Leading in Corporate America
First and foremost, I am so elated to have the opportunity to be featured on MsConceptions. I hope that my story is relatable and inspiring to some if not many.
If I were asked to provide my insight and experience of being a woman working in Corporate America a couple of years ago, my response would be completely different from what my experience is today. I joined the realm of Corporate America over 10 years ago. I was recruited from college in 2007 to work for a Fortune 500 company and I have been working for the same company ever since. I felt so blessed to be able to graduate from college with a Bachelor of Science degree in Manufacturing Engineering and to have a job awaiting my arrival a month later. I was one of a few within my family that could say that. Unfortunately there are not a lot of people that can say the same.
I laid out a vision for myself to step into this next phase of my life and pave the way for those to follow behind me. I wanted to be someone that I could be proud of when I looked in the mirror. I was ready to step into it with my suits and flats, because I knew my flat-footed self would not survive everyday walking around in heels. I was not about to try to sike myself out. My family was proud, and I had two younger siblings that were looking up to me, so I wanted to make sure I did this the right way.
My career started off so well. The team I was working on were all young driven college graduates that were full of ambition, and ready to CHANGE THE WORLD. I was one of three women, out of the approximate thirty-five people on the team. We all worked so well together, and it seemed like we all were an equal. Within six months of working there, I was already on the pathway of getting my first promotion and on the path of progressing onward to take on a more leadership role. I felt visible and I felt as though people knew who I was and my capabilities. Many opportunities and doors started to open, which resulted in me going into management. This was something I initially told myself I would never do, because I wanted to excel in the technical realm of things.
Prior to making my decision to go into management, I was faced at a crossroad within my career. Excelling and getting promoted on the technical side was less likely at the time, because there was not work available to justify higher level engineers within the organization. I received feedback that I had great leadership qualities and I should venture into management. So I was strongly encouraged to pursue management and was also informed that if I tried management and did not enjoy it that I could always go back to being an engineer. In 2012, I made the decision to go into management to use my leadership to help provide opportunities for others, as others had provided opportunities for me. I was the only young African American woman on the management team within our organization. Nearly all the managers I worked with were older Caucasian men that had 20+ years with the company.
For the first few months in my new role, I would sit on the sidelines and observe the room. I would observe how people communicated with one another. Who played the dominant person in the room. Who the subtle person was. Who was the person you could trust. People nowadays say to make sure you have a seat at the table. I would usually sit in different areas of the room to get different vantage points of my surroundings. Most of the managers would usually sit in the same seat when they came to meetings. I was not ready to shake that up yet. In addition to observing people, I learned how things were structured and the culture of the company. When it comes to engaging with your teams, the culture within management is quite different from being an engineer.
There were moments where managers yelled and cussed at each other. Then there were moments where they would all gather and go play golf on the weekends. I was not down for either to be honest. I was not about to spend energy yelling at another grown a** person. For what? I’m also not into golf either. So, I had to identify my strategy and it was to kill them with kindness and shine the pearly whites if things started to get tense. My strategy was to let people see that I was a team player and open to listening to everyone’s opinions on how to come to a common conclusion when people disagree. Little did I know how this would turn out later.
Following my surveillance period, I decided to proceed forward to my “seat at the table”. I was now ready to fully engage with the other managers, and ready to ask the in-depth questions during meetings. I would provide my input and suggestions and could now read body language from some and was well-aware of how others would react. I did not have to feel like I was going to be caught off guard by someone’s tone or response. As some managers retired and other managers joined the team, the dynamic started to shift; younger managers began to join the team and more arguments and debates began. Although many would encourage us to speak up and share our thoughts, there were still the managers who had the “dominant voice” that would veto thoughts and opinions from others, because “this is how we always did things”. I am all for not changing things if it makes sense, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” However, you must be willing to be open to at least exploring and venturing into newer ideas. Things started to get a lot more frustrating for me, because we started having a lot of meetings where everyone talked in circles and nothing was getting resolved. For some reason it felt as though I was the only manager that was asking the “hard questions”. However, I doubt I was the only person facing issues with employees that other managers had not experienced. For example, when it came to getting advice on HR issues, managers would fall silent and shrug their shoulders, and say “That’s a good question.” My inner thoughts, “OK, is anyone going to answer the question, share their experience or help direct some of us on how to navigate through some of this?” It was at this point, I realized that I was going to have to take matters into my own hands and figure this ‘sh*t’ out for myself, so that is what I did. It is hard to say if people did not help because they really did not know the answer, or if they just chose not to do so. However, I was not going to let that stop me. I made sure I had solutions or answers to my questions and problems, because I know I needed to make sure I had answers for any of my employees when they had questions or problems. This mindset helped me build better and transparent relationships with my employees. I was going to be just as “real” with them as I wanted someone to be with me.
