Hannah Menzner - Glass Ceiling Epiphanies: Key Moments That Altered the Trajectory for Women in Business and How to Harness Them in Your Career

When I first started writing this book, I knew I wanted to interview my friend and mentor Noreen Hansen, who had spent much of her career in consulting (even a stint at my own former firm) and had worked her way into the coveted title of managing director (MD). We had met a few years earlier in Washington, DC, through a mutual friend and had bonded over our experiences working in management consulting. She had offered me some sage advice in the past, and I could picture myself following down a career path similar to hers. We set a date for a Zoom interview, but I hadnt yet homed in on the major themeslet alone the titleof my book, so I wanted to see where the conversation would take us. I figured if I came with the right questions, wed land on something that would spark inspiration.

Just a few minutes into our conversation, Noreen shared with me a key moment and discovery that helped shape not only the future of her career but her core values as a leader. In a previous managing director role, she was tapped to lead the first and largest hybrid cloud partnership deal of her companys time. She was confident that she and her team could get the job done, but there was one problemthe client.

One specific client counterpart soon became notorious for interrupting Noreens team members, specifically the women on her team. This infuriated Noreen and made her team members, who were often targeted without clear reason, extremely uncomfortable. After one too many contentious meetings that included yelling and wild gesticulating from said client, Noreen realized this behavior could not continue.

Noreen decided she could not sit by silently and that she would say something in the next meeting. She confirmed this decision with her male boss, who provided his full support. They agreed the message would be best coming from her as the only female MD on the project.

So, she did it. In that next meeting, when the client kept interrupting the female tech leads presentation, Noreen calmly stood up and said:

Excuse me. I think Amy was talking about something thats very important. If we could let her finish and pause all questions and comments to the end, then well go ahead and address your concerns.

Everyone in the room, aside from Noreens boss, took in a collective breath of shock. Sticking up to a client like that was unheard of. The client didnt appear to appreciate the comment and began arguing with Noreen. His typical gesticulating got even wilder than usual. It appeared as if no one had challenged him quite like this before, even though Noreens tone was as polite and professional as she could make it!

It took Noreens boss and a junior male colleague to calm the client down. After leaving the meeting, the three other male MDs on the project looked at Noreen as if she had grown two more heads. One even pulled her aside and told her that she had made a mistake. She shouldnt have done that. The client was always right.

However, Noreen knew she had done the right thing, and her boss agreed and even corrected the other MDs for their poor assumptions (talk about an ally). In that moment, something clicked. Noreen realized that she wanted to be the type of leader and boss who would stand up when anyone on her team was being treated unjustly. She not only put this new mindset and mission into practice but quickly became known for this kind of approach. She was brought onto her next project because her firm was having trouble with a more overtly sexist client.

Noreen had experienced this epiphany at a critical point in her career, as someone in leadership who still had the opportunity to build a niche. Implementing her new guiding principle changed everything for her and for those around her. Her ethos evolved and was strengthened by the conviction that she would stand up for what she believed was right, even if it meant standing up to the client.

What if more women had these key moments, these aha realizations like Noreens, that could unlock a key to growth in their careers? Is there a way to share these kinds of epiphanies with others, so we dont simply repeat each others mistakes? Quite a few barriers seem to exist for professional women that these kinds of revelations would surely help alleviate. Would sharing these epiphanies with each other help us close the gap for female leadership?

These questions floated around in my mind as I reflected on my initial motivation for writing a book. My interest in writing swirled around my anger and frustration with the gender leadership gap. I wanted to dive deep into the latest statistics and ask why things are still the way they are without necessarily offering a solution. I pondered how over two decades into the twenty-first century we are still lagging in terms of gender parity in the business sector. I couldnt help but home in on the following facts:

The wage gap is ever present, with multiple contributors. In the US, women earn eighty-four cents for every dollar men earn, on average (Barroso, 2020). Even among new college graduates, men out earn women. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, average starting salaries for men graduating in the class of 2020 were 22 percent higher than those of women in the class of 2020. This is still the case even though women make up the majority of both college students and college graduates in the US (National Student Clearinghouse, 2022)! Its even worse for minority women. According to the Center for American Progress, Hispanic women experience the largest pay gap, earning just fifty-seven cents for every dollar earned by white, non-Hispanic men. Black women earn just sixty-four cents for every dollar (Bleiweis, 2021).

A nonsensical gap also exists for women at the executive level. Women represent 45 percent of the S&P 500 workforce but only 6.6 percent of the CEOs (Catalyst, 2022). According to Grant Thorntons 2021 Women in Business report, women in North America hold just 33 percent of leadership positions, which is just slightly above the global average of 31 percent. While this is a marked improvement from 2018 numbers (21 percent in North America and 24 percent globally), women still hold approximately one out of three leadership positions. And just in case we needed to justify having more women in leadership, a 2020 McKinsey study found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25 percent