Politics aside, Sonia Sotomayor is someone worth knowing about. So is her mother, Celina.

As with all the other women Supreme Court nominees, many nasty, irrelevant and erroneous news items are being spewed into the media. Post-election, what has happened to our American love of the rags to riches, up with your bootstraps stories that inspire our sense of scrappy American pride?  Please share Sonia Sotomayor’s story with young women in your life.  And, share her and her mother’s stories with working women in your life.  These people are true examples of the contributions that women have made to our economy and our country.  

To rise out of her childhood as an impoverished orphan in Puerto Rico, Sotomayor’s mother joined the US Army and came to Georgia in the 1940s.  After the Senior Sotomayor’s husband died leaving her in the projects with 2 kids to feed, she continued work as a nurse.  Ultimately, she enrolled her children to give her support as she tackled the education that allowed her to move from LPN to RN, becoming the nursing supervisor for her hospital’s emergency room.  Determined, resourceful and independent, she created a working life that supported and inspired her children.  While I am sure she had some bad times, her drive and emphasis on education certainly helped foster their own later achievements and contributions.  

We all need our heroes and myths of growth and success against all odds – they help keep us going.  It’s just too bad that political snipes and media hype are overshadowing the mythic nature of the Sotomayor women.  Women and girls need our Paul Bunyons and MLKs.  Don’t let the nastiness of this nomination take that away from us.

To learn more about Sotomayor’s family, visit a great article by David Saltonstall in the NY Daily New.

Submitted by Julia de Peyster

Not only is Ursula Burns the first black woman who will lead a Fortune 500 company, but this recent succession announcement by Xerox Corporation is also historic in that it is the first time a woman will succeed another woman (Anne Mulcahy) as CEO of a major multinational.  I for one am not entirely surprised that this news comes from Xerox.  Xerox was among the earliest of companies to embrace the notion of affinity networks as a means of encouraging diverse ideas and energies in the workplace.  The Xerox Women’s Alliance is 25 years old this year and both Mulcahy and Burns had the benefits of accessing this incredible internal resource as well as that of other affinity groups at Xerox as they sought to develop their careers and grow their leadership prowess.  A recent Business Week article on Burns’ ascension suggests that the track record of Xerox’s commitment to affinity groups may be a big reason why one-third of their executive ranks are women and more than twenty percent are minorities.  Research we’ve conducted here at Babson confirms the benefits of women’s corporate networks and points to the strategic asset they can be for companies who choose to use them wisely.  My fear in this time of corporate cutbacks is that companies will all too easily view their support of networks as a “nice to do” that can go by the wayside when budgets need trimming.  Instead, our research shows, and the Xerox story illustrates, that investing in affinity groups is an essential tool in the war for developing and retaining the very best leadership talent.  There is tremendous strategic value for talent management and professional development in women’s networks.   Companies who invest in leveraging these affinity groups will no doubt have a competitive advantage!

Submitted by: Nan Langowitz 

A wonderfully WICED thing is being created in Liverpool by a team of
very dedicated women.  WICED (Women’s International Centre for
Economic Development) is a new entry onto the scene of women’s
entrepreneurship.  While it is currently housed with the Train2000
program, WICED will eventually be housed in its own incubator building
currently being designed just for their purposes.

I learned about WICED through its Executive Director, Maggie
O’Carroll, also the Director of Train2000.   Maggie and her team put
together a funding package from WICED, the North West Development
Agency, Future Builders, Train 2000, Liverpool Vision and Liverpool
Council.  Maggie describes the emerging program as, “the hub of  
international research on female entrepreneurship as well as providing  
a range of enterprise support including space for up to 80 business  
units to help women start and grow their businesses.”

I had the great good fortune to be part of a day on which the WICED
women convened a group of experts on female enterprise from across the
world.  Our group included academics, entrepreneurs, and policy folks
to brainstorm about the research, programs, and infrastructure that
will make up most of WICED.  That combination is just one of the
things that will make WICED impactful.  The group intends to conduct
and facilitate research to help us ask questions that will make a
difference for women entrepreneurs, their businesses, and their
communities, and then to ultimately arrive at effective and actionable
answers.

Another great part of the day was to meet more members of the WICED
team. We got to hear from the architect, Katy Health of Nightingale
Associates, about designing the WICED building.  We were trying to
figure out if any other building in the world had been designed and
built from scratch as a symbol of women’s creativity and
entrepreneurship.  This is an incredibly exciting prospect and one
from which we should all learn.   We also were able to meet Councilor
Flo Clucas, Executive Member and Deputy Leader of the Liverpool City
Council whose responsibilities include Economic Development and
Europe.  Flo is a great example of a policy maker who actually
understands the potential contribution of entrepreneurship to economic
development, and the type of timetable and investment it takes to
achieve that contribution.

