Thoughts I Agree With

There is an interesting article in today's New York Times about women at the top of organizations.
I copied one question and answer that I found interesting.

Amy Schulman

Executive vice president and general counsel; business unit lead, consumer health care, Pfizer

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Amy Schulman, named president of Pfizer Nutrition in 2010, increased revenue 15 percent, to $2.1 billion, over the following year, when the division was sold to Nestl for $11.85 billion.

Q.

What are some patterns you’ve noticed over the years about women at work, and things they could be doing better to advance their careers?

A.

One thing that happens at work is that women tend to hoard favors as if they were airline miles — you know, the hundreds of thousands of airplane miles that we’re saving for when we really need them. But “when we really need them” may never come. The trips are not going to happen, and we’ll be left with 800,000 airline miles.

There’s a parallel at work. You need to spend political capital — be unafraid to introduce people, compliment somebody when it’s deserved and stand up for something you really believe in, rather than just go with the flow. I don’t mean being a perennial troublemaker, but it’s about having conviction and courage. Spend that political capital you earn by being intellectually credible, by being a fighter for the people on your team when appropriate, and by arguing for principles that matter. Those are qualities that give you credit. If you’re waiting for the perfect moment to spend that capital, you’re going to be sidelined your whole career waiting to just kind of enter the ring.

Women can and should do a better job of helping one another to be in that transactional forum, and to get over the anxiety that we’re going to be found wanting on the wrong side of that equation. We’re undervaluing the role that we can play in the success of other people and the organization. So don’t be afraid to spend some of that political capital. You have to be well prepared, you have to be smart, you have to be on time, you have to be responsive, you have to be respectful, you have to have principles. But once you have all those things and you’ve built a track record, don’t wait for the perfect day.

What Ms. Schulman is saying is that you must do the right thing and say the right thing despite the fact that there will ALWAYS be a price to be paid for doing so. In our office, 'Doing the right thing,' usually will cost us money...BUT SO BE IT. If that is the price that I have to pay, then so be it.