WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

Feb

2021

A Female Business Owner Leading in a Male Dominated Industry

I was sitting in the lobby discussing leadership with Lauren Taylor the CEO of a third generation family owned business in the Indianapolis area. We began by discussing the top leadership principles that guide her. (insert link to blog) While learning her leadership principles I recognized I was with a strong woman in leadership.

The industry she serves could be considered a male dominated industry. After learning that during our conversation I asked her what principles she has learned as a woman in leadership in a male dominated industry.

See Opportunity not Oppression

As a young millennial female small business leader she could see herself as a victim when asked to serve certain roles or she could see opportunity. Opportunities have arisen for Lauren to serve in board roles and instead of sitting quietly in the corner she looks for opportunities to speak up. She is not trying to push an agenda but be a voice for those she represents in the opportunity she has.

Find Your Gifts and Use Them

Regardless of gender we all have unique gifts and abilities. I continually remind youth of this principle when I provide my youth leadership training. Lauren highlighted the natural gifts many women have like improved observation skills (they know to move the milk in the fridge to find the thing hiding in the back unlike us men), in tune with the “vibe” of a room, and often can multi-task well. Use these natural abilities to serve your team and lead them in a way others may not be as capable.

Know Your “Shtick”

Just as everyone has their own unique gifts and abilities, they also have their own unique story. In any organization the high performers have a “why”. Maybe it was the experience with the product or service. Maybe the value they see in the product or service. Whatever your reason for why you do what you do, let it come through which will make you shine and perform to your fullest potential. During our conversation Lauren said:

“Don’t worry about how you will be received, just be you.”

She models this by using her kind, but direct approach in a way that adds value to others. She encourages other people, especially women, to be themselves and lead from that authentic self.

Ride the Wave

As you are being your true self and not worrying about what others think you may make waves. Lauren sees two potential results as you make waves: ride it to the top or crash down. This is a woman who seventeen years ago took over a business that was in bankruptcy and in a few years turned it around. She knows the wave and the risk of failure. Sometimes to make waves she suggests, you have to rock the boat otherwise you won’t move.

Leadership is about change and change creates “waves.” I would suggest we be intentional, other-centered, and strategic in our waves. As we wound down this conversation, I asked her what she would like to say to female leaders. She stated there are different types of hard, but the journey is always hard and enjoy it. More profoundly she said this:

“The path to something greater lies in the valley of surrender and sacrifice . . . it never gets easier.”

The path of achievement as leadership expert John Maxwell states is “an uphill climb.” This climb requires even more persistence and perseverance for some than others. Of these areas mentioned, which of them do you need to grow the most in? Did you find this valuable? Please share it with others you think would benefit and if you want to get these directly to your inbox sign up for a free ebook today. Lead well.

Sep

2018

Lessons from Another Great Female Leader

I sat across from a woman who has experienced a great journey as a leader. This woman is no stranger to a diligent work ethic. While having two children under the age of three she finished her undergraduate degree in accounting. As if this wasn’t a big enough challenge she then completed her MBA while having three kids under the age of four.

Having three kids under the age of four is hard enough, but through great tenacity and persistence this woman accomplished what she did academically. This was only the beginning of what those traits brought to her.

Jo Biggers who now is the Vice President of Finance and Administration at CountryMark shared many lessons about leadership that I was able to learn during our time together. At the point in her career where she had four children at home she switched from public accounting to a role at Delco Remy and Magnequench where she served for many years until moving to MISO which eventually provided her the opportunity to lead as a Vice President.

I asked Jo what she would say are her top three leadership principles and through our conversation I gathered the following:

Lead by example. The hard work she modeled both at work and home transferred not only onto many of the employees she led, but also at home. She has hard-working adult children who are independent because of her example. Biggers believes that if she expects others to do something then she should be modeling that behavior and serve as the example. When leaders are modeling what they expect they will attract the kind of followers they desire.
Self-awareness. Ms. Biggers shared a challenging situation she encountered at one company. Through this situation she had the opportunity to see two very different approaches to leadership. Eventually this situation negatively impacted her. Through conversations with her coach and an increased self-awareness she realized the way she was leading was not how she desired. This became a pivotal moment in her career when she switched from being a micro-manager to a leader who empowers others. This occurred because she was open to growth and feedback that increased her self-awareness. Because of this revelation she builds an empowered team by asking them “who did you talk to?” to assure they have buy-in and are collaborating with one another.
Culture. Through her transformational experience over time at a previous company she realized the importance of culture in leadership. Previously Biggers believed people never do enough and are kind of lazy. Over these later years in her career she has realized she gets better results by trusting her people to do the job at their highest possible level of ability. When leaders create an environment of trust others are empowered and not living in fear of being fired or striving for constant recognition.