And finally, if you do get to Liverpool (and you should), make a point
of having dinner at the Sidedoor Restaurant (www.thesidedoor.co.uk),
owned by one of the local woman  entrepreneurs.  You won’t be sorry. Have a glass of champagne and toast the future of WICED.

Submitted by: Patti Greene

I’m a member of the “sandwich generation” – one of those women still raising kids but taking care of parents. Recently I had the occasion to be in a doctor’s office while my dad was having a procedure and that gave me the chance to pick up the May issue of Essence magazine. I was initially drawn to the cover story on First Lady Michelle Obama and her mom Marian Robinson. That was a wonderful article to read, and of course the pictures were a treat.  But what really made me think was the “money makeover” article toward the back of the issue.  And here’s what got my attention.  I’ve read a lot of money advice columns in my time, but this was the first where there was an explicit recognition that giving back is part of the financial equation we all should consider.  How many pie graphs have I seen that neatly lay out a budget among categories for housing, clothing, utilities, transportation, taxes, savings, etc.?  This was the first financial planning chart I’ve ever seen that had a slice for “tithes and offerings.”  While I might not give that particular label to the slice myself the point struck home – giving back is an important part of our financial lives and we should have a target in our plans for how we’ll do it.  Now to be sure, many people give back through volunteerism, and that means there’s no dollar amount coming out of your budget each month.  On the other hand, it’s pretty easy to talk a good game about giving back and somehow never make the time or manage to write the check.  So, I encourage you to actively plan for how you will give back.  In this economically challenging environment, non-profit organizations providing services in our communities and around the globe — educating today’s and tomorrow’s leaders, keeping individuals healthy, feeding minds and spirits, reaching out to the needy, developing innovations to improve our world – need our attention, energy and  financial contributions more than ever.   So set a goal for your slice in the pie, and make it a part of your regular action plan.  Just imagine if all the financial planners in the world started adding that idea to the standard advice they give?   

Submitted by: Nan Langowitz 

I love the New York Times.  Really. I start most days reading it online. But an article on May 10 left me reeling. “Backlash:  Women Bullying Women at Work”.  Oh, yikes! 

According to a study done by Workplace Bullying Institute (yes; they really exist), not only do women account for 40% of the reported bullying behavior, but 70% of the time they target other women.  I don’t even know where to begin.  The article jumps from a study on women bullies in the workplace (more on that in a moment), to the challenges of learning to be a good leader (much more on that) and ends up with a program in a woman’s prison to stop bullying. I don’t know about “backlash”, but by the time I got to the end I certainly had a case of mental whiplash!

Okay.  So, do I believe people (women and men) behave badly at work? Of course I do. Coming to work doesn’t make a tyrant a reasonable, much less warm and fuzzy, person.  However, I do not (repeat: do not) think it’s okay for anyone to feel fearful in the workplace —there’s enough fear in this world right now without having to go to work to round up more from  hostile colleagues or out-of-control bosses.

But this grade-school label “bullying” is really insidious—-and one more weapon in the arsenal of scare tactics used to frighten women (bully women?) into believing we are not, and never will be, effective in the workplace.    

A recent study by Catalyst, Inc. (mentioned in the NY Times article) has already depressed the heck out of us, confirming what we already suspected: no matter how women behave in the workplace, we’re “never just right”. When we’re firm and decisive, we’re too aggressive.  When we’re, neutral and egalitarian, we’re either dispassionate or wishy-washy.  And, just in case we dodged any of this, now we’re bullies, too. 

So what is bullying? According to the article and to the research, bullying behavior is bottom line, aggressive, hostile, and repeated over time.  In anecdotal examples provided by women who felt they were being bullied, (neither the article nor the website mentions asking both parties for their perceptions or getting any kind of independent validation) the scenarios ranged from  being coldly ignored, mocked, left in tears, labeled negatively, verbally overpowered, to being criticized.    

As an honest person (who is also a female boss) I want to come clean.  Given that very broad description of “bully”,  over the 40 years I’ve been in the workplace, I confess:  been there, done that—or at least some of that, to some extent. Have I ever ignored colleagues and/or employees?  Yes. Coldly? Maybe.  Certainly “coolly” if I wanted to let things calm down before I re-engaged.  Has there ever been a situation where someone cried?  Duh.  Sometimes the tears were because they were angry or frustrated—and they told me so.  I’m guessing sometimes it was because they felt hurt.  And, just for the record, a couple of times the person in tears has been a guy.  I promise:  I’ve never screamed at anyone—except with joy.  But I have criticized and labeled people’s behaviors, positively and negatively, although I would have sworn an oath it was called giving them feedback, which is a part of my responsibility. 

