The Michigan Women’s Business Council presented the 7th Annual Michigan Women’s Business Conference and Expo held at The Rock Financial Showplace in Novi, Michigan. As President of AWAF and a co-sponsor of this event, I was invited to participate in the Women’s Leadership Forum. This forum was to discuss how the leading national business organizations are working to advance the interests of women business owners and Women Business Enterprises (WBE). I thoroughly enjoyed my participation and thought you would enjoy my comments:

The Automotive Women’s Alliance Foundation or AWAF is proud to be a sponsor here today. As President of the non-profit organization, AWAF, and as President of my company QuadWest Associates, LLC, I was asked to prepare to answer this question:

Would you share with us the status of women in the automotive industry as well as how women business owners can use AWAF to advance their businesses?

The second part of this question – sharing how women business owners can use AWAF to advance their businesses – is easy. I will be happy to answer this.

The first part of this question – Share with us the status of women in the automotive industry” – is about as much fun as answering “How much do I weigh?”

The answer for both is personal…

And can best be answered with

“Well I have come a long way and I have some more work to do!”

I take the status of women in the Automotive Industry personally. It is the Automotive Industry that gave me tremendous experiences, a beautiful home, a great Cadillac CTS to drive, a well funded 401K with GM stock…

My first job out of college was with General Motors as a College Grad in Training in 1979.

My last job in a corporate position was with a $165 million joint venture company serving Delphi as the President in 2004.

Every position in between was directly tied to the Automotive Industry. I did climb the corporate ladder from payroll clerk roles to Supervisor roles, to General Manager to VP to President.

The climb was a roller coaster ride full of ups and downs.

There are three key insights I gained from looking back over my career in automotive that are serving me well even now as an Entreprenuer:
1) I took risks. When I was with MSX we had an opportunity to quote opening an office in Mexico City to support GM. We won the project, I saw it as an opportunity to create MSX de Mexico and run the office in Mexico.

Shall I name the RISKS – my company was unsure of just how profitable this “GM win was”, I would be leaving behind a job I knew well, I did not speak Spanish, my family – a husband and two sons 7 and 10 lived here in Troy, Americans doing business in Mexico City were a target for crime…
I once again sought the job and got it – not sure anyone else wanted it! This position made the difference in my career – I stepped up and demonstrated leadership with a successful launch and profitability for MSX deMexico with in six months! My confidence blossomed.

2) I made requests and choices that suited me. I took ownership of my career.

I took the opportunity for a buyout from GM when I felt my career there was not working and my personal family needs demanded more attention.

Another time… I said to my boss “I am curious why we have VP’s in the corporate offices with folks who are not bringing in revenue, and he has team members like my self who have $60 million in annual revenue coming into the company who are General Managers…”

Then there was the time I was demoted from Sales VP to a Manager during a company restructuring working for someone who had been my peer. I immediately knew this was not going to work for me. Knowing that my relationship with Delphi, the client, my relationship with the joint venture company, TechCentral, supporting Delphi and that a critical contract renewal was coming up, I quickly asked a few of my trusted colleagues to help pull together a plan for me to be formally selected as President for TechCentral. I took action to turn an uncomfortable position into a win – not only for me but also for the client and my company as the contract was renewed for another three years and we won Delphi’s Supplier of the Year Award a year later.

3) I delivered results. I made a habit early in my career of tracking my progress to action plans, to quantifying the numbers – Days Outstanding, Customer Satisfaction, Number of Hires, Turnover, Revenue, Profit and yes sometimes Losses – those early 90’s were very tough years and then again in 2000 – I knew what my numbers were and over time I became better at sharing my results with management.
Now when I look back at these 3 key insights –
1) taking risks – taking a path no one else wanted
2) making requests and taking ownership of my career choices, and
3) delivering results, being accountable

I did not always realize what I was doing at the time, but I did trust my gut when I new action was needed even when I was unsure of what it should be or what the outcome would be if I took it.

I share my personal story with you because I believe there is a strong undercurrent of activity all throughout the Automotive Industry. Women are succeeding and making a difference in their positions and are doing so below the radar screen. I encourage women to take ownership, ask for more, take risks and be accountable.

When I look back to when I started in General Motors and the number of women in key positions within the company and within the supplier community, it was difficult to find enough women to count them off the five fingers on one hand. Now we can easily count more than 10 hands worth easily.

Is this progress? Absolutely! Is it enough progress? No!

We must take the status of women in the automotive industry personally. Personally we must look to see if we are contributing, stepping up to our own leadership capabilities.

“We have come a long way and we have some more work to do”

Now to answer how women business owners can use AWAF to advance their businesses…

AWAF is an organization dedicated to that advancement of women in the global automotive industry. AWAF is unique in that:
we Champion Women and since 1991 have given close to $80000 in scholarships to over 30 women pursuing careers in automotive.

we provide Access to Powerful Women through our Executive Advisors and the diversity of roles in our membership representing Manufacturing, Marketing, Dealerships, Finance, Sales Business Development, Human Resources and many more…

we provide Networking and Relationship Building opportunities with Top Women Automotive Executives. Our events are more intimate and our panelists are very open and approachable sharing of their lessons learned from doing business in Automotive

and we provide an opportunity for Members to share experiences, learn from one another, give back to other women in meaningful ways.

