What’s Next? 4 L& D Leaders Advise How To Succeed Post-COVID and Beyond
Leading post-COVID can be a challenge, but four top L&D leaders offer advice for paving the path to recovery.
Since the start of the pandemic, close to 2.3 million women have left the workforce. As we begin to recover from the pandemic, we wanted to take the time to celebrate and reflect on the contributions of notable women—the disruptors and the pioneers who have played a vital role in changing cultures and society.
But it’s important to realize that although women have come a long way in their rights, there is still a long way to go in terms of gender equality on corporate boards, in paychecks and more.
“It’s important to realize that although women have come a long way in their rights, there is still a long way to go in terms of #genderequality on corporate boards, in paychecks and more. #womensrights”
While many remember the struggles and achievements of the women who came before us, we want to highlight four leaders in Leadership & Development who are making change happen now.
In this interview, Anila Brown, Head of Organizational Development & Learning at Harris Computer Systems; Catherine Curtis, Director Global Technical Learning at Microsoft; Tivonnia Harvey, Assistant Vice President, Chief Learning Officer at Merck & Co., Inc.; and Wanda Hayes, Assistant Vice President, Learning & Development at Emory University, discuss some of the challenges they’ve faced during their careers, what the landscape looks like for them today and advice they have for women entering the workforce in the future.
Q: What was the biggest challenge you faced when you started your career?
“Early in my career, it was being a female of color in a rural area in Indiana in the Pharmaceutical industry. It was an unfamiliar concept for some of the physicians in my territory, so I had to overcome those issues. As I continued to progress in my career, it was finding that work life balance which I’m sure many of us struggle with,” says Tivonnia Harvey at Merck.
“I began my career in the area of leadership assessment in a large telecommunications company, assessing high-potential leaders. The senior leaders, with whom I worked, were typically male and considerably older than I, as I was in my mid-20s. One of the biggest challenges was establishing credibility and gaining their confidence. I worked very hard and was a strong subject matter expert. I learned that by demonstrating my skills and knowledge, I could gain their confidence and respect,” says Wanda Hayes of Emory University.
“Imposter syndrome—making the transition from the educational world to the business environment provided lots of opportunities to doubt my capabilities and value my experience brings to the table,” says Catherine Curtis of Microsoft.
“When starting my career, my biggest challenge was ‘operationalizing’ the theory I learned in my education. Moving from concept to practice. I had a lot to learn about operational process and financial savvy, a steep learning curve that had to be learned on the fly,” says Anila Brown of Harris Computer.
““When starting my career, my biggest challenge was ‘operationalizing’ the theory I learned in my education. Moving from concept to practice.”—Anila Brown, Head of Organizational Development & Learning at Harris Computer Systems. #careersuccess #femaleleader”
Q: What’s the biggest challenge you face today? And how have things changed, or not?
“Today it’s unintended bias. (I’m giving the benefit of the doubt here). As a woman leader, as well as an older workforce member, there is definite bias in the workplace,” Curtis says.
““Today [the biggest challenge] is unintended bias. (I’m giving the benefit of the doubt here). As a #womanleader, as well as an older workforce member, there is definite #bias in the #workplace.” —Catherine Curtis, Director Global Technical Learning at @Microsoft.”
“I don’t have the challenges of having to prove myself the same way I did when I began my career. At this point, I have years of experience and many successes along the way. My biggest challenge today is trying to create a culture for talent planning in the higher education environment. We’re making progress, but things move much slower in the Academy,” says Hayes.
“From an HR and people perspective, the biggest challenge now is balancing the speed of change with leveraging foundations that stand the test of time. For example, values are foundational and shouldn’t be affected by generations, technology or trends. However, how we train and deliver the message of our values consistently evolves to meet the demands or our global and accelerated reality,” Brown says.
“To be honest, I still struggle a bit with work life balance, although it is far better than when I started,” says Harvey. “For me there a couple of challenges:
· Finding enough time to do the type of mentoring I would like to do for people early in their career. In my opinion, developing and coaching future leaders is critical and my responsibility as a leader in the organization. I schedule a couple of discussions per week to ensure I have some time, while managing all my competing priorities.
