Fresh out of Stanford in 2005, she founded Bottlenotes Inc., which started out as a custom wine-delivery operation tailored to individual customers’ tastes. When the economy tanked and regulations around Internet shipments of wine became more stringent, Rapp’s team of seven decided to switch business models and turn Bottlenotes into one of the leading digital media companies in the wine world.

Bottlenotes is now a favorite online destination for 20- and 30-somethings who are new to wine or are curious about it. A kind of “Facebook for wine,” as Rapp puts it, the site offers wine recommendations and lets newbies and aficionados add tasting notes and share information. A mobile phone app will soon allow users to share their wine thoughts and tasting experiences while on the go.

The company makes money by selling ads and info bites that appear on the site from a wide variety of purveyors of wine, cheese, chocolate, and more. “If their products and services tie into wine and the wine lifestyle, then it makes sense that their brand would be interested in reaching our wine enthusiasts,” says Rapp.

Meanwhile, on the ground, the company runs large-scale “Around the World in 80 Sips” wine-tasting events in major cities, each of which helps support a local nonprofit.

Rapp’s recommendations to aspiring entrepreneurs: “Build a prototype and test your idea as early as possible, and get a top-notch board of advisors. That’s been key to our success.” DW

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Ballard and her colleagues, for the mostpart agreed with that assessment, but they also knew changes needed to be made. And Ballard and some of the other women owners had a vision for these changes. Ballard was reluctant to speak at the conference and put a dent in the goodwill. Nevertheless, the strength of her vision led her to stand up and walk up to the lectern. She began her speech with a question that still echoes in her head. “What is wrong with this meeting, right now, right here?” she asked. Silence. Then, she shared her vision.

The specifics of the vision that Ballard presented that day don’t matter. The point is, she accepted her responsibility to be visionary and exercised her right to present her vision. Women are visionary, but they fail to recognize it in themselves and speak their mind.

In general, men have no problems positioning themselves as visionaries. Purveyors of history generously announce men as accomplished visionaries. Men in leadership roles, therefore, have role models and the expectation that they will present their vision. Women, on the other hand, have a short list of accomplished public figures to model themselves after, and the cultural expectation works against women announcing their vision and expecting others to applaud and follow.

The visionary women interviewed for this article all had to overcome their hesitancy and learn how to recognize a vision and then how to put forth that vision to the public. They learned that a vision does not have to come from the public domain or from a position of power; it can be inspired by intimacy. Additionally, these women learned how to open themselves to being swept away, even overwhelmed, by their vision. Finally, they recognized that sharing a vision is one of the prerequisites for successful leadership.

Vision Begets Vision

For some women, the genesis of their leadership vision is personal. Sixteen-year-old Pat Harris, the youngest of 11 children, left McBee, South Carolina, and moved to New York City. Nine-year-old Enola Aird left Panama and her parents to live with her aunt in the United States. Nora Moreno-Cargie saw her mother bravely open the first minority-owned currency exchange in Chicago. These three women tell compelling stories of older, caring females who showed courage in the face of poverty and cultural dislocation. They learned strength and persistence from multigenerational relationships. These relationships are the genesis of vision.

Enola Aird is founder and president of the Community Healing Network. She credits her aunt, who emigrated from Panama to seek a better life for her family, as the bold pathfinder in her life. Aird, an erudite Yale Law graduate, found her own vision and life’s work after a heated exchange with her young daughter about the length and texture of a doll’s hair. Aird lovingly held her daughter’s face to the mirror and told her, “Look in this mirror and make sure you never love anything more than you love what you see in this mirror.” From this literal vision for her daughter and exchanges with like-minded people in her community, Aird envisioned the Community Healing Network as “a nonprofit organization creating a network of self-help groups focused on mobilizing black people to overcome the myth of black inferiority and other emotional legacies of racism.” Following in the footsteps of a woman who envisioned a better life for her family 60 years ago, Aird bravely upholds a bold vision for a better life for her greater family.

A similar tale unfolds for Pat Harris, global chief diversity officer for McDonald’s Corporation, as well as for Nora Moreno-Cargie, director of global corporate citizenship for Chicago at the Boeing Company. Each woman credits her mother for the strength to follow a vision and the courage to keep the vision alive. Both credit their fathers with having a positive influence while emphasizing the boldness and leadership exemplified by their mothers. Without a visionary influence at a young age, three visionary women—Aird, Moreno-Cargie, and Harris—believe they would not be who they are today.

“My vision grabbed me at age 16 and would not let me go,” exclaims Pat Harris. “I did not know it then, but my vision chose me and continues to hold me.” Like the others, rather than ignore the terrifying gut-tsunami kicked up by a bold vision, Harris let herself be swept away into the swell of a better future. They let their inner visionary speak and learned how to speak for it. Interestingly, all admitted that others would readily call them a visionary, but none recognized it in herself at that “aha!” moment. Only in retrospect did these women honor their visionary moments as such.

Announcing the Vision

Whatever the genesis of the vision, personal or professional, one can only be considered a visionary when one presents that vision. Lily Tang, a consultant with Future Work Institute, gave herself permission to be a visionary when she tired of hearing her inner voice repeat, “If only I had said something.” In a majority male environment, she teams up with capable men. Tang explains, “White males don’t see Asian women as powerful leaders; subconsciously, they see us as the helper and the support.”

Her strategy for overcoming that subconscious bias is to wait for the right moment. “So, walking into a program, I am fine with a male kicking it off, but I ask him to bring my voice in early and not let me sit on the sidelines for any significant period of time.”

A visionary who is unable to articulate her vision to anyone else will likely never have an impact. It takes a skilled leader to express and integrate vision into a task-oriented culture. Thus, the best visionary also leads well. Vision becomes public through effective leaders—and most effective leaders at strategic times present their visions.

