Recently, philanthropist and businesswoman, Melinda Gates, spoke about the idea of reimagining the modern workplace. In an article published on LinkedIn titled,“We’re Sending our Daughters into a Workplace Designed for our Dads” she advocated,“new technologies, new business models, and new social movements are completely redefining what it means to go to work. So why don’t we take this opportunity—this moment of radical redesign—to advance equality and inclusion, and build the first workplace in history that actually works for everyone?”
She argues however, that the types of features developed (slides between floors, swings, sleeping pods) are created with a largely young, white, male employee in mind. She challenges us to think about what big, bold, disruptive ideas exists for creating a workspace that appeals to women. I was fascinated by the idea that maybe our physical workspaces have hindered the advancement of women’s careers. I decided to talk with CHOP’s Director or Facilities Planning and Design, Natalie Miovski Hagerty, to dig into this idea further.
MB: How, if it all, has gender played a role in the spaces you design?
NMH: As a female working in the male-dominated architecture and construction industry, I’ve always worked hard to bring awareness to the female voice in my building designs. But I feel like this is a new opportunity to think about how we construct workplaces that are more in line with what women want. I think unfortunately, gender has typically played a role in the way the article you mentioned described – usually only in reference to female-focused coworking spaces or female-specific program spaces, like lactation rooms. However, I think one of the things we don’t do enough is empower women to use spaces however they want. For example, it was suggested that we put a computer in the CHOP staff lactation rooms, and my first reaction was, “can’t we let our moms have a few minutes in peace without having to worry about doing work and pumping at the same time?” But when I took a moment to reflect, I realized I was making that decision for them, and that wasn’t appropriate. As designers, we need to create space with flexibility, and we need to be better listeners to what the needs are. Additionally, we need to poke a little at it, the answers don’t just come out, sometimes people aren’t sure what they want or what options exist. It’s like the Henry Ford quote, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” While we need to ask and listen, it’s also up to us – both women and men – to come up with big, bold ideas.
MB: How do you gather information about what employees, particularly women, would like to see? What types of data do you look for when designing a space where people will spend so much of their time?
NMH:We are actually in the process of constructing a new office building right now (as you know!). One of the things we did was to bring in an industry expert who’s at the cutting edge of workspace research. We opened the door to employees by saying, how can we make your life better? Then through brainstorming and shadowing we were able to get lots of feedback. We really just kept pushing people to think about their day and not take any movement or current obstacle for granted. When we wrote the observations down, we had a lot of “A-Ha” moments. We also wanted to focus on creating healthy work spaces. One interesting thing that came out as frustration that tied back to gender differences was in relation to the experience of sitting at your desk. Many women wear heels of varying sizes, but when you’re sitting at the desk, your keyboard tray is in the way and you are not in the right ergonomic position. Often, you end up taking your shoes off – putting you in a bit of a vulnerable position. Men’s shoes are all fairly similar, therefore their body is always in the same position. We were able to find a design solution that would really help with equality – height adjustable desks! This allows everyone the ability to quickly make comfort and ergonomic choices for themselves. Another area where gender differences come into play, is when we talk about fitness in the workplace. Many office buildings are offering fitness centers, but we wanted to think about how these can be optimized for everyone – do people really want to be working out at work, getting sweaty and messy around their colleagues? We heard that women are more sensitive to this than men – so before we offer something like that, we really want to understand what women would want to feel comfortable with an on-site fitness center. It can be a lot more complicated for women – hair, makeup, accessories – it’s not a quick and easy thing to get ready for work after exercising! What women wanted were simple design features like a place to put their brush or make-up that wasn’t wet (because typically the only counter space is next to a sink in an office building fitness center). This design feature benefits everyone – however it’s noteworthy that it only came up when carefully listening to women.
MB: What does human-centered workplace design look like to you?
NMH: I believe that human-centered workplace is about how we feel in the environment. The best analogy I can come up with is at CHOP, we have children that are going through infusion therapy. Imagine a child who is 3 or 4, but their chairs they’re sitting in for this therapy are made for adults. They’re in a space that was designed for them and their wellbeing, but they feel uncomfortable because the specific chair is oversized and overwhelming. This has an effect on them emotionally. It can make them feel small and weak at a time that they need to be at their strongest. As that concept relates to women in the workplace, much of the furniture available was not designed with women’s frames in mind – especially petite women. There are women that are dwarfed by the size of their chairs. Imagine how that makes them feel! I definitely believe there is a psychological impact that details like this have, and I’d like to see the averages that are used in determining furniture design be re-assessed with a more female workforce in mind.
