Women in Leadership: Exclusive Interview with Marsha Acker, Founder and CEO, TeamCatapult

Find Your Authentic Voice And Find The Place That Is The Right Fit For You

 

"Leadership looks different on everyone and yet women often get told, we are ‘too much’ of something or ‘not enough’ of something else. Women are often judged or critiqued against an old mental model of what leadership looks like. We need to change that," says Marsha Acker, the Founder and CEO of TeamCatapult.

Marsha is a professional facilitator and an executive and team coach with 25 years of experience supporting leaders and coaching leadership for companies around the world. She is also the author of The Art & Science of Facilitation: How to Lead Effective Collaboration with Agile Teams. Marsha has a lot of insight on how to navigate changes in leadership while maintaining team morale, enthusiasm and productivity, especially in the context of supporting women at work and in business. 

Excerpts from the Interview:

Q. How do you think women make better crisis leaders? 

Marsha: Leadership effectiveness is about the extent to which people are willing to follow the direction a leader sets. We support what we help to create. What makes people most likely to follow a direction is the opportunity to have a voice and contribute to the direction and feel heard in the process. In which case, leaders who are able to listen, be curious, take in multiple perspectives, navigate decisions that do not have easy answers, consider the impact on both people and results and get things done are far more likely to build relationships and trust and be someone that others want to follow.

There are three languages of communication that we speak in; Power, Affect and Meaning. Men and women both can and do speak in Affect, but organizations can have cultural biases that minimize or silence communication in affect. I’ve witnessed leadership teams where someone would inquire about how the staff might feel about a decision and the response was sentiments like - ‘this is work, it’s not personal’ or ‘I don’t know, I’m not their therapist’. Those beliefs hinder anyone from bringing the voice of affect, which is needed at all times, but most certainly in a time of crisis.

Our societal norms make it more socially acceptable for women to bring the voice of affect, which is one reason this skill might be more developed for women. But this is ultimately about having a range in your behavior and communication, which means that it’s available and accessible to men as well. But our social norms make it more acceptable for women to demonstrate these and less acceptable for men.

Q. What, in your opinion, are some of the obstacles that dissuade women from actively pursuing leadership roles?

Marsha: Many years ago, as I took on a new leadership role I was told by the CEO “I don’t think you have what it takes to lead’. About six months later, he came back to me and said ‘I was very wrong’. Leadership is not a cookie-cutter mold - it looks different on everyone and yet women often get told, we are ‘too much’ of something or ‘not enough’ of something else. Women are often judged or critiqued against an old mental model of what leadership looks like. We need to change that. Our job in corporate America is to welcome differences in leadership - we need leaders who are effective and capable of bringing a whole range of behavior and communication propensities to their role.

Q. Can you name one woman who has inspired you the most and why?    

Marsha: I’m inspired by many women who have a story to tell where they pushed back against feedback or norms that said ‘you can’t do it that way’. Oprah tells a story about when she first launched her talk show and after a bad experience with a guest segment she made a personal decision that she would no longer invite certain types of guests.  She got lots of pushback about how that would not work and people would not watch. Amidst all of that feedback, she maintained her clear vision about the impact she wanted to have and what she believed was needed. It’s a real example to me of clarity of purpose and trusting your gut instinct that makes it your own brand of leadership - not someone else's.

Q. What advice would you give to young women entering the workforce?   

Marsha: Don’t take it personally if someone thinks your version of leadership is not leadership. Treat it as a data point and decide what you want to do from there. Keep in mind that the feedback is as much about them as it is about you. Find your authentic voice and then find the place that is the right fit for you. Pay attention to your gut instinct. When a team or company does not feel like a good fit - follow that instinct before you get locked into believing that you don’t have any other options and you have to just be miserable in order to bring home a paycheck.

Q. Share the most impactful business lessons you’ve learned in 2020 that you will carry forward.

Marsha: When I draw a timeline of my professional and personal life, what I have come to learn is that many of the high moments are preceded by a low moment - a time when it felt like everything was being pulled out from under my feet. So coming into 2020, I already had a value of looking at those ‘low’ moments as a place to create from rather than get caught up in the disappointment, fear or longing for what once was. So in March of 2020, I pivoted the whole business to go from executive coaching and leading workshops in the room across the country to coaching and leading workshops online - and it’s worked! My business went completely remote in 2012, so we already knew how to work online. But leaving 2020, I have learned the value of not being so attached to how we do things currently that I miss the moments to invent, create and pivot to something completely new. It’s important to observe what’s needed and be willing to try small experiments that you can learn from quickly. 2020 taught me to be okay with things not being perfect and make it okay for others as well. I call it the year of our beautiful human imperfections - where it’s okay to bring your full-self to work.

Q. What is your superpower?

Marsha: I care and I frequently seek the perspectives of others. I do both of these without thinking, so they come naturally. I’ve learned to find the balance of not over caring - meaning filling that role for others. I have also learned that there are times to seek perspective and time to just make a decision and move forward.
 

---