Transformational Women Surround Us: Let’s Discover Them
By Carol Nolan Drake, J.D., Skytop Contributor / January 10th, 2022
Carol is the CEO and Founder of Carlow Consulting, LLC, a company she created in January 2017, following a senior position with an institutional investor handling corporate governance and external relations. Before this role, Carol served in leadership positions for three Ohio governors, with appointments to the Cabinet and several boards and commissions, including as a trustee for a public pension fund. Carol is also the Global Governance and Stewardship Manager for ICGN as of October 2021.
As an attorney, Carol worked in private practice and as an assistant attorney for the city of Columbus. She served five years on the Board of the Council of Institutional Investors (CII). Carol was the co-chair of the ICGN Shareholder Responsibilities Committee (SHREC) under which the Committee revised the Diversity and Share Lending Guidelines.
Carol has published several articles on corporate governance, ESG and diversity, including chapters in The Handbook of Board Governance, Second Edition. She also writes about federal policy and the intersection between effective company reporting and investor expectations. Carol is a frequent speaker on governance, diversity initiatives and investor stewardship. She holds a law degree from the Claude Pettit College of Law.
Transformational Women Among Us
For the recruiters and professional search firms out there, of which there are many, transformational women can be found everywhere. Women can be discovered working in positions with titles that may not necessarily generate optimal search results or hits on social media websites. You may have to look a bit harder in non-traditional places to find them. Transformational women are managing or running companies (i.e., LLCs, law firms, consultancies) making a positive impact in the world around us by working at non-profit organizations, and in educational institutions, all the while juggling careers and family obligations in a daily, sometimes tenuous, balance.
Living in a Coworker’s Shadow
Across the world, countries and their cultures that recognize Christmas celebrate the arrival of Kris Kringle each December, also known as Papai Noel, Babbo Natale or Viejo Pascuero, among many other country names. When I used a well-known internet search engine to search for the American version, “Santa Claus,” there were over 2,970,000,000 results in under a second. I then searched for his spouse, “Mrs. Claus.” Would you like to take a guess how many results there were for Mrs. Claus? Please choose A, B or C below:
Over 2,000,000,000 results;
Between 150,000,000 and 240,000,000 results; or
Only 62,400,000 results.
The correct answer is C, only 62,400,000 results for the one woman that is behind the entire Weichnachten, or Christmas, operation. The results for Mrs. Claus are only 2% of her husband’s search results. Are you surprised? I certainly wasn’t.
While NORAD followed Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, I followed Mrs. Claus as she bustled around the North Pole to facilitate another incredible journey by Santa and their team of reindeer around the world. Official NORAD Tracks Santa (noradsanta.org). When Santa’s sleigh was loaded and he took off for his world tour, I wondered about her role as a transformational woman. How could Mrs. Claus enhance her own profile to ensure that her qualifications, experience and skill set become more well known?
Women are Still Not Great at Networking
As far back as 2010, The Times in the UK noted that women are not the best at networking. Why women are such bad networkers | The Times. In the past 11 years, the situation has not gotten much better. There are many opportunities for women to learn networking skills, join organizations to help make networking less challenging and provide women with an environment to succeed. One organization, the Women’s Network, The Women’s Network (thewomens.network), supports collegiate women and connects them to professionals.
On top of this, the global pandemic has had a chilling effect on in-person conferences, speaking events and presentations where women could naturally meet colleagues and professionals. The annual events hosted by law firms and businesses, company outings or community-sponsored events provided women with opportunities to introduce themselves or be introduced by bosses or mentors. Opportunities to participate in virtual events have taken the place of in-person meetings and women are encouraged to speak up, help coordinate or sponsor events and/or present on topics of interest. The key is to stay visible!
Mrs. Claus has many skills, as identified in numerous publications. On Amazon, over 1,000 books have been published to describe how she saved Christmas, took the reins over reindeer issues and solved mysteries at the North Pole. However, she is not known generally for her networking skills. She probably should be. While we never see her venture outside of the North Pole, she has managed to maintain a network of contacts across the world that serve her well in preparation for the big night. She does not have the same publicist as Santa Claus, apparently, which may be why the social media sites do not readily track all that she is doing. Networking may provide one answer.
Opportunities for Advancement Must be Championed by All of Us
In a December 29, 2021 article, “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Work in 2021,” Kathy Gurchiek mentioned that new research “raises serious doubts about traditional approaches to the business and social issues surrounding DE&I.” In the report, it said, “Roughly 80 percent of companies are just going through the motions and not holding themselves accountable.” Elevating Equity: The Real Story of Diversity and Inclusion.