Women-owned businesses tend not to be as financially successful as those owned by men. A recent Wall Street Journal article, “Why Are Women-Owned Firms Smaller Than Men-Owned Ones?,” chronicles the male-owned business edge. In 2008, the average revenues of majority women-owned businesses were 27 percent of the average of majority men-owned businesses. The author, Sharon Hadary, asserts that women’s self-limiting perceptions share part of the blame for the lack of success. Her remedies include encouraging women to think bigger, increasing measurements for business success, and finding ways to learn from women leaders.

Perhaps one method for women to learn from other women leaders—and think bigger—would be to encourage and develop more women visionaries. Studies from the Center for Women’s Business Research show that women relate to other women in business more easily than they relate to men. If women visionaries are to translate their vision into action, they need seasoned female leaders to teach them how to lead.

Visionary women are essential to society. Through the hope and courage they spread, others find the voice to affirm their commitment to a grand idea and to each other. Moreno-Cargie from Boeing beautifully expresses the need for visionaries by quoting a proverb: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Women of vision, please come to the podium. DW

Gia Interlandi is the president of the Leadership Conservatory, an educational and consulting firm. For more information, visit www.leadershipconservatory.com.

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Whether you are a woman who was raised with a silver spoon placed lovingly between her lips, or you’re returning to work after having a baby or taking care of an aging parent, it’s your time. Or perhaps you are a first-generation corporate woman with no one in your family or social circle to help you navigate the tricky corporate waters you’re now swimming in. It’s your time. Whether your skin color is red, brown, white, yellow, or a combination of any of these, it’s your time—your time to stake your claim in American corporations.

It’s your time because the corporate landscape is changing. The United States Census Bureau recently reported that by 2042, minority groups will constitute the majority of America’s population. A large percentage of these folks will be women. Thus far, there has been a small opening of the door to managerial and executive jobs that has enabled a trickle of multicultural women to enter these positions, but that door is about to be blasted open.

As a result, there are going to be opportunities in the managerial and executive ranks that have not been readily available to women of color in the past. So, given these new opportunities, how do you take advantage of the growing wedge in the door?

Get clear on the career path you want to follow. Do you want to be in management where you can still carve out some time for a personal life, or do you want to be in the executive suite and live a corporate lifestyle? Follow your passion!

Be proactive in building and developing your leadership abilities and skill set. Go back to school, take a course, attend a workshop at work, or participate in a leadership development program.

Get out of your comfort zone at work. Volunteer for an assignment where you can learn new skills, showcase your talents, create new allies, and enhance the “buzz” about you in the company.

Find a mentor or hire a coach, and be on the lookout for role models who don’t necessarily look like you. Again, transcend your comfort zone. Reach out to people who are different from you, not just by their outward appearance but also by what they do and who they know in your company.

Above all, don’t wait. The time is now. DW

Ella L.J. Edmondson Bell, PhD, is an associate professor of business administration at the Tuck School at Dartmouth College. She is considered to be one of the leading experts in organizational change, and the management of race, gender, and class in organizational life.

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The 16 women in this article are Diversity Woman’s Diversity Champions. They have been at the forefront of the mission to keep diversity alive and, in turn, maintain the flow of fresh ideas. There are, of course, other reasons that diversity must be championed in the workplace. To put it simply, diversity programs provide the underrepresented the opportunity to succeed and work in an environment that sees beyond employees’ race, religion, disability, or sexual orientation. It’s not an easy task.

Some of DW’s diversity champions, like Edie Fraser, have advocated diversity for decades, through good economies and bad. Fraser’s days have always involved promoting diversity and inclusion—from her career to the businesses she’s started, to how she volunteers her time. Others, like Pat Harris, chief diversity officer at the Golden Arches (McDonald’s), have pioneered their way to the top and made it easier for others to climb the corporate ladder while proving that inclusion also makes business sense.

Join Diversity Woman as we applaud these 16 leaders—and, perhaps along the way, pick up a few tips for your organization.

Rohini Anand, Senior Vice President and Global Chief Diversity Officer, Sodexo (Gaithersburg, Maryland)

With a Ph.D in sociology and a phenomenal track record, Rohini Anand is a renowned expert on organizational change and designing inclusive workplaces. By skillfully implementing successful programs at Sodexo, Anand made the company synonymous with diversity. Diversity and inclusion are so important at the country’s leading food provider and facilities management company that 25 percent of the executive team’s bonus is attached to meeting diversity goals. To sweeten the deal, those bonuses are paid out even if the economy fares poorly. The results have been dramatic when it comes to representation in the upper ranks: 45 percent of women and 24 percent of minorities hold management positions.

Anand’s clout extends outside headquarters. She is widely quoted, and last year she shared her insights in The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence. Anand has also produced numerous publications on the topic. To say that her work is her passion is an understatement. “My job is both my vocation and my avocation—and when I retire, I would do more of the same,” says Anand.

Recognition has come in various ways. In 2010, Sodexo was given the National Restaurant Association’s Faces of Diversity Award and also earned the top spot on DiversityInc.’s Top Companies for Diversity. Anand has been named a top diversity champion by Diversity Edge Magazine and was a recipient of the Diversity Officer Leadership Award by Diversity Best Practices. Further evidence of a job well done materialized in the form of a promotion: Three years ago Anand was promoted to global chief diversity officer at Sodexo, with responsibility for replicating that success for 370,000 employees in 82 countries.

Cindy Brinkley, Senior Vice President, Talent Development and Chief Diversity Officer, AT&T, (Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas)

If there is no greater asset than a company’s staff, then Cindy Brinkley has a big job. Brinkley is at the helm of AT&T’s efforts in growing the talent pipeline and ensuring that the employee population and suppliers reflect our multicultural world. “Diversity and inclusion are means to that end, and it requires focused leadership, discipline and execution—and it has to be managed and measured, just like other business priorities,” says Brinkley.