As we concluded our time together I asked her to share with me any thoughts she would share with female leaders and she had two major thoughts:

Let the guilt go. As a mother she struggled with guilt because she worked outside home. She is wired for that and that is ok. You are not an inferior mother because you work outside of the home. Use your strengths to lead well both at work and home.
Work hard. Similar to another female leader I have learned from Jo said you have to work hard and continually improve personally and professionally. Always be growing.

One final thought which I thought serves as a great reminder to all leaders was: “When in a position of power you have to be careful all the time.” Whether a coach, parent, teacher, CEO, Vice-President or whatever position of leadership we hold, people are always watching so use your influence in a way that will continually add value to others. Whether people see you or not, do the right thing and this will be a non-issue.

What about you? Do you micro-manage or do you lead? What does the culture of your organization or team tell you since it will be a reflection of your leadership? What example are you setting for those you lead? Continue to grow and become more self-aware so you can lead well at work and home.

Aug

2018

What I Learned From A Leader in Healthcare

I was sitting across a woman with years of leadership in an industry where she had to quietly battle in the beginning to obtain her leadership position. She would not say it that way, but as I listened to Kathy Krusie I saw her quiet, authentic, humble, determined battle to continually become the best leader possible.

Kathy presently is the president of the North Region of Community Health Network which is a regional health system based out of Indianapolis. This is her most recent stop of many leadership roles within healthcare. From the very beginning Mrs. Krusie wanted to affect change in the business of healthcare and has fulfilled leadership roles in hospitals of multiple sizes in Iowa, Texas, and Indiana. She has served as COO, CEO and various other leadership roles.

At the start of our conversation she revealed the path she took was not the traditional route for females desiring to enter administration. This was a male-dominated industry at the time, but she found some keys to enable her to enter leadership positions.

Growth and Development are critical. Because she desired to affect great change, she saw a great need to continue to grow and develop to reach her full potential. This drive to grow and develop was motivated by a selfless passion to support the organization versus a drive to pursue her next promotion.
Take Initiative. Mrs. Krusie did not wait for opportunities passively. She would look for opportunities and then ask for the responsibility. If she saw a need, even outside her comfort zone, she would approach her superiors and suggest taking the lead. At one hospital she served in a role outside of her normal skills because she saw the need, and that area improved dramatically under her leadership. She didn’t wait to be asked, but saw the challenge and asked to be given the responsibility. That is leadership.
Mentorship. During our conversation Kathy said there were men who were willing to teach and mentor her. What caused this? Not that this should be surprising. I believe one of the reasons was her willingness to understand her bosses and their desires and she sought to support it. If she had constantly been trying to pursue her agenda my guess is these men (or any boss) would have been less likely to help her.

These were the keys to her advancing in an environment that in the beginning she was a minority in, but there were three keys to her leadership even now that she highlighted. The first you may have already picked up.

Service. As we could see through her principles for growing and advancing she always sought to serve. Throughout our time I could sense a woman who models the attributes of what Jim Collins calls a “Level 5” leader. She has an intense desire for excellence and I could also sense her passion, but also a humility that she realizes leading well means serving others.
Respect. This idea came out of the concept that her role is to empower the thousands of care givers she leads. Kathy demonstrates respect to the front-line workers by encouraging and allowing them to solve their own problems because they understand the problem from their vantage point better than she does. She also models this by being willing to do what she asks of them. For example, she moved out of the parking garage just like the rest of the staff were expected so patients can use it. Doing this in the frigid winter months just like her employees is a small example of both respect and humility.
Authentic. This is the one word which Kathy would say describes her leadership philosophy. What does this mean for her as a leader? Authenticity is a match between personal and organizational values in a manner that leverages personal strengths to match the organization. Kathy summarizes authenticity this way: “stay true to yourself and your values and do not compromise to climb the ladder.”

Sometimes as leaders the climb seems overwhelming as I am sure it did for Kathy in the beginning, but she provides us with principles for overcoming obstacles and then leading well consistently. What about you? Which of these principles do you need to grow in based on where you are in your leadership journey? Are you leading with authenticity and leveraging your strengths to serve those you lead or who lead you? If not, what is one thing you can change today to lead better tomorrow? Keep climbing, leading well and let me know how I can help you in your journey.