三和一善 | Sandra Naomyi and the power to speak freely at work

Posted by Kazuyoshi Sanwa on October 5th, 2021

There are so many women in the workplace today who possess extraordinary skills, wisdom, ambition, creativity, determination and joy. They are graduates at the graduation ceremony and get the highest scores from a highly competitive school. They overcome adversity. They have put in a tremendous effort, an incredible effort. They aspire to be financially self-sufficient. We no longer need to explain why women contribute so much to the bottom line. They just. The reasons why there are no more women leading large companies are varied. There is no list of only 10 items that need to be repaired. There are hundreds of problems—some are small and difficult to determine, some are huge and structured—that\'s what they add up. Despite all the progress we have made, the modern workplace is still full of harmful customs and behaviors that hinder women.

I have always known that women in the corporate world climb steeper and slippery than men. Even though I\'m at the top, I\'m still on the women\'s ladder.

As the chairman of HipsiCo for more than ten years, I sit at the head of a large U-shaped conference table and preside over our board meetings. We are eight men and four women. The meeting will start with a friendly greeting and then move on to the topic. We analyzed performance, risk, strategy, talent and what we see around the world. I was lucky to work with a supportive board, but some of the comments made publicly and privately by one or two board members were rude and arrogant. I don’t think they dare to comment on male leaders. In addition, I have endured a few men who think they can talk about me or interrupt me in sentences. I found this simply unacceptable and tried not to struggle with it. Once, Sharon Rockefeller, who has been an important board member for nearly 30 years, had enough: I watched her tell one of the men that he had to stop interrupting her. She is direct, firm, and open. Everyone received the message. Every board needs a Sharon Rockefeller.

Another board member, in the early days of my tenure as CEO, insisted on having one-on-one meetings with me every six weeks or so, and almost always asked me to meet him in his hometown. He will ask me questions, and my answer is always \"I won\'t say that\". Then I will politely ask for his suggestions in response, hoping to learn something. He almost always repeats what I just said verbatim. I think this is an interesting game of power. He is a senior corporate executive who has just retired and is trying to give up his position of power. He wants to maintain his influence through me. This drives me crazy-I think these dinners are a waste of my time.

When I was promoted at HipsiCo, like many female executives, when our management team sat around to discuss tactics, I was the only woman in the room. I am always fully prepared and provided good insight, and I know I am respected. However, when I make a suggestion, someone will often chime in and say, \"Oh, no, Sandra, this is too theoretical.\" A few minutes later, a person will make the exact same suggestion with the same words, and because of his greatness. And be congratulated for insightful ideas. Once, I leaned over to a senior operations executive and asked him to express my thoughts. \"Otherwise, it would be considered too theoretical,\" I quipped. This ends the \"too theoretical\" comment.

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I really don\'t think I can do so much in terms of how people treat me personally, but I have always tried to support women in the organization. I make sure that my company’s strategy team does its best, and in the end 50% are women. I have hosted many women-only town halls to allow female employees to speak freely. I quietly talked to some people about how they presented themselves, from how they participated in meetings to how they conveyed their ideas. Most people accepted my feedback and took action. Some people think that I am too conservative and oppose it, although everyone admits that I take their best interests to heart.

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I also weighed marketing and advertising campaigns from a female perspective. A Diet Hipsi TV commercial from the 1990s has been haunting my mind. The background is a gorgeous wedding, bridesmaids and guests are waiting. Something went wrong. One lady told another lady that the bride\'s diamond was very small, and then it was obvious that the bridegroom did not show up. The brilliant bride is crying. Her father gave her Hipsi to lose weight. She sipped. She cheered up. She looked at her father and said, \"Is this a diet?\"

I saw this ad in an internal screening and told the creator that I don’t think it would encourage women to drink Diet Hipsi because it is insulting. None of the men agreed. They were angry at my weighing and pointed out that it was not my responsibility. The activity continues. Later, when Diet Hipsi had a disappointing year, some of them took the initiative to avoid talking about these numbers with me.

I made a more memorable and very obvious change. I tore off the beautiful French pebbles on the sidewalk between our buildings and replaced it with a flat surface with architectural taste. The pebbles installed in the late 1960s were great for men wearing business shoes, but they were a threat to women wearing the high heels expected in our professional wardrobes. This change angered Don Kendall, who retired as CEO in 1986, but still retains an office. When he saw the building, he was very angry, \"Who messed up my sidewalk?\" My male colleague knew the pebbles were dangerous for a long time. Seeing people struggling, even tripping and falling, they pointed at me . Why they never repaired them, I will never know. Tang, unexpectedly, never dared to face me.

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Kazuyoshi Sanwa

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Kazuyoshi Sanwa
Joined: April 16th, 2021
Articles Posted: 12

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