Sam, Author at The Alexander Group

International Women’s Day is not just another Hallmark card-inspired commemoration honoring our godparents, dogs, cats, cousins and anyone else that would generate business for florists and candy companies. International Women’s Day recognizes and celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It is not identified with any particular country or political party, although it is a call to action to accelerate gender equality.

Most non-women or non-activists look at this holiday only in passing. I find it useful to view it in its personal (to me) context. After all, we do create and plan our desired futures against the backdrop of our pasts.

Looking Back

When I started college, my family’s greatest hope for me was that I could someday be a secretary for a president of a company. Sure, that was only 45 years ago, but that gives you a perspective of what the landscape was for women entering the workforce.

I did well in college, majored in Economics (one of only a handful of women doing so), and applied for management training jobs with banks in major cities that had night law school and MBA programs. I was hired by the largest bank in Houston as one of three female management trainees out of a class of 50. We were paid less than men and our rotational assignments tended to be more administrative than credit underwriting. When I applied for a position in the bank’s national department I was turned down because the position would involve travel, and how could a woman travel with a man co-loan officer?

Once I was promoted to loan officer (one of the first with the bank) I had men customers who said “I refuse to ask a woman for money.” It seems almost laughable now, doesn’t it?

I was a loan officer by day and a law student at night, and then joined a law firm as the third woman attorney of a then 40-lawyer firm. After four years of practicing law, I entered the executive search realm joining behemoth Korn Ferry. At the time there were 200 male partners and two female partners.

Korn Ferry was no different than any other executive search firm. C-suite executives were men and gave search work to the men they hunted with, the men they’d served with in the military, and the men they knew. Their executive world had few women. I was once turned down for a search because I was not a member of the exclusive, all-male Jonathan Club in Los Angeles while my competitor was. Many times, in the early days, clients instructed us “we only want men for this role. Nothing against women, but they would not feel comfortable here.” Sometimes they were right, but mostly they were not.

And Here We Are Today

A lot has changed in the 40 years since I entered this endlessly challenging and fabulously fun industry, as it has in the business world generally. Women partners are common, though still not in the majority. A number of law firms and professional service firms have women chairs. Two women ran for President of the United States this election season. Thirty-seven of the Fortune 500 companies have women CEOs, an increase from 24 in 2018. All of the Fortune 500 companies have at least one woman on their board, which happened for the first time last year.

But Still

As far as women have advanced, the numbers do not lie, and they are a worrying group of numbers. Although the number of woman CEOs of Fortune 500 companies has increased, the percentage of women in these roles still accounts for only 7 percent of the whole. Research has found that resumes from women or minorities do not get as positive a response as men’s resumes. Women in the United States still make only $0.79 for every dollar men make, and that does not include bonus compensation, which widens the gap. Most of the discrimination is subtle.

Women frequently are characterized as abrasive and ball-busters (even though it is sometimes meant as a compliment), but men are labeled as forceful leaders. Looking at our presidential race, Senator Amy Klobuchar was described as abusive to her staff while Joe Biden, who is known to have a temper, was described as a demanding boss. This comparison may not be identical, but the words struck me as gender-loaded.

Although not determinative, it is illustrative: the House of Representatives did not have a women’s restroom until 2011 even though there were 76 female representatives at the time.

On the worldwide stage, the news is even more disheartening, as the latest World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report now estimates it will take a staggering 257 years to close the gap on economic participation for women – compared to 202 years in last year’s report. Only 16 women lead the 243 countries of the world.

Moving to a Future of Gender Equality

There is much to be done, and I sometimes wonder if I am being unfair to the cause by being grateful that so much has changed for me in my lifetime, and for the most part I am not judged by my gender. And indeed, women executives younger than I are much more impatient and frustrated about the lack of gender parity. As one wise, rising young executive said, “You have to look at the issue individually, collectively and globally.”

Too often, women executives have been assigned to a group or task force to improve gender equality, only to find it all women. Until men take ownership of the issue as well, we are spinning our wheels, they lament. They are disheartened over handling the majority of the childcare and household responsibilities while climbing the career ladder. Another common complaint is that grey-haired men with wrinkles are lauded as distinguished where women with grey hair and wrinkles feel pressure to look young and attractive.

However we look at the current state of affairs, women who have achieved any measure of gender equality must now help others and the cause. Men, you have a role, too. Here are my suggestions:

Hiring, hiring, hiring. If your company engages a search firm, insist on a diverse candidate slate. Hire diversity search firms or firms with a record of identifying and recruiting diverse candidates. While quotas do not work, be willing to be less rigid about diversity candidates. If candidates apply for positions by resume, consider ways to make all resumes blind resumes.
Mentorship. Evaluate your company’s turnover. Is it disparately women and minorities who are leaving? Why? Create mentorship programs that will provide opportunities for women and minorities to connect and seek advice from senior men and women with experience and knowledge.
Sponsorship. Mentors advise; sponsors advocate—there is a need for both. As a senior leader (male or female) in your organization, identify a female rising star. Campaign for your protégé; use your organizational capital to push for visible, high-stakes assignments; provide support for risk-taking; and push for this person’s promotion.

