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After reading our next three profiles, you’ll probably agree that Rhonda Hamm-Niebrugge, Pam Nicholson and Deborah Patterson are all exactly where they deserve to be—at or near the top of a major corporation. After all, they are top-notch leaders, superbly competent, and extremely dedicated to their careers.
Unfortunately, they are also rare exceptions.
In a study sponsored by General Motors, less than 10 percent of the 6,428 line corporate officer positions in the Fortune 500 were held by women in 2002. And taking the next step is even more daunting: only eight CEOs in the Fortune 500 were women.
Nancy Guida, vice president of Catalyst, a New York-based research organization which conducted the study, says the reasons for such slim numbers are varied: the perception that women won’t relocate as often as men; exclusion from informal networks; lack of access to high visibility jobs, and so on.
Even so, the numbers are looking up. “We believe that things are getting better, though slowly,” she says. “We’re optimistic.”
Catalyst surveyed both women corporate leaders in the Fortune 1000, as well as the CEOs. Guida says both groups agree on one thing. “Both the CEO’s and the women we’ve surveyed say the biggest barrier to women advancement was a lack of general line experience,” she says.
Line positions are ones that have a direct impact on a company’s profit and loss results, and they are considered essential stepping stones to reaching the highest levels within a company. Yet some organizations attempt to shoehorn women into more traditional support or staff roles, such as human resources.
“If you need profit and loss experience to get a corner office, women aren’t getting the right kind of experience,” Guida says.
And women definitely want the corner office. “Fifty-five percent of women aspire to the CEO’s job,” she says. “And another 19 percent don’t rule it out.”
In a survey of 705 highly successful women in the Fortune 1000—all vice presidents or above—four success strategies emerged:
1. Consistently exceed performance.
2. Successfully manage others.
3. Develop a style that male managers are comfortable with.
4. Take on difficult and highly visible assignments.
“For women, it’s really a combination of being competent, and also making others comfortable,” Guida says.
For companies that make the effort to promote women to the highest levels, the payoff shows on the bottom line. In a 2004 study sponsored by BMO Financial, Catalyst found that “companies that have higher women’s representation on their top management teams financially outperformed those companies with lower representation.”
Specifically, companies with the highest gender diversity reported a return on equity that was 35 percent greater than groups with the lowest diversity. The total return to shareholders was also 34 percent higher.
With 47 percent of the labor force being women, and over 50 percent as managers, Guida says the female workforce cannot be ignored. Furthermore, she says companies need to be proactive in encouraging women leaders.
“By itself, time won’t fix this problem,” she says. “We don’t need to fix the women; we need to fix the organizations.”
—Bob Schaper, managing editor
RHONDA HAMM-NIEBRUGGE
by Lauri Johnson
Growing up in Oran, Mo., Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge never dreamed that she would be an executive at the world’s largest airline. In fact, she never intended to work in the airline industry at all.
“All I ever wanted to do since I was a little kid was to be an interpreter for the CIA,” she says.
She followed that dream through her college days at the University of Missouri-Columbia, graduating in 1982 with a major in German. She went so far as to arrange an interview with the CIA, but her plans changed after she dropped by an on-campus interview with Ozark Airlines. Although initially Hamm-Niebruegge only went to the interview “for the hell of it,” the encounter turned out to be serendipitous: Ozark offered her a job as a customer service agent on the spot.
She took the job and started down a career path that would ultimately lead to her current position with American Airlines, as managing director of the St. Louis hub. Initially, she thought her stint in the airline industry would only be temporary. However, after spending six months as a customer service agent for Ozark at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, she became a lead agent and continued to be promoted over the next four years.
“I fell in love with the airline industry and forgot about the CIA,” recalls Hamm-Niebruegge, 44. “At Ozark, they were looking for female executives in operations. We had female executives in reservations and flight services, but never in the operations side. So I moved up relatively quickly.”
In 1986 she became the manager of administration for Ozark’s hub in St. Louis. Later that year, Hamm-Niebruegge faced the decision of her career: Trans World Airlines (TWA) purchased Ozark and offered her a position in a lesser capacity as a supervisor. She balked at the idea of taking a step down, but a conversation with one of TWA’s vice presidents changed her mind. He pointed out that the step down would only be temporary, and that terrific opportunities lay ahead for her in management.
Taking a chance, she stayed on at TWA as a ramp supervisor, overseeing cargo, baggage loading, refueling and other “below the wing” operations. Although well versed in the passenger-services side of airport operations, she had stepped into new territory as a ramp supervisor.
Since she didn’t know the job very well, she asked the frontline employees to teach her about their jobs, and in turn she offered to teach them about the company and to give them the tools necessary to do their jobs.