Sort of buried in the middle of this monster hit-parade, the article (finally) moved away from extremes, to describing the situations we can all recognize: those places in our careers where we (women and men) simply didn’t have the political, interpersonal, social, psychological skills to make us good leaders. We talked when we should have listened.  We re-acted when we should have inter-acted. We dashed when we should have dotted.  Is that bullying?  Or is that human, correctible error?  I’m going to say correctible error.  If bullying or just plain stupid objectionable, destructive behavior can be fixed in a women’s prison (which is where this frantic—-indeed frenzied—-article ended) then I’m holding out hope for all of us in run-of-the mill organizations.  

Submitted by: Janelle Shubert, Director, The Center For Women’s Leadership

Our final CWL Mentor Breakfast of the year found mentors and junior colleagues alike reflecting on the year of mentoring activities, identifying all the ways and means by which we connected with each other, and the impact of these relationships on our personal and professional lives. A particularly inspiring message that individuals shared was that both “forward” and “reverse” mentoring occurred. Mentors and junior colleagues learned from each other. The variety of experiences that emerged painted a broad and diverse canvas of how mentoring can come alive, and be meaningful in our careers. Having had many mentors in my life, and now mentoring others, I have become a student of this most important, yet sometimes elusive, intangible and organic experience.

Mentoring has created quite a buzz as evidenced by frequent offerings in conference venues, and in the no less than 21,500 Google listings on the topic. Few would debate the value of mentoring; individuals who partner with mentors have more career success than those without. Even so, the consistent attention to the structure, process and outcome of mentoring initiatives can fall short in even the best intentioned people and organizations. (White 2008-www.lighthousePSI.com) Mentoring in our modern times has become more haphazard, and sometimes lost altogether in the “hyper-competitive” world in which we we find ourselves. The focus on revenue generation has led to talent development shortfalls which ultimately leads to lack of long term sustainability. (DeLong et. Al, Harvard Business Review, 9/4/08) For individuals and organizations to thrive, a more intentional and explicit system for mentoring is desirable. Including mentoring as a mission critical value for professionals as they navigate their careers, and for organizations as they strategically plan for succession, is a pivotal beginning step. (www.lighthousePSI.com) Then in order for mentoring to be a process of value, both mentor and protégé need to establish expectations for their partnership.

The following questions may serve partners well as they embark on this journey together. What are the parties’ expectations of mentoring? What does the protégé need or want from the mentor? What types of activities will help the protégé most to advance their agenda? How can the mentor and protégé best communicate with each other? How will the pair know that expectations are being met, or not? How will these be communicated? The elusive, intangible and sometimes organic nature of mentoring presents a challenge to provide enough structure to maximize the benefits, but not too much to constrict the creative evolution of a mentor-protégé relationship. There is a business case for mentoring with women. Refer to Why Mentoring Matters to Women at www.leadingwomen.com. Whether one’s organization provides a quality mentoring program or not, the wise professional will actively and consistently seek and develop their own mentoring relationships. Mentors and protégés alike will do well to become skilled at giving and receiving help; possibly learning coaching skills to advance their ability to be great partners in developing talent.

The roots of mentoring date back to the Odyssey. Our current task is to prioritize this most time tested process in the face of our “hypercompetitive” world. The “riches” in our human capital treasures are found there.

Submitted by:

Katharine White, President and Founder, Lighthouse Performance Strategies, Inc.

A couple of weeks ago Jan Shubert and I presented at the Conference Boards, Women’s Leadership Conference in New York City.  The topic was Intrapreneurs: Key to Company and Professional Growth.  At 11:15AM when the session was to start there was absolutely no one there.  Jan and I looked at each other with a blank stare wondering if perhaps there was little or no interest in the topic.  As we retreated to the room, one person after another started coming in. Soon the room was filled.

As we started the session we asked the participants how many were familiar with the term Intrapreneur. Not one person raised their hand.  Perhaps it was the sub-title that attracted them to the session – Key to Company and Professional Growth.  Surely it was not the term Intrapreneurs.  Isn’t it surprising that even today, few if any professionals understand the word Intrapreneurs, what it means, who these people are and why they are important, especially now in today’s economic climate.

Yet, as the session continued we began to see a number of heads bobbing up and down.  The presentation was resonating with many of them. They really hadn’t thought of themselves as Intrapreneurs until they began to understand how these individuals think, act and the context for how they work.   As the session continued Jan took the participants through a self-assessment.  Each participant was asked to reflect on their own situation – did they have the characteristics of an Intrapreneur, did they work for some one who did or did they have someone reporting to them that exhibited these behaviors.  Everyone could relate to one of these.

