Women
smash glass ceiling with some help from
Mr. Mom
By
Tomislav Ladika
Michigan Daily
ANN
ARBOR, Mich. (U-Wire) -- After trying to
balance a family life and a career in the
corporate world for several years, stress
forced Jennifer McKelvey to take a break
from her job.
But
when Alcoa Mills Products offered her a
promotion she could not resist, McKelvey
and her husband found a unique solution
that allowed her to take the position.
"We
decided to go for it, and the critical component
was my husband's decision to become a stay-at-home
dad. He put that out on the table,"
said McKelvey, now a director of customer
services, sales planning and e-commerce
for Alcoa Mills.
Speaking
during a panel session Friday at the University
of Michigan Business School's 11th Annual
Women in Leadership Conference, McKelvey
said she has been able to pursue her career
only because her husband successfully adapted
to his new role taking care of their children
and doing household chores.
"It
fits our shared values, our definition of
success ... (and) what our goals are as
a family unit," she said.
Other
speakers discussed gender stereotypes and
work ethics.
Anne
Stevens, vice president of Ford Motor Co.'s
North America Vehicle Operations, said she
can only balance work and family by not
trying to control everything her stay-at-home
husband does around the house.
"There
are things you can let other people do and
things he does better," she said. "I
have this list of stuff I don't do and haven't
done for 30 years."
McKelvey
said after her husband began doing more
household chores she realized that "there's
more than one way to load the dishwasher."
Traditional
gender roles and responsibilities were among
the stereotypes addressed by speakers at
the Women in Leadership Conference.
A
common myth is that women can only succeed
in leadership positions if they learn to
play golf or participate in other traditionally
male social activities, said Executive Women's
Alliance President Carol Gallagher, whose
firm specializes in coaching, consulting
and developing female leaders.
"It's
not a good way to make relationships when
you're miserable," Gallagher said.
"If we don't act authentically and
show up who we really are at work, people
don't learn to trust us."
Women
also must learn that while they have to
be effective at their jobs, they should
avoid a perfectionist attitude by delegating
responsibilities instead of trying to do
everything by themselves, Gallagher said.
She
added that one way for women to network
successfully is to develop "substantive
relationships inside and outside the company."
She pointed out that 90 percent of executive
women's relationships were developed with
workers outside their department, and 18
percent were relationships with professionals
outside of their industry.
Many
more indicated that they wanted to work
as individual contributors for a large corporation.
"There's
some barrier out there -- some of it is
self-imposed and some of it is the culture
of the organization," Gallagher said,
adding that only 1.5 percent of the Fortune
500 top chief executive officers and 12.4
percent of all board directors are women.
Gallagher
said a key for women to achieve success
in the business world is to realize that
"whatever we focus on is what we achieve."
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