Page 124 - Free Yourself From

Forming Your Own Board of Directors 107

who would have a bias—potential resisters. At Pfizer you are
expected to figure out who you need to get on board for whatever
you are trying to drive or propose. If you have a senior vice presi-
dent who is totally behind your program and an executive vice pres-
ident of sales is not, it’s important to build a bridge with both, but
particularly the one who is going to carry the biggest influence and
who may not be behind you. So in this case you need to build a
bridge and reach out to the executive vice president of sales.

Where Women Fall Short

While women have a knack for developing trusting and supportive
relationships, they sometimes lack the broader network within or
outside of their organization that can help them achieve their goals
and objectives.
Often, women have a tendency to keep their head down and
make sure they are doing a great job, even as they are rising through
the ranks. They underestimate how important the right relationships
can be in getting ahead, getting initiatives done, and accomplishing
objectives. And they play down the concerted effort a person has to
make to seek out and cultivate these relationships.
Anne Reed, president of Acquisition Solutions and former presi-
dent of state and local business at EDS, said this:

As a business executive you need to deal with a lot of issues and
objectives that require a broad spectrum of knowledge and exper-
tise on a regular basis. Therefore, you need to know a lot of peo-
ple versus just a few people. There is rarely a day or week where
I don’t need to pick up the phone and ask a question or need help
with something. In some cases, women feel that a relationship is
a relationship only if it has depth to it with a rich tenor, whereas
men will look at relationships as not having to be that deep. While