-
How to transcend the transgender debate- AFR Jan
Hi an interesting article in this weekends Australian Financial Review on Megan Wallent a senior Microsoft manager who went through her transition while a senior manager at Microsoft.
“Communication is critical when a male team leader becomes a woman. By taking control of the process, one manager discovered what authentic leadership is all about” writes Daniel McGinn.
“Debra Chrapty his former boss, says Michael was known to be aggressive, a little bit condescending, harsh – he had an arrogant mindset.
That is stark contrast to the style of Megan Wallent. She’s a boss with a high emotional intelligence. She speaks softly and asks probing questions to help them find solutions themselves.Interesting reading on a lot of levels (I’m in HR) unfortunately can’ link to the article, but if you google Megan Wallent there are a lot of articles on her. Enjoy!
Alana
-
2 Replies
-
A nice little read, thanks Alana. For anyone else who’s interested I’ve found her blog on the web through a Google search and the link is below:
Peta A.
-
The AFR article is a very well written piece, covering a remarkable success story of transition in the work place. Of course not every transition goes like this, and many industries and businesses do not support transition in this way. I am not sure of what the statistics are like in Australia, but from various anecdotal stories I have encountered, the going is generally not easy.
The article is also valuable in that being published in such a well respected publication as the Australian Financial review (albeit on page 60) it does make a positive statement for readers/subscribers who/which are most likely to be leading employers in Australia. Any possible positive influence this article makes to (1) transtioning employees and (2) the hiring of transgender candidates is, of course, goodenss. May other media organsiations embrace diversity in a similar, supportive manner, and not let fear, ignorance and prejudice influence its publication policies. After all, that is what journalism is all about, isn’t it?
This is the AFR article (please respect the copyright conditions set out at the end of the article):
Quote:Navigating a very personal gender debate
Daniel McGinnSubject to Copyright. See Copyright information at the end of this article.
Daniel McGinn
The Australian Financial Review | 08 Jan 2011 | Page: 60 | Features
As an up-and-coming manager at Microsoft, Michael Wallent had a reputation for being a tough boss – at times, a bit too tough. He had joined the company in 1996 and advanced quickly; by 1999 he
was overseeing a team of 300 engineers who worked on developing Internet Explorer. Like Microsoft’s founder, Bill Gates, who regularly met Wallent to review his team’s work, Wallent focused on data and facts, not employees’ feelings. And he was known for delivering withering criticism in product-review sessions: “This is stupid.” “This is wrong.” “This is what you need to do”, were typical.Debra Chrapaty, his former boss, says, “Michael was known to be aggressive, a little bit condescending, harsh – he had an arrogant, engineering mindset.”
That’s in stark contrast to the style of Megan Wallent. She’s also one of Microsoft’s best and brightest, who as a general manager ranks among the top 1 per cent of the company’s 89,000 employees and oversees 350 engineers developing user interfaces for server software.
Her employees praise her as a boss with high emotional intelligence. She speaks softly and asks probing questions to help them find solutions themselves.
“Megan is relaxed,” says Angel Calvo, a director of test engineering who’s been at Microsoft for 19 years. “She really thinks about how people are going to feel about particular decisions.”
Two bosses, two styles – but only one person. In 2007 Michael Wallent told colleagues he was transgendered, took six weeks’ leave to undergo breast implantation and facial feminisation
surgeries, and returned to Microsoft in early 2008 as Megan.“Going through the transition was tremendously complicated,” she says, but she tried to approach it like a standard business problem. “I told my managers this was going to happen and I was going to
partner with them on how to make it successful for the company.”Although her bosses were supportive, says Anh Hoang, Wallent’s wife (and a former Microsoft employee), the process was fraught with anxiety.
“We knew this could be a career-limiting move for her,” she says. “She’s probably one of the most senior people at any company to go through this, so she was essentially breaking new ground.”
Wallent says that her transition from man to woman transformed her approach to management, which may ultimately help her career. “I’ve gotten better at my job,” she says, “just through being
more open, honest and transparent, and learning how to better communicate with people.”Like many people with gender identity disorder, Michael Wallent always had a vague sense that his anatomy didn’t match with his sense of self. But that conflict stayed in the background as he studied engineering, married and moved to Seattle to join Microsoft.
By 2005 he’d had two children, divorced his first wife and remarried. He’d shifted from running the Internet Explorer group to overseeing a team that helped design the look and feel of Windows Vista.
In 2007, at age 38 and just two months after he and Hoang had had a child, he told her he was transgendered. A few months later – and with her support – he decided he would transition to living as
a woman, and scheduled surgery for late that year.A few months before the surgery, Wallent asked his boss for a meeting. Chrapaty had been complaining about Microsoft’s struggle to recruit and hire women, so Wallent broke the ice by saying,
“Debra, I’ve decided to do something to increase the diversity of the team, and I’m starting with me.”Although Chrapaty had helped lead Microsoft’s coalition of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered employees, she was shocked.
“I was trying to place it in the context of this super-positioned male executive who’d just come off paternity leave with his wife and baby,” she says. But after initial confusion, she offered help.