· Leading a large organization through a transformation is never easy, but I think the most challenging part is the mindset shift I am asking my team to make. We are on a journey to reimagine the way we work. That’s not easy, but it is necessary. So ensuring that we have a cadence of transparent, timely and multi-faceted connection points with my leaders and their organization is how we are helping to bring everyone along this journey.”
Q: What has helped you excel the most throughout your career?
“Tenacity, finding my unique skills and leveraging them consistently while being intensely curios,” Brown says.
“Grit, the ability to adjust with the changing priorities,” says Curtis.
“Having the support of family, friends and your own personal ‘Board of Directors’ has helped me in my career. Someone once told me, you don’t need a mentor, you need a Board of Directors. Meaning, you need a range of individuals that have different experiences and points of view than you to bounce ideas off of, debate with, and most importantly, give you honest feedback. This Board of Directors has been essential to my career and personal development,” Harvey says.
““Having the #support of your own personal ‘Board of Directors’ has helped me in my #career...you need a range of individuals that have different experiences and points of view than you to bounce ideas off of and give you honest feedback.”— Tivonnia Harvey, Assistant Vice President, Chief Learning Officer at @Merck. ”
“My ability to adapt to a variety of environments and cultures, and to communicate and build relationships with all levels of employees in multiple environments such as higher education, healthcare and corporate,” Hayes says.
Q: What differentiates you as a female leader in L&D?
“This is a hard one to answer. If you take the word ‘female’ or ‘L&D’ out it significantly changes the question! I believe what sets me apart is a balance of desiring that people ‘bring their whole selves to work’ while having an intense discipline on improving the business financial performance,” Brown says.
“I would like to think the approach I take from a learning expert who always wants to ensure diversity of thought around the table,” Curtis says.
“I would never be so presumptuous to say that I am any different than other female leaders in L&D. What I would say about my leadership style is that I like to push the boundaries on traditional thinking about L&D. Since I come from the commercial side of the business, I tend to think more like a business owner than a learning professional. So I’ve really pressed my team to think like a business owner and we run our Global Learning and Development organization like a business–and therefore the organization should expect business benefits to their investments,” Harvey says.
“I am not sure how to answer this question. I have never considered being a female leader as an issue for me. I have always treated everyone with respect, developed the people who worked for me–treating them as colleagues as opposed to subordinates, and tried to always be consistent and authentic in my leadership. I don’t see that as gender related, but it has helped me to be successful and build highly effective teams,” says Hayes.
Q: What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?
“Build strategic networks and partnerships early and utilize them effectively. And, determine how to measure the impact of what you do, measure it, and share the results with key leaders. Don’t wait until someone asks you to show the impact and importance of what you and your team do,” Hayes says.
““Determine how to measure the impact of what you do, measure it, and share the results with key #leaders. Don’t wait until someone asks you to show the impact and importance of what you and your team do.”—Wanda Hayes, Assistant Vice President, Learning & Development at @EmoryUniversity. #careeradvice”
“Ask a ton of questions and listen. I know when I was a young careerist I thought I knew all I needed to, but I’ve learned that there is so much knowledge and support from those who have gone before us. Be humble enough to ask and controlled enough to listen,” says Brown.
“Don’t take it personally. (I did at first, and it took a while to overcome the doubt it created within me). Be the expert, but be open to change,” Curtis says.
Harvey advises four strategies:
· “Be humble, you didn’t get to where you are by yourself and you’re not going to get to your next level by yourself. If you’re leading in the right way, there is always a crowd of people helping you with every step.
· Be ready to jump. As women, we often times think we are not ready for the next move or the next promotion, we want to have every box checked. The reality is sometimes you just have to jump. Take a chance on yourself and your abilities.
· Do the work. There is no substitution for hard work. Out work and outperform everyone, show the organization your value.
· State what you want and be unapologetic about it. It’s your career—only you can ensure you will meet that destination. Own it, control it, claim it!”
““State what you want and be unapologetic about it. It’s your career—only you can ensure you will meet that destination. Own it, control it, claim it!”—Tivonnia Harvey, Assistant Vice President, Chief Learning Officer at @Merck. #intention #careeradvice #powerfulwomen”
Christine Sokolowski is the Senior Editorial Director at Corporate Learning Network. She creates content and engagement across all digital platforms and loves to write about and share stories on topics like learning and development, diversity and inclusion, well-being and more.