When it comes to representation at the top, the numbers are pretty telling: Two of its four business unit CEOs are people of color and 7 of the 12 board directors are minorities or women. AT&T is also known for spending massive amounts on minority-owned businesses—to the tune of $6.9 billion, a figure that grew by $1 billion from 2008. Recently, AT&T celebrated reaching the $50 billion milestone for their supplier diversity spending.

Outsiders have taken notice. AT&T ranks among the top five inclusive companies to work for in the Fortune 100. It is also a mainstay on Diversity Inc.’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity in 2010, ranking third.

Candi Castleberry-Singleton, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

Candi Castleberry-Singleton is like the Harry Potter of her field. She’s got a knack for turning skeptics into believers and ambassadors of diversity. This is why it’s no surprise that the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) hired her in 2008 to become its first chief diversity officer.

It wasn’t long before Castleberry-Singleton worked her magic. Within months, she launched the Center for Inclusion in Health Care, a formal resource center for UPMC’s 50,000 employees and the organization’s partners and patients. That same year, she spearheaded the launch of the Dignity and Respect Campaign, which asked staffers to sign a pledge promising to treat others the way they want to be treated.

The campaign has been so effective that it’s practically a movement. Not only has Castleberry-Singleton received letters from patients thanking her for positively changing their experience at UPMC, but a handful of organizations has also signed up, including the Pittsburgh Foundation. Pittsburgh even declared October to be Dignity and Respect month. More praise for the campaign came from the Profiles in Diversity Journal, when the publication awarded UPMC the Innovations in Diversity prize earlier this year.

What makes Castleberry-Singleton so successful is her approach to addressing common workplace issues. “A long time ago, I realized diversity training often makes people feel as if they didn’t do something right. My goal is to make others feel empowered, not guilty.”

Daina Chiu, Corporate Diversity Officer, McKesson (San Francisco, California)

When McKesson, the largest drug distributor, was looking for someone to establish the company’s diversity and inclusion efforts, it turned to Daina Chiu. Chiu was McKesson’s assistant general counsel and worked on mergers and acquisitions and regulatory issues, but jumped at the opportunity. “As a woman of color, I have always had a personal and professional interest and stake in diversity,” says Chiu, “so when I was approached about leading and establishing the diversity and inclusion strategy for McKesson, I felt it was an opportunity to make an impact and a difference in something I am passionate about.”

Chiu has been formalizing McKesson’s diversity and inclusion efforts. She formed the Chairman’s Diversity Council, established to create visibility and accountability. And Chiu is proud. “For the first time in our company’s history, we have our most senior executives aligned around a shared diversity and inclusion agenda, pointed in the same direction, focused on shared goals, and being held accountable for results.” Next up: starting employee resource groups.

Lois Cooper, Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility and Inclusion, Adecco, North America (Melville, New York)

Lois Cooper is charged with building partnerships that allow Adecco not only to support minority communities but also to tap into their talent. So far, the company has more than 75 diversity partnerships. “Connecting new sources of talent to the industry was, and continues to be, a business necessity,” says Cooper.

Thanks to Cooper’s performance of instituting effective diversity initiatives, the company has received numerous honors, including the Henry Viscardi Jr. Legacy Award for hiring people with disabilities and being named one of the Best Companies to Work For by Savoy magazine in 2009. The former is an honor given to companies with diversity efforts that are aimed at helping blacks and are built into every function of a business—from senior management representation to community outreach to philanthropy.

Cooper has also been named to The Network Journal’s 25 Influential Black Women in Business and featured as a woman to watch by the Diversity Journal.

Pat Crawford, Senior Vice President, Head of Enterprise Diversity and Inclusion, Wells Fargo (San Francisco, California)

As a trailblazing young adult in the 1960s, Pat Crawford decided to attend an all-white school. Undeterred by what some might call one of the most uninviting learning environments, she managed to graduate third in her class. It’s an experience that has shaped her career.

“To me, diversity and inclusion mean reality. The world is diverse, and if we don’t consider everyone and everything, we’ve missed the meaning of life,” says Crawford.

Wells Fargo has been on board for years: upper management reviews the company’s diversity progress and results twice a year, it’s offered health benefits for same-sex partners since 1998, and the company directs 26 percent of its philanthropic budget to multicultural organizations and LGBT and disability nonprofits. With Crawford’s help, the company recently restructured its Enterprise Diversity Council (which is led by the CEO) and Team Member Network program—both of which are instrumental in ensuring Wells Fargo is diverse and inclusive.

For the effort, Wells Fargo has garnered accolades from a variety of publications and groups, such as Diversity Inc., Essence, and Latina Style. It has also a received a perfect score, several years in a row, in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index. “The thing that excites me most about diversity and inclusion is the fact that it touches everyone—all generations, all cultures, all races, and all ethnicities. Nothing and no one is left out,” says Crawford.

Edie Fraser, Senior Consultant, Diversified Search, founder of Diversity Best Practices and Business Women’s Network, and author, Do Your Giving While You’re Living and Risk to Riches: Women’s Entrepreneurship in America (Washington, DC)

Edie Fraser is driven by the belief that everyone deserves the chance to succeed, and every aspect of her life has always involved breaking down barriers for others. By the time she was 20, Fraser had already partaken in four foreign exchange programs, including one in Africa.