Maternity Policies. Put policies in place to help families—not just women—deal with childcare. What can be done to assure that you retain women managers without their falling off a career track?
Educate. We all have an obligation to deal with our hidden biases. Yes, the ones where we call women “difficult” but men “forceful.” Women are women, not girls—a lesson many men and some women have yet to learn. It is especially painful to me to hear women refer to themselves in the workplace as girls. This is so disempowering. We all have these biases, and companies that develop ways to acknowledge their existence, and work through them will be leading the way to gender equality.
Everyone benefits from a more gender equal society. Let’s use International Women’s Day to forge new pathways through this challenge.

Several years ago, I was a guest on the Price of Business radio show discussing what to do if you lose your job. Back then the economy was doing well nationally, but Houston was starting to struggle. Since December 2014, the start of the energy downturn, energy job losses nationwide have totaled over 155,500, and the current downturn in the energy market looks mild compared to what has happened globally as a result of COVID-19. The numbers are staggering. As of July 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate is at 10.2%, while the current number of unemployed persons is reported at 16.3 million. Although no one is predicting that the worst is over, the country is starting to adapt to an uncertain future, and there is hope for those out of work. What to do?

Pause

The first thing most people say is, “I’ve got to get my resume done ASAP. I’ve got to get going.” I counsel people to put in the clutch for the day, maybe a weekend. Anytime you’ve been laid off, whether it’s expected or not, it’s the death of a part of your life, a part of your career. It’s really important to pause and grieve for the loss—the financial loss, the career hiatus, the loss of self-esteem and confidence, whatever loss you may be feeling. Pause and reflect, feel the sadness, and go through your grieving process. If you’re angry, reflect on that too because anger and sadness will not help you get another job.

Take Inventory

What do you want to do? Would you like a different type of job? Do you want to work in a new industry or culture? Are you considering a different location? Look at the loss of your job as a clean slate to explore new and different opportunities. Who do you know working in the field to which you aspire? Talk to them, reach out to former mentors and managers. If you know people who have been laid off and are now working, get their insight on what did and didn’t work. If you want to change fields, have at least two resumes—one for the field you come from and one tailored to that which you are interested. For 30 years I have recommended the book “What Color is Your Parachute?” It is updated every year and always offers good advice for those searching for the ideal job.

Get Going on a Resume

Most people already have an up-to-date resume; hopefully, you do too. My philosophy is: no matter how happy you are in your current role, have an up-to-date resume to record your accomplishments in each role you have held. If you need to prepare your resume, understand that you may need help. Just as it’s hard to be your own doctor or lawyer, it’s hard to compose your own resume. Ask friends to proofread or use one of the many professional resume writers, which can be a good investment. However, make sure that the person you hire can give you references, a fixed price, and examples of resumes that he or she has prepared for people holding similar positions.

Start with LinkedIn—A No Brainer

LinkedIn is a valuable tool that you can use in several different ways. Look to other LinkedIn members who hold similar positions to yours or the one you aspire to for profile examples. It’s also very important to understand how LinkedIn works; the more people you are connected to, the more easily you can be found by recruiters and corporations who use LinkedIn. LinkedIn is so finely tuned that if an employer wants to hire a Texas A&M; grad who went to graduate school at the University of Colorado and works in finance, they can tailor their search for those results. It is that easy. Additionally, you can only connect with people who are one, two, or three degrees away from you, so the more people you connect to, the more likely you are to be found. We have written several blogs in the past about using LinkedIn. You may find them useful.

A Few Quick LinkedIn Tips

1) Have a fairly detailed background with a profile picture. One study found that you are 16 percent more likely to be called or contacted if you have a picture.

2) Spend time updating your connections via LinkedIn. Connect with your previous colleagues, managers, and mentors. If you’ve dealt with outside consultants, lawyers, and accountants, connect with them as well. “Linking in” with as many people as possible should be considered part of your “day job” now that you’ve been laid off.

“. . .anger and sadness will not help you get another job.”

3) Are you a member of a college, graduate school, military service, or industry specialization group on Linkedin? Connect with people in those groups who might be able to help. I went to Rhodes College, a small liberal arts school in Memphis, Tennessee, and I never turn down a request to help alumni. There is a kinship formed with people who have shared the same experience. Leverage that kinship.

Research Your City’s Book of Lists

Along with LinkedIn, your city’s “Book of Lists” is going to be one of your best friends in finding a job. For example, The Houston Book of Lists is published every year by the Houston Business Journal and lists the fastest-growing, largest employers, and best companies to work for in Houston. Other major cities such as San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, etc. also have a Book of Lists. Look through your city’s Book of Lists; see if there are any companies where you can say, “I’ve always heard this was a great company to work for.” Then go back to LinkedIn and ask, “Do I know anyone at that company?” It is much more effective to utilize your LinkedIn network and ask for an introduction, rather than submitting a resume through a company website. The personal connection will always work better. Use the Book of Lists.

Submit Your Resume to the Leading Executive Search Firms

If you are a manager, officer, or C-suite executive, upload your resume to the websites of the largest search firms: Korn/Ferry, Spencer Stuart, Russell Reynolds, and Heidrick & Struggles. If you are in the energy business, don’t overlook energy boutique firms such as The Energists, Preng & Associates, and Ducatus Partners. Keep in mind, they are retained search firms, which means that they only represent employers, and if they have not been retained to work on a search that requires someone with your qualifications, they will not call you. Their business is not helping the job seeker but, usually, the searches for which they are retained are interesting and high-level positions.

