POWERHOUSE WOMEN
IN FRANCHISING
for your business life? Take the high
road. Treat every member of the team with
respect, knowing our business will not be
successful without their contributions.
petency at each session, but always start
with, “You have my undivided attention
for the next hour. What is the best use of
this time together?”
How did you prepare yourself and
set goals that led you to the C-suite?
I tried to do an honest assessment of my
skills and leadership abilities. I asked
several colleagues and mentors for their
feedback to validate my thinking. Next, I
learned what skills were necessary for the
next level and measured myself against
those. Then I focused on closing that gap.
What communication skills helped
you reach the top? Being comfortable
speaking in public is important, but my
biggest lesson was about timing: understanding when is the right time to put
your ideas on the table in a meeting to
have your voice heard.
When and where did you gain leadership experience/knowledge? I started
as an hourly employee and worked my
way up. Most of my learning came from
taking on challenging assignments, learning from franchisees, and going back to
school for an MBA.
What leadership examples did you
learn from? One of my mentors, Lou
Kaucic, former chief people officer at
Applebee’s, was a shining example that you
can lead at any level in an organization.
He was able to influence major decisions
with his ability to get people to think
more broadly and understand the impact
of their decisions. He also modeled how
important a great culture, with an engaged
workforce, is truly a differentiator.
How did you benefit from networking? I can’t begin to stress how important
this is to advancing your career. When you
are being considered for a promotion, ask
yourself, “Who is in the room when the
decision is made? Is there someone who
will be a sponsor or an advocate for me?”
You must build those professional relationships in advance, as well as let your boss
know that you are interested in moving
up with your company.
What role, if any, did mentors play in
your career? How have they helped
you? They’ve listened objectively, helped
me see my points of view from another
perspective, and provided feedback that
I needed to hear.
Are you now mentoring others? Of
course! I try to tackle a leadership com-
What other skills were important?
Financial skills. Don’t shy away from this.
Just keep at it until you understand.
Did you encounter stereotypes/
sexism, and how did you overcome
that? I think most women I know have
dealt with this in some form. Have the
confidence to call out the behavior and
ask for it to stop. If it doesn’t, ask for
help from the next level up or human
resources. Chances are someone else in
your company is experiencing it as well.
Don’t let that one inconsiderate individual
get away with it.
Do you think women bring a different approach to leadership? How?
When I look at leadership competencies, I
don’t see a significant difference between
genders. I think it plays out more in the
context of the company’s culture and how
well the company accepts diversity. I would
give women leaders a slight edge on their
level of engagement, but with that comes
taking things too personally.
What are the biggest mistakes you
see female leaders make? My experience of years of reading and writing performance reviews is that women
rate themselves much lower than men,
despite equal performance. I see this
played out further on the job, with a
lack of confidence or not applying for
the next job, even though they are well
qualified.
Can you have a family and a career
at the top? Yes, once we figure out that
we don’t have to carry the entire load
by ourselves and feel comfortable asking for help.
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