Over the next few weeks, Wallent held one-on-one meetings with his dozen direct reports to let them know about his coming change. (As with his family, he started with those he expected would be most
supportive and worked up to the harder cases.) He sent emails to key Microsoft executives, including Gates and chief executive Steve Ballmer, who replied offering encouragement. Then he sent a
message to all 100 members of his team, its unusual contents flagged with a simple subject line “Re: Me.”Gender transitions at work remain relatively rare. Jillian Weiss, an associate professor at Ramapo College who’s studied the issue, says there are no reliable statistics, but her work suggests that
companies with more than 2000 employees in places with tolerant populations are likely to face it at some point.Still, some transgendered employees encounter so much resistance from co-workers they end up leaving their jobs. (That’s particularly unfortunate, since transgendered people typically have a
harder time finding new work, Weiss says, partly because of their appearance.)At most companies the HR department announces the news to employees, usually by holding a meeting without the transitioning worker in attendance so as to encourage a frank discussion of
concerns. Weiss compares the process to announcing a lay-off. “If you’re going to do something that creates anxiety for people, you have to give them information to ease their sense of anxiety,” she says.Wallent rejected this standard approach. “It was critical for me to own the communications process,” she says, citing two reasons: first, relying on others might suggest she was ashamed of the decision, which she wasn’t. Second, she believed that brutal honesty – and a willingness to answer questions, no matter how personal – would shorten the time it took for the news to stop being watercooler gossip.
The process wasn’t entirely smooth. Gender identity disorder is classified as a mental illness in the manual of the American Psychiatric Association and is considered immoral by various religions.
Even at a progressive employer like Microsoft, it was inevitable that some workers would be uncomfortable with Wallent’s transition. One employee mentioned that discomfort when he resigned, although it’s unclear how big a role it actually played in his decision to leave.
Wallent, who’d promised to hear all employee questions, had to face some tough ones. In team meetings before his surgery, he was asked whether he planned to stay married (yes), whether he was attracted to men or women (women), how he intended to deal with his hairy arms (laser treatments), and which bathroom he would use upon his return to work (the ladies’ room).
Although the sessions were difficult, Wallent now views them as a crucial part of her transition. “A lot of people came back to me with these incredibly personal stories about things that had happened to
them that were equally transformative,” she says.Ultimately, she thinks her new management style has little to do with the oestrogen pills she takes daily. She believes it’s a byproduct of those intimate conversations with her colleagues.
“They really brought home the value of authentic leadership, and of letting the people on your team in to see your whole self,” she says. “It makes them more comfortable in their jobs.”
For employees who never knew Megan as Michael (now the majority of her team, owing to job changes and the passage of time), her transition feels like a non-event; what they know about it
comes only through second-hand observations and recollections.“I’ve heard she speaks with a quieter voice now,” says Angie Anderson, a project unit manager who’s worked for Wallent for two years. “People think she’s a better manager.”
But employees who worked for both Michael and Megan say they continue to notice the change. Calvo, the director of test engineering, recalls that when Michael offered feedback on prototype software, “people would leave the room paralysed – ‘Wow, I almost got fired’ – because of his directness, his bluntness”.
But, he says, “Megan has a completely different approach. She still comes to the same conclusion, but she drives people in a more emotional way. ‘Have you thought about this?’ She’s becoming more
of a coach, instead of a general.”On most days, Wallent considers her gender transition a closed chapter in her professional life. Still, she worries about whether she’ll “pass” as a woman while representing Microsoft on customer visits
and whether clients who recognise her as transgendered will react badly. (So far they haven’t, she says.) There are also periodic reminders of her unique status: for instance, she’s still officially listed as a man for HR purposes, partly to avoid tax and legal problems.Her worries about imperilling her career, however, seem to have been unfounded. She is currently one level below vice-president, and on the basis of her performance reviews, she thinks she’s on track to eventually be promoted – perhaps faster than Michael would have been, because of her evolving leadership style.
Whereas Michael relied on technical expertise as the key to his authority, Megan says her focus is people. “I want to be the type of leader who helps people achieve their full potential, and to get the
most out of them every day,” she says. “That’s been part of my transition – learning how to lead from the people.”© TM ® | afr.com material is copyright & is published by Fairfax or under licence. Except for the temporary computer cache copy & a single permanent copy for personal reference, it may not be used, copied, reproduced, published, distributed, sold or resold, stored in a retrieval system, altered or transmitted in any form or by any means in whole or part or otherwise disseminated to others (except by fair dealing) without the prior written approval of Fairfax or the relevant licensor. AFR, afr.com, the AFR logo & the newspaper mastheads are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fairfax & its related bodies corporate. Other trademarks & logos of a third party may be displayed from time to time, but no display grants any licence or right of use of any such trademark or logo without the express written permission of the relevant owner.
Additionally, Megan is on the Board of Directors of Out And Equal. Out & Equal™ Workplace Advocates is the largest and most effective national, nonprofit organization dedicated to achieving workplace equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees and professionals. If you work for an American company, there is some likelihood that your employer may be a member of this organisation. If so, you will have an opportunity to influence the implementation of better practices within your, and other’s work place by becoming involved in Out and Equal events. Check it out. Even if your employer is not a member of Out and Equal, you will find a lot of material and resources there that are useful in implementing transgender (as well as gay and lesbian) friendly policies and work practices that you can use with your employer.