Reach Out—Ask for Help

Start networking every day; look at it as a job to tell people you have been laid off and are seeking a new opportunity. Set a goal of making ten contacts a day. Ask for help—people are so willing to help. “Thank you for letting me share my resume with you. Are you aware of any organizations or opportunities that would be a good fit?” Whether they say yes or no, thank them and ask them how you can return the favor. By doing that, you get your contacts thinking, “This is a two-way relationship, and how can I help?”

The Emotional Highs & Lows

While it is normal to go through every emotion—panic, sadness, hopelessness, despair, anger, you name it—during the grieving process, remember that no one wants to hire someone angry with their last employer or who is feeling sorry for themselves. During my 35 years in the search business, I have observed that a positive attitude makes a great difference. There can be hope and anticipation in looking for a job that is an even better fit . Truth be told, some people who are laid off weren’t that happy in their jobs anyway. The sooner you see this as an opportunity to not settle but instead go for a better fit, the better your results will be. Also, spend time visualizing and dreaming about the type of job you want. Do things that will keep your spirits up; spend time with friends who are uplifting and want to help, or volunteer to give something back while you are searching.

Final Thoughts

The hardest part about looking for a job, especially for those who have not changed jobs frequently, is the rejection. It may feel personal, even though it is not, and rejection—“nobody wants me”—is certainly difficult. View it as there is “X” number of calls, emails, and resumes that I will need to submit to get a job. I don’t have a magic number for how many; maybe it’s 100, maybe it’s 500. Consider it as kissing a lot of frogs to find the right person, which is an important exercise, and commit to it every day; after all, looking for a job is your new job. We are in a tough economy, and many people are in the same boat. Although we have never seen a downturn or pandemic like this before, we have seen business downturns before, and sadly we will see them again. There are not two winters in a row, and one of life’s givens is that nothing stays the same. Today, for many people, it feels that the global pandemic and its resulting unemployment will never end. It will. Things will improve and one day jobs will be plentiful and the world will look brighter. That, I can promise.

Rob Perez is a biopharmaceutical operating executive with more than 30 years of experience in the industry. He currently serves as an Operating Partner at General Atlantic, a global growth equity firm, providing strategic support and advice to the firm’s life sciences investment team and portfolio companies. Rob was President and CEO of Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. before its sale to Merck in 2015. Before joining Cubist in 2003, he served as Vice President of Biogen, Inc.’s CNS Business Unit.

Rob is the Founder and Chairman of Life Science Cares, an organization providing human and financial capital from the life sciences industry to the best non-profits working to alleviate the impact of poverty in the US. Life Science Cares now operates in Boston, San Diego, Philadelphia and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Additionally, Rob is the co-founder of Biopharma Leaders of Color (BLOC), a community of leaders united to advance the success and access of under-represented people of color throughout the life sciences industry.

Rob also serves on the Board of Trustees of The Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

In 2022, Rob was selected by STAT News as one of 46 inaugural members of its’ STATUS List, which was described as “the most definitive and consequential accounting of leaders in health, medicine and science”.

We are honored to have Rob contribute to our blog. This is the second installment of a two-part series exploring the energy it takes to be different in a work setting and how to maintain your authentic self, while also working hard, consciously and unconsciously, to fit in. You can read his first entry here.

I can speak from firsthand experience there are times when it can be overwhelming to try and consistently be the person others expect you to be, all the while disguising the exhaustion that it takes to perform the daily charade of adapting your authentic self to try and fit in.

Thanks to an evolving journey of therapy and mental health resources (especially meditation), mental wellness is currently within reach for me, but I admit my thoughts have sometimes spun out of control, and led me to some very dark and scary places. The challenge of navigating a professional and personal world where the person most people think they know is a character that I have to summon significant energy to perform, each and every day, has taken a toll on my mental health that I am still working to understand.

This admission is submitted here not to enlist your sympathy, but to help you better understand what the only woman in your boardroom, or the one person of color in your department, or the LGBTQ person on your team, may be going through, even if they appear happy, and you have no perception of their internal struggle. I also hope it will allow those who are dealing with similarly destructive thoughts like I have experienced, to confidently and without shame, gain strength in knowing you are not alone, and also to garner the courage to seek the help that may be needed to understand this internal conflict.

I still believe in the words I wrote several years ago, that difference is “ the atom upon which virtually every achievement is built, and maintain that we should celebrate those who “ embrace difference in their pursuit of greatness, …and are never comfortable with the security of “same”…

I just wish I had ended with a caution that it is critical that we understand and are aware of the toll that difference can take on our mental well-being in today’s complex world. I sincerely hope all who view themselves as different will realize without shame or selfish pride, that our operating system may need some assistance in order to sustain the energy required to achieve the very real benefits that difference can provide.

We are just a couple of months away from Mental Health Awareness month in May, but if you are struggling with thoughts or feelings you don’t understand, or feel like you are experiencing anxiety, depression, or a loss of control, you are not alone. There are resources that can REALLY help.