MB: Do you think workplace design can play a role in gender equality?
NMH: If you’re using the words workplace design to mean a more holistic approach or solution through both physical design and amenities, then yes, 100% it can play a role. To be honest though, I haven’t seen the big, bold ideas that would lead to increased gender equity, but I do believe that they could aid in leveling the playing field. There’s a lot of talk about the idea of daycare centers in workplaces, but too often it’s positioned as a women’s issue as opposed to a human issue. Having a daycare in one’s office, while in many ways convenient, automatically makes that parent the default primary parent, which doesn’t contribute to an equitable division of childcare. So when it comes to solutions for making workplaces more family friendly, we have to think carefully about unintended consequences.
MB: Is there anything you think women should be thinking about when it comes to their workspace, that could encourage gaining more equity?
I like an example in the book Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman: What Men Know About Success that Women Need to Learnby Gail Evans. She tells a hypothetical story; if there is a man and a woman who are equal (i.e. same years of experience, same position, same title, same salary, etc.) and there were two offices for them that were the same, other than one having a column in the corner (making it appear smaller), who would take which office? Evans suggests that the women take the smaller office, because they don’t think it matters – the symbolism of the “larger” office isn’t as important to them, and they know it won’t affect how well they will do the job. But when the rest of the office is asked, they perceive the person having the larger office as superior to the one in the smaller office. I actually saw a similar situation play out here at CHOP – a woman was promoted to manager, over the man who was filling in as an interim manager. When it came time for her to move into the larger manager office he was utilizing, she said, “I’m just going to stay in my office, it’s no big deal.” But I encouraged her to sit in the corner office that she deserved and had worked hard for. This particular department saw space as a proxy for prestige and to me, this is an example of how space relates to power and equity. I think it’s something that should be recognized more by women in these types of environments. Personally, I think we need to separate space allocation from prestige and self-worth, but that’s another blog!
Thank you to Natalie for her input, and for all of the work she does to create healthy, comfortable, connected workspaces for us at CHOP. I’d like to hear from all of you – what ideas do you have for making our physical workspaces more equitable and female-friendly?
Vul·ner·a·bil·i·ty [noun] The quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.
We live in a culture with an ever-increasing focus on perfection. Whether it’s at home or in the workplace, we put so much pressure on ourselves to do everything, and do it perfectly. At work, the idea of always being over-prepared, with no question you can’t answer and nothing you haven’t thought of is likely appealing. However, this masks one of our most powerful tools as a leader – vulnerability.
The act of admitting you don’t have all the answers comes with risk. Show too much vulnerability and you lose people’s confidence, too little and you appear cold and intimidating. I’m currently mentoring a woman who holds a very high-level position at one of the world’s largest companies, and we’ve been discussing this topic frequently. She, like many women, feels like she can never say, “I don’t know” without appearing unprepared or unqualified. I believe this habit can backfire, and what you’re really showing is that you have no vulnerabilities, which has consequences for both your relationship with your manager, as well as with those you manage. But how do you find that sweet spot between showing vulnerability, and feeling exposed?
Vulnerability and Managing Up
When I first began in the CEO role, I was very concerned with feeling in command of any situation; particularly in meetings with our Board. I wanted to go in having all the answers and be five steps ahead of anything they might want or need. After a few years, I’ve learned to say “I don’t feel comfortable with that subject matter, but I can find an expert to help me get up to speed,” or, “I haven’t worked with my team on this topic yet, but I’ll get back to you.” I realized over time, that they’re okay with those responses. In fact, I believe they trust me more, knowing that I’ll always admit if I don’t know something.
When showing vulnerability however, you must also instill confidence that you are taking action to find the answers you don’t currently have. I was recently in a meeting, and one of my colleagues shared a struggle he was having with turnover on his team. Those in the meeting left feeling worried that there was a crisis looming. The error he made was not closing with something along the lines of, “but I’m confident that we will identify solutions to this problem before our next meeting” or laying out the concrete steps he was taking to fix the problem.