Seemingly inexhaustible, Fraser has even dedicated her business ventures to cracking glass ceilings and getting women and minorities promoted. As founder of Diversity Best Practices, she designed the CEO Diversity Leadership Program and created an award to recognize distinguished corporate leaders who foster diversity and inclusion. Fraser also served as publisher of CEO Magazine and The Diversity Officer and launched the Business Women’s Network, an organization devoted to helping female entrepreneurs. Today, Fraser works at the largest female-founded and -owned search firm, where she matches talented minority executives with top corporate spots. “Differences are an asset to making an organization better,” says Fraser.

Fraser’s track record is impressive: she has worked with more than 100 CEOs in support of diversity practices, including founding and serving on the Women’s Advisory Board of Office Depot.

For her lifelong commitment to progress for minority groups, Fraser has garnered an impressive 35 diversity-related awards, including America’s Top Diversity Advocates given out by DiversityBusiness.com, an honor shared with Oprah Winfrey and Jimmy Carter.

Tracey Gibson, Director of Global Diversity and Inclusion, Cargill (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Tracey Gibson was working in finance at Cargill when she had an epiphany that would completely change her career path. “I want my legacy at Cargill to be about making changes and creating an inclusive environment where people can thrive because they are able to be themselves at work,” says Gibson.

By implementing well-received diversity programs, Gibson deserves a hand for ensuring that the word enriching isn’t a concept that only applies to the agribusiness giant’s products. For instance, to tackle basic communication issues, Cargill offers on-site English classes for employees and Spanish classes for managers at some of its U.S. cattle-feeding and meat plants. Cargill has also partnered with an external company called Novations to offer efficacy courses. These courses, which focus on gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, help employees focus not just on the environment in which they work but rather on their response to that work environment. Efficacy training helps employees understand how they can change their mindset and their responses in order to accelerate and grow in any environment. Another program, called Mentor Up, pairs a senior executive with an employee of the opposite sex, or race, or with a staffer with a disability. “It gives the senior leader an opportunity to learn from a different viewpoint,” says Gibson.

Gibson’s legacy-making efforts don’t stop at the office. Feeling compelled to do something about the dismal graduation rates and lack of science and math scholars among minorities, she also chairs the board of the Robert Allen Math and Science Academy in Minnesota. In June, the school celebrated its first graduating class.

Antoinette Hamilton, Director, Diversity and Inclusion, L’Oreal USA (New York, New York)

Antoinette Hamilton took a less traditional path than most of her peers. She began her career successfully dabbling in just about every imaginable position—from communications and sales, to recruitment, to training and development—at INROADS, an organization dedicated to advancing minority students by placing them in businesses. Eventually, she made her way to Japan to promote language and culture under a program directed by the Japanese Ministry of Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Today, Hamilton is busy working with corporate and divisional leaders at the U.S. subsidiary of the French cosmetics company L’Oreal to promote a culture of diversity and inclusion both in and outside the office. She manages a program that collaborates with the Coalition of 100 Black Women, which works with young women from local schools and provides professional development workshops, mentoring, and a stipend for school. Hamilton also spearheaded L’Oreal’s first Web portal on diversity and inclusion. “Today’s society is very technologically advanced. Thus, it’s crucial to stay abreast of the various mediums used not just for communication but to build and sustain our communities,” says Hamilton.

Hamilton’s work has been noticed. Earlier this year, she was named one of The Network Journal’s 40 Under Forty, a recognition given to top minority executives.

Pat Harris, Vice President and Global Chief Diversity Officer, McDonald’s (Oak Brook, Illinois)

When Pat Harris started to work as a secretary at McDonald’s, she had no intention of sticking around. More than three decades later, she has proven her way to the top and affixed herself to the company’s history in a supersized way: she is one of four people with an award named in their honor. Every year the award recognizes a distinguished McDonald’s leader with the highest diversity result. “I want an environment where people can bring their whole selves to work and where everyone feels respected—whether it’s walking into the restaurant as customers or serving our customers,” says Harris. “It’s on both sides of the counter.”

To her credit, Harris has made huge strides in creating that kind of environment. For much of her career, she saw very few people at the top who looked like her. So she pioneered ways of making the iconic hamburger company an example of a diverse and inclusive place to work. Harris was one of the first members of the Women’s Leadership Network and the African American Council. Because of her work, a lot has changed: today women and minorities make up more than 60 percent of McDonald’s corporate workforce.

Recently, Harris documented McDonald’s road to building a culture in which diversity and inclusiveness permeate every aspect of their business. In 2009, she published the book None of Us Is As Good as All of Us, whose proceeds go to the Ronald McDonald Foundation.

Nereida (Neddy) Perez, Vice President, Inclusion & Diversity, National Grid (Brooklyn, New York)

A renowned expert in diversity and inclusion, Neddy Perez has made her name developing and implementing innovative programs for Royal Dutch Shell, Sodexo, and KPMG. “Once people realize that each one of us has something to contribute and we can learn from each other’s perspective, then productivity goes up,” says Perez.

Now, she has brought that enthusiasm and passion to National Grid, an international utility company, where Perez is its first vice president of inclusion and diversity. Already, she has developed a new corporate governance structure for the company’s Global Inclusion and Diversity Council and established relationships with like-minded organizations. She is also busy rolling out company-wide inclusion and diversity training for its 1,500 U.S. managers and is about to implement initiatives that tackle the talent pipeline.

Perez looks outside the company to create change on a larger scale. She serves as vice chair of the National Utilities Diversity Council, an organization that focuses on addressing supplier and workforce diversity. She has also developed and launched a consortium of LGBT employee resource groups in the energy sector, which will officially launch at Out & Equal’s conference this year. Perez’s pursuits include being co-chair of the Asia Society, which is gearing up to launch the first major study on Asian professionals in Corporate America and the barriers they face.