Talk to family. Talk to friends. Talk to a professional. Take the risk…Trust me, wellness is worth it.

Rob is the Founder and Chairman of Life Science Cares, an organization providing human and financial capital from the life sciences industry to the best non-profits working to alleviate the impact of poverty in the US. Life Science Cares now operates in Boston, San Diego, Philadelphia and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Additionally, Rob is the co-founder of Biopharma Leaders of Color (BLOC), a community of leaders united to advance the success and access of under-represented people of color throughout the life sciences industry.

Rob also serves on the Board of Trustees of The Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

In 2022, Rob was selected by STAT News as one of 46 inaugural members of its’ STATUS List, which was described as “the most definitive and consequential accounting of leaders in health, medicine and science.”

We are honored to have Rob contribute to our blog. His two-part series explores the energy it takes to be different in a work setting and how to maintain your authentic self, while also working hard to fit in.

I wrote an article several years ago about the value and benefit of being different.

While I stand by the point of view I expressed at the time, that difference can be a “super power”, my appreciation has grown for how difficult it can be for those who are different than the vast majority of their colleagues in work and social settings.

As I read that blog now, I admit I significantly under-represented the challenges of trying to maintain your authentic self, while also working hard, consciously and unconsciously, to fit in.

By way of example, I recently had an all-too-familiar experience of engaging in a candid and deeply emotional mentorship conversation with a young person of color, who was trying to navigate a work environment very foreign to her. She was working exceptionally hard to try and fit in, and expending a ton of energy doing so. Within minutes of the initiation of our conversation, after communicating to her I recognized how amazing she is (not hyperbole, she REALLY IS amazing) and that her authentic self was extraordinary and worthy of admiration, she was trying to hide her embarrassment because she had broken down into tears for a reason neither she nor I could completely understood.

I was struck by how frequently these emotional (to the point of tears) discussions occur when I work with people who are trying to fit into an environment in which they are different than the vast majority. It reminded me of how often, both now and especially earlier in my career, I have also been on the verge of a surprising break down when I have to summon and sustain the energy to perform in a setting that is unfamiliar and uncomfortable.

As I contemplated this phenomena, it struck me that it might be insightful to explore my own thoughts about the energy that it takes to be different in a work setting. My goal is both to appreciate and recognize the challenges that my diverse colleagues endure on a daily basis, and also to highlight and enhance the awareness and sensitivity of my majority friends, to the very real hurdles that must be overcome by those who are trying to adapt to an environment that isn’t second nature.

I’m often in business and social settings where my ethnicity and socioeconomic and/or academic pedigree are different than most of the people with whom I interact. However, difference can be many things to many people. Race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, education, physical appearance, age, introversion/extroversion, physical or mental disability, geography/national origin, or even a perceived lack of happiness and success relative to others who present an over-hyped version of their lives on social media, are all examples of areas in which feelings of difference from the majority can make things complicated in a work or social environment.

Difference is not “in the eye of the beholder”….it is defined and experienced by the person his/herself, and it is never right or wrong. It just…is!

The best way I can describe operating with this feeling of difference is that it is similar to a computer laboriously running at full power just to accomplish a basic task. Customized computers that have been designed since inception to accomplish the task use much less energy and computing power, because they have been wired and programmed to operate in this environment since the day they were built.

Computers with different wiring can still get the job done, but it takes extraordinary CPU energy to do so, because the wiring has additional complexity needed to get the job done. When challenged to perform a task, folks who are different not only have to think about how to deliver on the task, but ALSO have to consider how they are being perceived, how their words and actions will land, whether there are stereotypes or narratives that will disrupt and hijack their message, and try to make adjustments on the fly. They don’t have the benefit of solely focusing on what is needed in the moment, but also have a parallel process running in their head about whether they are performing in a way that is acceptable and consistent with the persona they want to present to their majority colleagues.

This is a good time to take a moment and point out that this “energy tax” exists even in environments where the majority have absolutely no awareness or intention of negative bias or prejudice. The additional energy may even be completely unnecessary (ie everyone WANTS you to feel accepted and comfortable, and would be horrified to know that you are expending additional energy to keep up), but the perceived burden is what it is, and the additional energy discharged to operate effectively occurs as naturally as the blinking of your eyes.

Please visit The Alexander Group blog, Thursday, March 16, for the conclusion of Rob Perez’s blog.

What do Walmart, Berkshire Hathaway, Dell, Comcast, Publix, and Ford have in common? All are among the nation’s largest companies and members of the Fortune 100. Each of them is “family-owned,” which is loosely defined as having two or more family members involved and a majority of ownership or control within the family. Family-owned businesses date back centuries to family farms and, in urban settings, shops, and businesses where the family lived above the premises. In both examples, all family members actively participated in producing the family’s livelihood.

Although many people think of family-owned businesses as making up only a small part of the economy, the following 2021 statistics from Family Business reveal that family-owned businesses:

Employ 23 percent of the US workforce, accounting for 32.6 million jobs;
Generating 23 percent of private-sector GDP or $3.2 trillion; and
Total 9.1 million businesses, representing 25 percent of all business tax returns.
Pressure to Keep it in The Family—Challenges in Hiring Family Members:

The family-business owner, like all business owners, should be concerned about having the best talent in appropriate roles. This can pose a challenge when hiring family members for key positions. Are they the best qualified? It is important to establish hiring and position requirements and uniformly adhere to them when considering family. These guidelines help avoid the pressure to hire a family member only because they are a family member. Many family companies encourage the next generation of family interested in the business to work for another company for several years to gain general business knowledge and experience to be eligible to join the family business.

