The 2nd annual Women’s Leadership Symposium sponsored by Ohio University and Cleveland State University was a force to be reckoned with in comparison to your average leadership gatherings. This year’s event brought in over 50 speakers to beautiful downtown Cleveland to enrich the minds of students and professionals alike. I had the pleasure of attending the event this year and to spread the advice of the more than qualified woman I was able to hear speak on matters of common concern among millennial women in today’s day and age.
Due to the distance and early start of the event, I arrived after the first keynote speaker was presented to the group over breakfast. Rachel Talton, a thriving author and Chief Transformation Officer of Flourish Leadership and the Flourish Conference, but only heard great things and those amazing pieces of advice she gave were referenced through out the event.
Next I went to a panel named “Beyond Rosie the Riveter: Women Strive and Thrive in Traditional Male Occupations.” Three of the women on the panel worked in law enforcement or for the military, two in athletics, and two in higher up management at large corporations in the Cleveland area. Each woman spoke of their troubles on the job and dealing with them as a woman in a very male dominated field. Annette Mecklenburg, the Chief of the Cleveland Heights Police Department talked a great deal about the miniscule amount of women in law enforcement (12-13%) and the flack given to her as a woman giving orders, let alone her struggles to even receive the job as chief in the first place. The biggest take away from this specific panel was that if you do not attempt to make your presence known and show your abilities are just as great as any man who applies for a position, you would not be rewarded. Amy Backus, the Athletic Director for Case Western Reserve University spoke on the fact that when they are hiring people within the athletic department, they see a great deal of unqualified applications from men, but nearly as many from women who feel they don’t meet the job requirements. We are being told to put ourselves out there more because you never know what someone will want from a new hire, but if you don’t apply, you will never know.
An OU alumnus, Joe Donatelli, gave my first individual breakout session. The session was called “Women and Popular Media: From Sports Illustrated to Playboy’s Journalist’s Eye View. Donatelli has the position of Sex and Culture Editor for Playboy’s website. With all the changed occurring at Playboy, including their move to remove nude photography from the publication, I was very intrigued by the appearance of this speaker in particular. First, Donatelli is a huge proponent and supporter of the rights of women and the concern of the media’s portrayal of those same women. Playboy wanted to create a new platform based on 3 points, progress, freedom and exploration. Although Playboy is still targeting the young male demographic, including millennials, the company saw a 258% growth in the number of hits the website received from the ‘safe-for-work’ change to now. They especially got attention from this article about whether you should catcall a woman or not. (It’s pretty great!) But the biggest thing Playboy is trying to achieve is making men better. Donatelli told the ladies that they are a sexy and provocative publication but still write articles that educate.
For lunch I enjoyed some quinoa salad, half a turkey sandwich, and a speech from the mother of former Boston College baseball player Pete Frates. Pete was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease in 2012 and has been fighting to raise awareness of the disease since that very day. Nancy Frates, his mother told his touching story and how through the determination of their family and collaboration amongst other people with the disease, they adopted the idea of the “Ice Bucket Challenge.” Most people who playing around on social media know of the Ice Bucket Challenge, where once a person is challenged to pour a large container of water and ice over their heads, they must record the video, post it to social media and challenge 3 more friends to do the same. The exposure of this project raised more awareness than the Frates family ever expected. The day the campaign was launched, in August 2014, Facebook received more traffic than it did on the day of the Super Bowl and Oscars combined. More importantly, ALS was the #1 search on the Internet in 2014. The awareness was the most important factor, and through the efforts made by Pete and his Boston community, they raised $220 million globally in 5 weeks for ALS research.
So why does all this matter, other than the fact the ALS has been put on the board for good and people are more optimistic of finding either a treatment or cure, the actions behind this are what Nancy Frates touch on most. She talked about the power of community and how Boston supported them in each endeavor. She talked about be mindful of the opportunities that are placed before you, even if they seem challenging, they are always presenting themselves for our benefit. The last matters she spoke of were the positivity and gratitude presented throughout her time working with her son on this project. She always remained thankful for the people around her and each person that supported them, even if it was by just participating in the Ice Bucket Challenge. She also had to stay positive, no matter the trial or tribulation. When she began to witness her son losing motor functions, and then lost his ability to speak, and finally the ability to eat without a feeding tube, she still remained positive and does to this day. There aren’t many times when you can change the world, but the Frates have done so with this project and Nancy will only remain positive as she does so, until they have found a cure.
After I dried some tears and finished up my salad, I headed to the last panel and second to last session “Creativity Pays: Succeeding in the Arts, Entertainment, and Media.” The women of this panel have seen it all. A few of them began their professional careers by accident or misguided intentions, but all have become extremely successful in their creative fields of art, journalism, teaching and producing. Gina Vernaci, and Executive Producer at Playhouse Square, found solace in making her own path after barely graduating and receiving an undergraduate degree before she went on to get a master’s, begin a job that was only suppose to last a few weeks at Playhouse Square and end of staying on for nearly 30 years. When Vernaci made her own path, she wasn’t sure of the outcome, but it didn’t stop her. Just as the same thing didn’t stop Senior Editor at American Greetings, the No. 1 card selling company in the world, Nikki Byrd. She has done things like work for the Air Force as a documentary filmmaker before she even thought of working for a large corporation such as American Greetings. No matter the disciplines of the women, they all encouraged each of us to adopt role models if we don’t already have a few in mind. Jobs aren’t always easy to come by, but when you know someone in the field, especially a woman with the same discipline as you but further along in their career, we must reach out, build the connection and pursue the recommendation when the time is needed. The more we build upon our networks, the smaller the world seems to get and it’s an advantage each of us should take advantage of when we have the time.
The last and probably my favorite part of the day was a session held by Marcy Levy Shankman on “Emotionally Intelligent Leadership.” Shankman is an author and VP of Strategy and Director of Leadership at the Cleveland Leadership Center. The room was filled for Shankman. She began by defining leadership as not necessarily a concrete position on an executive team or within management, but anyone who is seen as a higher standard than the observer. Each person needs to mind themselves and their emotions because “understanding your emotions impacts everything from your thoughts to actions.” Being emotionally intelligent gives a person a much better outlook on work aspects of life but also personal matters like work/life balance, time management and even relationships both inside and outside the office. Leadership involves constantly paying attention and the strength to that alone is agonizing. Shankman’s book can give you a fuller picture of leadership regarding specific capacities we each possess but the main three things to focus on when it comes to emotional leadership include consciousness of yourself, consciousness of others and consciousness of the context. It was all made so easy to understand in such a short period of time.
As I began the journey back to Athens with my #WLS2016 cookie and inspirational quote, I had a few thoughts about the event. The first thought being how close I am to meeting great people, learning from them and asking for their help in the future. My second thought was on all the lessons learned throughout the trip. I learned that you couldn’t be afraid to try and go for something; there is a 100% chance you will strike out if you never go up to bat. My third and final thought regards all the woman and men who presented throughout the day. Although I couldn’t see the 50+ speakers or talk to all of the 800+ attendees, you can tell from the environment that everyone there was there to support women as much as they can when it comes to our careers and lifestyle. It is great to know that and I look forward to seeing the future of all the bright women I work with now. If we are half as great as everyone I met, I have no fear that we will be successful.