Friday, Mar 6, 2020 • 17min
Valerie Jarrett on When Women Lead
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We know Valerie Jarrett as the longest, and closest, Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama. How did she make her way to the White House? And what leadership lessons does she have to pass along? Valerie joins Seneca Women at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City to discuss the power of professional networks, effective ways to make progress and pursuing a fulfilling career path. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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(3)
Valerie Jarrett
Melanne Verveer
Kim Azzarelli
Transcript
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Break
Melanne Verveer
02:37
Hi, this is
Melanne Verveer
.Share
Kim Azzarelli
02:41
And this is Kim Azzarelli.
Share
Melanne Verveer
02:42
We are co-authors of the book Fast Forward: How Women can Achieve power and Purpose.
Share
Kim Azzarelli
02:48
And you're listening to Seneca Women: Conversations on Power and Purpose. Brought to you by the Seneca Women Podcast Network and
iHeart Radio
. Attorney and businesswoman Valerie Jarrett
rose to political heights as the longest serving senior advisor to President Barack Obama
.Share
03:04
She joined Seneca Women at the
Metropolitan Museum Of Art
to discuss her journey to the White House, lessons she learned as a leader and effective ways to fight for progress. Enjoy this conversation with Valerie
and Melanne
and stick around after the discussion for our top takeaways.Share
Melanne Verveer
03:20
Valerie
was the longest serving senior advisor to President Obama.
Among her multiple roles, one that I worked with her closely on was the Council On Women And Girls, and a lot did get accomplished. Today she is the senior advisor to the Obama Foundation
and the chair of When We All Vote.Share
03:47
She is also the author of the
New York Times
bestselling book "Finding my voice - A Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward". And each of you has a copy of that book in your gift bag today.Share
04:03
Thank you.
Share
04:07
So,
Valerie,
we're coming up, as you heard and as you well know, to the 100th anniversary of Women's Suffrage
in the United States
. And the 25th anniversary on the Beijing Conference. What is your sense at this anniversary moment? Are we doing better? And especially in terms of women's leadership?Share
Valerie Jarrett
04:28
Well, we are doing better, but we still have a very, very long way to go. By almost every possible metric women and girls are still lagging. One important that one though, where we are making progress and a it's a key one, is education. We're graduating from college at a higher rate than men now, and we're half the population. But we all know as soon as we enter the workforce there are barriers, both structural and cultural barriers, that come to work.
Share
04:55
And so the question becomes what are we going to do to remove those barriers? And one of the many lessons I learned my eight years in
Washington
is that people who are in power, actually like power. And they're not inclined to want to give it up. And the only way you can try to do that is to have a coalition of the willing and not talk about these issues any longer as a nice to do, or the right thing to do. But frankly, as a business imperative for businesses in the United States
that want to be globally competitive.Share
05:25
And of course, the same thing applies to everyone else. You can live anywhere, work anywhere and be productive, and the only way we're going to compete is to both attract and retain the most talented people. And right now there are obstacles to us doing that. But I guess one message in this kind of comes full circle to coming up on the 100th anniversary, is that change takes time. And it takes a relentless amount of hard work.
Share
05:47
It takes broadening the universe of people that we include in this struggle far beyond those who are directly impacted, but to get those who are indirectly impacted to appreciate that affects their lives too. And I would close this question, perhaps, by saying to one year for my birthday,
President Obama
gave me a copy the petition for Universal Suffrage
, which was signed in 1866.Share
06:10
And alongside of it was the resolution introduced to Congress to give Women the right to vote, which was introduced in May of 1919. 53 years. And so if you think about the women who were out there demonstrating and being imprisoned and hunger strikes and having their husbands pretty ticked off at them at the beginning of that journey, many of them didn't see the finish line.
Share
06:35
And I think part of what we have to help people understand is that this takes time and relentless effort, and we need those thunderbolts. And I think for example, the Me Too Movement was a thunderbolt dealing with culture. And the question is, how do we keep putting our foot on the pedal to keep that progress changing?
Share
Melanne Verveer
06:52
And you're exactly right, we need to accelerate that progress, which is what we're all about here as we gather. So how did you see this progress in your own life? Because clearly you've been on a trajectory.
Share
Valerie Jarrett
07:04
Yeah. In a sense of a trailblazer, in a lot of ways. I will say one thing I figured out after six years, is to work in a culture where I could thrive. And I was fortunate because I had choices and there are far too many women and girls who do not have choices, and therefore it's up to the rest of us to advocate for them.
Share
07:21
But once I figured out, and sorry if I'm offending anybody at a big law firm, but once I figured out the big law firm was actually not for me and began to work in an environment where I could be my whole self, and I didn't have to pretend. When I was in a law firm and I was nine months pregnant, I was trying to pretend I wasn't pregnant while I gained £90. I was frightened.