When family members choose to work for another company in the same industry, they gain added perspective and familiarity with accepted industry-specific best practices. Family members who work outside the family business can gain increased credibility with other family members and the board. Family businesses should communicate hiring criteria for all positions, which not only sets the standard for talent management but can avoid future misunderstandings and conflicts.

The family business owner should ensure that every employee, whether a family member or not, receives the training needed to allow them to function successfully. Placing a family member in a role for which they lack the appropriate skills without a plan to provide the needed training can cause tension, low morale, and family drama. Family member executives must be assessed on their own merits. Each position should have yearly goals so that the family member can be evaluated objectively and without favoritism.

Strategically Hiring Outside The Family:

Hiring nonfamily members, especially doing so for the first time, can be challenging. Many companies decide to hire nonfamily members when the owners want to accelerate the company’s growth. Other companies hire nonfamily members when the company needs specific skills such as legal, international, or financial expertise. The challenge then becomes ensuring that the nonfamily member is a good fit with the organization’s culture and the family itself, especially if the company is small. Marc Sharpe, Chairman of the Family Office Association, reports that individuals who are comfortable with a “servant leadership style” in which one leads by putting the needs of their team first can be an excellent personality fit for a family business.

He adds that while hiring a nonfamily manager is often done to acquire a specific skill set, it is also important to hire individuals who have the flexibility to take on a generalist role when needed. If companies are recruiting nonfamily members for a position to replace a family member, it is important to communicate the reason for the hire and have detailed position requirements. If the company’s management are not in full agreement to hire a nonfamily executive, it will be a difficult and possibly unsuccessful hire.

To avoid and resolve family conflict, it is important in the recruitment and retention of outside candidates to ensure the family business has well-defined business procedures and corporate governance. Also, making decisions informally outside the office will put the nonfamily member at a disadvantage.

Best Practices for Executives Joining a Family Business:

Individuals who work for family businesses agree that it can either be a rewarding or disappointing experience depending on a number of factors, and we recommend that any executive considering joining a family business evaluate the following:

Has the family agreed on the hire?
How well has the position been defined?
How many individuals have previously held the same position? Turnover, particularly in the C-suite, can be a red flag indicating that the family is not ready for a nonfamily executive;
How are business decisions made? Cultural fit may be influenced by whether the business owner makes key decisions independently or in a distributed fashion;
How does the team operate in terms of executing the business? A well-functioning team is empowered to operationalize projects and business imperatives timely and successfully;
Understand the business owner’s goals; recognize these goals may be focused on objectives other than increasing revenue and growth, such as philanthropy or creating a legacy;
Evaluate the strengths and challenges of the current team and look for signs of dysfunction among family members;
Get to know family members individually, because they may have different goals and objectives; what are the family dynamics in play?

“Do the hustle.” Three of only six total words sung repeatedly by Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony. I wonder if this is what McCoy had in mind, this “hustle culture” that’s become so commonplace in the workforce? It’s a hot-button topic. So hot, in fact, that an anti-hustle movement has developed, appropriately dubbed the #antiwork movement

Where do you and your employees fall on the anti-work-to-hustle culture scale? To answer that, we first have to define hustle culture. We can then address the pros and cons of such a culture and highlight what some organizations are doing to find the right balance.

What Is Hustle Culture?

At its core, hustle culture—meaning ‘all about constantly working’—reflects an unrelenting push for productivity. It may not be new, but the hustle culture meaning has become more prevalent in recent years. The executive lifestyle goes beyond working hard, beyond long hours for a major deadline, and beyond moving up the corporate ladder. It’s an all-consuming obsession with productivity that impacts our quality of life and our quality of work. With hustle culture, there is no such thing as a work-life balance. A study conducted by the Harvard Business Review tracking how large companies’ CEOs spend their time found that 79% of those leaders conducted business on weekend days and up to 70% of vacation days.

We don’t realize that hustle culture is typically not demonized but celebrated. Examples of hustle culture in the workplace include shoutouts in morning huddles for the project manager who worked 30 days straight to meet a deadline or the supervisor answering emails while on vacation. What’s more, employees – myself included – are proud participants.

When Did Hustle Culture Start?

Hustle culture’s roots go back to the Industrial Revolution when long hours and relentless productivity were celebrated. So, as work shifted from farms to factories, society’s values around hard work began to reshape, setting the foundation for a culture that equates long hours with commitment and success. Fast forward to the 1980s and 90s, when phrases like “work hard, play hard” became popular among corporate professionals, and high-profile CEOs started glamorizing the “always on” lifestyle.

With the rise of social media, hustle culture became more prevalent as influencers, entrepreneurs, and self-help gurus championed the idea of grinding non-stop to achieve personal and professional success. Platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn are filled with images and quotes glorifying late nights and early mornings, feeding the notion that a packed schedule is a badge of honor. Today, hustle culture has permeated nearly every industry, with many professionals feeling constant pressure to be productive, even at the expense of their health and well-being.