The key here, whether you’re speaking to your Board or your manager, is making sure to always close the loop. Admit what you don’t know, find the answers, and follow up.
Vulnerability and Managing Down
I’ve been working hard lately to show vulnerability when managing down – it’s important to me to show people I’m not perfect. I realized that CHOP has a culture of perfection (due to the nature of our work, it’s a necessity), but I make an effort to talk about mistakes I’ve made and how I’ve learned from them. Every year, I teach a class for the Philadelphia Academy of School Leaders, and I discuss how to be more relatable to those who work for you. The example I give most often is how in the past, I’ve made some big hiring mistakes, then not acted quickly enough to let them move on. When talking about these miscalculations, I focus on the lessons I learned, which I hope gives people permission to take risks and learn from their mistakes, as opposed to being “perfect.” Additionally, I believe that the vulnerability I show in admitting fault makes me more relatable. Leaders should model and emphasize progress over perfection, while encouraging their employees to make sure they know how to navigate the path to get the answers they need when they don’t have them.
Whether you are managing up or managing down, the incredible power of vulnerability is something that can transform a workplace culture, bring people together, and eventually, lead to increased accountability. It’s a topic we need to see leaders become more comfortable discussing and addressing among their teams.
I began thinking about this post a few weeks ago, on a typical Sunday evening. My husband Lou and I had been traveling and we’d just returned home. I intended to use the evening to get the kitchen ready for our remodel that was about to begin, pack up everything that needed to be moved, complete the rest of my New Years cards and get ready for the week ahead. As I began this work, he became frustrated; “Madeline, you have an endless supply of bandwidth, and you have to remember that I do not.” Lou has, by any definition, had an enormous amount of professional success – he’s balanced research, publishing and patient care as the Chief of General Pediatrics at CHOP, all while raising seven children. However, he knows how much downtime he needs to recharge and it is not always in synch with my desire to take on more. I believe the key to his success has much to do with knowing this, giving himself the necessary downtime to recharge, and pushing back when someone (usually me!) is depleting his bandwidth. It got me thinking.
We’ve all heard people talk about how busy they are, how stressed they are or how they can’t seem to find balance. Often, being busy is glamorized and if you’re not burning the candle at both ends, you’re somehow less successful. While I certainly promote taking on additional projects to stretch yourself and saying yes to things you may not quite feel prepared for, I also believe that in order to be successful you must know your own bandwidth.
For example, I know that by Friday evening, mine is spent. I like to go home, relax on the couch and make sure I go to bed as early as possible. If I have an event on a Friday night, I have to work extra hard to mentally prepare myself, though I try to avoid scheduling things for myself during this time. There have been many moments in my career when I thought, “I cannot possibly take on another thing.” However, I was always thinking in terms of adding and not subtracting anything from my plate. I started to focus more on what I can take off my to-do list, or which responsibility I can delegate when I want to take on something new. Productivity and functionality has a limit – you simply cannot take on more without looking for what you can remove. To me, this is central to knowing yourself and to building emotional intelligence.
Many people may argue that the leaders in their organization don’t respect the bandwidth of their employees. A large percentage of my work with those I directly manage is all about this topic. I help them prioritize, identify what can be delegated and how much they can handle while still thriving. This is key – everyone’s effectiveness decreases as a certain point. I know that when I ask one of my employees to take something additional on, I need to sit with them and make sure they know how to “rearrange” what’s on their plate. Opening up this conversation is important – leaders should be sure to ask their employees how they recharge or prioritize tasks. It’s important that we all acknowledge that a lower bandwidth does NOT equal lower performance, less ambition or less accomplishment.
If this is something you’ve been thinking about as well, I’d love to hear from you – how do you modulate your bandwidth? I believe this conversation should be central to helping everyone, but especially women, find balance and success without it being at the expense of their own effectiveness, sanity and personal life.
Vocal Fry. Up-speak. Nasal. Too loud. Too high-pitched. Too quiet. Shrill.
