The Roche Report

We are in the thick of onboarding season for our new college hires and almost to the end of our interns; likewise, I have a couple of family members who are early in their career or in the middle of their internships and so I’ve been thinking a lot about things that I wish I had known - or lessons I learned along the way.   When I first started at IBM, one of the first tasks that was assigned to me was to plan a go-live party for the project I was on. I planned the party, thinking it was an extravagant event… but did not plan a bar or any cocktails (we were WORKING after all!!!); my boss at the time was quick to fix that mistake before the event review with our project partner (it WAS a CELEBRATION after all!!!!). Then, the partner completely overhauled my menu that I’d spent hours perfecting (as it turns out passed appetizers are better than stations… etc.).   Another big task of mine at the time was to create the slides for the weekly project status meeting. I had two major issues in

Last week, IBM and Chief came out with a study that found that pipeline of female talent has hollowed out in the middle; there have been increases in C-Suite and Board representation (12%) and an increase in junior roles to 37% but the pipeline for top leadership levels hasn't recovered from pre-pandemic levels, with 14% of women in Senior Vice President and 16% in Vice President roles. https://newsroom.ibm.com/2023-03-01-IBM-and-Chief-Study-Finds-Women-in-Leadership-Pipeline-has-Hollowed-Out-in-the-Middle  I've been reflecting on this study a lot... first, I'm a new {female} Vice President... so what's a first hand perspective from the hollow middle? First, I'll start with the fact that I'm optimistic. The culture of the work world has changed A LOT over the past several years, and I can state with first hand experience that the culture at IBM has shifted a lot. The shift to remote in the pandemic certainly helped me with this culture shift - making the ability

Charlie recently turned 5 (!!!). Which means it is also my 5th birthday as a mom. Both feel super significant! I'm not typically super focused on my kids milestones, but her fifth birthday has hit me a bit differently than some of the other milestones - it (and she!) feels so big! It's hard to believe how much our lives have changed in the past five years - it feels both long and short. Another element of having a five year old is that she is very interested in her story in a way she hasn't been, so I've been particularly nostalgic telling her about the day before she was born, finding out I was going to be induced (I was a wreck with nerves), memories of the whole day in the hospital (the chick made us wait!), and then getting to meet our chick who came out eyes wide open and needing to know what was going on and who was there, which consequently is something that has never stopped.  Charlie is fun, funny, and whip smart. I'm amazed by everything she knows - and ho

As part of my focus on creating an awesome environment for the women on my team, I host a monthly call featuring awesome female executives (both IBM and client) talking about their career path and talking about specific topics / issues. We recently had Katrina Alcorn, who is the new General Manager of IBM Design. I could wax poetic about the call -- as well as how awesome it is to have a woman leading IBM Design - but I will focus on one thing she said at the end of the call.  As context, Katrina wrote a book about burning out as a working Mom ( Maxed Out - American Moms on the Brink ) and at the end, she highlighted 10 things to do right now to support yourself (and support women at work). Of the 10, three especially jumped out to me. 1) Practice Saying No, 2) Tell your partner what you need (and for me this was tell EVERYONE what you need - saying out loud what I need is something I personally struggle with), and 3) Be an ally to other women. I asked Katrina about this on the call an

When I was little, my parents used to complain about my approach and style - to the point that they often told me that I was being bossy. This was such a frequent occurrence in my house that one year in high school, my mom gave me a little wall sign as a joke (I think?) that said "I'm not bossy, I just have better ideas."  It was frustrating to me at the time, because I DID have better ideas (I'm joking, I think).  In all honesty, I had some personal challenges at home that probably led to me being more assertive (or as my parents called me, bossy), including a really loving mom who struggled with alcoholism and probably ADD, which led to me needing to take charge of personal details like scheduling doctor's appointments, hair appointments, getting school supplies, etc. at a fairly young age (like in elementary school). As I have since learned in therapy and through attending family therapy at my mom's alcohol rehab, a fairly common reaction for children of al

“We are standing together, shoulder to shoulder, all working for one common good. And the good of each of us as individuals affects the greater good of the company.” – Thomas Watson, Sr., Chairman & CEO, IBM, 1915-1956 I am really proud that I work for a company that embraces the power of diversity; and I am really proud that I have an incredibly diverse team working for me - from all angles: gender, race, age, and, of course, LGBTQ+ as well.  I’ve reflected a lot about what I want to say about Pride this year and how I can continue to support (and/or continue to improve how I support) my LGBTQ+ colleagues. This year stands out for me given our particularly charged political environment and understanding how challenging and completely worrisome it is to my LGBTQ+ friends and colleagues. So, for me it is a moment that I wanted to emphasize how I think about being an ally at work. I think one particular challenge of LGBTQ+ experience at work is the feeling of constantly having to exp