Shari Slate, Senior Director for Inclusion and Diversity, Cisco Systems (San Jose, California)

Once a top salesperson at Xerox, Shari Slate transitioned into human resources to make an impact. Although diversity and inclusion aren’t usually thought of as a revenue-generating venture, Slate draws from her sales background to make a strong case for change. “As innovation becomes even more important, inclusion becomes that much more critical. You can’t be successful if you don’t incorporate those voices that bring you new ideas,” says Slate.

As the former chief diversity officer of Sun Microsystems, Slate successfully integrated diversity and inclusion into every aspect of the business—from recruiting to succession planning to marketing. In February, the enterprising executive was hired by Cisco Systems to come up with breakthrough programs that put the technology company on the leading edge.

Slate is widely recognized for her work and is often invited to speaking engagements and conferences. Her involvement with outside organizations expands her reach in the diversity and inclusion space. Slate currently serves on the Conference Board’s Diversity Business Council and the Diversity Best Practices International Advisors, and she is a founding member of Global Partners program, a consortium of innovative multinational companies committed to the development of diversity programs in Europe. Last year, she received The Network Journal’s 40 Under Forty Achievement Award.

Rosalyn Taylor O’Neale, Vice President and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Campbell Soup Company, and author, 7 Keys 2 Success: Unlocking the Passion for Diversity (Camden, New Jersey)

For Rosalyn Taylor O’Neale, growing up in the 1950s in the south, life was all about exclusion and feeling out of place, something she struggles with to this day. “I’m an African American, lesbian executive. With the exception of the last one, I’ve spent over 40 years adapting, assimilating and enhancing a country that does not know what to do with me.”

Rather than resign, O’Neale followed her parents’ positive example: Her mother was a social worker and her father was a police officer. “I grew up seeing how one person could make a difference, and I was inspired and felt obligated to be that one person,” says O’Neale.

That determination set her off on a career of activism and pushing for equity in the workplace. She landed at MTV Networks and a tech company now owned by Hewlett Packard. O’Neale eventually co-founded a consulting firm, where she helped scores of American and international firms embrace diversity and inclusion. These days, though, O’Neale is crafting and implementing programs at Campbell Soup Company that continue to make it a hospitable company to work for and a culture that generates new ideas, such as the Select Harvest soup line developed by and for women. “Who we include when we select employees, where we will build our factories, when we are opened, how we reward and finally how we evolve—diversity and inclusion has to be embedded in every process and practice,” says O’Neale.

Cuc Vu, Chief Diversity Officer, Human Rights Campaign (Washington, DC)

As an immigrant from Vietnam, and a lesbian, Cuc Vu knows what it feels like to be out of place. Not too long after Vu’s arrival in the United States, a young boy told her to “get on a boat and go back to where you belong.” Without realizing it at the time, that moment sparked a mission she continues to this day.

When Vu served as director of the immigration campaign manager for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) or worked for the AFL-CIO, she championed the legalization of undocumented workers and promoted their civic participation. Vu found it easy to sympathize with their struggles: As a child, she woke up at 5 a.m. to pick strawberries with her family for $3 a flat. The little she earned was used to buy school clothes. The experience offered some valuable lessons. “It taught me independence and a work ethic,” she says. “I could see the immigrants I represented had a similar story.”

But Vu was just warming up. In 2007, she became the first chief diversity officer for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest civil rights organization working toward fairness for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. And incredibly, Vu has found ways to unite the immigrant and LGBT communities toward a common goal—equality and full citizenship. It wasn’t easy at first. Moving away from what she calls a “transactional model” to one of partnership and commitment made all the difference. HRC’s volunteers work citizenship drives several times a year and show up at rallies for support. In turn, members of the immigrant community get to interact with a group they they might only hear about in negative ways, break down preconceived notions, and join LGBT people in their struggles.

Billie Williamson, Americas Inclusiveness Officer, Ernst & Young (New York, New York)

The workplace wasn’t exactly female friendly when Billie Williamson started her career
at Ernst & Young in 1974. Clients frequently assumed she was a secretary and asked her to make coffee. Despite that, Williamson rose up the ranks to make partner in just 10 years, an achievement shared only by five other women at the time.

Today’s Ernst & Young looks much different: nearly 20 percent of women are senior managers, and 30 percent of partners are minorities. Williamson has worked hard on instituting programs that make the accounting giant a great employer, not just for women but for everyone. “I believe that every person has special gifts and abilities, and I want those individuals to be successful in the way they define success, regardless of color, orientation, or gender,” she says.

Williamson’s approach to making staffers feel welcome has been forward thinking—from supporting health-care benefits for same sex partners to promoting flexible work schedules as a way of retaining new moms. So far, more than 125 employees have been promoted under the flexible arrangement program, a testament to the changed mind-set at Ernst & Young. But after holding focus groups with male partners and managers, Williamson found that the men felt they didn’t know how to mentor their female employees. This led to a program that coaches male managers on mentoring and helping advance female staffers.

For Williamson’s work, Ernst & Young has been recognized as a great place to work by business publications, and it repeatedly receives accolades from DiversityInc. and Working Mother.

Magda Yrizarry, Vice President of Talent Management and Chief Diversity Officer, Verizon (Basking Ridge, NJ)

This Ivy League-trained executive has a strong sense of purpose that applies to her personal life and her career. “We must be good stewards of the talents and oppor-tunities afforded to us, not just for ourselves but for the benefit of others, too,” says Magda Yrizarry. It’s a determination that began at an early age, after her dad’s passing left Yrizarry’s mother to raise her alone.

