The five accomplished women on stage came came from different sectors — a school leader, a BP operations manager, a casino executive, a community doctor and a medical school director — yet, as they reflected on their successes and failures climbing the ranks, each had very similar advice for young women looking to develop as leaders.
Work hard, be prepared, know who you are, don’t see failure as a weakness, be kind, stand up for yourself, don’t let men present your ideas as their own, network, find a mentor and be willing to prove yourself.
Their remarks were part of a female leadership panel held at Indiana University Northwest’s theater on Wednesday.
The panelists were Lake Ridge Schools Superintendent Sharon Johnson-Shirley, BP Refinery Operations Manager Amber Russell, Horseshoe Casino Regional VP of Human Resources Dawn Reynolds Pettit, Community HealthNet Health Centers CEO Dr. Janet Seabrook, and IU School of Medicine – Northwest Associate Dean and Director Elizabeth Ryan.
Laurie Burns McRobbie, wife of Indiana University President Michael McRobbie, moderated. Nearly 50 people attended.
The event marked Women’s History Month and also tied into IUN’s year-long book club selection, “Women and Power: A Manifesto” by Mary Beard.
‘I teach people more of what they could be’
When asked what drew each to leadership positions, several of the women described being raised in households where hard work was valued and believed they needed to set that example for their siblings.
Russell, who rose from engineer to a BP operations manager in Whiting, said hard work was expected growing up on a farm in Northeast Arkansas.
“We lived in the middle of nowhere,” she said. “I worked hard because I could work hard. If there was something to be done, I did it.
“I was raised that you don’t have limits,” Russell said.
When she became an engineer, the field was about 95 percent men, she said.
“It was about being able to lead people,” Russell said of her role. “How do I teach people more of what they could be, not see those constraints?”
‘Whatever he’s doing, that’s what I want to be.’
Reynolds Pettit, said she chose to enter male-dominated industries like casinos in part because she wanted the challenge to prove herself.
Coming up through the ranks, she learned from experience that having a bad manager was just as instructive of how not to treat people when she became the boss, she said.
“We cast a very wide shadow behind us,” Reynolds Pettit said of women. “I think for me it was most important that I joined a male-dominated industry.
“I proved myself,” she said.
Making mistakes and learning from them comes with the territory, she said of her experiences in HR.
“I just have the tenacity and enough smarts not to repeat those mistakes,” Reynolds Pettit said.
Seabrook remembered the very day she decided to become a doctor.
Before kindergarten, her parents took her to the doctor for a required checkup. The doctor in the white coat and a stethoscope captured her imagination.
“Whatever he’s doing, that’s what I want to be,” she recalled thinking.
At school, the teacher asked each kid to say what they wanted to be. Her new 5-year-old classmates laughed at her career wish.
“The kids were rolling on the floor,” she said. “They thought it was the funniest thing.”
There were few African-American doctors back then, said Seabrook, who is 54.
But her teacher told her in front of the class she could be anything. It was a memory that helped Seabrook be confident of what she wanted, she said.
The importance of drawing boundaries was also discussed.
During the talk, a drawing of a meeting with five men and one women was projected on a screen above them. The caption: “That’s an excellent suggestion, Ms. Triggs. Perhaps one of the men here would like to make it.”
Seabrook noted the times that she has walked into an examination room and questions were directed to the nurse instead of Seabrook.
“I’ve heard men take the words (from women), regurgitate it,” Ryan said. “They do it; it happens.”
“Women are told not to be confrontational,” she said. “This is a hard one for me, because I think that a man (like that is showing other insecurities).”
‘The place we went to next was a strip club’
One year into her career in gaming, Reynolds Pettit, was selected for a three-month manager training program. They would travel around the country, learning finances, analytics, hospitality and other parts of the gambling industry.
There were 12 men and two mentors. She was the only woman.
On the first night, the group was headed to “the next place” after a networking dinner. Without thinking, she joined them.
“The place we went to next was a strip club,” she said.
She buried some objections and went inside with them.
“All the guys thought it was funny,” she said.
Even as colleagues may have thought she was one of the guys, for her it ended up being deeply uncomfortable.
“It was a moment for me where I felt my self respect, really, I let myself down,” she said.
The answer was to draw the line and make it clear that the situation would not be happening again, she said.
“If we were going to go out, I would pick the next turf,” she said.
‘No one ever asked me what I did.’
When Johnson-Shirley started as a school principal in Lake Ridge Schools, she made an effort getting to work and whipping her staff into shape, she said.
Test scores were low. She knew they needed to do better.
“They just needed that extra push,” she said.
She set up parent meetings, gave extra credit, and pushed professional development for teachers. In time, things improved, she said.
At a meeting with other principals, some accused her of cheating. Her boss, the superintendent, said nothing as the meeting continued, she said.
It was an opportunity to stand up for herself, she said.
“I’m very confident,” Johnson-Shirley said. “I let everybody talk while I went around the table. I said, ‘No one ever asked me what I did.’
“I said to the superintendent, ‘I’m appalled that you let this go on’,” she said. “He turned beet red and that was the first sign. (He asked) ‘Can you tell us what you did?”
‘It doesn’t have to come at the beginning.’
Audience questions included the greatest challenge working with millennials, how a male nurse can make it in a female industry, and the qualities that distinguish a boss from a leader.
Paying your dues is essential, Reynolds Pettit said.
“You do have to know what you are talking about,” she said. “When I started in the gaming industry, I knew nothing.”
Trying and failing is also part of that process, Burns McRobbie said.
“You don’t have to get it all right, right away,” she told the audience. “All of us started out doing one thing and ended up doing another.”
“Being 40, 50, 60, there are other careers ahead,” she said. “It doesn’t have to come in the beginning.”
