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St. Petersburg Times
MARGO HAMMOND. St. Petersburg Times. Oct 18, 2004. pg. 1.D ; Business Cover When former reporter and editor Fawn Germer decided to quit journalism and write a book, she imagined an appearance on Oprah and a spot on the bestsellers list. Her first book, prophetically titled Hard Won Wisdom, eventually did get mentioned by Oprah, but it also gave the author, born in Flint, Mich., a crash course in perseverance. Rejected by 15 publishers, Hard Won Wisdom, which was subtitled More Than 50 Extraordinary Women Mentor You to Find Self-Awareness, Perspective, and Balance, finally came out on Sept. 12, 2001, the day after the terrorist attacks. When her publisher, Perigee, a division of the Penguin Group, canceled her book tour, she decided to publicize the self-help book herself, transforming herself into a motivational speaker. Now at 44, Germer has written a second self-help book, Mustang Sallies: Success Secrets of Women Who Refuse to Run With the Herd. The book is based on interviews with more than 75 women - among them Hillary Clinton, Carly Fiorina, Joan Armatrading, Susan Sarandon, Meg Whitman, Elaine Chao, and the Tampa Bay area's Alex Sink and Pam Iorio. These are women who, as Germer puts it, know how to "use power, not fear it." Germer recently spoke with the Times from her home in Clearwater just before her book tour began. Here is an excerpt from that conversation: What is a Mustang Sally? Mustang Sallies are those women who know that there comes a time when, to succeed, they have to break from the herd despite the repercussions. We've been bred to be nurturers, to go along and get along, but sometimes a Mustang Sally just has to say, "Would you pick it up yourself?" Can a woman learn to be a Mustang Sally? Yes, some of us have to learn to ratchet ourselves up a notch. As the playwright Eve Ensler told me, the hardest thing women have to overcome is their need for approval. What I want women to know is this: Some things you are going to have to do without approval. You are looking to be an agent of change in an environment that doesn't want you. Success is not for sissies. What's the best piece of advice you heard for women in business? That your No. 1 job is to survive and fight another day. It's not to win, but to be able to stay in the battle. That came from Kathy Bowers, who is a judge in Denver. Of the women you interviewed, which ones had the best sense of humor? (Singer) Carnie Wilson was hysterical. She is an endless string of four-letter words and energy. I loved her. She and I bonded when she told me she loves her dogs so much that she kisses them on the lips every day. And (comedian) Brett Butler, definitely. That's her job to be funny, but I just love her in-your-face perspective on life. How do you know when you've crossed the line, when you've become too obnoxious in your attempt to assert yourself? How do you know when you've become, as you put it in your book, a Bronco Betty? You'll know when you have no friends and are completely ineffective in what you do. Your No. 1 job is to stay alive to fight another day. If you become known as the troublemaker, that becomes tiresome and expected, and you'll lose your clout and your ability to act effectively. What did you learn most from your interviews with the Mustang Sallies? I learned how deeply engrained are the self-esteem issues we feel, how universal the feeling of being a misfit is - regardless of where we are on the job continuum. But we can't all be misfits. Those feelings aren't real if everyone has them. Why are women so often criticized for their style? When a woman is called tough, as Bernadine Healy, the former head of the American Red Cross, says in your book, "that is a nasty thing to say about her." Because it's new. Even women don't cut other women a lot of slack. We expect men to be in charge. Whereas men tend to feel threatened and see their entitlement challenged. How did you choose the women whom you interviewed for the book, and which one would you say embodies best the idea of a Mustang Sally? They are people that I like and admire, people I thought could teach me something. The obvious candidate for a Mustang Sally would be (former Texas Gov.) Ann Richards, but also Janet Reno and Eve Ensler. When I approached Coleen Rowley, the FBI agent who blew the whistle on the problems in the agency, she didn't understand why she should be included in such company. Talk about self-esteem issues. Here's a woman who in her job takes on the entire FBI and she doesn't think she's in league with other strong women. You report that in 2002, 65 percent of women working in financial institutions said they have to work harder than men to achieve the same results, while only 13 percent of men said that women have to work harder for the same rewards. Does that discourage you? I always like to remind myself that 85 years ago we couldn't even vote. I look at all the progress that has been made. Hopefully, we'll get to the point that we will have become more comfortable in our own skins and succeed as ourselves. Remember when women in business wore those stupid blouses with ties and tried to look like men? Now we have found ways to dress very feminine. It's a growing process. The more we see women in high places, the easier it will get. If you could trade places with one of the Mustang Sallies, which one would you choose? This may sound corny, but I wouldn't. I've finally gotten to a point through their mentoring where I just love who I am and what I am about. What is the most important lesson you heard that women leaders need to learn? Instead of seeing that there is one piece of pie for women - and that you have to be competitive to be sure you are the one to get that piece - we need to unite. When power is shared, the pie will get bigger. We're good as a team. There's enough success to go around. Meet the Author Fawn Germer, a former reporter and editor for the Miami Herald and the Tampa Tribune and author of Mustang Sallies: Success Secrets of Women Who Refuse to Run with the Herd (Perigee, $22.95), will appear at the Times Festival Reading from 12:15 to 1 p.m. Nov. 6 in the Forrer Classroom on the Eckerd College campus. "Sometimes you have to lose some battles to win the war. I had a few bad bosses. Sometimes, I figured how to get out of his department. The way to do that was to make him look good, to do a really good job, convince him he'd look better to promote me out of his department. . . . Don't get mad. Get even." - Alex Sink, former head of Florida operations for Bank of America, now retired "I'm one of those people who thinks if you want something enough - really enough - and you know that you're going to work for it, in a lot of cases it's going to happen. If you have a very strong belief, you can make it work." - Joan Armatrading, singer "I'm very threatening to people. So be it. I try not to throw that up in people's faces. If somebody is threatened because somebody is competent, so be it. My experience is that competence will win out. If it doesn't, it isn't worth it." - Carly Fiorina, chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard "There was a period of time when all I got was negative. What those folks didn't know is that when people talk to me like that, it really gets me going. I thought, 'Well, nobody thinks I can do it. That's interesting. I think I'll take that challenge.' " - Mayor Pam Iorio, on deciding to run for mayor of Tampa "Watch other people carefully. Try not to be too overt in your ignorance. You just watch others, see how they act. Then you learn. You make mistakes, but that's life. Don't get discouraged. We have an incredibly forgiving society. People have second chances all the time." - Elaine Chao, U.S. Secretary of Labor "I learned a long time ago you just have to ask what you don't know. So when I got here (eBay), I asked a lot of questions. I'm sure a lot of technology executives thought, 'God, she doesn't know a lot,' but when you ask, they want to help you understand." - Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay [Illustration] Caption: Alex Sink; Joan Armatrading; Carly Fiorina; Pam Iorio; Elaine Chao; Meg Whitman; Mustang Sallies: Success Secrets of Women Who Refuse to Run With the Herd by Fawn Germer, book cover; Fawn Germer; Photo: PHOTO, (8) Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. People: Germer, Fawn, Fiorina, Carly, Armatrading, Joan, Whitman, Meg, Chao, Elaine Section: BUSINESS Text Word Count 1503 |
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| Copyright 2007 Fawn Germer. All rights reseved. |