“It was something they hadn’t been used to,” she says. “They took pride in teaching me about their jobs, and I learned a great deal.”
She spent three years in that position, and the experience turned out to be instrumental to her future success.
“I formed a relationship with the frontline employees that carried me through the rest of my career,” she says. “As I moved up, I always had their support behind me.”
Thirteen years later, after holding various positions, including director of the eastern region and director of the St. Louis hub, Hamm-Niebruegge became vice president of North American operations. She oversaw 8,000 employees (it was TWA’s largest department) and operations at 100 airports in the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean and the Dominican Republic.
In 2001, American Airlines announced that it would buy TWA, and Hamm-Niebruegge was one of a small group of officers asked to work on merging the two airlines. She spent over a year working on the integration process—while continuing to run TWA’s North American division. It proved to be a pivotal experience.
“Both companies had approximately 60 dual airports across the country that had to be integrated,” she remembers. “Both were holding leases and employees, all of which had to be ironed out.”
“It was incredible to watch,” she says of
the transition. “In one night, literally, TWA signs came down and American Airlines signs went up.”
Her work on the integration team is one of her proudest career accomplishments and, along with her role as vice president of North American operations, earned her a spot among the St. Louis Business Journal’s “25 Most Influential Women in 2002.”
As TWA prepared to close its doors, Hamm-Niebruegge had another tough decision to make. If she stayed with American at the corporate level, she’d have to relocate to the company’s headquarters in Dallas. However, she and her husband, Steve, didn’t want to uproot their three children, then ages 8, 13 and 15. She considered whether she should take a demotion and ask to run the
St. Louis hub for American, or search elsewhere for a new job.
“When I made that step back 16 years before (with TWA),” she recalls, “it was a turning point for me that said, ‘It’s all right if you need to step back and move up only when the time is right.’”
American agreed to let Hamm-Niebruegge stay on in St. Louis as managing director of passenger services. When the airline downsized in November 2003, she became managing director of the hub and is currently the airline’s top executive at Lambert. As such, she ensures that the airport runs smoothly and oversees the ramp and cargo operations, agents, and facility and automotive mechanics.
One of her biggest challenges has been to keep employee morale high after years of financial losses, layoffs and turmoil. From an operational standpoint, the St. Louis hub actually outperforms any other city in American’s network, she says.
“The numbers are incredible in terms of our baggage, our on-time performance and everything else that we’re measured on in-house or by the (U.S.) Department of Transportation,” she explains. “The problem here was always financial because we were a connecting hub, and connecting traffic flow is lower yield.”
She spends an enormous amount of time trying to get the employees to understand that their hard work does make a difference.
“The people here have so much pride in their work,” she says. “Making sure we don’t lose that is a main focus for me.”
Her management style emphasizes staying in tune with her employees. Hamm-Niebruegge starts every morning by checking in with the manager on duty and American’s tower planners, who update her
on flights with mechanical problems, late arrivals, weather problems and any other issues that arise. Then she takes at least an hour and a half to walk through every area of the airport, talking to employees and getting a feel for what issues concern them. She takes a second walk-through every
afternoon.
“I’ve always believed that management has got to be visible,” she says. “You can’t sit in your backroom and manage.”
THE CATALYST PYRAMID: U.S. WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey, Annual Averages, 2003.
Catalyst, 2003 Catatlyst Census of Women Board Directors.
Catalyst, 2002 Catalyst Census of Women Corporate Officers and Top Earners. |
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DEBORAH PATTERSON
by Holly O’Brien
At one time, Deborah Patterson thought she might become a policewoman, or maybe an F.B.I. agent. But after earning a bachelor’s in justice administration from the University of Missouri–St. Louis, she instead chose the probation field, beginning a long career in serving people.
During much of the 1980s, Patterson spent 10 years with the City of St. Louis in two key executive positions—five as executive director of the St. Louis Agency for Training and Employment (SLATE), and five as Mayor Vincent C. Schoemehl Jr.’s top adviser on housing and economic development issues.
From 1992 to 1997, Patterson was chief executive of the St. Louis Area Chapter of the American Red Cross. Today, she is president of the Monsanto Fund and director of social responsibility at Monsanto.
Patterson, 51, leads Monsanto’s global responsibility efforts. Her primary duties are to further establish Monsanto as an influential corporate citizen. As president she drives the company’s 40-year-old philanthropic arm, the goal of which is to bridge the gap between people’s needs and their available resources.
Some recent beneficiaries of the Fund’s grants include a school garden in Brazil, a $1 million grant to the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Monsanto Insectarium at the
St. Louis Zoo, a farmer’s academy in South Africa, and a partnership with the Metro Theatre Company which takes the performing arts to rural communities in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and southern Missouri.