Share
Melanne Verveer
07:40
So you obviously didn't succeed in pretending.
Share
Valerie Jarrett
07:44
I did not succeed, everybody knew it. But I thought if I talked about it, and after my daughter was born, if I talked about her, that people would not take me so seriously. And I think that's wrong, but yet that is still the case in far too many places of employment. And I actually believe that when you make yourself vulnerable and you say what you need, if you are in a position to do, then it's a teaching moment.
Share
08:06
And I think too often we expect people to read our minds and recognize that when you're nine months pregnant, you go to the bathroom a lot, right? But nobody wants to talk about it, or in my book, I talk about menopause. You know what guys, It's a reality of our lives, and we shouldn't be shying away from expressing what's different about us and what our needs are. And it's not just women, it's working families, right?
Share
08:29
Working families. My son-in-law is much more engaged with my grandson, my brand new grandson's life, than my husband was in mine or my dad, who was a great dad, was in mine. And so I think part of it is understanding that in this new environment, fortunately men and women should be treated on par and equal if we're going to compete.
Share
08:49
So one of my big policy positions that I've been talking about lately is
paid leave
. First of all, we're the only developed country in the world, we are the only developed country in the world that doesn't have one. But what do we have when we do have it? Why is there a difference between what women and men have?Share
09:05
Don't we want our men to be equal partners, and why are women taking off, let's say, three and four months, or six months, which they should. But why are we not thinking about men in the same vein? And if we really want a level playing field, those are the kinds of conversations I think we should be having.
Share
Melanne Verveer
09:18
And that is good progress, talking about what your son-in-law is doing that you didn't see, you know, in earlier generations. And I find that men are realizing more and more when they are in those settings with their newborn. They are realizing benefits they never felt before or understood.
Share
Valerie Jarrett
09:39
But they have to be in a work environment where... you can't just have a policy, people have to live it or the policy means nothing.
Share
Melanne Verveer
09:46
But the benefits are all there if we would just realize that. You know, at the first Equal Rights Convention,
Women's Rights Convention
back in 1848, I think it was, the women were pretty scandalous in some ways. One was the fact that they were speaking out when women were not supposed to speak publicly. So again, some change.Share
10:10
But you know, one of the things you have written about and spoken about is the need for women to use their voice and to speak out when they are in positions where it can have impact. Why is that so important? Because we don't often realize that that could make such a difference.
Share
Valerie Jarrett
10:28
Well, I think part of it is we're afraid to speak out. I know, and this is one way I hope it has changed that, when I was younger, young working mom, I was afraid that if I talked about my daughter, people wouldn't take me as seriously.
Share
10:42
And what I grew to understand as I became a manager is that, when my team told me what was going on in their lives, it enabled me to bring out the best in them, and it developed a level of vulnerability and relationship that actually made them more productive and me a better manager.
Share
10:58
And so I think when you go into it realizing that if you open up and talk about what's going on rather than expecting people to read your mind, there's a moment that they can actually learn something. And it is on us to teach, we can't just expect them to clear view, to know what we need.
Share
11:15
And I think it's also helpful when we get academics to do research and begin to show that, for example, there's mounting research that shows that employers who focus on issues like equal pay and raising the minimum wage and workplace flexibility, paid leave, paid sick days, affordable childcare, a culture free from sexual harassment, that they have a more productive workforce and more efficient workforce, a loyaler workforce and in the private sector, more profitable.
Share
11:41
And the better we can make the business case for it, I think then it is enlightened self-interest and people are willing to not as much give you their power, but certainly share and appreciate the fundamental proposition that diversity is a strength, and if you go into it assuming diversity is a strength, and that you will make better decisions as a CEO or a manager if you're not simply being in an echo chamber with people with your own life experiences.
Share
12:07
Then you realize it's in your enlightened self-interest to work at achieving the diversity that you need in your workplace.
Share
Melanne Verveer
12:14
Well, I think you said that so well. In fact, it's an evidence based case today and there's plenty of data to uphold what you just said. And that is a win-win. It's a win for business and it's a win for a better world. So thank you for saying that.
Share
12:34
Now, when you were in the White House, you did many wonderful things. They were tough times as always. It is having also been in the White House for eight years and a different administration, but it's not an easy job. And I thought one of the great things you did for the women, and to teach a lesson to the guys, was amplification. What precipitated that and what did it result in?
