How To Become A Female Fortune 500 CEO

As Mary Barra prepares to be the first female leader of a global automaker GM, I wanted to repost a presentation I attended last year from another Fortune 500 CEO.Laura Sen, President and CEO of BJ's Wholesale Club spoke at the MIT Sloan's Women in Management Conference in 2012, about her tips for reaching the top of the corporate ladder as one of only twelve female Fortune 500 CEOs.

Performance is Proof

The result of your work must have a tangible measurable benefit that you can point to and take credit for. In her experience, when you succeed and put up the numbers your gender will be overshadowed by your results. This will also make you a more obvious candidate for promotion.

Follow Your Passion

Laura started as a French major who liked to shop and ended with a career as one of the most successful women in retail. She says that her work never feels like a job because she loves it. Following your passion is the only way to work hard without burning out, even if where you start isn't where you end up.

Branch Out

Try a new class, read a different type of book, or volunteer for something new. Your perspective will be expanded. In Laura's experience, diversification was the key to advancing her career. When moving from a fashion buyer to logistics at BJ's she gained a diverse foundation that helps her in her job as CEO today. She added that the more diverse the background of a candidate is, the more likely they will be promoted to general management positions.

Promote Yourself

In 2002, when the CEO of BJ's stepped down it was between herself and the other VP for the CEO position. She was advised to run a campaign to ask the board to pick her but declined, thinking that the board knew her well enough already. The other VP was chosen and fired Laura 10 months later. In 2006 that CEO was fired and she met with the chairman of the board who re-hired her.

Start With Your Values

The underpinnings of Laura's leadership are values. The BJ values are used in all business decisions from hiring to operations. Although the values are common sense, it is her job to remind everyone to uphold those values even through economic downturns and departmental fights. Respect, honesty, and integrity are values she models to her staff constantly. When the board was in discussions about the company being bought, she worked with her leadership team to create a communication plan to tell all team members in person. This turned a possibly debilitating rumor into a positive experience.

Ask for Feedback

Laura asked store managers what they needed to be more profitable and surprisingly they answered "more community involvement". She hired community managers, which helped turn around some stores. Shealso runs a buddy systems for successful store managers to mentor under-performing stores.

Thank Everyone

When Laura walks around a store she thanks every single person and has conversations with all of them about the company. She tells every employee that she cares about them because without that she can't expect employees to care about customers.

"You Never Regret Taking The High Road"

Some people advised her to sue BJ's after being fired. "It's not worth it," she told the crowd. The decision paid off by not burning bridges with the company, even though she never thought she would work for them again. She was rehired six years later and became CEO soon after.