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Unit 8

Light From Many Lamps IV: “Enjoy your life without comparing it with that of others”

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For me personally, I can relate well to this quote above by de Condorcet as I’ve noticed that whenever I achieve a goal or obtain a desired item, my contentment for it lingers briefly before looking towards the next venture. My transfixion towards future enterprises is like an insatiable hunger at times in that my present actions always serve as a means to an end which doesn’t end. Being a competitive person, my desire to achieve or obtain material items can be attributed to my desire for others’ acknowledgement. However, I’m also aware that this behaviour is unsustainable as there will always be someone out there with more, meaning my materialistic lust will never be satisfied.

Marquis’s quote reminds me that in order to enjoy life, I should worry less about the activity of others and instead stay in the present to master my own craft. Focus is what allows us to allocate our mental energy towards a specific task and is something I should constantly remind myself in order to achieve my desired ends. When we can transfix our attention towards a specific task, such as studying hard throughout this program, we’ll be able to complete our tasks at a higher quality. Producing high quality content may also achieve our ends at a faster rate as high quality content can lead to exposure, which may open up more individual opportunities.

To me, Marquis’ quote also has a another meaning where we can find inner peace if we can be content with the possessions we have, rather than constantly comparing ourselves to what others have. We need to remember that items are only as valuable as the value we individually place on them. Items that fall outside our material needs are the ones that’s subject to the influence of others and we need to be cognisant of this. The constant cycle of keeping up with the latest trends can lead to some financially irresponsible consequences if left unchecked.

 

References

Watson, L. E. (1988). Light from many lamps. New York: Simon & Schuster.

RE: Women in Leadership – Cheryl’s story by Ryan

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Hi Ryan,

Thanks for sharing Cheryl’s story. It’s inspiring to see all the amazing things she accomplished as a school administrator, especially in a country, like Saudi Arabia, that’s not as tolerant of women in the workforce.

The quality of bravery is one that’s typically associated with men since ancient times when they were required to ride to battles, fight overseas, and face other life-threatening situations. However during times of peace, women are typically left disadvantaged and discriminated on. But rather than allow their voices to be silenced and this gender dominance to continue, women these days choose to overcome their discriminators and establish their rightful presence in society. If we look closely, we can probably find more examples of female bravery than males. For example, women bear children knowing it can disrupt their career and possibly even lose their job, depending on the support their workplace offers for maternity leave. I’ve seen women stand up to men physically even if they obviously have a physical disadvantage. Many women choose to avoid abortion in an unplanned pregnancy and give birth to their child despite the lack of support from a man. Working mothers have to balance their home responsibilities with their career and still find ways to excel in both. It’s in these moments where women choose to face hardships, disadvantages, or difficulties which threaten facets of their personal life that’s the true measure of bravery.

Your friend Cheryl provided another fine example of this bravery by working in a country that’s hostile to women in order to provide a much-needed service to the children there. Because of their biological dispositions, I would argue women are burdened with much more responsibilities than men and should be honored for the everyday hardships they overcome. As men, we need to be more cognisant of these difficulties and do our part to support women, regardless of whether that’s in the workplace, at home, or those within the community.

 

Women in Leadership – Cheryl’s story

Aboitiz Power Logo

Women in Leadership Interview with Cindy

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For this assignment I had the pleasure of interviewing Cindy, who’s currently the Head of Human Resources for Aboitiz Power Corporation, which is a leading energy provider in the Philippines. Cindy holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Arts degree in Psychology, both from the University of the Philippines. She’s worked in various roles and business units within Aboitiz Equity Ventures before attaining her current role as Head of Human Resources with Aboitiz Power.

Throughout our interview, we discussed variety of topics illuminating her experience as a female leader in the corporate world. We talked briefly on gender differences she experienced during her 15 years with Aboitiz, her leadership style, the changes she’d like to see within the organization to further close this gender disparity, and the influence that ethnic cultures have on workplace cultures.

To my surprise, her company was very progressive in terms of the culture and policies surrounding women’s ability to level the gender playing field. Going into this interview, I admit I had a preconceived bias towards the management style of third-world companies being traditional and somewhat discriminatory towards women. I’m glad to see how incorrect I was with  this bias and just goes to show the advancements we’ve made as a global community in addressing gender disparity.

Below is a general transcript of the conversation we had on Zoom. The required assignment questions have been bolded and were followed by questions I had to further investigate gender disparity within Aboitiz:

 

What is the greatest challenge you have faced or are facing as a woman in leadership?

Since I started working, what I consider major challenges for me are when the company’s values conflict with her personal values. However, I feel that I haven’t experienced much gender biases in my time with Aboitiz primarily because I  work in HR, which is typically a female-oriented position. We’ve also taken steps to balance the HR department by actually hiring more males. We’re very open to female leaders as there’s women currently occupying high ranking positions such as herself and their Chief Finance Officer, Corporate Services Head, etc. However, the highest ranking officials in the company are still male-dominant (personal communication, November 16, 2018).

Was there a conscientious effort to hire more female leaders within the company?

