Reflections on Breaking Through The Glass Ceiling As a Women: By Sheelagh Whittaker

By Sheelagh Whittaker

I have never presumed to be a Role Model unless, due to my plump middle, you spell it Role Model. But I do enjoy learning and talking about leadership.

Leadership is a gratifying and demanding skill. There are many ways that leadership can be exercised – and here are two that seem particularly relevant and timeless.

Leadership is about listening. My first clear cut leadership position was as Vice President, Planning and Corporate Affairs for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It was a challenging role with a wide span of responsibility. Fortunately, I knew many of my new direct reports from the consulting I had previously done for my predecessor.

When my first day to lead came I decided to have a meeting with direct reports around a big boardroom table. Their roles ranged from audience measurement to strategic and capital planning, our interface with affiliated stations, advertising standards, and liaison between the two vast broadcasting operations-English Services and French services.

At the meeting, after introducing myself, I explained to the group that I wanted to slowly go around the table, meeting each attendee and having he/she explain what their job entailed and what were their current ‘hot spots’. It took a long time, and it was very illuminating. It still makes me chuckle over the corporate debate about whether or not we should allow the advertising of ‘female hygiene products. (It was 1987).

I learned so much that day and established in the minds of my team that they could talk to me openly without anxiety. And it reminded me that you are only the leader if the team agrees.

Leadership is about observation. One of my leadership role models is Hannibal Barca, the famous Phoenician general who lived in the second century BC. Now how, you may ask yourself, did an ancient general earn my admiration.

Around the time that Hannibal was fighting Scipio, a famous Roman general, 

the roles of the fighting forces were divided into primarily into horsemen and foot soldiers. What Hannibal noticed is that when a soldier was unhorsed, he was not prepared to fight on foot, and that when a foot soldier was confronted with a riderless horse, he was not prepared to mount the steed and fight from a height. So, Hannibal instituted what we would call cross-training so that soldiers could readily take on the roles of other fighters when required. This gave his side a great advantage in war.

Hannibal’s observations and his remedies made his one of the most famous generals of all time. While most leaders cannot hope for much more than a brief gaudy moment on the stage of history, it is well worth using some innovative approaches to managing if for no other reason than to bring life and vigor into your organization. And maybe you will get lucky and initiate a change or a process or a new idea that is worthy of the struggle.

About the Author:

As the first female CEO of a company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange Sheelagh, jokes that her defining achievement was becoming a professional breath of fresh air.

She started her career as a federal antitrust investigator, became a management consultant, helped the CBC launch its 24-hour news channel, and then led Cancom and the Canadian operations of EDS.

Whittaker is irrepressibly curious; meet her, and next thing you know, she’ll be asking about your childhood home or which authors you like to read. The rough and tumble of an international business career has made Whittaker more, rather than less, humble about her insight and experience.

Her latest book “Through the Glass Ceiling: Reflections on Feminism from the C-Suite” is a powerful blend of personal memoir, feminist history, and career guidance. The book is available wherever books are sold. 

Connect With Sheelagh

www.sheelaghwhittaker.com