As I learned more, I became more vocal in meetings. I asked questions, shared my findings on topics people asked about, all while trying to put myself in the mindset of the employee as we were making decisions that would impact them. The intent of this was to help equip all of us as managers with a roller-deck of answers to questions that employees were likely to ask. Majority of the leadership admired this about me. I would get feedback, saying “I think when you engage in the meetings and ask the hard questions; you are asking the questions and saying the things that most people are thinking, but are afraid to ask or say”. I questioned why that was. I later learned that some managers used to be the same way I was, until they were burned. I did not learn of this until I got burned. During a meeting set to work on an organizational restructure, I tapped into my “employee mindset” and started asking questions that I assumed our employees would ask once we rolled out the information.
During one of my performance reviews, I received feedback that I brought up topics and asked questions that should not be brought up in that type of forum, that those questions should be asked one-on-one with my senior manager. So obviously the inner me really wanted to GO-OFF, but I kept my composure. I kept it “professional” and kindly said “Thank you for your feedback”. I refused to become the “angry black-woman”, even though my insides were boiling with anger, I was not going to let him know that. Majority of the senior managers appreciated me being open and bringing up topics of discussion, it was a trait that they appreciated, so it was a matter of trying to find a balance. That situation opened my eyes to why some of my peers were no longer as vocal as they had been in the past. Others mentioned to me they were reassigned to other projects because they would go back and forth with an executive trying to defend their employees or continuously explain to them how the work was done, and they did not agree or understand.
As things started to progress forward within my role as a leader and consistent communicator with my team members, I discovered my passion to inspire people and support them with their career development. I was able to establish trustworthy working relationships with my employees and mentees. I was able to share my experiences, so they would have insight on some of the things that were not all peaches and cream. I had numerous opportunities to manage a variety of different engineers, which is something I assumed was preparing me to progress forward within my career. However, what I have come to learn is that all my eggs were in one basket, and I just had different shades of eggs within that basket. With that being said, for the last couple of years, I applied for a Senior manager role within the organization that I have been a part of for over ten years. To only be overlooked and not even have the opportunity to be selected for an interview. I assumed I would have at least been able to be selected to interview, since I had impeccable annual reviews on my performance every year. My teams consisted of top performers that I mentored and coached. I understood how work was executed by the engineers and I felt as though I have been a d**n good manager and it was time to move to the next level. When I asked for feedback on why I at least was not considered for an interview, I was told because I did not have experience in another area of the organization; which was not listed as a requirement on the job requisition. In my mind, I called “BS”, however I, again, professionally received the feedback and decided to keep performing at my highest potential. I was not going to allow this one downfall to impact my performance and drive.
I was never forewarned or aware of what it was like to be a Woman in Corporate America. My mindset going in was excitement and nervousness all at the same time. However now as I reflect, I have also been naive. Naive to the thought that no matter how hard I work or network; I would not be overlooked because I am a Woman or a Woman of Color. I do not have facts and data that this has truly been the case, but the thought has indeed started to cross my mind. It has been crossing my mind more often recently. I have questioned if I have been putting my best foot forward or if there is more that I need to be doing to succeed in this game. Many have said that I need to network more, it's all about who you know. After talking with some of my peers that are women, they have felt the same way and we all have come to the conclusion that upper management already has an idea of who they want to fill some of the higher leadership roles before they even post a job requisition. The disheartening part is when you see a job is posted externally and internally and you are still not selected as a potential candidate for the role. I’ve applied for six jobs within the company this year alone and have not been selected as a candidate for an interview. It can be discouraging; however, I know that GOD has a plan in place for me, and I just need to be patient and aware of when the opportunity comes. Every day is a battle and I must admit I am still working on how to conquer and succeed on being a Woman in Corporate America and I will continue to work hard, stay driven and be proud of the person I see every morning when I wake up and look in the mirror.
