How to Join the Women's Team

Excerpted from
She Wins, You Win: The Most Important Rule Every Businesswoman Needs to Know
By Gail Evans

One of the most effective specialized networks I've ever encountered was set up by the late Dee Woods, the former executive secretary of CNN founder Ted Turner (and who eventually became a senior vice president). Called Tessie, which roughly stood for Turner Executive Secretaries, it was a network of executive secretaries who got to know each other, shared information, and were able to move the action better for themselves and their bosses. Every year the network members went away on a retreat, not long after the one taken by the major executives. They generally even went to the same town as their bosses, but instead of flying first class and staying in an expensive hotel, they went tourist and found more reasonably priced lodgings. Yet, despite its modest finances, this was a very powerful group.

Dee founded the network with the clear vision that it should be only for secretaries who had been at the company for at least a year. She knew exactly what she wanted to achieve, and she achieved it.

If your company has an effective human resources department, your next step is to enroll it.

This is the best way to get the company to support your plan. You and your members will need ways to communicate with each other, places to meet, permission to leave your job to go to an event. You'll also require someone who can take the time to keep your records.

Having the stamp of human resources is important. However, a caveat: The minute you take your idea to human resources, it takes on the company's patina. Human resources doesn't operate anything that isn't in the best interest of the company, and their goal will be to shape the network in such a way that it helps the corporation. This can be fine, however, as your network will help the company identify whom among the women to advance, and how to make it happen.

This said, you must be careful when you approach the human resources people (and thus senior management). Creating advancement for women is something human resources should already be doing. If you come armed with complaints, someone in human resources will be threatened.

Remember: In almost every human resources department there are wonderful, warm people, and there are corporate sellouts. Be a smart player. Avoid the latter, and look for someone who's sympathetic. Enlist her on your team. Likewise, if you know there's a like-minded female executive in the higher echelons of the company, go to her and tell her what you want to do as well. (But don't forget you still must include human resources in your plan.)

Also: You must be reasonably sophisticated about your company, the culture, the attitude toward women, and how the top executives will react. You don't need to worry about anyone saying your idea is stupid. You do need to know if the culture is flexible. Has your company shown any interest in diversity or everyday issues such as day care? What are the obstacles you're likely to face?

If you think human resources will be less than enthusiastic about your ideas, research networks in other companies so that when you have your first meeting, you can support your idea with solid evidence. Show that you know the percentages of female employees in the company, as well as how many are single and how many have children; if applicable, know the percentage of your customers who are women. Make the argument that empowering women is good for your business.

Let's say you work for a plastics company. That plastic ends up somewhere, whether it's in containers that eventually go to Rubbermaid or in children's toys or anything in between. There is a good business case to be made as to why more women should be included in the final decisions about plastics-a woman's point of view will help the company market its wares better.

It's almost impossible not to make a case that it's good for any business to appear more female friendly. For example, look at the corporate turnover rate. Women are leaving in droves from companies that don't support them. In fact, 1,600 women become new business owners every single day. According to the Small Business Administration, that's twice the rate of male-owned businesses. As mentioned, smart women who don't get promoted start their own businesses and often end up as your company's competitors.