Dear Safety XChange Members,

Happy new year to you all. How are you making out with your new year's resolutions? Today, I'd like to delve into another aspect of self-improvement: the business mistake and how to turn it into a learning experience.

The basis of the discussion is a book by Robin Wolaner, the founder of Parenting magazine and the executive who led the launch of CNET's shopping services. To write the book, which is called Naked in the Boardroom: A CEO Bares Her Secrets So You Can Transform Your Career, Wolaner interviewed dozens of female CEOs and C-level managers. Wolaner wanted to know what kinds of mistakes these women had made and what they learned from the experience. Here's a summary of her findings.

Mistake 1: Waiting Too Long to Act

Most of the managers cited the mistake of delaying a tough move longer than they should have. Foot dragging was particularly common when the move involved having to fire somebody. Examples:

• Dianne Snedaker, former CEO of Ketchum Advertising: "Mistakes were all about not making hard decisions about people earlier. It's just like personal relationships, sometimes you hang in wanting to believe you can change things, but you need to know when to leave, when it's crossed a line to a point you are being compromised."
• Karen Behnke, founder of Execu-Fit Health Programs: "As soon as you suspect it's not going to work out, fire the person. It's better for you, for them, for the business."

Delay tactics sometimes involved other business decisions. Mary Ann Byrnes, CEO of Pro Trade cited the mistake of staying too long in the wrong job. "When things start going wrong for reasons outside of my control, I feel I can't be viewed as a quitter; I don't want to be credited with the problem, have to stay until it's fixed."

Marion McGovern, cofounder and president of M2, says she regrets taking too long to settle a legal claim with a landlord. Her company ultimately incurred more than $1 million in legal fees on a claim involving $380,000. "I was right on principle," McGovern says, "but I should have settled earlier. Litigation takes on a life of its own."

Mistake 2: Going Into a Dying Business

Many of the managers say they learned a great deal by going into a business that ultimately failed. Examples:

• Hilary Schneider, former head of Red Herring, a now-defunct New Economy publication that was in vogue during the Internet heyday: "I'd been at Times Mirror for ten years, but the company was purchased, and they wanted me to move to Chicago. So I took the Red Herring job and for 18 months of incredible stress managed a declining business. I learned a lot about leadership including how to recruit, motivate and make decisions during a downward spiral. No one looking at my résumé will recognize it as anything but a misstep, but I'm a better executive for doing that job."
• Valli Benesch, former chairman and CEO of apparel company Fritzi California, who took over her family's apparel business and promptly opened a division: "Disaster. So badly received. I had to close it immediately. It was very humiliating. But I knew we had to change our image with department stores, and the failure taught me that we needed to do it gradually. I transformed existing divisions gradually, then added new ones that could use the current product as a springboard."

Other Mistakes

Here are a few other notable examples of mistakes and lessons learned that Wolaner mentions in her book:

Burning Bridges

Nancy O'Neill, a former Times Mirror corporate officer and president of several operating units, had a summer job at USA Today while she was enrolled at Harvard Business School: "I was very underutilized because they didn't have other MBAs. I was dissatisfied with the summer experience, but when they made a full-time offer for me post-graduation, I told her way more than she asked. I should have kept my dissatisfaction to myself or vented to a friend. It didn't serve any purpose."

Giving an Ultimatum without Being Ready to Follow Through

The women differed on whether you should ever give an ultimatum, but agreed that if you do, you must be prepared to see it through. Jan Brandt: "Never give anyone an ultimatum. I did it once. 'Unless you promote me, I'm quitting.' The next day I apologized. And started sending out résumés."

Assuming Friendship Would Make a Difference

Beth Sawi, former chief administrative officer of Charles Schwab, comments: "You shouldn't assume that because you and your boss are friendly, that he will be willing to take risks about giving you a new opportunity. I had a very positive working relationship with my boss, but when a sales position became available, he wouldn't overlook my lack of direct experience and give me a chance."

Conclusion

'Made a mistake lately? Don't worry. We all do. Resilience and recovering from mistakes is what separates the successes from the failures. Leslie Jacobs, former CEO of the Rosenthal Agency, had a great technique for disaster recovery: "I allow myself two days of self-pity and flagellation, and then it's time to move on. I am a deadline type of person. I put it on the calendar. Two days."

This is good advice. Learn the lessons from your mistakes and move on to your next challenge knowing that you're better for it!

Wishing you career success,

Lauryn Franzoni
Execunet
www.execunet.com.

THE GLASS CEILING

Women Executives Still Bumping their Head

The glass ceiling for women executives is still very much in place, at least in the State of Michigan. That's the finding of a recent study focusing on the experience of women at the 100 largest publicly held corporations in Michigan. The study found that female executives earn an average of 49 cents to the dollar compared to male executives. The national average of female to male earnings for executive positions is 76 cents to the dollar.

Even more discouragingly, the sector of the economy receiving the lowest overall score for treatment of female executives was the largest one in the state - the automotive industry.

Source: Michigan Women's Leadership Index, www.infoforummichigan.org.

THIS DATE IN HISTORY

Barbara Hanley: First female Canadian mayor who championed the cause of senior citizens.

January 6, 1936

By 13 votes, a former schoolteacher and town clerk named Barbara Hanley wins the mayoral election in Webbwood, Ontario, becoming the first woman ever to be elected mayor of a Canadian municipality. Mrs. Hanley is reelected seven times before retiring. She's best known for championing a home for the aged in the Sudbury Region of Ontario.

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