Par Excellence Demo

Maverick who took on a start-up – and learned a valuable lesson Traditionally ‘male’ qualities such as having the courage of your convictions are necessary to the successful training of women managers I climbed the corporate ladder wearing expensive pinstripes and Ferragamo heels for almost 25 years. Readers will know exactly what that climb entailed: I worked 12-hour days, produced the deliverables, offered (yes, offered) to get the coffee, hung up the coats, called for taxis. I bit my tongue, argued compellingly, conceded graciously that the gentleman rephrasing my point was absolutely correct. Usually, I was the only woman at the conference table. My experience was far from unique. Most senior women have similar stories. On the other hand, I suspect that most women executives wouldn’t even bother to mention it, except as amusing small talk, because that experience was our classroom and the lessons we learned there were very valuable. I learned commitment, focus, loyalty and stamina. I learned analytical techniques as well as inductive and deductive thought processes I hadn’t acquired in business school. I developed observation skills, other-orientation, creativity, the ability to prioritize, attention to detail and patience. Above all, I learned to work as a member of a team, putting the larger goals of the organization ahead of my own. There is a life cycle to personal growth as well as to products, however, and by the end of my fourth corporate tour of duty – a total of 24 years with a major reference book publisher, IBM, Wang Labs and Xerox, in that order – I began to get restless. I had risen to business-unit general manager – my function but not, of course, my title: I was still female and, after each successful market entry, the sky darkened with planes as male VPs were sent in to take over. I had begun to leave fingerprints on the things I touched and I liked it. I liked the accountability as well as the responsibility and I enjoyed the sense of closure and satisfaction that came from overseeing all aspects of a complex project. By Carolyn Grossman, Executive vice president, strategic relationships, Women in Technology International Today, my experience is called ‘intrapreneurship’, which means working independently within a larger organization – running a skunk works, in essence – with no substantive worries about funding and resources. What would a ‘real’ start-up feel like, I thought, and had I learned enough to contribute to one? About that time, a man who had formerly led a competitor’s launch team called me. He flattered me, telling me that I had been a tough and capable adversary when the two of us had gone head to head in front of the press and shoot-out groups at trade shows and he was calling to talk about an opportunity that he had developed. He wanted to explore my interest in running marketing for his start-up company. Of course, I took that job, thereby stepping off the corporate path and beginning the next phase of my career: the phase where I hung up the suits and put on the blue jeans. During the next six years I served my old adversary and three other men as second-in-command at four start-up companies. Three of the four were blue-blooded entrepreneurs – driven, intelligent, clever men who gave their all to the companies they founded. Throughout this period, I often disagreed – not only with the decisions they took and the initiatives they deployed but with the way they prepared for them, communicated them, managed them and spun the results. But the same three men had not grown up in corporate

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Par Excellence Demo

Par Excellence Demo Contents Why I am Optimistic about Women in Business All the Presidents, Women Maverick Who Took on a Start-Up-and Learned a Valuable Lesson Golf Advice to Women Golfers (And it's Not How to Hit a Ball) Lifestyle You Shall go to the Ball, Cinderella (But First you Have to Get Real...) Travel Health

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