Women and Men, Work and Power

Through these grassroots collaborative efforts, women have both envisioned a different future and also helped to make it a reality. Now, isn't that what real power is all about? Kathy Kane-Zweber is the author of Flexible Work Options: A Guidebook for Employees, Managers, and Human Resources Professionals (Motorola University Press, 1997).

Darlene Mann
Venture Partner
Onset Ventures
Menlo Park, California
darlene@onset.com

Only in the last 10 years has the male-dominated world of venture capital opened its doors to women - and only because it's had to. Highly competitive markets can't afford the luxury of discrimination. That said, whenever you mix women and men - and then add money - interesting things are bound to happen.

When a man is sitting across the table from a woman who is sitting on a pile of money, the situation can get uncomfortable - especially since it's every venture capitalist's job to say "no" a hundred times more often than she says "yes." That's why I'm always careful to put people at ease, to connect with whoever is on the other side of the table. Any venture capitalist needs to know what it's like to wear an entrepreneur's shoes. But that's especially important for women.

Early in my career, I had a meeting with an entrepreneur whom I tried to help - with my opinions, not my money. Later I discovered that he had called me a "bitch" who liked to tell people what was wrong with their ideas. My first reaction was to think that he wouldn't have said that if I were a man - and I got mad. My second reaction was to say, "How stupid of me!" I was giving him feedback that he had no interest in. I've learned that you should wait for people to signal that they want honest feedback before you offer it.

Darlene Mann served as vice president of marketing at Avantos Performance Systems, and as cofounder and vice president of marketing at BroadVision Inc., before joining Onset in 1996.

Wendy Luhabe
Managing Partner
Bridging the Gap
Auckland Park, South Africa

There are a few points about power that apply to both sexes - but are especially relevant to women. First, you need a good relationship with those in power in order to be able to learn from them. Second, people who have power don't always have something to teach you. Third, the best way to learn is to ask questions - even if doing so makes you feel uncomfortable. Fourth, real power comes from within, not from your official position. And finally, the power to contribute - to make a difference in a fast-changing world - should never be confused with power over others.

I've learned these lessons during my experiences in South Africa. Several years ago, at age 36, I was invited to join the board of a food company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. I said yes - and crossed a line of power to join men, all white and all in their fifties and sixties, who had been in this business their whole lives. I knew nothing about food except how to buy it, cook it, and eat it. I went out on a limb - something that men do all the time but that women are less willing to do. They are reluctant to make themselves vulnerable, to put themselves in a place of "not knowing." For me, that has been the best place in which to learn and to grow.

In 1991, Wendy Luhabe founded Bridging the Gap to prepare black South Africans to enter the workplace - and to prepare companies to accept them. In 1995, she founded the country's first Women Investment Portfolio to improve the economic conditions of black South African women. She sits on the board of seven major corporations.

Sallie Ewing
Product Manager
Hewlett-Packard
Boise, Idaho
sallie_ewing@hp.com

Years ago, our CEO Lew Platt stressed the importance of making women a part of management at every level. He asked us all to become part of the solution. Well, I took his message to heart and helped start the HP Boise Women's Network. Here are two things I've learned about driving change from the grass roots of an organization.

Focus on what really matters - not on what you think matters. We created informal chat groups to learn more about what we cared about. Some of what we discovered was "hard business" stuff, such as the transfer, hiring, and promotion rates for women. But some of it was quite personal - for example, the difference between women's and men's styles at HP. There's an amiable style here that didn't always work for some women. They felt hampered by all this "nice guy" stuff. We're saying that men's and women's styles are very different. And we need to value these differences, not to pretend that they don't exist.

Open systems work best. We invited speakers on-site to share their perspectives. And we worked hard to make sure that everyone attended these talks. We targeted the site's managers and hand-delivered invitations to them. The turnout was incredible.

A lot has changed in Boise. We've increased awareness about the importance of diversity, and we've seen more women promoted into the higher ranks. If you have good intentions, senior people will respond.

Sallie Ewing is a product manager in marketing for HP's Workgroup LaserJet Division.