There’s no question about whether Yrizarry has applied her talent to help herself and others. She spent the early days of her career directing leadership development programs for an organization that helped underprivileged families. But for the last two decades, Yrizarry has also worked on many of the programs that make Verizon a good corporate citizen. As the director of the telecommunication giant’s philanthropic efforts, the bulk of the $75 million budget was doled out to organizations and scholarships for underrepresented groups, such ASPIRA, a non-profit that works with Latino youth. Now, as chief diversity officer, she gets to play a role in how diverse employees are hired, retained, and promoted. But her benevolence doesn’t stop there. Yrizarry tutors and translates at her church. She also represents Verizon on LULAC’s National Education Service Centers Board and the Corporate Advisory Board of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility. DW

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“For years, there were no socially acceptable spaces where women—especially ethnic women—and the white male power-structure could intersect,” says Jessica Carter, attorney and author of Double Outsiders: How Women of Color Can Succeed in Corporate America.

“Even today, leadership circles are made up of mostly white men,” says Stacy Blake-Beard, associate professor of management at Simmons School of Management. “Unfortunately, women, particularly women of color, may be at a disadvantage because of lack of access to those leaders and a level of unfamiliarity with them that may impede the development of important career relationships. Diversifying our networks provides opportunities and resources for creating alliances with people who can connect us to those in power.”

Diversifying Your Network at Work
Your own company is a valuable resource for diversifying your network and building strategic alliances up, down, and across the organization. Many companies have established women’s initiatives and forums and support affinity or cultural groups for employees.

“Networking at work can help you develop friendships, broaden your perspective, and identify career and mentoring opportunities,” says Annette Martinez, operations executive assistant at State Farm, which has 120 different employee resource groups. “If you work for a large organization, you need the increased visibility that networking affords. Networking at work isn’t difficult, but it should be deliberate. Start by deciding what you want to accomplish in the next five years. What do you need to do this? Who can help you get what you need? Create a personal board of directors by identifying 10 to 15 areas of the company where you want to create connections, and meet with these people regularly.”

If your company doesn’t support formal networking, start your own informal network. “Look for opportunities to connect with team members and colleagues based on mutual interests, projects, and skills,” advises Barbara Adachi, principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP in San Francisco, and head of the company’s Women’s Initiative. “It’s never too early to start building your company network.”

Diversifying Your Network Outside of Work
“Building relationships with a variety of people outside the job can help you expand your sphere of influence in new areas,” says British Hill, program chair of Pinellas County Networking Professionals International in Florida and independent consulting director with Seriesse International.

Joining local business organizations like the chamber of commerce and service organizations can connect you with people from different cultures, professions, and interests. If you’re in sales or own your own business, these organizations can be rich sources of potential customers and clients.

Also consider participating in affinity groups and volunteer activities to meet like-minded people who can expand your social network. Painting a school, cleaning a park, or building a home for Habitat for Humanity can help you overcome networking shyness. When everyone is focused on the task at hand, it’s easy to start conversations and get to know people.

Check the business calendar section of your newspaper and your local volunteer center or craigslist.com listings for events.

Diversifying with Online Networks
Online networks demand less time and commitment than in-person networking and can expand your reach exponentially. A single mouse click can connect you to someone in Africa or Asia—or across town.

“Internet networks expand your reach and can provide mutually beneficial connections more efficiently than face-to-face networking,” says Attiya Abdulghany, director of marketing for Salesconx, a B2B lead-generator for sales professionals. Abdulghany has used FaceBook and LinkedIn to stay in touch with college friends, develop professional connections, and find jobs.

LinkedIn has more than 17 million members. You create a personal profile and invite others to join your personal network. Savvy users recommend establishing fewer, high-quality connections rather than many connections of questionable value. Social networking sites such as FaceBook, once the domain of young people, are maturing along with their members. They give people the opportunity to make more personal connections than purely business networks.

“Commit a couple hours a week to building your virtual network,” Hill advises. “When you join a virtual network, complete your profile and participate in forums. Get known, and share information.”

Diversifying Within Your Network
“The higher you move within your career, the more your network matters,” says Marva Smith Battle-Bey, president of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women and of the Vermont Slauson Economic Development Corporation. “Today, I work with senior-level government and elected officials, and my network has been a huge factor in my ability to get things done.”

Networks aren’t just about what you do, what you have done, and what you need—they’re also about who needs you and what you have to offer them.

“There is a quid pro quo in networking,” Smith Battle-Bex adds. “Don’t connect just with people you need. Connect with people who need you and what you have to offer. Men, I think, are more comfortable doing this. They more easily discuss their accomplishments. Many women are uncomfortable talking about what they have done and can do.”

This can be especially important for women who may be influenced by home upbringing and cultural background. “As a Japanese American, I was raised in a culture that expected me to stay in the background and not speak until spoken to,” states Deloitte’s Adachi. “Overcoming this reticence has been a challenge for me throughout my career. I believe that many ethnic women experience something like this. Networking provides a way of sharing experiences and solutions to these kinds of cultural challenges.”

You can diversify within your network by building win-win alliances and creating opportunities for cross-networking. Communicate regularly with people in your network, make introductions when people can help each other, and ask for introductions to people you think will help you. Encourage the members of your network to share success stories and make requests of each other. Create mini-networking events so members of your network can meet and mingle with each other, and ask them to bring new people into your network.

“Business networking is not just about what you do or how you do it,” says Caterina Rando, professional speaker, success coach, and author of Learn to Power Think. “It’s about building mutually beneficial relationships, helping each other overcome challenges, finding out what needs to be done, and doing it.”

Patricia Haddock is a communications and training consultant in San Francisco, and is the author of 11 books.

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How do individuals under duress approach family crises that require snap decision-making and a deeply informed knowledge base? Barbara Newman Mannix founded A Dignified Life LLC to serve as a research resource to help these families navigate tough decisions and evaluate all of their options in times of life transition. ADL is a unique company that advocates for families and relives their burdens with a wide range of support services in the medical, legal, and social services under one roof.

