ONE ENERGY FEED

Let’s face it: it’s easy to lose touch as an executive. We move into a leadership position for something we’re an expert in and start delegating the tasks we were previously responsible for. With delegation, we risk losing many of the skills that helped us become experts, as we flex them less and less in our executive role. This is common. And it can become a problem.

As part of a continuing education effort, I recently participated in a 2-week finance course geared towards executives. The course was filled with senior leaders from many different sectors, all with very impressive backgrounds and resumes. Part of the course required us to use Microsoft Excel to aid in case study analyses. Throughout these analyses, I couldn’t help but notice how few of my fellow students were familiar with the program basics. I was one of the few that could drive the spreadsheet and provide solutions using a few simple built-in functions. It made me wonder: how many executives are out there making key financial decisions for their company without being able to calculate the implications themselves?

Most executives are masters at delegating. Their time is quite valuable, and often in limited supply. They have to choose the important things they must do, and what they can entrust to their team. Many leaders start out as experts in their core field, demonstrating talent that has allowed them to advance at their company and take on more. The more a leader takes on, the less time they have to keep up with the latest developments within the subject, and the further they will get from their core expertise. But just because we as executives must delegate tasks, doesn’t mean we should delegate the ability to perform the tasks as well.

This then begs the question: does an executive’s ability (or inability) to do, impact their ability to effectively lead?

There is a widely accepted idea that you can be one of two things: a leader or a doer, but never both. You can either lead a team to execute, or you can be on the front lines doing the work. I honestly don’t believe the two must be mutually exclusive.

I recently heard a term I had never come across: “Leader-Doer.” The term refers to a rare group of people that can lead and are also expected to significantly contribute to executing the team’s mission. In certain settings, a leader must also be able to do: whether it’s running financial models, writing reports, or even analyzing data. This concept is likely more important at smaller, growing companies. Most of the time, smaller companies don’t have the personnel available to allow their executives to focus solely on decisions, strategy, and management. They need their General Counsel writing contracts, not just reviewing them. They need their CFO creating financial models, not just signing off on them.

And when it comes to hiring executives for these positions, it can be even more challenging when growing companies are looking for a “Leader-Doer.” Often, those qualified for the jobs in the traditional sense have been removed from “doing” for quite some time, especially if they come from a large corporation. Finding the people that can lead effectively AND are willing to put in the time to learn how to execute is often vital to the success of growing a business.

When you don’t perform tasks regularly, it’s easy to forget how to perform them. For me, it has become increasingly difficult to stay up to date on the methods I’m asking my team to carry out. But if my role is to make good decisions for my team and our company, and if I want to earn the respect of those on my team, it is necessary for me to fully understand the work they are doing.

To keep myself up to date, I ensure I’ve done every task that I now delegate to my team. When we put a new method in place, I make sure that I take the time to learn the details and know how to execute it. Because of this, I understand what I’m asking my team members to do – I understand the time commitment, the required skill set, and the complexity of the task or project. And it also ensures that, when necessary, I can quickly jump in to help (which happens often at our rapidly growing company).

To lead effectively, we as executives cannot allow ourselves to be pulled too far from the details. We need to be the best “Leader-Doer” for our team, SUM functions and all.

Jessica Grosso is the Head of Project Planning and Technology at One Energy.

Learn more about Jessica and the One Energy team.

As a female executive, I need to say it. I have a bone to pick with how corporate America pays and promotes women in the United States. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Most of us have seen the depressing stats about how women are paid in the United States and the (lack of) leadership positions they hold. But, just as a refresher, I decided to look up some of those stats again.

• March 24, 2021, was Equal Pay Day in the United States. That means that for an average woman in America to have made what my male counterparts made in 2020, I needed to work until March 24, 2021.
• The female to male earnings ratio in 2019 (the most recent year for which we have those statistics) was 82.3%. (I must admit I was even more depressed with myself when I realized I was somewhat pleasantly surprised by this number).
• During the first quarter of 2021, 41 Fortune 500 companies were led by women. That’s just 8.2%, but an improvement from 2019 when there were 33 and 2018 when there were 24.

It’s important to note that these statistics are even more abysmal for women of color.

Corporate America: we need to do much, much, much better. But I guess the better question is, who within corporate America needs to do better?

One theory about who needs to do better – one that I have heard too many times to count – is that the women need to do better. I cannot tell you the number of times I have had conversations with men or women about pay parity and the other person tells me, “women just need to negotiate better, Katie. That pay gap wouldn’t exist if women negotiated for their salary more effectively.”

There are a lot of problems with telling women they need to “negotiate better” to solve this problem. To start, it is victim shaming, offensive, and insulting. It points the finger in the entirely wrong direction. A negotiation for a salary is one where the employer has far more data than the prospect. How many places have you worked where you knew what all your counterparts made? How are you supposed to negotiate for equal pay when you don’t know you aren’t being paid equally? If I, as a woman, have always been paid less than my male counterparts, how would I even know that? And at my next job, even though I make more and am doing better than I was, how do I know if I am still making less than my male counterparts?

Another theory is that corporate America is to blame. And that means all of us. All of us who are executives, managers, and hirers are the problem. But if we are the problem, we are also the solution. So we all need to step up. I would suggest by starting with the following:

• Review your salaries now. Ensure you are paying women what you are paying men in the same or similar roles.
• Review your executive team, your board, and those holding management positions. Are they held equally by men and women? If not, ask yourself why that is the case. Don’t let “there are no good women out there” be your excuse. You don’t break glass ceilings and tear down this divide unless you give women a chance and are the ones to elevate them. Think outside of the box. Have you worked with a brilliant female engineer, scientist, lawyer, accountant, etc. in your area of business? I bet she would be a great addition to your leadership team. Be the one to elevate her.
• Look at your parental leave and family leave policies. Are you treating men and women equally? If you aren’t, think about the message you are sending about your expectations of employees. And if you don’t have a parental leave policy or family leave policy, think about the message that sends to women with families about how serious you are about enabling them to enter and stay in the workforce.
• Don’t stop there. Make a commitment to make your company the solution, which we have done at One Energy and will continue to do.

But what not to do? Don’t tell me, or any woman, to simply “negotiate better.” This is a cop-out. And it will get us no further along in fixing the abysmal statistics I outlined above. It will not get us to a place where women and men are valued and rewarded equally for their work in this country. Women don’t need to negotiate better. Corporate America needs to do better.

Katie Treadway is the Head of Regulatory Affairs at One Energy.

Learn more about Katie and the One Energy team.