Climbing the corporate ladder

Last Saturday saw yet another session where our sisters gathered to listen to some women captains of corporate Kenya. Though the overall theme of the event was Climbing the Corporate Ladder, one message that came through from all the speakers was a need to check one’s attitude if women are to be masters of their destiny in a rough world where men still call the shots.

Key speakers during the event held at the Hilton Hotel included Catherine Kasavuli, retired television anchor and founder of Kasavuli Media Group; Dorothy Ooko; Google’s head of communication, East and Francophone Africa; Norah Odwesso, Coca-Cola’s public affairs and communication director and Susan Mwaura, founder of Top Tier Woman.

“Attitude is everything,” stated Dorothy Ooko. “Your mind is like the computer’s operating system, safeguard it.” She gave the example of current and former leading lights in the global corporate world whose adverse circumstances did not hinder them from climbing up the corporate ladder.

 For example, Oprah Winfrey, America’s self-proclaimed first lady of talk shows and one of the richest black women of all time had to overcome a troubled childhood to create one of the most visible communication brands of our time. According to Ooko, good education and background are not sacrosanct to being successful. She said a lack of education or a poor and difficult situation should not be seen as necessarily defining one’s chances in life.

As an example, Oprah’s parents separated soon after she was born and was left under the care of her maternal grandmother. At six years of age, she went to live with her mother in a dangerous neighborhood in Milwaukee. Six years later, she went to live with her father in Nashville, Tennessee where she started giving some speeches at church and social gatherings for a “small fee”. This was a turning point for she knew she could actually be paid to talk. Sadly, when she went to live with her mother again, she was repeatedly abused by ‘trusted’ family friends.

Right attitude

Others were Coco Chanel, whose mother died when she was just a young girl and her father abandoned the family. She grew up in an orphanage but later founded the fashion brand and perfume Chanel.  As a child, the late Steve Jobs was adopted, completed high school but dropped out of college. He was the founder of Apple, NeXt and Pixar.  Sir Richard Branson dropped out of high school at 16 and also suffers from dyslexia. Today, he is the billionaire founder of Virgin, Virgin records, Virgin Galactic, Virgin Mobile, and many more.

“Few of us have undergone such extreme circumstances. Oprah could have given up trying but her attitude or operating system was right. Today, if you believe you can, then you can, but if you also believe that it is impossible, you will also be right,” stated Ooko.

She cited the case of one of Kenya’s self-made billionaires, the late Njenga Karume whose business empire started off by selling charcoal “something that not many people including his friends considered suave.”

Her well received speech was summed up by eight points namely: successful people are not victims of their circumstances, they see each experience as a learning experience, they never give up, they focus on what they want, have big audacious goals, are confident, flexible and finally take challenges.

 Confidence

Prompted by the session’s moderator, Njoki Karuoya, a former Radio Maisha presenter Esther Ingolo moved many by recounting how a debilitating accident that resulted in her leg being amputated changed her outlook on life. She is currently the communications director for Mombasa County government.

Norah Odwesso urged the ladies to have self-confidence especially in the workplace where some are bypassed for not voicing their views even when they may be right on a particular matter. She caused laughter when she said that if a woman is in a meeting and is not sure of what to say, it would better even to repeat or rephrase what has been said.

“Why not say something like, ‘just like my colleague was saying, I think we should…’ or ‘It is true that if we do as has been stated….” In addition, she urged women to help one another climb up the ladder and not support the old adage that “women are their own enemies.” To achieve that, they must avoid judgmental attitudes that more often are meant to bring others down.

“I know you are judging me as I stand here,” she said amidst more laughter. “This is me, and you are you. You are unique and will never be anybody in the whole world. You must understand that there is only one individual in the planet who is you.”

Susan Mwaura, a veteran of the Eve Sisters forum took the women through the steps of getting a promotion stating that men advance “because they have learnt to maximise their presence in the boardroom.”

“You need to make yourself indispensable. All must know that something will go wrong if you are no longer around. Be that person who has the ability to manage others,’ she said.

Sadly, women continue lagging behind since they are less assured than men. They suffer from self-doubt even when they hold the key to a company’s growth. For example studies done by Claire Shipman, a reporter for ABC News and Katty Kay, an anchor with BBC World News America show how the two were surprised to discover the extent to which women suffered from self-doubt.

“Compared with men, women don’t consider themselves as ready for promotions, they predict they’ll do worse on tests and generally underestimate their abilities.”

Perception

Linda Babcock, professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University and author of Women Don’t Ask – found in studies of business school students, that men initiate salary negotiations four times as often as women do, and that when women do negotiate, they ask for 30 per cent less than men do.

“Men think they deserve to earn more and women less! It is a problem of self-perception. Men overestimate their abilities and performance while women underestimate both. Yet their performances do not differ in quality,” states the author.

Kasavuli, the last speaker of the day recounted her 34 years in the media industry, a period when “the screen was all black suits and white shirts.” Women, she stated, should know what they are aiming for and go for it without distractions. Her journey in journalism started when Kenya had only one TV station that opened in the afternoon and closed by 11 pm. She later moved to KTN, the first independent station in the country before joining Royal Media Services. Many in the audience applauded her for focusing on news presentation “rather than the sideshows” that some newscasters are known for today.