Why We Love the Hustle

The hustle gets you places. From a young age, we are taught that hard work and dedication are the cornerstones of success. Do you want better grades? Hit the books. Do you want to be a better athlete? Practice, practice, practice. And you know what? It pays off. You ace the test, make the team, get the job, land the promotion. The most challenging part is differentiating where the natural hustle and hard work ends, and the toxic work obsession begins.

The benefits of participating in and fostering a hustle culture can yield greater output, better sales, more clients, higher revenue – everything that can make an organization successful.

Why Grind Culture is Toxic

So why bother stopping the hustle? In short, wellness. The timing of this blog following our Wellness in the Workplace series is strategic. Hustle culture is another culprit that negatively impacts employee well-being. Hustle culture impacts mental health because our work addiction can trigger burnout, chronic stress, depression, and anxiety, creating a cycle of exhaustion that wears down mental resilience.

And hustle culture impacts physical health because the physical toll of constant overwork includes risks like cardiovascular disease, with Corporate Wellness Magazine telling us executives are at even higher risk due to the constant need to always be “on.” According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, an overworked and stressed employee can be up to 68% less productive despite putting in more effort and hours. Additionally, Corporate Wellness Magazine notes that executives frequently absorb the largest amount of stress, potentially leading to chronic health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and hormone imbalances.

How To Counteract Hustle Culture in the Workplace

The easy part is done. We know what needs to change. But where do we go from here? Before we can even begin moving toward potential solutions that would squash our corporate hustle culture, we have to have buy-in from leadership as much as from individuals. Starting with a common goal is step one. Commitment to that goal is step two. Steps three and beyond will look different for everyone and remain fluid as we develop as individuals and organizations.

In a recent article for Inc., Dmitri Lepikhov, CEO of Mightcall, addresses the question, How can employers avoid creating a hustle culture in their workplace? He outlines three actionable steps to help reduce grind culture and foster a healthier work environment.

Agree on what a “good workday” is – A blueprint developed by managers and employees to establish not a scheduled to-do list but task progression breaks to stay fresh and generally available. A long-term vision to outline what an employee is reasonably capable of doing.
Vacation time for everyone – Whether your organization offers a set amount of vacation days or the tricky “unlimited vacation days,” employees need to be encouraged to recharge and reset without being fearful of passive repercussions.
Lead by example – Everyone’s favorite adage. Lepikov states it beautifully: “If you genuinely want staff to relax and prioritize their own well-being at work, you need to show yourself doing it first.

Corporate Wellness Magazine explains how some corporate boards of directors are taking matters into their own hands, and investing in their executives’ health and wellness. They go above and beyond their standard health insurance to include preventative exams, health action plans, and follow-up care. In many cases, executives remain loyal to their company because of the health benefits they receive. These highly intelligent people understand that their company is investing in them and their families by investing in their health.

Redefining Success: Balancing Hustle Culture with Wellness

Despite its evolution, the impact of hustle culture remains the same: an unrelenting pace that blurs the lines between work and personal life, affecting our health, productivity, and overall quality of life. Understanding where this culture originated and how it became ingrained in our professional lives is the first step toward reassessing its value and finding a healthier approach to success.

But what does hustle culture mean for your organization and your team? Are you promoting a balanced, sustainable approach to work, or are you caught in a cycle of constant hustle? Redefining success in your workplace starts with assessing current practices and opening conversations about work-life balance. Encourage your team to set realistic boundaries and prioritize wellness without sacrificing their professional goals.

Take the first step toward balance: speak with your leadership team, consider implementing wellness programs, and lead by example. Building a work culture that values both achievement and well-being is possible—and it’s key to creating a healthier, more effective workforce.

Explore more leadership strategies with The Alexander Group.

Anyone who has ever been involved with a not-for-profit will at some point be asked to serve on a search committee or lead a search committee’s search for a new CEO/President or senior officer. We have written previously about the responsibilities of search committee members and how candidates can prepare for a search committee interview but wanted to take a deeper look at the role of the Search Committee Chair.

We turn to Steve Taylor, a leader in the not-for-profit community for nearly 30 years who is currently serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Mission Officer of the Arthritis Foundation. Steve recently chaired the search committee for the President and CEO of the National Health Council, which has been widely viewed as a well-run search with outstanding results. Below, Steve answers the questions we are frequently asked as not-for-profit recruits using search committees.

How big should a search committee be?

I believe the ideal size is seven, including the Chairman who should also have a vote. You could possibly do nine or five, but frankly, if the Committee becomes too large, it can be hard to coordinate schedules. You have too many opinions in the discussions, and you want every voice to be heard. You’ll also want to make sure it’s an odd number; that way there is no tie.

Who should be on a search committee?

Much of it depends on the position. Ideally, one to three members of the Executive Committee should be on the Search Committee and supplement that with volunteers who represent different parts of the organization. I recommend looking at the various responsibilities of the position you are trying to fill. Which volunteers can best represent and understand these responsibilities? The key to a successful search committee is that you want members with perspective but who are not living in the past. On the other hand, you don’t want search committee members being so free-spirited they are substituting their vision for that of the Board’s.

