Jean Otte, founder of WOMEN Unlimited
Whether they face actual discrimination or not, women like Natasha Chen, Colgate-Palmolive Marketing Manager, U.S. Oral Care, are aware that unfair racial and gender stereotypes may prevent them from reaching their true potential in corporate America. “Challenges will continue to arise as perceptions are made based on visual appearances until I can clearly and continuously convey that my appearance does not correspond to the negative associations of females and Asians,” says Chen.
Chen took a major step in combating those negative stereotypes in November 1998, when she enrolled in the Women’s Organization for Mentoring, Education & Networking (WOMEN) Unlimited Inc. (better known as WOMEN Unlimited Program), which teaches women how to navigate male-dominated business waters. Instead of focusing on generic leadership and management skills, the yearlong, once-a-month program caters to women’s specific needs, such as how to communicate in all-male situations or when to say no.
As a mentee in the program, Chen says she received multiple benefits such as networking opportunities across several industries; how to improve “first impressions”; how to deal with other personality types to maximize work-relationships; and developing strategies for success through the profiling of other successful females. “Mentoring is critical in professional development, regardless of one’s gender or color,” says Chen. “One of my key success factors has been my mentoring by a seasoned industry professional outside Colgate, who has continuously supported, challenged and questioned me to assess and plan my professional growth.”
The benefits that Chen has experienced are exactly what WOMEN Unlimited founder Jean Otte envisioned the program would provide. After working in executive and managerial positions with Gillette Co., Illinois Bell, McDonalds’s and National Car Rental System, Inc., Jean Otte realized that women were not using the available corporate resources to reach their full potential. The greatest tool, as Otte saw it, was mentoring. “The old boys’ network, which is a fantastic tool,” Otte explains, “is really a huge mentoring network.” According to Otte, there are many brilliant people in the corporate world, but if they never get the opportunity to demonstrate that brilliance, full professional development is difficult because “it’s not what you know, but who knows what you know.”
Armed with over 35 years of corporate world experience, Otte developed the three programs that make up WOMEN Unlimited : TEAM [Training for Emerging and Aspiring Managers], LEAD [Leadership Education and Development, aimed at mid-level managers] and, The FEW [Focus for Executive Women geared towards “senior women leaders”]. Each program is comprised of 35 individuals selected from their corporations as rising stars. Participants are divided into teams, which are then assigned to several mentors from different companies and areas of expertise. Participants receive a complete skills assessment, create an individual development plan, and attend twelve monthly skills development workshops covering such diverse topics as: leadership and negotiation skills and time management.
The program’s success has manifested itself in many ways. According to results of the company’s WOMEN 5th Anniversary Survey, 60% of the responding program graduates were promoted after completion of the program; 12% made internal moves within the current company; and, 83% received a salary increase, 23% of whom received more than a 31% increase. “You can’t light another person’s path without brightening your own.” Because of their experiences in WOMEN Unlimited, 79% of the respondents are now mentoring other people.
Perhaps Otte’s greatest satisfaction is the cultural diversity in the programs and the opportunities they present. “Many issues around business are the same, it’s just a matter of learning and recognizing this. That is the way in which we learn to manage diversity in the workplace—[going] eyeball to eyeball, discussing our fears, successes, and failures,” says Otte.
From the March 2000 issue of Diversity & The Bar®