Page 18 - Free Yourself From

Chapter 1

Know Yourself—Be Yourself

“You must create your own roadmap to your
chosen destination based on your values,
beliefs, and strengths.”

The Beginning…

Things started out nicely enough. Shortly after graduating from Pur-
due University in the late 70s, I was offered a job as one of the first
female managers on a General Motors production floor. But once I
started, it didn’t take long (by which I mean mere hours) to realize
that I should have considered more carefully the role of gender in the
workplace, and should have asked a few more questions during my
job interview.
I arrived for my first day of work at 6:30 a.m. full of energy and
excitement. I knew nothing about cars, except how to pull into a gas
station and fill up my tank. That was not one of the job requirements,
however. Instead I was expected to learn the 120 auto parts they used
on this assembly line—and I had to succeed in an environment that
had sent three previous managers packing in just 10 months.
I knew when I walked into the plant, and everything and every-
body stopped, that I was in for a challenge. It was like one of those

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