Several discussions at the 2015 AWESOME Symposium touched on the fact that women in a traditionally male field have often felt they had to emulate men to succeed. But, as leaders pointed out, women bring valuable strengths to leadership teams and should draw from those strengths rather than hide them. “Exude your essence” is how one speaker expressed it.
The fact that women are encouraging other women to be authentic in their leadership roles is one of “The New Realities of Women’s Supply Chain Leadership” highlighted in Volume Four of REALITY CHECK, collective wisdom from AWESOME events. Having more female role models is one development that is helping improve the situation for up-and-coming leaders, as is having more women at the top of companies who can influence the culture.
One senior executive said about her past experience, “I spent lots of time early in my career not wanting to let people know that I had children, that I had a personal life because then people wouldn’t take me seriously. For many years, I wouldn’t wear a skirt because I thought they wouldn’t take me seriously. And you can’t live your life like that.”
In discussions between senior leaders and emerging leaders, who participated in the Symposium based on the recommendation of a senior leader, emerging leaders said they are encouraged, but feel some company cultures are still evolving to the point of accepting and valuing the whole person.
REALITY CHECK – Volume Four will be distributed beginning September 27 at AWESOME events at the CSCMP annual conference in San Diego and will be available September 28 for downloading on this web site.