Mannix, a fomer Macy’s executive and mother of twins, was inspired to launch the company after her husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2006 and she observed so many others in distress.

From care for a parent or loved one to downsizing and relocation and legal planning, ADL offers both in-person and virtual consultations with people in crisis to implement an action plan. The team then connects families to carefully selected geriatric care managers, social workers, attorneys and benefits specialists. Families have turned to A Dignified Life to divest homes, establish a will or estate plan, apply for Medicaid, and stage interventions to arrange for care for loved ones with Alzheimer’s, among many other tumultuous and personal situations (see the company website for a comprehensive list of services).

“Baby boomers, despite the desire to provide the best care for their parents, often do not have the time or expertise to figure out how to plan for their parents’ elder years. They need somewhere to turn for practical, pragmatic, and sensitive advice. In times of uncertainty or crisis, how do they best sift through the maze of literature regarding health, financial, and human service programs?” prompts Mannix, who launched A Dignified Life after her own experience in dealing with her husband’s terminal diagnosis of cancer in 2006.

Adult children praise care managers like Mannix, who is particularly adept at helping families assess the health and safety needs of an aging parent. Mannix and her team can even play ‘bad cop,’ diminishing the role of the ‘nag’ often played by adult children, and act as the ‘voice of reason’ amidst what can sometimes be a complicated, albeit loving, family dynamic.

For more information visit www.adignifiedlife.com.

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Before long, the demands of doing it all alone caught up with her. Her boss reprimanded her for canceling meetings. She describes it as ‘a turning point conversation.’ “I realized that working that way didn’t serve me, or anyone else, well,” Bing says. “And it was starting to have a negative effect on my performance.”

Today Bing, who teaches leadership and management courses at New York University, views delegating differently. “Now, I think about where I could use help, and where this creates opportunity for others in terms of their skills development and expanding their network,” Bing says. “I don’t have to suffer in silence, and by sharing the work, I can help others, so I actively look for opportunities to 
do that.”

When delegating is done well, 
employees feel engaged and empowered to do meaningful work. Workplace performance improves, and productivity increases. Done well, delegating positively impacts the bottom line. For many managers and leaders, however, delegating gracefully seems to be an 
impossible task.

Barriers to successful delegation

Part of the reason so many of us find delegating difficult is because we don’t understand what it is, says Bing, who consults with managers and executives at Fortune 500 companies as the founder and president of Bing Consulting Group in Brooklyn, New York. “It’s not handing off your dirty work. It’s empowering others to develop their skills, and it’s a means of leveraging the talents of your team. You delegate well when you fully believe and recognize that the people around you add value to your work.”
Many long-held beliefs about the 
nature of work serve as barriers to effective delegation, says Bing. “The number one issue that gets in the way of delegating is the belief that if you want it done right, you must do it yourself.”

Other myths about delegating include the belief that delegating suggests you don’t know how to do the job or that 
asking for help is a sign of weakness. 
“Another misguided belief is that if I do it myself, I can maintain control and avoid mistakes,” Bing says. “Or perhaps you feel that others may not be as passionate or committed about the work as you are.
“When we start to understand in the broader sense what delegation really is, then it will start to help melt away some of the underlying fears we might harbor,” she explains.
Underlying beliefs about delegation that don’t serve us well should be discarded, she advises. “It’s a misguided perception that shared power reduces or diminishes one’s power as opposed to recognizing that sharing power 
actually expands one’s sphere of influence.”

The cultural divide

Cheryl Pearson-McNeil, senior vice president of communications and community affairs at the Nielsen Company, says that to delegate effectively, she has found that as a woman and a woman of color, she must monitor how she asks for help. “The tone in which you delegate is important, especially for black women. You don’t want to come across as being bossy, or you can end up being called a name that starts with a b, but is not bossy,” she says.
“I might say, ‘I’d really love your help on this,’ as opposed to ‘Do this,’” Pearson-McNeil explains, “or ‘I wish I had more time, but can you handle this project for me?’ Maybe I explain too much, but I don’t want people to feel like I’m dumping work on them.”

Linda Bates Parker, director of the University of Cincinnati’s Career Development Center and president and founder of Black Career Women, agrees that cultural biases related to race, gender, and ethnicity exist in the workplace between managers and subordinates. “For years, I’ve had to deal with having no one in my division who looked like me—an African American woman manager—and having employees who were not used to taking direction from someone like me. It felt different to them, and it was different—my style and leadership are going to be different. But I’m not a shy and retiring person, and so people have to get used to me,” Bates Parker says.

For Sylvia Lopez Navarro, marketing and retail manager for Fisker Automotive in Irvine, California, and vice president of the National Hispanic Business Women Association, being a Latina in an industry dominated by males can be challenging when it comes to delegating. “If I delegate something, the perception might be that I don’t have an interest in the project or can’t handle it,” she says.
Delegating became easier for Lopez 
Navarro after the birth of her son two years ago, when she suddenly realized that in order to be successful at home and at work, she simply couldn’t do it all herself. She had to ask for help, which has meant careful planning of projects and clearly communicating objectives and goals.

To help overcome cultural barriers to effective delegation, Kim-Yen Huynh, 
senior vice president of marketing at First Vietnamese American Bank in Westminster, California, and founder and president of the Asian American Women Business Association, advises women to believe in their own abilities as well as their capacity to be successful. “It doesn’t matter if you are black or yellow, if you do things right and demonstrate self-confidence, you will be looked at as a leader.”

