'Never Give Up': Alumnae Winners Reflect - "Never Give Up": Alumnae Winners Reflect

by Jay Chrepta, HBS Working Knowledge

Andrea Caren Silbert and Jeanne B. Lewis

It was not long ago—a little more than 30 years—that women students were still a distinct curiosity on the campus of Harvard Business School. Back then Nancy Barry, now president of Women's World Banking, felt discomfort as one of those curiosities within the class of '75: It had a female-to-male ratio of only a fraction more than one in ten.

Today the numbers have improved. In the class of '02, for example, there are slightly more than three women among every ten MBA students. And for the hundreds who attended the tenth Women's Student Association annual event in January, that's measurable progress in a social and economic revolution that has produced heroines—many of them Harvard Business School alumnae.

Five remarkable women
In the ten years that the Women's Student Association at HBS has hosted business conferences, this marked the first time WSA honored HBS alumnae for their individual contributions to their respective fields. Winners of the special Alumnae Awards include:

• Nancy Barry, MBA '75, Professional Services Award. She is president of Women's World Banking, a global financial institution that focuses on funding and supporting women-owned businesses.
• Rena Clark, MBA '90, Leadership Award. Clark is chair and chief operating officer of QVS Inc., a manufacturer of specialty chemicals and detergents used in food manufacturing and processing.
• Judith R. Haberkorn, AMP 111, Industry Award. She recently retired as president of consumer sales and service for Verizon.
• Jeanne B. Lewis, MBA '92, Entrepreneurship Award. Lewis is president of office supply giant Staples' e-commerce subsidiary, Staples.com.
• Andrea Caren Silbert, MBA '92, Social Enterprise Award. She is founder and chief executive officer of the Center for Women & Enterprise, a Boston-based economic development organization that offers business education and resources to women throughout New England.

During the conference's final session on January 20, in a panel moderated by HBS professor Lynda M. Applegate, these award winners shared with the audience what they consider their keys to success, as well as challenges they have faced.

After the MBA, the real learning begins

Rena Clark

It took more than a few hard knocks for QVS's Clark to realize she did not know everything, she admitted. Indeed, for many alumnae, it was the learning and adapting after their Harvard experience that made them not only better managers, but also better individuals. In Clark's case, she said she'd made the effort to surround herself with "good and talented people," and that has been her key to success.

	I just thought there were 28 hours in a day.
	Rena Clark (MBA '90)

Similarly, each panelist emphasized the importance of networking, but not merely "passing around business cards at a cocktail party," according to Verizon's Haberkorn. "It is about building relationships with the people with whom we work. It doesn't change in the CEO world, either, because you build relationships with your board members," she said. The end results, Haberkorn concluded, are deeper relationships beyond the "boss" or "colleague" variety.

Andrea Silbert reiterated a theme from a previous appearance on a panel discussing nonprofit organizations: "Find something you're passionate about," she urged the audience. "If you find something you know that you'll love, then you're 95 percent of your way there." Silbert added that her own parents were instrumental in her success because they infused in her a sense of self-confidence.

Judith R. Haberkorn

Nearly all the award winners mentioned such variations on a theme—"endurance," "stamina," and "perseverance"—in their ledger of necessary strengths. Haberkorn, now aged 54, said, "After starting my business career in 1968, let me assure you that perseverance is the only thing that has kept me breathing to this day. Never mind working for 32 years for a company that is very much command-and-control and male-oriented. Never, never, never, never, never give up."

28 hours a day?
Several of the speakers also offered sober, almost contrite accounts of experiences in which their work lives overwhelmed their personal lives to the point of inducing illness.

"I just thought there were 28 hours in a day," Clark confessed. She told the group that she came to recognize, just in time, that she was losing control over her life and she immediately rearranged her priorities. What resulted was a regimen of exercise, proper diet, and a revelation: "I realize there are 28 hours in a day, because I am more energetic." Now, she takes time out to relax with friends, travel, and in other ways strike a balance between work and personal life.

Staples' Jeanne Lewis described her own "health wake-up call" as the illness of a friend. It drove home to Lewis the need to slow down. Borrowing a page from her male colleagues' playbook, Lewis took refuge in fitness. She credits that for making her "a calmer manager, especially during the past 18 months, which were crazy!"

"Most women I know are living on the edge in terms of health," said Haberkorn — who drew one of the longest and loudest ovations from the audience when she announced she has survived breast cancer not once, but twice.

The boys' club

Nancy Barry

In response to a question from Applegate on career challenges, Barry's observations about hostile work environments began with her recollection of HBS during her student years—as a legendary place where men were men, and women ran scared. "I say this because my 1975 classmate was inaugurated earlier today as president… and I dated the guy!" Barry proclaimed, with a mixture of amusement and chagrin, to an assortment of cheers, jeers, and applause that erupted from the conference audience.

Haberkorn recalled her own mixed feelings dropping off her husband (then an MBA student) in front of Baker Library between 1968 and 1970, before going off to her job "that paid the rent" at the telephone company. "And now I can walk through this campus as a woman in my own right," she marveled. "I never would have dreamed that I would be the recipient of this award."

Advice for women today
"The world shines back what you shine to it," Silbert told the audience. "You're young and you'll have long careers, so don't be so impatient. The 'top' will come to you."

Recalling how her first job was an incredibly bad professional fit, Lewis urged students to find a company that is a great cultural fit for them individually, then find work they are passionate about.

"Find out where your passion lies," said Barry, who added, "Don't wait until you're 50 to find out how to do well by doing good." And above all, Barry said, take risks.

For Clark, it's all about creating support structures—friends, coaches, and mentors—and perhaps reaching beyond this world for peace and solace. "It's important to believe in something bigger than you," she said.

For Haberkorn, the core values reside within one's sense of personal worth. "The only thing you have is your reputation," Haberkorn told the audience. "Compromise it for no one, and for nothing."

· · · ·