Power is a relatively new and welcome word when applied to women in the workplace.
It means being in charge, running the show, determining your own fate.
Not many women actually are in positions of power, but each day more are added to the ranks.
Power is a two-edged sword: It can make or break you. And it can make or break those around you, too.
It must be used thoughtfully.
Some people believe the more you share power, the more you have. But it`s not as easy as that. It`s naive to believe that power exists in a vacuum or that the exercise of it can ever be casual.
Marilyn Moats Kennedy, a nationally known career consultant, answers the question of how to delegate power this way: ”Very carefully!” Writing in her newsletter, Kennedy`s Career Strategist, she warns managers not to delegate away their control.
The problem of determining preventive maintenance so power won`t be lost isn`t such a bad problem, after all: It`s far less serious than having no power at all.
– DONNA ESKRIDGE
AGE 47, VICE PRESIDENT OF DATA SERVICES, CENTEL CORP.
Eskridge, in charge of three in-house data centers for the $824-million telecommunications firm, has 330 employees reporting to her and a $35 million budget. She`s been at Centel, which serves 1.5 million customers, for 16 years.
”You don`t lose power by giving it away,” says Eskridge, who works directly with a staff of five.
”Instead, you make a stronger workforce and a stronger organization. The key is that delegating power is a great motivator for employees.”
Eskridge, who has an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Lewis University and an MBA from Northwestern University, recently assigned three of her staff to study whether the data centers in Charlottesville, Va.; Lincoln, Neb.; and Las Vegas should be consolidated. ”It was given to me to do, and I thought they would learn from the experience. They did the background work and writing. I presented it, but they got the recognition-they were at the presentation and I introduced them.”
That is, indeed, sharing power, and being in telecommunications makes it easier for Eskridge, who travels frequently, to do so.
”I delegate everything I can to develop my staff-that`s what a good manager does,” she says. ”I do it in person, and I also use electronic mail, voice mail on phones and the cellular phone in my car.”
Eskridge never delegates employee appraisals or praise. An active volunteer, she also doesn`t delegate fundraising. ”I`m a team captain for Oakton Community College, which is trying to raise $200,000. You have to do that yourself because people give to people.”
Though she`s aware of the cliche that says ”power is the greatest aphrodisiac,” Eskridge focuses on using power prudently. ”By delegating it, I accomplish more.”
– GLORIA CARNEY SHEALEY
AGE 33, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DANIELE DEVELOPMENT CO. INC.
”You don`t delegate power; you delegate authority,” said Shealey, head of a commercial real estate firm.
Her current project, slated to begin construction in May, is a 128-unit townhouse development in the Avalon Park community on the South Side.
”Authority is based on specific rights you have because of your role or position within the organization,” says Shealey. ”It`s limited. But power, on the other hand, is a dynamic and intangible force. It`s energy that`s always available to be used to influence behavior and setting the terms of a relationship.
”The person who best understands the dynamic of power is the one who controls it.”
Shealey has a bachelor`s degree in political science and a master`s degree in public administration with a concentration in housing and urban affairs from the University of North Carolina. She has 12 years` experience in all facets of the real estate industry.
Shealey works with consultants such as architects, market researchers, contractors and attorneys. ”I delegate authority based on demonstrated competency,” she says, ”but you can never delegate your own accountability for the success of the project.”
Shealey believes in ”seizing” power and is ”comfortable” with it. ”I don`t knowingly give up power unless I`m in a situation where the other person understands or uses power better,” she said.
She understands her own power potential through ”self-knowledge, integrity, my experience as a winner in life and my spiritual grounding.”
Too often, she observes, people ”give up power unconsciously and wonder what happened. Power is neutral. It`s not good or bad. What matters is how it`s used.”
– CONSUELO E. BEDOYA
AGE 39, ASSOCIATE JUDGE, COOK COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, FIRST MUNICIPAL DISTRICT
”Especially as a judge, you think about power a lot,” says Judge Bedoya, who was appointed to a four-year term in 1988. ”You think about it not only as a public figure but as a public servant. Power has been given to you over people`s lives, liberty, freedom, property-you name it.”
Power also is at play in running a courtroom. ”It`s important to delegate power when you and your staff work together, as a team, for a common purpose,” says Bedoya, who for 11 years was a private attorney specializing in immigration law and insurance defense.
Bedoya, born in Lima, Peru, came to the United States in 1967 and earned her law degree at De Paul University.
”You can use power two ways: You can be a dictator and carry a whip and expect everyone to jump when you give an order. That`s short-lived, because people will obey but only until they can find another job.”
The second way is to believe that ”human beings can live together in harmony. You bring out the best in people that way, motivate them and instill pride in their work. Then they know they are indispensable.”
She uses the latter approach: ”I am of the idea you can always get more with honey than with vinegar.”
Bedoya, the first female Hispanic judge in Illinois, says she likes to delegate power. ”I`m not a centrist.”
In her recent assignment at juvenile court, Bedoya issued orders putting minors on probation with restrictions and delegated supervisory power to their probation officers.
”My alternative was to put the minors on probation with no supervision,” she explains. ”By delegating power, the probation officers have a viable order to work with. And the juveniles have someone watching-and hopefully they will be rehabilitated.”
Bedoya adds: ”Don`t be afraid of having power. Welcome it-but with a degree of humility.”
———-
Send comments and ideas for future questions to Carol Kleiman, The Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611.