Build a yellow brick road

Heather Herndon Wright, senior director of alliance relationships at the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council in Dallas, Texas, explains that being specific about desired outcomes is key to delegating effectively. Equally important is allowing her staff to achieve those outcomes in ways they believe are best.
“I frequently use the analogy, ‘Here we are, and there is the Emerald City. Build me a yellow brick road,’” she says. “It must be made of brick and they must be yellow, but I don’t mind if it’s curvy, straight, or triple decked, as long as it’s completed on time and meets the requirements I laid out.” Bates Parker says those delegating must know their staff well. “Try to 
connect tasks to roles, interests, and 
capabilities. I believe very much in respecting and valuing the different talents that people bring to a work environment.
“It also might be a ‘stretch opportunity,’” she adds. “It may not be something that they have demonstrated task capability in, but you view them as ready for professional growth and ready to take on job responsibility
outside their comfort zone.”

Bing says the first step to delegating gracefully is to get clear about what you want the outcome of the project to be. Next, identify the elements or features that need to happen in order to achieve outcomes. Also think about who around has the requisite skills, talents, and knowledge. Finally, outline the milestones or indicators that you will use to track progress.
As Bing explains, “No one of us, no matter how skilled and talented we are, can do it all. Nobody shows up fully loaded. If you’re not delegating, you’re not managing, and the costs to the manager personally, as well as to the business, are 
exponential.”

Catherine Crawley, Ph.D, is the founder of Crawley Communications & Research, which provides editorial content and research services to individuals and corporations. Visit her website at 
www.crawleycommunications.com.

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In more than 40 years of research on leadership, the Gallup Organization has found that what distinguishes the best leaders is their ability to focus on what they do well. “Good leaders really know where they can shine and excel, and so they position themselves to do whatever that is more often,” explains Jacqueline Merritt, senior leadership consultant at Gallup.

“It’s not realistic for me to be the subject matter expert in all areas,” says Bobbie Gregg, vice president and global chief compliance officer for Aon Corporation. Gregg’s strategy is to build her team so that the strengths and weaknesses of team members are well-balanced.

“Leaning on others who can provide additional expertise is one way to augment those areas where you may not have great strengths,” says Patricia Lewis Burton, vice president of human resources at IBM, who also works to identify employees’ strengths and talents and develop them.

Developing leadership skills is an ongoing, often complicated process. Here are three key skill areas to focus on.

Managing Conflict
In Heather Herndon Wright’s office at the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) in Dallas, Texas, when staff members face conflict, they call it a “stinky fish.”

“When the stinky fish is on the table, it’s time to sit down and talk about it,” says the senior director of affiliate relations at WBENC. “Deal with it head-on as early as possible. Conflict is like a festering wound. The longer it is there, the worse it festers.”

Managing conflict head-on is one characteristic of a good leader, says Eric Herzog, a national expert on leadership development and author of the book Future Leaders. “No one approach to managing conflict will work. You need a variety of approaches.”

Drawing on 30 years of experience in leadership and human resource development, Herzog’s Los Angeles–based company, Quest Consulting, teaches hundreds of executives what it takes to be a great leader.

One aspect of managing conflict is being able to admit mistakes, Herzog says. “People try to cover over mistakes, but usually it doesn’t work very well. Great leaders realize we’re not perfect and that we make mistakes. We must admit them, and figure out how to respond and fix them.”

Communicating Effectively
Another key component of great leadership, says Herzog, is knowing yourself and your audience, and being able to tailor messages accordingly. Good communication is critical, he says.

Aon Corporation’s Gregg says she spends a lot of her time thinking about how to communicate effectively to the company’s 45,000 employees at 120 offices worldwide. “You have to consider what the messages are, how they arebeing received by the employees, what feedback they are giving us, and how we need to modify the message to make it more effective.”

Wright calls it ‘transmitting at the right frequency.’ “Communication is the lifeblood of being a leader. You have to recognize the different ways that people communicate, and your responsibility is to try multiple frequencies so that the message is received,” she says.

Communicating effectively can be subtle. A leader needs to be able to read verbal and nonverbal cues and use a communication style that translates well for every audience. For example, Cheryl Pearson-McNeil, senior vice president of communications and community affairs at the Nielsen Company, an African American, adjusts her voice if necessary, especially in contentious situations. “It’s important to speak up and make sure you’re being understood,” she said. “If you’re a woman of color—or a women period—you might need to soften your voice and tone. Try to keep the emotion out of it. Deliver the message firmly but softly. You don’t want the message to get misconstrued or give any perception that you’re an angry black woman.”

Finding mentors
It may seem counterintuitive, but great leaders need great mentors. For multicultural women, however, finding a mentor can be a challenge. According to Catalyst, having women, particularly other African American women, in their networks was positively tied to top promotion rates for African American women. Yet, lack of access to networks of influential colleagues underlies all major barriers to advancement identified by women of color, the Catalyst study said.

“Having a good mentor is important to help you learn how to respond to a challenge,” says Herzog, who encourages women to find mentors either inside or outside the organization.

Pamela Bush-Davis, founder and CEO of Advantage Claims Recovery Group Inc., a nationally recognized medical claims recovery group, says that finding mentors along the way has been difficult. “In lieu of that, I’ve done research, read books, and studied some of the great leaders to keep me motivated,” she says.

IBM’s Burton says, “Having role models that look like you is an inspiration. You can have an open dialogue or a safe place to go.” Burton has found some mentors within IBM, which has made a strong commitment to developing diversity, including promoting mentorships.

“Leadership is about relationships with people, whether mentoring others or building one’s constituency,” Merritt explains. “A leader’s responsibility is to create that culture where relationships can happen, where people feel connected enough to one another that they want to move in the direction that the leader sets.”

The more multicultural women who develop these skills—conflict resolution, effective communication, and mentorship opportunities—the greater the opportunities there will be for women of color in the boardroom. DW

Catherine Crawley, Ph.D, is the founder of Crawley Communications & Research, which provides editorial content and research services to individuals and corporations. Visit her website at www.crawleycommunications.com

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