We had struck a cord with many of the participants.  Many of them came up to us after the session to continue the discussion and we’ve had numerous follow-ups since then.  Yet, we know that when many of them return to their organizations they will find little or no tolerance for Intrapreneurs.  For many senior executives the term entrepreneur or Intrapreneur conjures up images they would prefer to ignore – risk taker, rule breaker, mavericks etc. 

Perhaps this lack of understanding of who these Intrapreneurs are is getting in the way of organizations leveraging these individuals at a time when their skills and competencies are needed more than ever.  We can only hope that some of these participants are willing to step up to the challenge and educate their organizations about what it means to be an Intrapreneur.

Submitted by: Susan Foley

Nan Langowitz, Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at Babson College, encourages moms with entrepreneurial aspirations. In an article currently appearing on the Good Housekeeping Web site, she notes that, even in these uncertain economic times, there are tools that smart entrepreneurs can use to be successful.

Renée Loth, editorial page editor of the Boston Globe, really got my attention this morning.  Loth wrote about the governance situation in the state of New Hampshire.  Her attention was caught by a series of recent legislative actions in the New Hampshire House of Representatives over the past few months. The House voted to raise the state’s gasoline tax, allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes, discontinue the use of capital punishment, and to allow same-sex marriage in the state (all these are still pending items).  Loth’s suggestion is that these changes represent a shift to a more liberal state - due to a historical fact.  She writes, “Since January, the New Hampshire Senate has been making history as the first majority female legislative body in the country……It’s as if there was a bloodless coup of the state’s political establishment in November, and women were the avatars of change.”   The explanations she suggests for why this is the case (extremely low pay therefore more like a volunteer activity), how it might change the way government works (importance of those relationships), and what might be the outcome (solving the tough problems by connecting the dots) give us a lot to think about.  

I’d just like everyone to check out the column and give it some thought in a business context as well. We talk a great deal about differences in management styles of women, and some good research supports that. Other (also good) research questions it.  I often see and hear entrepreneurial discussions about how women will create businesses that allow people to work together in different ways - usually a suggestion of a kinder and gentler business world.  I just don’t see that reality very often when I’m out and about in these businesses.  

We certainly need more innovation in our business models.  We need more innovation in our governmental models as well.  I know I’m going to be watching New Hampshire.  I’m not the only one. If you do check out the link to Loth’s column - you’ll see that several of the first responders to the article are pretty darn concerned about what’s going on up there. Your thoughts?

Submitted by: Patti Greene

Sitting at the Babson Executive Education Center, listening to a group of very talented women managers discuss their work, careers, and challenges, marveling at their willingness to open up about their own situations and to offer each other advice and support. It’s our semi-annual, week-long Women’s Leadership executive program and the ideas are flowing and tight bonds are forming.

Many compelling questions about leadership are explicit and implicit in our discussions this week. For example:

• What does it take for a manager with substantial operational responsibility to create the space herself to be strategic?
• How can managers with substantial operational responsibility manage the tensions between delivering short-term results and taking strategic action? 
• How can women leaders create broader awareness of who they are and of the value they are creating for the company – without being self-promotional and stealing time from actually doing your job?
• How does a person learn to look at herself and identify what is really driving her or holding her back? 

Many powerful ideas have been stimulated and shared, like:

• Too often women’s skill in managing and enhancing operations dooms us to being perceived as lacking strategic capability. Yet so many women are capable of moving very successfully at and between the operational and strategic levels. We need to show the value of shaping strategic decisions according to operational potential and constraints. 
• Risks typically provide value, though not sure value. We need to take more risks. We need to develop resilience (everyone fails, failing is learning) and a thick skin.
•  When people accuse women of having a fear of success, they probably have it wrong. Fear of success is really a doubt about whether I want what that “success” will bring me. Especially if it means I have to be a different kind of leader than I want to be. I need to shape the role so that it fits and satisfies me.
• Corporate entrepreneurs create value for companies. I do that; maybe I am a corporate entrepreneur. Maybe I need to change how I operate to create more value.   
•  I am in charge of my own career. I have to take initiative to shape it to meet my personal and professional goals. If I need to be strategic, I need to develop and delegate more, create and enforce my boundaries, and just do it. 

And there are moments of enormous camaraderie, connection, and support, like:

•  All of us adopting one participant’s mantra of “game on!”
• Hearing someone say, “you have done a very thorough job of mentoring your people; give yourself more credit for that,” or “why are you shouldering that burden by yourself”
•  Three voices chiming in on a response to a peer: “Who says?!” 

Submitted by Anne Donnellon
Associate Professor and Faculty Director for Babson’s Fast Track MBA Program