One of our members was seeking a pay raise and gained invaluable insight from her peers in understanding her value and how to craft her message to her boss powerfully. She got her raise.

Another member was pricing out a proposal for new and expanded services that would take her business to the next level. Through discussions with AWAF members, she realized she was underbidding the value of her services and became confident with new knowledge to bid the business higher than she had imagined and won the client!

We do business with one another. I personally have used the services of several of our members and just last week have connected one of members with one of my clients.

It is these kind of experiences that make me proud to serve AWAF as its President. I invite you to become a member.

This is the commencement speech given by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios. I loved listening to him speak on his experiences. When he looked backwards on the choices he made, he could then connect the dots on how each of his different and sometimes unexpected experiences influenced his future. This speech had me reflecting on my own life journey – It is amazing to me how the knowledge I have gained many years before comes forward and makes my current problem or dilemna much easier. Steve talks about trust – “trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

I have spoken about taking a look at your life’s journey, a look at the breakdowns and breakthroughs… looking at how the dots connect. It is refreshing to hear Steve Jobs speak on his own life events. Take a moment and let me know if you too enjoy this speech.

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Steve Ballmer, CEO Microsoft, was speaking today at the Detroit Economic Club event I attended. His energy could be felt throughout the entire room. Steve speaks passionately with messages that are hard to ignore. There were three key things I noted about one of my favorite Business Leaders – Steve Ballmer:

1) He demonstrated leadership and commitment to the company by stating and referencing Microsoft’s vision at least twice during his speech and the answers to questions.
2) He named Microsoft’s values without hesitation.
3) He spoke about leadership accountability referring to how far Microsoft had come on the predictions he had made when he spoke to the same group five years earlier.

For me, being a strong advocate and coaching my client’s about vision, values and accountability, to hear such a strong business leader openly talk about these three leadership topics made my day!

Today I was notified that I am the newly elected President of the Automotive Women’s Alliance Foundation (AWAF). I  am honored to have this opportunity to lead this non profit organization which has a mission I am committed to. AWAF is a professional organization dedicated to the advancement of women in the global automotive industry.  Since  my whole career advancement has been in the  Automotive industry, I have a strong interest in promoting women in the Automotive industry especially during these tough economic times some of the major automotive companies are experiencing. I want to see women contribute and grow in their influence in this industry.

One of the greatest contributions AWAF makes every year is providing scholarships to college and professional women who are pursuing a career in an automotive related field.

As the newly elected President, I am proud to step into this leadership position. My focus will be in three areas:
1) Strategic Planning – facilitating the Board to define the top five strategic objectives and defining the major milestones, champions and action steps for accomplishment.
2) Working with the Team – supporting each Board member and Chair to ensure they know what is expected of them and that they have the proper resources to succeed.
3) Leadership Role – representing AWAF at every event and actively asking others to join us in our mission to  advance women in  the global  automotive  industry.

It was an exciting weekend. Many jump-for-joy wins and many heartbreaking defeats. Every match a winner and a loser.

James did not place at the State Wrestling Championships. He lost his first two matches which took him out of the running to place. There are 11,000 wrestlers in the State of Michigan of which 896 make it to compete at the State level. James was one of this top 8%.

Thank you to the tremendous response I had to my email and all the encouraging words you offered. I shared them with James. Amy responded to my email and asked that I share with James these words from Michael Jordan:

"I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. "
~Michael Jordan~

How many times do we forget the value of failure and all the learnings that come from failure? Do we bounce back with renewed energy and commitment?

James has set a new goal for next year to place at States and is already taking a look at the competition that would be at his weight class next year of 171 pounds.

It is quite an experience to watch someone grow and develop. It is very rewarding and contributes to why I love being a leader and am so committed to developing more leaders.

Soon I will be offering you an opportunity to listen in as I interview leaders about their leadership style and how they contribute to building leaders. Watch for more details coming in this summer!

Once again thank you for the warm words of encouragement. They were very much appreciated!

Lead passionately,
Susan

My son, James, a Junior in High School has qualified to compete in the State Wrestling Championship for his weight class at 160 pounds. We are going today to the opening ceremony which includes a Grand March of all the wrestlers from all over the State who have earned the right to compete at this prestigious event.

I am so proud of James. He had set this goal of competing at the State Wrestling Championship seven years ago when he saw a friend of ours compete at the State level. He told his Dad then at ten years old, "I’m going to States, Dad. I’m going to be here."

And here he is – going to States.

As a Mom, I am very proud! As a Leader, I am very impressed. James declared a goal and has worked very hard and diligently to achieve this milestone. I have observed the breakdowns and breakthroughs of his journey. I have seen him dig deep to be the last one to compete in the Team tournament and having to win against the opponent to have the team win and do it!

So I ask myself as a leader what can I learn from James? My observations of how he has recovered from defeat, how he works physically and mentally to step up his efforts has me looking at my own commitments. Am I committed enough to my goals? Am I working through my breakdowns? Do I have the confidence to continue on, to take it to the next level? Am I contributing to the team to make a difference?

These are powerful questions and my son is indirectly having me step up my game. So I ask you too to observe those around you and see what you can learn from others who are demonstrating leadership. You may be surprised who you may be learning from…

I will keep you posted this weekend on the events of the State Wrestling Championship and how my son is doing!

Here’s to stepping up your leadership,
Susan