There was no conscious effort in terms of gender. Leaders and HR was mainly looking for people who fit with their work culture and have technical competence required for the role. But recently we’ve hired a female to fill the role of Chief Operating Officer in one of our business units, Aboitiz Infra, a new business unit of the conglomerate. (personal communication, November 16, 2018).  

Did the new COO experience any backlash from her male counterparts when she initially took the position.

As far as I’m concerned, there wasn’t any backlash but I imagine that she had to do more to prove her competence than a male typically would. One thing is that the Filipino culture is generally more accepting of women in society. For example, female neighbors or acquaintances are often associated to as ‘older sister’ or ‘auntie’ by their neighbors. This is partly why I think it’s easier for women to move into leadership positions and get accepted by their male counterparts; because Filipino culture is generally accepting of women in the workforce and in the community (personal communication, November 16, 2018).

What are some policies her company implemented to accommodate women temporarily leaving the company for pregnancies or maternity leaves?

One policy we have is that we shoulder the hospitalization during the pregnancy. We also cover the difference between what the government gives you with what her salary currently is with the company. Women also typically return to their previously held positions prior to their maternity leave and isn’t much of an issue in the workplace. I haven’t really seen female employees ask for a different job or reduced hours after coming back from maternity leave. What I would see, but is very rare, is for women to leave their jobs to become full-time housewives (personal communication, November 16, 2018).

How would you describe your leadership style?

I describe my leadership style as very situational. I adjust my leadership style based on the competency of employees. If I see they need to be supervised more, I will provide more guidance and structure. If I see that the person is competent, I usually let them run their show (personal communication, November 16, 2018).

Did you have any mentors whom you modeled your leadership style after? If so, what were the qualities they had in which you tried to implement in your own leadership style?

My recently retired boss was probably my biggest influence in my leadership style. My former boss was very direct and honest. He was always very clear about his goals, very authentic, and very transparent. He had high standards but offers people the chance to learn from their mistakes as he believed mistakes are life’s biggest teacher. I feel I’ve mostly implemented these qualities in my leadership style and hope to improve on the blunt communication style as I feel I can be authentic without necessarily being blunt (personal communication, November 16, 2018).

What does she feel is the primary role of a leader?

To me, a leader is responsible for setting the direction of the group and making sure that people develop during the process. If the leader sets a good direction and has the right people around them, goals are usually achieved. But the key is finding the right people who are concerned with their own self-development (personal communication, November 16, 2018).

What is something that you do that helps you to meet or deal with this challenge?

One of the challenges I see other women experience in the company is when they work they have to work graveyard shifts in the engineering department’s power plant. There’s often a disadvantage when women must physically exert themselves as men are typically stronger. This is especially challenging during the graveyard shifts as they’re usually left on their own (personal communication, November 16, 2018).

How do you think organizations can close the gender gap in leadership between men and women besides hiring more female leaders?

I would like to see a female operations manager within the company as there’s never been one who has occupied that particular position. We’ve also began to hire more female engineers for the plants to further balance the gender differences. In terms of pay difference between men and women, there aren’t any differences even in the upper management (personal communication, November 16, 2018).

Do you have any other advice or encouragement for women in leadership?

I have a friend in another company where there’s an explicit culture that discriminates towards women. My friend advanced near the highest level position within the company and is even doing the work of the Chief Operations Officer but her boss refused to promote her to the position because their ethnic culture didn’t support or allow women to be in such a high position. They also discriminated against her Filipino nationality as this particular company wasn’t based in the Philippines but had an operations branch there where she worked. I advised my friend to quit and find another company that’s more inclusive of women and better aligns with her personal values. She stayed with the company for 12-13 years already and had exhausted all her options to advance to the COO position (personal communication, November 16, 2018).

 

Overall, I felt Cindy’s experience provided great insight into the management practices of companies outside North America. It’s exciting to see global companies adopt practices of diversity, equity and inclusion in their workplace culture for the values it brings to its employees, their business, and the environment.

From our conversation, I also noticed how she incorporated the value of balance in her leadership, from her gender-ratio hiring practices to her demeanor towards others. On Aboitiz Power Corporation’s company website (n.d), they state that balance is a key central tenet in their corporate philosophy. They balance values of affordability, sustainability, and energy security in their operations as an energy solutions company as well as prioritize social development and environmental stewardship in their mandate of profitability as a public company (Aboitiz Power, n.d.). Cindy’s leadership and Aboitiz’s management practices represent the gold standard in sustainable business initiatives as they demonstrate how diversity can complement profitability and preformance.  

Thank you again Cindy for the wonderful interview. For anyone interested in further communicating with her, please visit her LinkedIn account (https://www.linkedin.com/in/563a153/).

 

References

Aboitiz Power. (n.d.). AboitizPower believes in the power of balance. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://aboitizpower.com/about-us/balanced-philosophy/

woman-executive

Blog XVI: Executive Women’s Case Study

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Case 15.1 – The “Glass Ceiling”

Lisa Weber never doubted that she would be a partner in her Wall Street firm. A graduate of a prestigious business school with a doctorate in economics, she had taught briefly at a major university. She was the first woman hired as a market analyst in her well-regarded firm. Within two years, she has become one of four senior portfolio managers reporting directly to a senior partner. Her clients give her the highest commendations for her outstanding performance; over the past two years, she has brought in the largest number of new accounts to the firm.

