Commenting on Huffington Post article: Women At Ernst & Young Instructed On How To Dress, Act Nicely Around Men
Having worked at a close competitor of E&Y for 15 years, and taken part in several women’s leadership workshops at KPMG, I suspect one could find examples of this and much worse in many of the top firms. I’m not mad at Marsha Clark & Associates who gave the training. I think it’s probably a very accurate and honest depiction of how women are positioned to succeed at many large firms.
The documents referenced in the article seem to perfectly describe how to fit into male norms, not cause conflict, and how to make men feel comfortable. Wouldn’t it be great if the big firms instead focused on training women how to change the culture, how to disrupt the norm, how to inspire new ways of thinking and how to succeed USING our “female traits” instead of despite our female traits.
I will always be eternally grateful for the training and experience I received working in the #bigfour – and with that season of my career over I can assure you that my colleagues and I at #VirtasPartners understand the power of diverse thought and diverse styles. Our Founders have a deep appreciation for the power of women. Virtas comes from the Latin words for “Virtue” & “Truth”. Those are the traits we expect in all our leaders and I hope those traits are never seen as only male or female.