In Ms. Gurchiek’s article, she indicated that the “Elevating Equity” report was based on responses, interviews and “one-on-one conversations” from 804 professionals working in the field of human resources for a wide range of industries with leaders around the world. She noted that:
Researchers mapped 84 DE&I practices to determine the five essential strategies and 15 practices that have the greatest impact on business, organizational and workforce outcomes across all industries, geographies and company sizes. Organizations tend to resort to legacy tactics of bias training, diversity recruiting, and programs that sometimes backfire and contribute to more division than unity, according to the report. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Work in 2021 (shrm.org)
Efforts to advance diversity, equity and inclusion are paramount to providing women and minorities with opportunities to become transformational women. Whether it is mentoring young women who may be interested in STEM or careers in investing and in the asset management industry, such as Girls Who Invest, as founded by my colleague, Seema Hingorani, (Our Founder — Girls Who Invest), clear intentions and action steps must be taken. Reporting on the results provides the transparency needed to enhance the programs and increase accountability. Mrs. Claus is a champion of recruitment and creating a positive working environment, however, the results of the work are primarily credited to Santa Claus. Her work should be amplified.
Women Can Suffer from Burnout, Need Balance
In a podcast posted on January 4, 2022, by The McKinsey Podcast, Alexis Krivkovich, Lareina Yee and Lucia Rahilly discussed the results from the recently released ”Women in the Workplace 2021” report. According to the recording, Ms. Krivkovich and Ms. Yee interviewed women in corporate America. The research showed that “the burnout gap between women and men has almost doubled since last year’s report.” Ms. Yee mentioned that “Forty-two percent of women report being burned out.” Ms. Krivkovich noted in the report:
One of the most fascinating findings this year was how women leaders are really stepping in, in this moment, to be the type of leaders that companies say they most need and most value.
That role that they’re playing is really instrumental, frankly, in keeping a lot of companies going. Women senior leaders do more to help their employees navigate work and life challenges, relative to their male peers. Similarly, they spend that additional time helping manage workloads, and they’re 60 percent more likely to be focusing on emotional support.
To employees, these things matter not only because they feel good, but employees say when they’re receiving that type of additional support, they’re happier in their job. And they’re less likely to be thinking about a move.
They also discussed the concern with the “broken rung.” Ms. Krikovich said:
For every 100 men who leap forward, only 86 women do. And while that difference might feel small because it’s happening at the very start of careers, it’s amplified across huge numbers. And what it means is that women’s career progression is slowed down right out of the gate, and they never have that opportunity to catch up.
Finally, the researchers touched on mentorship and sponsorship, two key efforts by men and women to help other women advance in their careers.
It’s not hard to imagine that Mrs. Claus suffered from burnout after the holiday season. After all, she has a large part of the “responsibility of delivering presents to right around 500 million households.” This Is How Santa Claus Can Deliver Presents To The Entire World In One Night (forbes.com) She clearly has been a leader on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors for several years. On the environmental side, she made sure that Santa’s sleigh and reindeer did not impact air quality. You may have noticed that gifts Santa delivers are no longer adorned with bows and wrapping paper that would need to be recycled. The toys fit into a big red bag which Santa uses to distribute gifts after he emerges from the chimneys for children to discover the next morning.
On the Social side, Mrs. Claus has managed to keep hundreds of elves working safely during two years of a global pandemic. And according to numerous publications, she has been the one person to manage Governance issues between the elves and Santa Claus. From the North Pole, Mrs. Claus has been able to address any supply chain issues that could have become a concern.
More Women are Transformational if We Move Beyond the Classic View
Transformational women are everywhere! To find them, we need to look beyond the usual internet and social media sites, typical contacts or recruitment search techniques, especially to find women who work in areas not easily identifiable with these tools.
To become transformational, women need help with skills such as networking, finding mentors and sponsors to advise them, and they need support to manage work/life issues that have led too many women to leave the workforce. The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) has created its own initiatives to foster inclusion in the corporate board space. Pathways to Directorship | NACD Center for Inclusive Governance (nacdonline.org) They look for individuals with high potential for “governance education and expanded networks critical for boardroom service.”
Last Note for Mrs. Claus’ Consideration
While the December holiday season comes once per year, the effort to sponsor and promote transformational women is an ongoing effort. In a newly released NACD Editors Blog (NACD BoardTalk | Boards Need to Think Differently and Be More Intentional About Board Diversity (nacdonline.org), January 6, 2022), the NACD Editors said, “When it comes to filling available board seats and creating more diverse boards in the process, organizations need to update their recruitment processes and requirements….”
Several factors were mentioned that could explain why recruitment challenges are not “supply issues” due to a lack of qualified candidates or overboarded directors. The blog stated, “Instead, it’s a combination of factors that include a relationship and connection issue, boards giving up on the search too quickly, and boards having criteria requirements that are too stringent, according to presenters.”
When it comes to women making their mark, they need to build on their networks and promote themselves effectively. Sponsors and mentors can help. Mrs. Claus or any highly qualified woman is closer to discovery than expected and not too far from having a transformational impact on society, boards and others. We just need better tools to find women like her, knowing that they are in more places than the North Pole.