Cindy Sorensen | Founder, The Grocery Group
I have 37 years of experience in the grocery industry and
during that time, while I have seen some increase of women in the industry, it
remains very male-dominated. Even after 37 years, I am still often the only
woman, or one of a few women, in attendance at industry meetings. I recently was asked to speak at an industry
conference with a specific request to share my experiences as a woman thriving
in a male-dominated work environment. As
I prepared for my presentation, I realized the advice, recommendations and skills
I was preparing to talk about are really those skills which are necessary to
thrive in work environments regardless of the gender make-up of the
workforce. Therefore, I changed the
title of the session to the following: ”THRIVING IN A MALE-DOMINATED WORK ENVIRONMENTS”.
I never sought to be a successful woman in a male-dominated industry; I sought to be a successful professional in the business world. I challenge you to think of how your experiences in the industry, which helped build your success, can be shared to help other women succeed in their careers. Sharing our combined experiences through opportunities such as mentoring, conference workshops, industry articles and LinkedIn posts will be invaluable to the women following behind us in this industry.
While I observed the industry was male-dominated when I started my career in 1983, I never thought about my success being hindered by that, but rather I focused on what I needed to do to be the best in the industry. Yes, unfortunately, there were times I faced outright discrimination against me because I was a woman such as the time when the grocery department buyer at one of my designated retail accounts refused to talk to me because “you are a woman and you took a man’s job. I won’t buy anything from you”. But experiences such as these only made me work harder to prove I belonged in the role and earned the accolades and promotions which came my way.
Over the years, I learned the way to thrive in the business world is about how one “thinks, talks and acts”. The overall success of a company is grounded in consistent execution of business practices. The common thread to being successful in how one thinks, talks and acts, is to do so, strategically.
Oftentimes, our roles within an organization, are very tactical and tactics are critical to achieving the company’s mission and vision. But to be successful in carrying out the tactics, one must understand their employer’s mission, vision, strategic initiatives and the role tactics play to achieve the organization’s strategic plan. This strategic plan knowledge is key to institutional success. Along with my advice to know and understand an organization’s strategic plan, I can’t over-emphasize the personal work ethic which must accompany this knowledge of the strategic plan: “Show up, put your head down, and work hard every day”. There is no substitution for these time-tested behaviors! Adapt a strategic way of thinking of the plan, talking about the plan, and acting on the plan. Present your tactical work accomplishments in a way that fulfills the performance measures of your management and the organization. Talk in headlines, not in details, so others will listen and know you understand “what’s in it” for them and the organization.
But most importantly, you must build and maintain your reputation every day. It is your reputation which will ultimately make you successful. I spoke to a young woman today who had her dream job literally fall “into her lap” this week. A former manager, with whom she had worked at another organization, had changed employers several years ago. He had a client manager position to fill. The client had previously only had someone located on-site in their office, which was across the country from where this woman lived. She needed to work from home to manage her young family’s demands. Unbeknownst to her, before she ever knew about the position, her former manager went to bat for her with the client and convinced them she was the person for the job, even though she would not be located on-site. She was offered the job and accepted. I share this example because it is a great one of how building one’s reputation every day can pay off. Because of the reputation she had built with this former manager, he had no concerns about convincing this client she was the person for the job. How others talk about you, when you are “not in the room”, is your reputation talking for you.
Building one’s reputation is about being:
- Consistent
- Reliable
- Honest
- Trustworthy
- Memorable
- Credible
- ….AND Incredible!
The reputation we build, follows us throughout our careers. It takes years to build it, one action and one day at a time. Be intentional about building a positive one. We all have words of advice from our own experiences, which we can share to help others learn, gain confidence and succeed, regardless. How will you step forward and share yours?