We talk a lot about women’s voices. I have even written about the ways we can modulate our voices to appear more confident and capable. The truth is, there is scientific research that supports the fact that, “people associate low voices—which is to say the ones generally innate to men—with competence, leadership ability, and intelligence.” I can’t help but wonder, as a mentor, am I playing into a fundamentally sexist perception when I coach women to modulate their voices? Aren’t we actually just telling women to sound more like men?
Of course, Hillary Clinton is a prime example of how women’s voices are the topic of intense conversation. She wrote in her most recent book that for many years she was coached and trained to change the way she spoke so that she would be more “likeable” and would be taken seriously as a Presidential candidate. However, she noted that simultaneously, she was constantly criticized for sounding inauthentic. How could she possibly sound authentic when she’d spent years altering her voice?
I am the first to admit that I’m extremely distracted when I hear a woman using vocal fry, up-speak or using a very high-pitched tone. I do tend to think it makes them appear less serious, and I’m more inclined to listen to a women whose tone is steady and lower-pitched. This is a struggle for me – I know that by encouraging women to modulate their voices, I’m likely participating in gender bias, but am not sure how to change my perception. I would love to hear from you; do you find yourself judging a woman’s competencies based on the tone of her voice? Do you think paying attention to your speaking habits has helped you in your career? How do you feel about the ever-present conversation around women’s voices and our collective perception of traditionally more masculine voices as the ideal? Please share your comments with me – I will address some of them on my Facebook Group.
Having women represented on corporate boards adds incredible value to a company yet it remains a big challenge. According to the Forum of Executive Women’s most recent research, from 2016 to 2017, overall board seats held by women in the Philadelphia region only grew from 16% to 17% and out of the 100 companies surveyed, 18 still did not have any women on their boards. While this issue is getting more attention (California recently passed a controversial law mandating that every publicly traded company based in the state will need at least one woman on the board by the end of 2019) we just aren’t seeing the advances we should be.
From my experience on the board on both corporate and non-profit boards, I’ve learned a great deal about board service, corporate governance, and why it’s so important to have women in the room. Recently, I’ve been asked by many women how they can prepare themselves to serve on a board, so I’m happy to share my advice here. I hope that I can play a small role in encouraging more women to stretch themselves and prepare for this next challenge in their professional lives.
Develop Your Relevant Experience
Currently, 43% of the 100 largest public companies in the region still conduct business with all-male leadership teams and out of 625 total executives, only 15% are women. Being able to operate at the executive level is probably the most important consideration for joining a corporate board, especially a Fortune 500 board. If serving on a board is a goal for you, advancing your career into the C-suite (CEO, CFO, COO) is a great way to prepare.
Focus on enhancing your leadership capabilities and scope of experience. Develop your skill sets to manage people, manage operations, make big decisions and especially have financial acumen, which is critical to understanding the finances of a company.
Understand Board Service
It’s really important to seek out opportunities to understand what board service means so that if you are approached — and oftentimes you’re going to be approached unexpectedly, as I was — you understand what it means to serve on a corporate board and what you would be expected to do. If you do your homework, you can give an answer in that moment versus saying, “let me go back and do some research.” I think the key is that you never really know when a conversation will lead to an opportunity, so be prepared in advance.
There are many resources for continuing education; such as Women Corporate Directors and universities that offer courses and conferences on corporate governance. I participated in a program called Women on Board in Philadelphia before I was approached by Comcast. I also took a three-day course at Stanford University, the Directors’ Consortium, that was incredibly helpful to me.
Position Yourself
It’s important to know what skills are most valued by boards, and then be able to articulate how your experience fills those needs. For me, it was my experience in Operations that attracted Comcast to me. Learn what sorts of challenges corporations are facing and position yourself to help solve them. For example, if you are a CIO, you can fill the gaps in a board’s understanding of the cyber security challenges their company faces. If you have served as a Chief Human Resources Officer, you can provide much needed guidance on succession planning and executive compensation. Be sure to create a Board Bio highlighting your relevant achievements and strategically emphasizing the experience that will be valuable to a board. Additionally, many boards are looking for prospective board members who are diverse. This is a bit of a problem since there is a lack of representation of women and other minorities in C-suite roles, especially CEO’s.
Tap into Your Network – Especially Your Female Network
If you have aspirations of joining a corporate board, tell another woman who is on a board. One thing I have noticed is that once you get on a corporate board, the flood gates open because they know you have experience. When I have to turn down an opportunity, I always recommend someone else – and always a woman who has told me that she’s interested in serving on a board. Make it a priority to network with board members, and put it out there that you’re looking.
