Carly Fiorina, is someone whose life has challenged mine in recent years having heard her in an interview with Bill Hybels from the Willow Creek Leaders Summit. Carly Fiorina is one of the most talked about executives in industry; reached the top in her career. Then was sacked publically and her sacking became known and talked about world-wide. Recently she has been diagnosed with breast cancer, has lost her hair, is undergoing chemotherapy and is presently seeking election for senate for California in 2012. Some woman!!!"At age twenty-three, Carly Fiorina was a law school dropout who had no idea what to do with her life. She commenced her career as a secretary and twenty-two years later was named ”The Most Powerful Woman in Business" this was before she was recruited to be Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard, the first female CEO of a Fortune 20 company with a mandate to ‘shake things up’. "
Carly Fiorina in her book ‘Tough Choices’ writes: ‘When people have stereotypes of what you can’t do, show them what you can do. When they have stereotypes of what you won’t do, show them what you will do. Every time you resist someone else’s smaller notion of who you really are, you test your courage and your endurance. Each time you endure, and stay true to yourself, you become stronger and better.’
After having heard the interview I couldn’t wait to read Carly’s book, and wasn’t disappointed. Let me share with you some of the things that challenged, amused and taught me.
‘From my first until my last day at HP, I was criticized both for being in the press too much and for being unavailable to the press. From the first stories of my hiring until the last of my firing, both the language and the intensity of the coverage were different for me than for any other CEO. It was more personal, with much commentary about my personality and my physical appearance, my dress, my hair or my shoes.
That first week, the editor of Business Week came to see me with the beat reporter because they'd been working on a story for several months. Hewlett-Packard was going to be the cover story whether we liked it or not, and everyone recommended that I talk with them. Before we'd even sat down, the very first question from the editor was "Is that an Armani suit you're wearing?"Vanity Fair, despite being warned numerous times that they were writing fiction about me, continued to report that I traveled constantly with a hairdresser and a makeup artist. There was a persistent rumor, bolstered by commentary in the local press, that I'd built a pink marble bathroom in my office. (I had actually moved into my predecessor's office and neither built nor bought anything for it.) There were no private bathrooms or even doors in executive offices.
I was alternatively described as "flashy" or "glamorous" or "diamond studded," which frequently was translated to mean a superficial "marketing" type.
In the chat rooms around Silicon Valley, from the time I arrived until long after I left HP, I was routinely referred to as either a "bimbo" or a "bitch" - too soft or too hard, and presumptuous, besides. Certainly, beyond my gender, I was not a typical Silicon Valley CEO. Where the archetypal leader was an introvert, I was an extrovert. Where the Valley loved to dress down, I loved to dress up. While Valley leaders talked about the bits and bytes of technology, I talked about the human impact of technology. I hadn't grown up in the Valley; I came from the East Coast and I'd grown up in big, brick-and-mortar, old-economy companies, not small, new-economy start-ups.
When I finally reached the top, after striving my entire career to be judged by results and accomplishments, the coverage of my gender, my appearance and the perceptions of my personality would vastly outweigh anything else. It disappoints me greatly. I have always believed that actions speak louder than words. Perhaps, in this new era of always-on, always connected information, where fact, fiction and opinion seem to carry equal weight, that's no longer true. It is undeniable that the words spoken and written about me made my life and my job infinitely more difficult.’
Yes, I acknowledge it is very, very different for us as Officers, but haven’t there been times when all of us have allowed ourselves to be dragged down by the peripheral, petty, small mindedness of people who have completely lost focus of what it is all about and maybe just maybe we have lost something of our focus, our drive, our ambition. Would similar things happen to a man??? Would a man respond similarly??? Or would it all be like water off a ducks back??? I do get the impression that men are more resilient and more able to dig their heels in and keep on going regardless. Maybe they are just more driven.
As an Officer I often wonder if I should be ambitious. As a female Officer serving alone is there anything to be ambitious about? I could always be classed as a ‘Yes man’ when I say ‘I agree with our Founder … my ambition is the souls of men’ Yes it is, always has been and I pray always will be. However, if I am honest there have been times when even this ambition has not been as aggressive as it could be. Career wise, am I ambitious? If I am honest, yes I am to some extent and yet at the same time I guess compared to others it would not be considered ambition. But the truth is, yes, one day I too would love to be a delegate at the ICO. Yes, there is one particular appointment I would love to see my name next to … ask me when I reach retirement if I ever get it. If I had the right networks, moved in the right circles would these things come about? Or do I act like a typical woman, keep my head down, work hard and believe it will be recognized one day as Karen Peetz suggests, and discover it wont be.
‘Why can’t a woman think more like a man’?
When I put this statement as my Facebook status the overwhelming response was: ‘Why would we want to’??? and if I am honest that is my response too. However, I do feel strongly that both male and female have something very positive to add to the other and to add to our God given ministry. In seventeen months of marriage I have learned much from Sven, in a strong, male kind of way and although he has been married for many years I would still hope he has learned much from me that can contribute to the whole and in turn make us both better people. I am now left believing more than ever: ‘God made them male and female’ for a reason and acknowledging that our differences can be good, strengthening, equipping and be of much value to the other, our mission and ministry. I guess for me it comes back to Philippians 2: ‘… In honour preferring one another and taking on the very nature of a servant …’
Major Glad LjungholmCorps Officer
Exeter Temple Corps
