Dara Richardson-Heron, M.D., Chief executive of the Y.W.C.A. USA:
"There are so few women in leadership, and the burden on women who are leaders is so high, because you’re expected to be everything to everybody, and to pave the way and bring more women in, and root out all the bad stuff."
Sharon Napier, Chief executive, Partners + Napier, an ad agency:
"I love to see someone at a lower or a midlevel position walk into a meeting and know what their role is and have a point of view. Don’t sit quietly and think about things and maybe whisper to somebody or tell people afterward. Put yourself out there, and get involved in the conversation."
Jody Greenstone Miller, Chief executive, the Business Talent Group, which finds projects for independent professionals:
"If you just ask me about things that affected my career, being a woman would not be on the list. I really don’t think of it that way. I also don’t think the discussion is healthy about, “Here’s how women lead. Here’s how men lead.”
I believe that for two reasons. One is that I think there are lots of different kinds of women leaders and lots of different kinds of men leaders. There isn’t one type of leader who is different because of sex."
Jenny Ming, Chief executive of Charlotte Russe, a clothing chain:
"A store director once said to me: “Jenny, you’re just too nice. You let people walk all over you.” When people say those words, they put you in a little box, and the message is that you’re not leadership material. So I realized early on that you need to let people know what your expectations are, but not tell them specifically what to do."
Source: The New York Times, Sunday Business, November 16, 2014
More at: Career Women Coaching blog at www.CareerWomenCoaching.com
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