How to Find Time
Many women I speak with often worry that board service will add too much to their plate. I have been clear that my day job as President and CEO at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is my absolute priority. I limit my board service to a reasonable number of boards and a reasonable time commitment without a lot of travel. For example, the meetings for the Federal Reserve Board of Philadelphia are within a mile or so of my office, and are limited to a few hours on a particular day. To serve on the Comcast board here in Philadelphia and the Children’s Hospital Association board in Washington, DC, as well as my other nonprofit boards, is similarly convenient. Choose a board that requires only what you can give.
Despite all of the benefits that board service brings for women, in my experience, when you’re the minority in the room you do have to work harder to prepare and be part of the conversation and to feel comfortable jumping in. I probably spend more time that I need to preparing for board meetings and reviewing materials. There have been times when the board has turned to me and asked how something might be viewed as a woman. While it does point out that you’re different than the others in the room and creates the added pressure of having to speak for half of the population, I think it’s great that corporate boards are asking for that advice and seeing the value diversity in the boardroom can bring for shareholders and corporate culture more broadly.
I recently had the pleasure of attending a Women’s Leadership Luncheon hosted by Jacobson Strategic Communications and the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. It was a wonderful afternoon connecting with other leaders, listening to a discussion with Secretary Leslie Richards, the first woman Secretary of PennDOT, and Secretary Robin Wiessmann, the Pennsylvania Secretary of Banking and Securities, moderated by Sara Lomax-Reese, President and CEO of WURD Radio, Pennsylvania’s only African- American-owned talk radio station. I left feeling incredibly motivated by the women I met, and was compelled to share some of what I took away from the event. All three women have different stories and perspectives, but are equally impressive not just in their ability to rise to the top of their fields, but to participate actively in public life. All three serve on boards (a topic I will give advice on in an upcoming post!) and spend time motivating and supporting other women.
photo courtesy of Robbin L. Wiessmann
I particularly enjoyed hearing about Secretary Richards’ career journey. She is responsible for leading 11,500 employees, yet spends a great deal of her time working to advance female leaders. In 2017, she was appointed the first female chair of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission as well as the Public Private Partnership (P3) Board, and has won numerous awards (Female Innovator of the Year, Female Executive of the Year and the Women of Distinction award). In 2017, Secretary Richards and First Lady Frances Wolf launched the Moving Women Forward tour, a series of town-hall-style events held at institutions of higher learning across Pennsylvania. These gatherings encourage more young women and minorities to pursue careers and leadership positions in these fields. At the luncheon, she talked about what it was like to gain credibility with a workforce of men. She also talked about how she uses humor as a strategy to get a difficult message across, especially when she is the only woman in the room. She authors an inspiring blog on the PennDOT website. One line in a recent post stuck out to me,
“Before I was appointed to serve as Pennsylvania’s first female Secretary of Transportation, there were times in my career where I worked part-time and even was a stay-at-home mom for eight years. I never dreamed that I would hold this title. I have a technical background with a degree in economics and urban studies, and am not only the first woman, but also the first person with an urban planning background to lead the agency. I am proof that the traditional linear career path isn’t the only path that exists.”
This aspect of her journey really resonated with me. I too, could not have imaged holding the title of CEO when I was younger. When my second son was born, I pulled back from work and reduced my hours to part time for the first nine months of his life. He was not sleeping well, and the challenges of having two young children were taking a toll on me. At that moment in time, I was simply not able to give to my career what I had previously. However, that’s exactly what it was – a moment in time. Taking a step back at certain points to prioritize family, advancing your education or pivoting to a new path does not mean that you can’t excel and rise to the top of your chosen field later in life. With drive, motivation and help from others, anything is possible.
It is events like this luncheon that are critical for helping to advance more women into leadership positions. I was reminded after reading Secretary Richard’s blog, of a quote from one my personal heroes, Madeleine Albright, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” By gathering together, sharing our stories and learning from each other, I am hopeful that we can continue to see more women follow in the footsteps of Secretary Richards, Secretary Weismann and Sara Lomax-Reese.