Though the jobs are quite different, the common thread throughout her career, she asserts, is the importance of building relationships. “Whether it was city government, a non-profit organization, or a global corporate leader, relationship building has always been the engine that allowed me to get my work done,” Patterson says. “Internal relationships are just as important as external relationships. Working with sensitivity and mutual benefit in mind has guided me consistently.”
Patterson offers pearls to women in business in the St. Louis region. One of the lessons she learned early on was to set high standards. “Prior to Mayor Schoemehl’s term, there weren’t a lot of housing programs in
St. Louis. But he always pushed us to new heights, and I still embrace that today.”
Something else Patterson values came out of the Schoemehl years. “It was there that I had my first mentor,” she says. “It may have been somewhat by circumstance, but now I actively seek them out.” In city government and at the Red Cross, her coaches were men; now at Monsanto, she is mentored by men and women alike. “One of the things I love about Monsanto is that right when I started, they told me ‘This is who you need to know in order to be successful.’ I had never encountered that before in my career, and it has been extremely helpful. I check in with those individuals regularly, and value their perspectives.”
Another skill she has had to hone is prioritization and time management. “I am able to budget my time with the help of a lot of people,” she says with a broad grin. “I look at prioritization on a day-by-day basis. Today it’s the job; tomorrow it might be about my daughters; another day, it could be community. I am fortunate to be in a position of flexibility, because I can spend a couple hours at my kids’ school, or I could be at a function until 11 o’clock at night. I’ve learned that balance is about juggling.”
One of the most important pieces of advice Patterson offers women is to network “with a purpose.” “The guys in St. Louis do this really well,” she says. “They know where they want to go, and there’s an established network of men who can help each other. Women may not be as active on the golf course, so to speak. So we need to identify the right organizations and be focused on purposeful networking. We have to make a conscious effort to put networking on our agendas.” Two of the organizations Patterson mentions are the International Women’s Forum and the National Association of Female Executives.
When asked to reflect on her career choices, she says they’ve all been great. “I have been so lucky. I’ve learned everywhere I’ve been, and everything I’ve done has led me to where I am today,” she says. “When I was 31 years old, I was managing a $50 million city government budget and several hundred people. I managed relationships with the Board of Aldermen and learned the art of negotiation. I grew in leaps and bounds.
“The Red Cross was a different experience, because for the first time, the buck stopped with me. As chief executive, I had to be the visionary and plan the execution.”
At one time, Patterson thought about staying in public office as a career. “That was appealing to me at one time. When I was working in city government, I was living what I thought I ultimately wanted to do,” she says. “But not anymore. Being a public official is one of the toughest jobs there is. Everyone assumes they are competent and can do your job. Never once has anyone challenged me at the Red Cross or Monsanto and said, ‘I can do your job.’ Politics is an entirely different world.”
When she’s not at Monsanto or serving on the Regional Convention and Visitors Commission, the Sheldon Art Gallery Advisory Board, the St. Louis Airport Task Force, or the Girl Scouts of Greater St. Louis President’s Advisory Board, she enjoys family and reading.
“I love mysteries,” she reveals. “The British type is particularly appealing to me, and I most recently read ‘The Murder Room’ by P.D. James. I also liked ‘Acid Row’ by Minette Walters. Once a year, I have a book swap with my girlfriends.”
Patterson insists that the key to a meaningful career is to do something that aligns with who you are. “It’s a lot easier to meet bigger challenges when you love what you do.”
Patterson’s Pointers…
• Push yourself hard and have a burning desire to improve.
• Accept additional assignments willingly. Seek them out even if they aren’t offered.
• View every job as an opportunity to grow
• Never say "I can’t handle it.“
• Network with a purpose. Make it a line item on your career agenda and live it daily.
• Always work towards the win-win outcome.
• Seek mentors and coaches—and be one in return.
• Understand your company’s corporate culture and know what it takes to get ahead.
• Do something that makes you happy to get up in the morning.
Monsanto Fund Embodies
Meaningful, Charitable Giving
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Since 1997, Deborah Patterson has headed the 40-year-old Monsanto Fund, which last year made grants totaling $9 million. (Monsanto is in the Top 25 nationally, in terms of charitable giving.) Patterson says the emphasis of the Fund is to better the worldwide communities in which Monsanto employees live and work.
While most people’s jobs involve bringing in money, Patterson’s job is the complete opposite. “It isn’t as easy as you think to give away money,” she says. “Unless you have an infinite supply, these are difficult decisions. There are so many needs. While it’s definitely nice to be on the giving end, it’s not a walk in the clouds.”
