Dear Leader Interested in Equality:

Dawn Hudson had a lot of people buzzing around her at the end of her talk to a group of women in New York City. As the President and CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America greeted well wishers, a male colleague asked me if I was going to speak to Hudson. As we walked in her direction, I pondered the piece of wisdom I sought from this very successful woman.

“What was your biggest challenge to being taken seriously in the workplace?” I asked. Hudson thought a moment before offering a factor in her career.

"I played golf with my male colleagues and won," the woman with an impressive 14-handicap said. "When I started taking their $5 bills from them, they started taking me seriously."

Hudson played the same game as the men, on their field, by their rules, under equal circumstances, and won by leveling their playing field. Today by demonstrating her full power, she is responsible for managing $4 billion annually. Now that’s a lot of $5 bills!

How do you level the playing field? Do you even know if the playing field is un-level? Do you know the ‘unwritten’ rules of the game? Are you comfortable with taking the risks needed to properly express all of your talents, demonstrate your skills, and contribute in ways to further establish your profile in the world? Are you willing to seek and take advice from others, especially from men who get it?

During presentations, executive coaching engagements, and individual coaching sessions, LTR’s approach is to support and inspire women and men to find their own creative ways to level the playing field. Men and women are both in the game —it may be harder for women, but it’s not always easy for men, is it? And it really is harder for women. So having a solid plan is essential. LTR can help you with that. Contact Leigh to take the next step in designing your plan.

The talent women contribute to the workplace is causing some men to be uncomfortable. They are struggling with this cultural shift as are some women whose worldview sees females in stereotypical positions and not equal to that of males.

Known for her honesty, humor, and putting a harder edge to the soft skills of leadership, Leigh’s seminars and keynote presentations provide a platform for quality interactions that engage audiences around stereotypes. She addresses preconceived assumptions about male and female behaviors and how to break through the stereotypes to be yourself and own your own power.

Topics of Leigh’s presentations include:

• The ROI When Women are Top Executives.
• The Importance of Growing Your Cultural Intelligence.
• The Fractured State of Women’s Leadership.
• New Pictures of Leadership in a Rapidly Changing Culture.

Didactic and engaging, each program further explores the costs of not creating a level playing field for women and how that impacts a company’s bottom line.

To have LTR develop a program on the culture of leadership for your group or organization, contact Leigh@LTR-NYC.com.

LTR is interested in individual experiences. Experiences that reflect the reality of today’s workplace environment. Experiences that impact the future profile of top leaders.

According to a research study by Catalyst, men and women equally desire to be CEOs. The reality is that there are only 7 women CEOs in Fortune 500 companies. Why?

LTR wanted to identify some of the answers. And in doing so, be part of the collective effort to identify the factors that can change the number of female CEOs from less than 2% to 50% of top corporations!

LTR invited you to give us your answers in its public survey, “How Level is the Leadership Playing Field? A Survey on the Conditions to Top Jobs.” Below are a few of the results:

Expectation: “Women are judged by the same standards as men for the top jobs.” All respondents disagreed.
Personal Barriers: “Men have as many personal and professional barriers to the top jobs as women.” All respondents disagreed.
Performance Management: “Women are as adept as men when handling staff performance problems.” All respondents agreed.

Another survey created by LTR set out to find the most effective return on investment (ROI) when thinking about the value of women in the workplace. Below is a sample of the responses:

Select the ONE most compelling ROI when women become top executives.

• 31% Mythical — reduction of limiting stereotypes in all areas of life.
• 25% Cultural — positive workplace transformations.
• 25% Personal — strong professional role models.
• 14% Financial — increased shareholder value.
• 5% Social — more family-friendly/amicable social environments.

LTR has a new survey, “Is Your Playing Field Level?” a free five-minute self-assessment. Your responses will allow LTR to get a fuller picture of workplace experiences.

The results of LTR’s surveys generated more questions. Questions best answered by young women at the early stages of their careers ‘on their way up’ to more challenging jobs. Below is a sample of their voices.

1. What stereotypes hold you back? Besides the obvious one of being a female, a product development/engineer wrote, “I look younger than my age and am attractive….I’m too young to know what I am doing and co-workers feel their wives might get upset if they know they work with me.”

Another respondent offered, “I think people with degrees are entitled to better jobs. Latinos are also looked over for promotions.”

2. How are you using your time in productive ways to further your career and personal life? Responses to this question brought out positive efforts to maintain a balanced life including, “I’m learning to get up earlier to walk the dog and meditate/do yoga.”

We also heard the need for women — and men — who are further along in their careers to help. “I’m reading everything and asking questions. Also I’m looking to get involved in the Women's Networking Group within my organization.”

A Latino woman made it her New Year's resolution to go back to school. “I've been very busy with my research trying to figure out what school I'm going to. Something that's kept me going is a quote, ‘No one ever said they got rich by watching TV.’”

One engineer is, “Figuring out how to get out of the corporate men's world — I am exhausted trying to be the pioneer.” Until then, she needs guidance on how to find a mentor or sponsor within her organization to help her get promoted, bring her name up at important meetings, and support her efforts to survive in difficult circumstances.

Below are some tips from LTR for finding a mentor to help you advance within your company:

1. Observe carefully the people around you.
2. Identify the person you most respect.
3. Make a list of why you respect that person.
4. Approach that person for a conversation.
5. Be honest that you need a mentor and would like it to be him/her.
   Note: For the most part, people are very willing to offer assistance.
6. Don’t ask too much from a mentor but set up on a regular schedule so that you will benefit from the relationship.

To have LTR develop a program on the culture of leadership for your group or organization, contact Leigh@LTR-NYC.com.