women in leadership Archives

It’s time for Tone at the Top on Diversity – or Why Uber is Yet Another Wakeup Call for Boards and CEOs in Tech

Uber is just the latest company caught in the act of discriminating against women in it's workforce. Sadly for many minorities in tech this is an old story. As Ellen Pao writes in today's Time article it is an indication of "tech's existential rot". In a world that "started off seemingly harmlessly by white men funding white men with few exceptions. When only white men were given opportunities, only white men were successful. White men went on hiring only white men, because it seemed to be a common trait of [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-09T19:56:37-08:00February 24, 2017|Boards|0 Comments

Open Letter to CEOs: Manage Your Interaction With Your Board!

Posted in Inc today So you're the new CEO of your own company. You're living the dream! You've thought through the pros and cons of being a CEO and you've got your first round of venture capital funding. This means you also have a board to manage, which can be a minefield for you. So how to navigate the minefield? To begin, you must create a well-organized board meeting. Use my Top 10 tips to run a board meeting as a starting point but once you have the logistics down, [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-03T02:44:24-08:00April 30, 2015|Leadership|0 Comments

Me in the New York Times: What Parents Can Teach A CEO

When the New York Times said they wanted to interview me for the CEO Corner I had a series of reactions:"Wow - that's great!! Fantastic exposure for FirstRain!" "OMG - what will I say? What if I sound like an idiot?" "Help! What will I wear?" Classic girl. Worried about what I'll wear and what other people will think. Yes, even 54 year old CEOs have the same thoughts you probably have if you are female. But in the end, I'm very pleased with the result... and I wore my [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-13T07:08:55-08:00September 28, 2014|Leadership, My Personal Journey|1 Comment

Why being “too aggressive” is a compliment for a leader

Much is being written right now about high performing men and women are described differently in reviews. Kimberly Weisul in Inc calls it an "insane double standard", and Kieran Snyder who wrote up the original survey in Fortune points out the old truth professional women know: Jane - who is a strong female - gets the feedback to be less aggressive whereas Joe - who is a strong male - gets the feedback to be more patient. In Kieran's survey a full 71% of women had negative feedback in their [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-03T02:44:25-08:00September 2, 2014|Leadership|0 Comments

Three things you can do to hire women and change your company forever

Posted in the Huffington Post Our world is changing very fast, and the role of women is changing fast with it -- and, mostly, for the positive. We have more women in power, more women in the workforce, more women in control of their lives but there still aren't representative numbers of women at the top of companies. And yet, we now know that diverse teams make better decisions. We know women make 85 percent of consumer buying decisions, and so, if you sell anything to them, you probably want [...]

By Penny Herscher|2017-12-06T09:50:00-08:00February 19, 2014|Equality, Leadership|0 Comments