Despite the admiration of her colleagues and their seeming acceptance of her, there is a disturbing, if flattering, aspect to her job. Most of her peers and some of the partners visit her office during the day to discuss in private her opinions on market performance and financial projections. She enjoys these private sessions but is dismayed that at the weekly staff meetings the CEO, Michael Breyer, usually says something like, “OK, let’s get started and bring Lisa up to date on some of the trouble spots.” None of her peers or the partners mention that Lisa knows as much as they do about what’s going on in the firm. She never protests this slight to her competence and knowledge of firm business, nor does she mention the almost-daily private meetings where her advice is sought. As the only woman on the executive level, she prefers to be considered a team player and one of the boys.

In the past year, one of her peers has been promoted to partner, although Lisa’s performance clearly surpassed his, as measured by the success of her accounts and the amount of new business she brought to the firm. Having heard no mention of partnership for herself, she approached her boss, one of the partners, and asked about the path to a partnership. He replied, “You’re doing great, Lisa, but professors do not partners make. What happens if you are a partner and you make a huge mistake? How would you take it? And what about our clients? There’s never been a female partner in the 103 years of our firm.”

Shortly thereafter, another woman, Pamela Tobias, was hired as a marketing analyst. Once, when the CEO saw Lisa and Pamela together, he called out to the men, “Hey, guys, two women in one room. That’s scary.”

During the next six months, Lisa meets several times with the CEO to make her case for a partnership on the basis of her performance. She finally realizes that there is no possibility of change in the foreseeable future and decides to leave and form her own investment firm. (Northouse, 2016, pp. 412-413)

 

    In the case study of Lisa Weber desiring a promotion from her strong preformance as a portfolio manager for a Wall Street firm, her boss refuses to make her a partner of the firm because “there’s never been a female partner in the 103 years of our firm” (Northouse, 2016, p. 412). It’s obvious from the audience’s perspective that her boss does not have a valid reason to withhold a possible promotion since her preformance far exceeded her colleagues. One of the reasons for this is because her boss, Michael Breyer, has a stereotype towards women being unable to handle the responsibilities of a partner and is closed off from seeing change in the firm. He also has a stereotype towards professors not making good partners and doesn’t believe Lisa can handle the pressure that comes with being a partner. Neither of Michael’s stereotypes however present any logical evidence against either a woman or a professor’s ability to carry out the responsibilities of a partner.

Another factor preventing Lisa from advancing is the lack of credit she gets when her colleagues succeed from her advice. As Northouse stated: “Empirical research also shows that women are less likely to promote themselves as a leader” (Northouse, 2016, p. 403). Because Lisa didn’t confront her colleagues about them taking the credit from her advice, her boss was unaware of the positive influence she had within the overall firm, besides her strong preformance. Lisa’s tendency to conform with her colleagues is what sets her back rather than trying to actively outperform them. She complies with the social expectations towards women to display nurturing, sensitive and communal qualities even when they detriment her reputation by not claiming the credit she deserves. Many women face these similar challenges but are afraid to overstep the social boundaries that society places on them. Women have to balance taking on male qualities in order to advance in a male-dominated world and also be aware of negative perceptions that can be placed on them if they lead too similarly to how males would (Northouse, 2016).

As a result from the firm’s lack of respect for Lisa’s abilities, she left to start her own which costed the firm a very valuable asset to their company. I don’t think Lisa would have left if the company had properly acknowledged her efforts due to her strong efforts to benefit the team. It’s very difficult for women in leadership positions to change the stereotype that their organization may have towards working women if the top-level management team isn’t aware or concerned of these stereotypes. One approach I would have recommended Lisa was to approach her boss using fact-based evidence as to why she should be promoted and help him unravel the unconscious biases that he has towards women. She should convince him that a lot of her colleagues’ success was slightly attributed to her and if Michael doesn’t believe her, she should decrease the amount of advice she gives out until it becomes apparent to him about the magnitude of her contributions. Lisa could benefit from acting more selfishly since she has nothing to lose from the firm’s upper management being so blinded by their biases. Lisa could then leverage her skills and negotiate with Michael again in order to succeed in her goal before deciding to start her own firm.

Lisa could also ask her colleagues for support and ask them to give her credit during the weekly staff meetings. I believe this approach may have been more effective in helping her boss to realize the value of her contributions if she had the support of the team. Either way, levelling the gender gap has to start from the firm’s top management for there to be significant changes throughout the company. Lisa’s individual actions can help spur the change, her team’s support maty also change Michael’s mind about gender equality, or perhaps he gains a sudden notion of insight from an external source that raises his awareness to this inequality. Whatever the case may be, managers and executives must have a mindset of openness and change in order to advance social inclusivity and the potential within their organizations.

 

References

Coors Healthcare Solutions. (n.d.). Coors to Sponsor Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference. [Digital Image]. Retrieved from http://coorshealthcaresolutions.com/coors-to-sponsor-women-leaders-in-healthcare-conference/

Northouse, P. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th eds). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.