The ideal Search Committee member understands the history of the organization as well as its future vision.

And that is what is so important when selecting volunteers to serve on a search committee: they need to be familiar [with] and embrace the Board’s vision for the organization and also represent different constituencies of the organization.

Should current employees sit on a search committee?

Many organizations wrestle with this question. Sometimes, it makes sense, especially when you have long-term employees who understand the organization. But this is not a choice without challenges.

If there are internal candidates for the position, it can be difficult to ask a colleague [to] make an unbiased choice.

Secondly, a staff member on the Committee may not have the strategic view of the organization that a high-ranking volunteer or board member will have.
Thirdly, it can be sensitive for an employee to be involved in salary discussions involving the successful candidate.

I typically recommend that one of the Search Committee members serve as a liaison to a group of employees/staff. On the search I led for the National Health Council, I personally maintained contact with the senior leadership team. While I did not discuss individual candidates, I asked the search firm to solicit their opinions on the type of leaders we were seeking, and I communicated to them on the progress of the search.

Who selects the search firm, and what should be considered?

I can’t overemphasize the importance of a strong partnership with the search firm. You want it to be a partnership, not just a firm presenting resumes. The Chair should have meaningful input on selecting the search firm because they’ll be the one working [most] closely with them. Of course, the Search Committee reviews proposals and meets with several finalists. Ultimately, the Chair of the Search Committee should have a strong voice when selecting a search firm.

For me, the search firm needed to have experience in organizing and administratively providing infrastructure to the committee so that I and the Committee could focus on the candidates.

I also believe the Chair shouldn’t rely on the Search Committee or search firm to coordinate. There will be times that the Chair needs to jump in to either facilitate meetings or deal with scheduling or personnel challenges. The search firm should be willing to do more than just conduct the search as many members of a search committee have full-time jobs.

I advise my colleagues running search committees to be very specific with what you would like the search firm to do.

Do you want them to:

-Attend search committee meetings?
-Set the agenda for search committee meetings?
-Provide interview questions?

I believe you need a search firm to do anything the Search Committee and its Chairman cannot or do not want to do because of time restraints.

It is a given that a search firm needs to have a robust Rolodex, but I’m still trying to figure out how to evaluate that. [laughing] What you can evaluate is recent searches a search firm has conducted for similar positions. As we evaluated search firms, some listed searches conducted over a decade ago! That was a lifetime ago in the not-for-profit world.

Finally, I believe you need to find a search firm that is upfront and honest with you about who the lead staff will be—and that you have the opportunity to meet with that lead staff to ensure compatibility and understanding of the process you envision—before you finalize your selection on a firm.

What allowances did you make during COVID-19 in the most recent search you chaired?

Overall, it worked out well. In certain ways, the process moved more efficiently given the Search Committee met by Zoom and the candidates were interviewed by the search firm and us for first-round interviews by Zoom. One advantage we had as a search committee is that we all knew each other—some better than others—but this familiarity allowed us to work together well virtually.

Once we narrowed the process to our finalists, we asked them to meet face to face, of course, social distancing, wearing masks, etc., with another search committee member and me. Despite adapting to video conferencing, meeting the candidate in person makes a big difference. To have a candidate willing to invest the time to travel to a meeting and meet a group of people, some in person, some virtually, was critical to the final steps of our process.

We were able to observe how they handled themselves in the middle of a pandemic, watch how they coordinated their presentation, and even how they arranged the papers on the conference table. In a virtual interview, you have no idea if the candidate has sticky notes on their computer screen providing possible hints to questions. That was important to us because that’s what the job is going to be (ultimately): face-to-face meetings working with different constituencies and being able to communicate and think on their feet. Interestingly, I believe we would have ended up with the same candidate if we had searched COVID.

As a search committee chair, how do you handle candidate withdrawals and surprises?

As a search committee chair or member, you understand that many candidates are currently in good positions, and you are hoping to attract them to your organization. You can’t get too nervous about that. It is part of the process. You reach for candidates; some attract, and some lose. And if a candidate pulls out, I believe they should do it in the search process rather than later.

As for the second part of your question, as Chair, you have to be flexible, responsive, and nimble because issues arise that need to be acted on quickly. Several times, I had to reach out to Committee members individually to keep the process moving either because an issue arose on a Friday night or there was simply not the time to call a full committee meeting. You establish that at the beginning of the search, so there is no misunderstanding. In every search, there may be small decisions made either by the chair or by a smaller group on the committee, because trying to get everyone together all the time isn’t possible, but ultimately the big decisions are made as a group.

How much time does it take to do a good job?

The time required ebbs and flows during the search. If you have a good search firm, as we did in using The Alexander Group, there’s less time initially because you allow them to do the search and trust their judgment on the candidates they’re presenting. The search committee chair is free to focus on the higher-level items most important to finding the right candidate. Once the interview process is underway, you must be available for the search committee, search firm, [and] staff as the process unfolds. There is a significant time commitment required for the Chair. The organization needs someone who can make that time commitment because you’ll never finish the search if it is not a priority.

Who should be the Chair?

Choosing the right search committee chair is critical to a successful search. The chair needs to be a leader in the organization who understands its past and its future vision. It does not have to be the current board chair. It could be a past board chair that might have more time because it’s not the current board chair. It is important the chair can lead without supervision and is trusted by the board.