Whether applying for a Monsanto Fund grant from within the U.S. or from another country, all grant seekers need to meet certain criteria to qualify. Applicants for grants in the U.S., for example, must be tax-exempt public charities, or government agencies that conduct business to benefit the public at large.
Also, the proposed project must fit within one of Monsanto Fund’s four priority areas: improving nutritional well-being through agriculture; the environment; science education; and improving Monsanto’s communities. And it must be experienced, because the Fund does not work with start-up organizations.
As part of her decision-making process, Patterson may make field visits to a project the Fund is considering, or she may help an organization tweak its idea. Although the Monsanto Fund doesn’t have an aggressive publicity campaign, she says people know it’s there. “The challenge is to find the non-government organizations outside the U.S.,” she says.
Some of the recent St. Louis projects Monsanto Fund has supported include the Nature Conservancy’s sustenance and restoration of the Current River; tree maintenance equipment for Forest Park Forever; and youth-focused environmental education for Earth Day.
Overseas, the Food, Health and Hope Foundation received a grant to benefit disadvantaged residents of the Republic of South Africa who are interested in agriculture. Also, a program in Latin America enhanced nutrition for 50,000 children.
“There’s nothing better than visiting a site,” Patterson says. “I travel about three times a year, and I get to see our philanthropy at work. I also love receiving the cards and letters.”
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PAM NICHOLSON
By Lauri Johnson
When Pam Nicholson was a young branch manager working for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, she realized that she had some ability to lead and develop people into effective teams. She just didn’t know how much.
“I'm not sure I knew at that early point in my career that I would be fortunate enough to go as far as I have at the company,” she says during an e-mail conversation. “But I knew I had leadership skills, and that I enjoyed directing and developing a successful team.”
This was in the 1980s, after she graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor’s degree in consumer economics. Like nearly 100 percent of Enterprise’s senior operating personnel, Nicholson started off as a management trainee working behind a rental counter at a branch office.
Nine months after joining Enterprise, Nicholson was promoted to assistant branch manager, and shortly thereafter she accepted a position with the company’s Southern California group. She stayed in California for 12 years, working her way up to regional vice president.
Several promotions later, Nicholson, 44, now leads Enterprise’s global operations as the company’s executive vice president and recently-appointed COO. Much of the credit for her success, she says, goes to her mother, who died when Nicholson was 22.
“My Mom did a great deal to instill in me at an early age that we had to be prepared to fend for ourselves in this world,” she says. “She stressed education, self-sufficiency, and being in control of your own life.”
Controlling one’s life is one thing, but how does a person lead the largest rental car company in North America (she became head of North American operations in 1999)—with more than 50,000 employees, 600,000 vehicles, and $6.9 billion in revenue last year?
“The shear size of our business and the expanding technology requirements needed to operate a business with this many moving parts and people, is probably the biggest part of my job,” Nicholson admits.
The biggest change in stepping up to overall corporate COO is having complete responsibility for the entire company, including the overseas operations. “Obviously, international operations are going to be a new part of my world and my duties,” Nicholson says. “The shift to chief operating officer will also focus more of my time on the many strategic planning needs of a company of our size.”
Nicholson concedes that some leadership traits come naturally to some people, but she points out that many role models and mentors have helped her throughout her career. Her managers gave her the opportunity to succeed, she says, and she took advantage of what was available in terms of leadership training and management development.
“When I started at Enterprise, we were a much smaller company, but I was fortunate enough to be working with many of the people who helped to drive the incredible growth this company has realized in the last 15 to 20 years,” she says. “Enterprise affords anyone who is willing to put forth the effort with incredible opportunities to build a rewarding career. I’ve spent my entire career with this company for that very reason.”
She and Enterprise have been a good fit because the culture and values that drive the company are very similar to the values that drive her, she says. “I'm passionate about this company and the people who make it
successful.”
Although she’s relocated several times (Los Angeles, New York and St. Louis), she says it has never seemed like a burden. “When you enjoy what you are doing, the sacrifices don't really seem like much,” she says. “This company has made those transitions very easy.”
She advises young people who want to succeed in the corporate world to, “Set high goals, be determined, don’t be deterred by setbacks, don’t be thin-skinned, and most important, have fun.”
When she’s not working or traveling, Nicholson sits on the board of directors for the Missouri Humane Society, the RCGA and Energizer Holdings Inc., and she is a director of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation. She also manages to spend time at Forest Park with her husband, Cal.
“He runs and I cycle,” she says. “We are both animal lovers—our house is also home to two dogs and two cats—and I used to do a lot of horseback riding.”
Sometimes, she even asks Cal for business advice. “But don’t tell him I’m actually listening,” she says.
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