Women's conference stresses leadership

Part I of two parts

Shards of crystal, symbolizing the breaking of the glass barrier that keeps women from top level corporate jobs, served as an apt emblem for the recent Academy Women's Leadership Conference.

Printed on conference brochures and notebooks, the logo represented the difficulty women often face when trying to break into the top echelons of corporate America.

Although most of the conference's keynote speakers were female, a panel of male executives also offered insights into business management.

The organizers and panelists at the Sherman Oaks conference shared wisdom, strategies and stories of their rise to top jobs without having compromised their core values.

Lois Phillips, a management consultant, conference speaker and co-author of "Women Seen and Heard: Lessons Learned from Successful Speakers," and Fran Lotery, a consultant, executive coach, speaker and co-author of "Live Inside Out-Not Upside Down," co-chaired the event.

Marcy Carsey, a producer best known for hit television shows such as "The Cosby Show," "Roseanne," "Grace Under Fire" and "That '70s Show," and founding partner with Oprah Winfrey of the Oxygen network, was among the 11 keynote speakers.

Phillips discussed leadership with Carsey and Patty DeDominic, CEO of two companies-PDQ Careers and Executive Search.

Carsey said that while leadership demands risk-taking, character plays a vital role in effective management.

"It's a lot about character," Carsey said, "not so much about skills, but courage (and) responsibility for other people." She explained that the ability to take responsibility derives from personal security. "You are who you are at home, at work and at play," Carsey said.

DeDominic shared research results. Women business owners, she said, were less likely to take risks, but are considered slightly more credit-worthy than men. Their businesses are also two times as likely as men's to still be operating after five years.

The courage to take risks was also important for DeDominic. "For every person who said I've got what it takes, 20 said I was crazy," she said.

As for differences in management styles between men and women, Carsey said she used to tell her employees to go home at 6:30 p.m. "If you are not leading a full, rich life, what are you bringing to the work life," Carsey said. "A good manager is probably a good parent."

Judy Rosener, professor of business at UC Irvine and author of "America's Competitive Secret: Women Managers," presented results of research on gender leadership differences.

"I think gender matters," Rosener said. "Biology plays a much larger part than previously thought."

Rosener told the story of how she broke into academia at a time when universities were dominated by men. Rosener went back to college in her late 30s and earned a master's degree in political science, but said she never had any intention of working.

For the sheer fun of it, she taught a class at the university, but wasn't paid. At 50, Rosener earned a PhD and became a professor at the school, but continued to work for free, until a colleague chastised her for not demanding a salary. Without pay, Rosener said, a message was conveyed that a female professor was not as worthy as her male counterparts.

Women lead differently, Rosener said. They're "different, but equally valuable." Conventional businesses place value on attributes seen as typically male-rationality, independence, aggressiveness and competitive spirit, she said.

"What (previous research) said was that to be a leader is to be a male," Rosener said. She did her own research and found that traditional "top-down" decision making positions are not the only stops on the road to success.

Intuition, collaboration and the ability to deal comfortably with ambiguity are traits generally viewed as female, or nontraditional styles of management.

"We have to acknowledge the differences and value the differences," Rosener said.

On day two of the program, Phillips discussed what roles gender differences in speech, language and style play in how women executives lead. She stressed the importance of public speaking.

"When a woman stands up to face an audience, she has two jobs to do, not only does she have to send a message and be seen and heard, but she has to gain credibility as the voice of authority," Phillips said. But "men start with it."

Women tend to be more attentive and less direct and they use self-deprecating humor, Phillips said. Men, she said, "tend to be more direct, more opinionated and less process-oriented."

Lotery conducted an interactive discussion on how leadership is defined. She discussed gender studies and the importance of "emotional intelligence" in leadership. The research found that women bring unique strengths to the table and are highly cooperative "good team players."

"What women want is choice and flexibility," Lotery said.

Other speakers included CiCi Holloway, president of Women in Film in Los Angeles. Holloway discussed diversity and inclusion. Kris Leslie, chief financial officer for DreamWorks Animation, SKG, talked about balancing the demands of leadership jobs with home life.

Next week's article will focus on the male perspective of running a corporation, and the differences and similarities between the managerial styles of men and women.