The Roche Report

Last week, IBM published a study about advancing women in the workplace . One key finding was that in spite of the increased discussion about the importance of gender diversity in the workplace, most companies are not actively prioritizing it as a strategic initiative. Two stats that jumped out to me as I read the study were: "58 percent say fewer women than men want to take on leadership obligations."  "Mindset matters. We asked survey respondents how long it will take for their industries to exhibit an equal balance of women and men across all leadership levels. On average, they estimate 54 years—more than two generations into the future."  54 years!!! W.T.F!??! And do we really think that women don't WANT to take on leadership obligations? IBM's study is likely not new news; but I certainly appreciate that my employer is contributing to the discussion about how to drive gender diversity in the workforce - and this is a topic I am passionate about...

It's that time of year - the time for reflection on what went well last year, what didn't, and what you want to drive towards this year. Personally, this often comes in the form of New Year resolutions, resolutions to {finally} exercise, or totally change our diet, or dedicate more personal time to meditation or prayer or to family. Professionally, this is in the form of measurable targets, time-bound metrics, and always in the form of growth. I spent some time talking about building professional goals with my team today and one of the comments on the call was that it would be helpful if I shared my goals with the team so that they could work on goals that could ultimately roll up to mine - at least at an organization level. So, I thought I would write a blog about both the structure that I try to use for writing goals - as well as what some of my own goals are personally this year. First, the structure - IBM has a goals system called Checkpoint where we are asked to measur...

Two weeks before I came back to work from my maternity leave, I received a text from my boss, Shannon, to check my email -- only to receive an email from Ginni, our CEO, congratulating me for being recognized as part of the 2018 class of Best of IBM. For those not familiar with this distinction, it is an award given annually to the top 1,000 IBMers that culminates in a trip for you and your spouse to a lovely tropical location with lots of cool perks (new sunglasses, Nick Jonas, getting to see Q - the Quantum computer, Nick Jonas, amazing dinners, Nick Jonas, etc.). I wanted to do a post on the weekend -- and my takeaways from it -- I also wanted to take a moment to reflect on this pinnacle achievement in my career. In front of the IBM Quantum Computer - "Q" Since learning that there was something called "Best of IBM" - it is a recognition to which I have aspired. While I believe some of our other business units have more distinct guidelines for how to ac...

Before I started my maternity leave, I had recently finished a training program that IBM has called Cornerstone, which is a training program for Associate Partners who are on the executive track at IBM. One of the key messages from the program was to think about who your “authentic self” was and being intentional about being that authentic self both as a leader and at home. Coming out of that training, I have spent a lot of time thinking about being intentional about just who that authentic self is and, really, if I boil it down, who and what I want to be. Some of it includes reflecting on the typical things you would expect to think about from a work perspective (what kind of leader am I, what kind of executive do I want to be, how do I want to be known at IBM, what do I want my team to think of me?). Much of it has also played out on a more personal level, as my husband and I had our first child in November, I have been reflecting a lot about who I want to be as a mom, as a ...