www.dcvelocity.com MAY 2020 DC VELOCITY 43chain curricula. Back [when I was incollege], only Michigan State Universityand a few others had programs; now itseems like the majority of colleges anduniversities have courses in the supplychain field. So the combination of educational opportunities and the need tomove products and materials in a newway has opened up “white space” forwomen who have the ability to manage complex transactions.
There also are more organizational resources and more links betweengroups like AWESOME and other women’s groups. Women support womenmuch more proactively than before. Inthe past, there might have been onlyone woman executive, who fought to get where she was.
... Now women are actively bringing others up throughthe organization.
Q: What do you bring as a woman in a leadership role? Or
does effective leadership depend on the same qualities,
regardless of gender?
I’m an old-school feminist! I will never say gender is irrelevant, but I think they can both compete [for leadershippositions]. I think that when people say gender matters,in a negative way, it discounts and minimizes the womenwho went before us to open up the workforce.
Do I bring something different? I do. If you are a womanwho can survive and thrive in a male-dominated industry,there are certain skills, resiliencies, and grit that you canbring to a role like the one I have now. I’m fortunatebecause every place I’ve worked they wanted someone tobring in a different perspective. If women can succeed inthat situation, it’s because we bring specific skills to thejob. Often we are writing or creating the path—therearen’t cheat sheets we can follow.
I think women are more open to looking at things in adifferent way, especially in male-dominated businesses.
I personally experienced this in manufacturing, wheresome people said they wouldn’t work with me because Iam a woman. Resiliency was important, and I never feltsorry for myself. Women before me had it much worse!
Q: Do you have any advice for other women moving into
C-level positions?
The most important thing is to be authentic. Be who youare and bring your “whole self” to work, and keep persevering. I’m a single mom, and sometimes you have to belate because your role as a parent requires it. You can’tpretend it didn’t happen.
Bring your own strengths and take full advantage ofwhat you have. As you get further along in your careerit’s harder, because people look to you for everything. It’simportant to know what you don’t know. Also, don’t say,“it can’t be done.” Learn from smart people and build ateam that will be able to take it to the next level. And recognize that there can be multiple solutions to a problem!
Keep your brain pliable and open to innovation. If youaren’t resilient and open to new thinking and solutions, itwill be a challenge.
Name: Susan Brennan
Title: Chief Operations Officer,Bloom Energy Corporation
Education: B.S., Microbiology,University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; M.B.A., Universityof Nebraska–Omaha; alumna,Prince of Wales Business andEnvironment Program
Previous Experience: VicePresident of Manufacturing,Nissan North America; Director,Global Manufacturing BusinessOffice, and Director of the NorthAmerican Manufacturing BusinessOffice, Ford Motor Company;
among others
Professional Leadership: Top 100
Women in Automotive, 2005 and 2010; AWESOME
2018 Legendary Leadership Award; national advisory board member, National Center for EngineeringPathways to Innovation at Stanford University;
president and founder, Southern AutomotiveWomen’s Forum; past vice president, AutomotiveWomen’s Alliance Foundation; advisory board member, University Women in Science, Technology,Engineering, and Math, Middle Tennessee StateUniversity; member, International Women’sForum, Society of Business Fellows, WatermarkCOO Roundtable, and Committee of 200; honoree,Women of Influence 2016, Silicon Valley
tions to business problems. According to Deloitte, research
has shown that diversity improves profitability and the
ability to innovate. By pursuing more diverse talent, com-
panies can introduce different perspectives, experiences,
of the future. 9
In enterprises that value diversity, there are, of course,
more opportunities for women to rise to executive-level
