In the Classroom
Women in Leadership Find Common Ground

When Margaret Ryan first started her career in journalism, her boss showed her a rejection letter from when she had applied for a job at The Wall Street Journal in the late 1940s. The letter stated bluntly that, with the war over, the paper was hiring only men and the woman should go back home where she belonged. In the 1970's, Ryan herself was turned down for a public relations position because the company stated that a man would be more appropriate for the position.

"We had no legal recourse then. Young women take this completely for granted today, but it didn’t come easily," said Ryan, who is now Editorial Director of Global Nuclear & Coal for Platts, the energy division of the McGraw-Hill Companies. "Until the early 1970s, there were separate want ads for men and women."

While this kind of open discrimination is largely a thing of the past, women in leadership still face distinctive challenges in their careers. This was what brought Ryan to the Wharton School last June for the executive program Women in Leadership: Legacies, Opportunities and Challenges. "The biggest surprise to me was to find so many women from so many different industries who had so much in common," she said. "You don't have an opportunity in your own business to find this kind of support and know you are not alone. It was extremely enlightening and empowering."

More Scrutiny

The program helped Ryan separate the challenges that were unique to her own situation from those that were shared by other women leaders. "You spend an awful lot of time thinking that what I am doing is wrong when there may be pieces that have to do with the perception of women that you are just not going to overcome."

One important difference for women leaders is that they face much more scrutiny. "If Carly Fiorina had been Charles, she might still have failed, but it would have been treated differently. There is a lot of research, discussed in the program, which shows that even if you are doing exactly the same thing as a man, you are still perceived differently."

To move up in any organization, women need to recognize how to work in a male-dominated structure. Ryan noted that the mentors in her career were men who recognized her ability and encouraged her progress. "You can either sit around and say this is unfair, or you can find out how work with this," Ryan said. "The Wharton program focused on how to work with it."

The program gave her tools and approaches, particularly in communications and negotiations, which she carried back to the office. "I took away terrific tools," she said. "We learned to look at different communications and operating styles — to structure your communication to other people in a way that they can accept. You need to make sure your own management thinking and communications style invites a variety of other styles. In negotiations, if you can find out what people want, you have the best chance of structuring a win-win solution. Negotiations are something that women are socialized badly for, but it is an important part of management because you are working between levels all the time."

From her global travels as leader of a division looking at global energy markets, she recognizes that the situation for women in other countries is far more challenging than in the United States. "One of the things we have found is that if you are a visitor, you are treated differently," she said. "When I go to Japan, I can talk to a man more or less on an equal footing, but it would not be the same if I worked there."

Be Intentional

While the week among other women leaders was a great opportunity to step back from her own work and gain a broader perspective, she said she values diversity in her own organization. "I find that a balanced group works better than if you go too far either way," she said. "You start to have power battles and people feel uncomfortable being in the minority."

At the time she attended the program last June, Ryan had weathered several restructurings that had resulted in three different reporting structures in four years. Her job had transformed, and she was uncertain of her next career step. At the close of the program, participants were asked to define where they wanted to go and set concrete steps to get there. Ryan came back with renewed enthusiasm for her job and started a women's issues discussion group in her office.

The program gave her the opportunity to think more deeply about her work, her leadership and where she is headed. "Having a week to step back and think about these issues is an incredible gift," she said. "The takeaway that I remember most was that [academic director] Anne Cummings said at one point to 'be intentional.' That has stayed in front of me."

    

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