The Road to the Top is Not on the Map
Conversations with Top Women of the Automotive Industry
edited by Carla Bailo and Terry Barclay
Each reader will gain differently from reading the responses of thirty-six women—each in an executive position and whose careers have spanned decades nearly always in the employ of a major, recognizable company or university—to specific questions, usually six with one from each category on the pages of The Road to the Top is Not on the Map.
The book is an interesting read although I found myself wondering what part my gender and own prior involvement providing contract service to one of the Detroit motor vehicle manufacturers had. I also wonder if, or whether, any (many?) men (other than those who are friends or family of one of the thirty-six that is) will read the words of the ladies.
The six categories are: 1) education and lifelong learning, 2) work-life integration, 3) mentor and sponsor relationship, 4) taking charge of your career path, 5) resilience, and 6) personal satisfaction. A bit of analysis revealed that many chose to respond to certain questions, other questions had only one or two choosing to address them, and two questions had no respondents whatsoever.
So, most popular was this one in the sixth group: What would you say gives you the most satisfaction in your career? Runners up were these two in groups two and three respectively: How have you dealt with work-life integration in your own career? How important have mentors and/or sponsors been in your own career and have they been men or women?
The two questions that no one had selected to respond to are, respectively, in group one and two: Is there an ideal proportion of being self-taught and more formal opportunities? Are there circumstances in which work-life integration is not possible? Some insight relevant to the question asking about “ideal proportion”: all of the respondents appeared to be degreed, many with advance degrees as well and just shy of half held engineering degrees which is appropriate considering the publisher of the book is the Society of Automotive Engineers.
A few of the responses were sufficiently informative to warrant sharing here.
One of the respondents was particularly articulate delineating the difference between a mentor and a sponsor explaining it succinctly: mentor equates to an advisor, sponsor to an advocate. Another was adept at differentiating between EI (emotional intelligence) as someone’s capacity to recognize own or another’s emotions whereas CI (cognitive intelligence) refers to an individual’s information, problem solving, and decision making abilities.
One respondent was refreshingly blunt regarding the LeanIn concept (if you are not familiar with the concept or its precepts, you can learn about it at LeanIn.org) writing: “The inequality women face (and this includes people of color and LGBTQ, and others)…can only be addressed if we stop telling women to be more or less this or that, and acknowledge that it is the inequity in our institutions, not women, that is the problem. …our organizations must continue to evolve…”
And one can’t help admire the woman who wrote that she “chose to work for a company that harmonized product, nature and life for a sustainable society.” And then she quoted American Country music and TV star Reba McIntyre: “Success requires three bones…a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone.”
It’s left to you to decide if this book is one to be added to your library. Its words do have the ability to expand awareness regarding issues that are very current in the news these days. And just in case you might be inclined to dismiss the book consider this: had Automobile Quarterly’s then-publisher F. Scott Bailey not taken a risk with a lass named Beverly Rae Kimes, who at the time possessed zero automotive knowledge or interest and had dual undergraduate degrees in journalism and communications and dual graduate degrees in Journalism/Theatre Arts, how many wonderful books and articles might never have been written much less published!
A companion piece to the book is available separately for those who wish to have a bound publication in which to scribe personal notes or your own responses to the various original questions from which the respondents chose for inclusion in the book.
Copyright 2020, Helen V Hutchings (speedreaders.info).
The Road to the Top is Not on the Map
Conversations with Top Women of the Automotive Industry
edited by Carla Bailo and Terry Barclay
SAE International, 2019
190 pages, 45 color photos, softcover
List Price: $40
ISBN 13: 978 0 7680 0092 4
and
The Road to the Top is Not on the Map
Companion Journal
edited by Carla Bailo and Terry Barclay
SAE International, 2019
64 pages, no photos, softcover
List Price: $18
ISBN 13: 978 1 4686 0517 2
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