Share
Valerie Jarrett
13:04
I'm glad you asked me that, because I think there was a
Washington Post
story about this. It probably gave us credit from being more deliberate than we were, but I think the way we did it was the best way. So I began to notice a few months in, and I take a step back to remind you, when President Obama
was elected, our economy was in a free fall, the banks were big banks around the verge of collapse, millions of people were losing their homes and their jobs, and we had two wars going on.Share
13:30
There was a lot going on, let's just say that. And so tension was high, we were all new, none of us had worked together in that setting before. And we were, as we used to say, driving over 747 at the same time as we were trying to put gas in it, if you can imagine that. So I began to notice early on, not so much in meetings with
President Obama
, but in our senior staff meetings, that the women's voices were shrinking. And it troubled me.Share
13:53
And I knew how important it was to the President that he had this robust group of advisers with different expertises and life experiences weighing in on critical matters. And so I mentioned it to him, and he said, "Well that's not acceptable". And he's like, what's going on? I said: all the same things that always go on in a workplace where you have men and women. And he said, but that's not the culture I want in this White House.
Share
14:15
And I realized that people come to each job with the experiences that they had before to bear. And they couldn't read his mind and say "it's going to be different here". And there were a lot of loud voices, let's face it. And so he said, let's have everybody over for dinner. So he invited the senior women, about 12 of us over for dinner, and he asked each one of them to go around and explain what the issue was.
Share
14:36
And I had gone to each of them ahead of time and I said: you better speak up! Because if you go in there as you are want to do, people are want to do, "yes Mr President, everything's just fine", then I will look stupid, and I don't really care to look stupid. So fortunately they were quite forthcoming, and he listened so close and it was the same day as the
Fort Hood
massacre.Share
14:57
And so it was terrible to have this kind of a crisis on our own military base. The President been in the situation room all day and some of the women thought, well, he probably won't come. I said no, he'll come, because this is important to him. So what I remember most is that at the end he said: "Look this is the White House. I know it's tense, I know we have a lot going on, but you're here for a reason, you're here because I need your voices. So don't go in there and fight for yourself and let your own pride and ego hold you back if you get rebuffed. Fight for your ideas because I'll make a better decision with the benefit of those ideas. "
Share
15:29
Right? How empowering was that? You tell a group of women that they need to go in there and fight because that's what the leader of the free world has asked you to do. It was amazing. So at the end of the dinner he goes, "Look, culture takes a minute. I'm gonna work on this, but I want you to come back to me if you don't think we're making progress, because we're gonna get this right. "
Share
15:49
And so then I started inviting the women to dinner, and we had our own dinners without him. And at the end of the each dinner, I would say, "do we need to have another dinner with the president? " They'd go, "no, no, we're good". And the reason we were good is that we got to know each other. We told our stories, our children, our parents, our life dreams, where we've been before, and we developed a relationship with one another.
Share
16:10
When you go into a meeting and you see somebody around the table who you just had dinner with the like the night before, and they know you, you are much more confident about speaking up right? And people thought we orchestrated this to like, amplify each other's voices, but it actually happened quite organically because we cared about each other.
Share
16:29
And if somebody is hanging out there on a sentence and nobody's listening and you care about that person, you'll say to the room, well wait a minute, what about what
Melanne
said? And I think so there is safety in numbers, but there's also safety in relationships. And it can't just be the women, though that was really important, it has to be the men too.Share
16:46
At the end of the first term, somebody said to
President Obama
, "How do you compare how you started out to the end of your first term " He said, "At the beginning, I had the absolute best players on the field because that's what we needed. " He said, "At the end of the first term, I had the best team. "Share
Melanne Verveer
17:03
Wow, that's a great statement.
Share
Valerie Jarrett
17:04
Right? And that takes a while to build. And I think what we have to do is be intentional about building it, and not expect it just happened because you think it.
Share
Melanne Verveer
17:12
Excellent. You know, I have so many questions and we have no time. But you have the book, so you will find a lot of wisdom in that book. And I think this last statement that you made about using one's voice and really saying what you need, and you see it needs to be done, is really very, very good advice.
Share
Valerie Jarrett
17:35
Thank you for your leadership,
Melanne
. Thank you everyone who's here. You're a coalition of the winning, and we appreciate it. Thank you.Share
Melanne Verveer
17:41
I love that, a coalition of the winning.
Share
Kim Azzarelli
17:49
Stay tuned for our takeaways after this break.
Share
Break
Kim Azzarelli
20:49
If you enjoyed that conversation, make sure to check out
Valerie
's book: "Finding my voice - my Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward. "Share
20:59
Now there are a lot of important takeaways from that discussion that can be applied to any workplace or project. First. get to know your network.
Valerie
advise is that it's a lot easier to manage and work with people that you know, and trust. A trusted network can build an individual's confidence, and create a strong and productive team.Share
21:18
Second, change takes time. And partnerships are critical. Sometimes you just need to think outside of the box on how to include unexpected allies. Lastly, aim to work in a culture where you can thrive and be your most authentic self. Successful careers are rarely linear, and sometimes you just need to change course to find the right environment for you. Just think about it
, if Valerie
had never resigned from that first legal position.Share
Break
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Valerie Jarrett
Melanne Verveer
Kim Azzarelli