After a successful 11-year run at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, former CEO Rob Perez asked himself, what next?

“While I loved (almost) every aspect of leading Cubist, my favorite part was helping to develop the unique culture that was a hallmark of the organization. And a big part of that culture was our extraordinary commitment to the community,” he said.

“There were many enticing and, frankly, flattering offers, but I found that nothing provided a greater return on happiness than giving back to others.” After much reflection and conversations with close friends and family, Perez founded Life Science Cares, an organization committed to eliminating the impact of poverty in the greater Boston area. “Being involved in the community, and helping others do so as well … gave me the greatest joy.”

Executive Directors of not-for-profit organizations report high levels of job satisfaction.

And he is not alone. A 2011 study of nonprofit executive leadership found that Executive Directors of not-for-profit organizations, like Perez, report high levels of job satisfaction. Ninety-one percent reported that they are very happy in their jobs or have more good days than bad. Sound attractive?

The opportunity to “do good” appeals to many chief executives who are looking to channel their leadership skills and good fortune more directly toward their community and causes.

But there are a few myths that must be confronted:

Myth #1: If I can lead a Fortune 500 company, I can run a nonprofit.

Much of what you have done in the private sector will be relevant, but there are some profound distinctions. Businesses have wide-ranging goals and objectives, but there is really only one focus: To make a profit. The goal of nonprofit organizations, however, is to “change lives.” That passion for the mission or the art often competes with—and sometimes trumps—business decisions. An Executive Director, and his or her board, must learn how to balance the two: develop and maintain a sustainable organization that also has the means to pursue its passion.

When a leader can’t affect performance through giving or withholding rewards, leadership style shifts from power to influence.

Another key distinction? In the business world, one enjoys a deep bench of talent. By contrast, nonprofit staffs are generally lean, paid at below-market wages and hampered by limited resources. And nonprofits often have large numbers of volunteers who aren’t getting paid.

“You can’t just pull everybody into a conference room and make them do something,” says Dean Niewolny, CEO of the Halftime Institute, a nonprofit organization that coaches and connects high-capacity leaders to serve communities. “When a leader can’t affect performance through giving or withholding rewards, leadership style shifts from power to influence.”

Jane Howze, Not-for-Profit Practice Leader at The Alexander Group, agrees: “A not-for-profit CEO does not have the power of promotions, salaries, or discipline to motivate teams. Instead, a not-for-profit CEO must rely on his or her ability to appeal to constituents by communicating the organization’s mission and vision.”

Myth #2: I’m not ready to retire; this will be an easy transitional role.

Many mistakenly believe working for a nonprofit is easier than corporate work. The work can be incredibly rewarding, but one will be expected to do the same work as before, and with fewer resources. The work takes passion and commitment.

It feels like I am just beginning and I couldn’t be more grateful.

Retired pharmaceutical executive Scott Boyer helped launch ROW Foundation in 2014 to deliver epilepsy treatments to underdeveloped countries. “All of this is happening at an age when many of my contemporaries have retired. For me, it feels like I am just beginning and I couldn’t be more grateful.”

He urges other executives considering a transition to “think about listening to that voice inside you that says you could make your ‘what if’ a reality and ignoring the voice that says you cannot.”

Myth #3: I know lots of people with deep pockets.

More important than who you know, is how you know them. A robust personal network indicates that one is adept at networking and building relationships—an important skill for nonprofit leaders. Executive Director candidates must demonstrate that they can continually seek new sources of revenue and in-kind support, whether donations, grants, corporate alliances, or partnerships with other community organizations.

Club promoter Scott Harrison used his social media influence to spread awareness of charity: water, the nonprofit he founded in 2006 to bring clean water to communities in developing countries. Harvard grad Elizabeth Scharpf engaged in a creative corporate alliance with Johnson & Johnson, the multinational consumer goods company, to lend brains, talent and equipment to Scharpf’s nonprofit organization Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE). In exchange, SHE is sharing its innovations in producing affordable sanitary napkins in rural Africa.

A robust personal network indicates that one is adept at networking and building relationships—an important skill for nonprofit leaders.

Networking can also help attract new board members and create staff development opportunities including recruiting, education, best practice sharing.

Myth #4: I’ve served on a not-for-profit board; I can easily transition to Executive Director

Nonprofit board membership is very different from running the organization day to day. As a board member, you understand the need to balance the expectations of various stakeholders—local governments, donors, beneficiaries, employees, volunteers and the community at large—all with distinct points of view and demands. As Executive Director, however, those demands will routinely land on your desk. The buck stops with you. And balancing competing agendas takes diplomacy, tact and thick skin.

Balancing competing agendas takes diplomacy, tact and thick skin.

“Not-for-profits often have limited resources and competing demands for those resources,” says Howze. “It is up to the Executive Director/CEO, along with the board, to prioritize the resources. We see this quite often with voluntary health organizations in which some constituents’ priority is funding research in hopes of finding a cure in the future, while others are more focused on offering the best treatments, programs, and services for those presently afflicted with the disease.”

“Stakeholders with differing, and often conflicting, agendas can make a not-for-profit CEO’s job much more complex,” Howze emphasizes.