to better give a description of what it is she does, but I know she works in the field of public policy advocacy and helps business to obtain permits and navigate regulations.

                I am so glad that I will be able to work with her because in my interview with her she mentioned on her own a lot of the core issues that I want to focus on for my project. Unlike some of the women I talked with, she was comfortable saying that she believed being a woman has affect how she must act and conduct herself. She believes women have to work harder in order to gain credibility. She works in a male dominated field where there is about a 4 to 1 ration of men to women. Because of this, she has often been the only, or one of the only women in meetings. She told me that often she has spoken up and been dismissed, only to have the same idea considered when suggested by a man. She believes tenacity is how she and other women gain their credibility. By continuing to show up for those meeting, by producing tangible success, they buildup their own credibility and reputation.

                One shocking thing she shared with me was that just 4 years ago, she was told my her mentor she shouldn't say she couldn't make an early morning meeting because she had to get her kids off to school. He told her that it made her seem weak. This hits on a really important factor of my project: it is all about your image.

                She went on to tell me about how she has had to change her own body language in order to be taken more seriously. She has had to work on her handshake, how she sits in a chair, how she behaves while listening.  I will be taking note of all of these things when I start work Wednesday and I will be sure to post about everything I notice.              

Linda Wojtowicz

                Linda is the new CEO of the Tucson chapter of the Boys and Girls Club. When I first interviewed her, back in December, she was the COO of the Tucson Medical Center. I met with her at her office, toward the end of her workday while she was in the middle of her move to the Boys and Girls Club. I now know how incredibly lucky I was to have her as my first interviewee. Linda is one of those people who conversation flows easily with. She is charismatic, articulate and an extremely experienced leader. In this post I want to share with you several of the things we discussed about leadership and the role of gender.

                One of the first Linda wanted to made clear to me is that she doesn't see herself as victim of gender discrimination. She doesn't believe that the fact she is a woman made it any more difficult for her to be promoted into the leadership positions she has held.  She believes that men and women are equally capable of leadership but she also notes inherent gender differences that have contributed to the gender gap. While talking with me she mentioned things like women walking to the back of a meeting room instead of asserting themselves and taking the first seat. She also referenced the book Lean In and its discussion of women not wanting to be promoted in order to plan for having kids in the future.

                After a while, our conversation morphed into what, she believes, makes a good leader: (1) self-confidence/control, (2) risk neutrality, (3) and passion. These traits all center on people’s perception of their leader being extremely important in the effectiveness of that leader. 

                While everything she told me was absolutely fascinating, I have to say, the best part of this interview was her. She oozes confidence. She speaks rapidly and with a large vocabulary. She makes direct eye contact and definitely engaged me throughout the whole interview. She was very relaxed, leaning back in her chair, and she wasn't fidgeting or anything like that. She had carefully spiked white hair and was dressed in a professionally modest shirt, sweater, skirt, and flats with a large necklace and earrings. The point I want to make about her appearance is that she clearly though about it. She had made an effort to present herself in a certain way. She was femininely dressed but also looked professional and like she was important.

                Just from that first interview I came to admire her a lot. From her stories about the early part of her career, it is apparent she worked extremely hard to be where she is now. She still continues to work incredibly long days, from about 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., staying later when the job demands it. She also is involved with a lot a charity organizations, helping to organize gala’s and auctions to raise money for cancer.  In addition, she loves dancing and fits that into her already busy schedule 5 times a week. Despite all that she already has taken on, she still fit in time to try to mentor me and share with me a lot of the knowledge she has amassed throughout her career.   

What, How and Why

Even with the progress made in the past 30 or so years, there is still a gender gap in leadership positions. This gap, espically apparent in board member and chief officer positions, is what caused my intrest in female managment. I want to investigat how the gender gap has (or has not) affected the managment styles adopted by female leaders. I want to know what these women have done in order to become successful leaders dispute the statistics that work against them.

To answer these questions, I will be interviewing and interning under several women, each in different fields and with very different experiences. Also, I will be doing a lot of reading. Luckily, quite a bit of research has been done on gender and managment, so I have a lot of resources.

So far, I have completed 6 interviews. I am still in complete shock of of how willing to help these women have been and how impressive they each are. Soon, I will make a post for each interview.

The most profound thing I have learned at this point is simply how important it is to have good leaders in every job from teaching, to accounting, to telecommunications. Good leaders improve efficiency, productivity, and general happiness of employees. This has made me even more interested in discovering how women become good leaders.

Stay tuned! Next week, I will begin my internship with Linda Wojiowicz, she also was my first interviewee, so get ready for lots of upcoming posts.