Their message came as a bit of a surprise. Ann Fudge (HBS MBA '77) and Ann S. Moore (HBS MBA '78), the keynote speakers at the Dynamic Women in Business Conference on January 24, 2004, are rare examples of women at the top of major U.S. corporations. Fudge is the Chairman and CEO of advertising giant Young & Rubicam, Inc. and its largest division, Y&R Advertising, while Moore is Chairman and CEO at Time, Inc., the world's leading magazine company.
Both trailblazers, the women said they found heeding one's own internal compass was more important than listening to outside advice about the "right" way to make it to the top. "I didn't really follow all the rules. I didn't follow some kind of prescribed 'right' path," Fudge said.
Fudge and Moore both said they have never been more satisfied with their professional lives than they are now, although they followed different professional paths. Moore rose to prominence at the same company where she had her first job out of business school; Fudge arrived at Young & Rubicam after leaving her position as president of Kraft Foods' $5 billion Beverages, Desserts, and Post Division for what she likes to call her "first retirement." Moore took the least lucrative of thirteen job offers she had upon graduation from HBS. She accepted the job at Time, she said, because "I just love magazines." Many couldn't understand the decision; Moore said she knew she'd be happier making less money in a job she loved. That she is now the CEO is proof, she said, that following one's passion works.
"People thought I was crazy," she said. "I'm the president now, people."
Fudge said many questioned her decision to leave Kraft in 2001. She said her departure was influenced by the loss of both her parents within a short period of time. That loss, she said, taught her "Don't take your life for granted; don't assume that the next day is a given."
"The skeptics were having a field day," when she left without another job, she said. "It somehow didn't register with the DNA of the business environment, but you know what? I didn't care." Fudge said she used her time out of the business world to travel and to see all the friends she rarely connected with. "More important, I caught up with myself again." The sabbatical opened new vistas for her. She got involved in some venture capital activity, for example. And so when the opportunity to lead Young & Rubicam presented itself, she was able to make the leap into an area very different from the consumer products background from where she had come.
| Don't take your life for granted; don't assume that the next day is a given. |
| — Ann Fudge |
The idea of taking a mid-career sabbatical is one that resonated with Moore, as well. When she became head of Time, Inc., she said she realized that almost none of the company's business executives had ever taken advantage of a company policy that allowed a three-month leave after ten years and a six-month leave after fifteen years.
"Nobody ever thought to take it," she said. "What in the world were we afraid of?"
Since encouraging more executives to take the leave, Moore said the company has discovered how useful it can be for them to recharge their batteries with some significant time away. None of the company's magazines has fallen apart while key figures were gone.
"It's been a wonderful kind of discovery that we can run differently," Moore said.
"No one says you have to work non-stop until you reach some arbitrary retirement age," added Fudge. "Take a break. You may decide you want to do something else."
The challenge of balancing family and work life was a recurrent theme throughout the conference. Both mothers, Moore and Fudge said family life was not an experience they would advise other businesswomen to forego. "Don't put family too far down on the list; it's got to be right up there," Fudge said.
Fudge already had two young children and commuted from Marlboro, Massachusetts, when she attended HBS. She had married and had her first child in college. Both women said their families always played a role in their professional life, and they saw decisions they made to put their families ahead of work opportunities less as sacrifices and more simply part of leading rich lives. Fudge said that when she graduated from business school, taking a lucrative consulting job at a firm such as McKinsey was simply not a consideration; the travel would take her away from her husband and children too often. Moore said she turned down a job that would have required a geographical move while her son was finishing high school.
Moore also advised women not to be too impatient to get to the top. "I would not have wanted the corner office at Time any sooner," she said. After twenty-five years with the company, she continued, "It's not that hard a job. I was really prepared." 