Team Minot “Lean In” to host trio of champion female Airmen

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Jodi Flugel
  • 5th Medical Group
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  Throughout much of my military career I'll admit that I wasn't a "champion" of women.  I was trained in dental and like most medical field occupations, there tends to be more females than males in the enlisted roles.  So while I was surrounded by women, it never occurred to me to wonder why my unit was never led by a female Chief Master Sergeant. Worse, because I never saw or endured the kind of sex discrimination that I heard about, I tended to downplay the stories shared by those who were being discriminated against at work. Looking back I wonder why my "female senses" didn't perk up enough to be concerned by the fact that we seem to lose women as we get higher in rank--didn't I want to be higher in rank one day?  Was my world view just skewed from growing up in a rare work center dynamic?

According to the Secretary of the Air Force, Deborah James, in a Reuters article from March 2015, while the Air Force recruits more women than any of our sister services, "they leave the service during the mid-career phase at twice the rate of men."  Why do we lose women at a higher rate than men, even in female-saturated career fields?  In the same article, Secretary James introduced an initiative to recruit more females into the Air Force, but Team Minot, it's our job to ensure we retain them.

In recent years, I've experienced work centers outside the medical group and have seen a dramatic difference in the way women are treated and perceived.  The reality is, not everyone gives respect based on work ethic.  This is not always the fault of the males in the shop--we women tend to underestimate ourselves and we do not give ourselves enough credit for the skills we have.  We don't speak up when we should.  This invites the perception that we are not strong enough to handle the roles we want. 

Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer at Facebook, shared a story relating when she invited 15 executives from across Silicon Valley to a discussion on the economy.  After inviting everyone to get some food and take a seat, she witnessed the men taking their food and sitting at the large conference room table while the four women in the room got their food and sat in chairs behind the table.  When asked to join everyone at the conference table, the women politely declined and stayed in their seats.  What this did was essentially made these women spectators at the discussion versus legitimate partners in the discussion. 

As females, we hurt ourselves when we politely decline.  Our voice is not heard as clearly when we contribute from the sidelines.  Women should feel empowered to sit at the table because their work ethic, job knowledge and experience enables them to contribute to the discussion.  As leaders, we are missing out on different perspectives and great ideas if we do not solicit from everyone in the room, both men and women.

So now with my new experiences, you could say that I am a "champion" of women.  I've spoken to enough males and females in this military to understand that, as a whole, we need to do a better job discussing the differences between us.  We need to learn how to encourage those women who feel more comfortable sitting in chairs behind the table to join the conversation at the table instead.  This will lead to a better-rounded, successful environment. 

Team Minot's Lean In brings you the first of many of these exact discussions with three of its very own champions this Friday, Jan. 15 at 1500 in the Professional Development Center.  Chief Master Sgt. Fay Noil, 91st Missile Wing command chief, Col. Stacy Huser 91st Operations Group commander and Col. Tasha Pravecek 5th Medical Group commander, will sit on the panel for our discussion.  I hope to see you there!

Join us on Facebook for more discussion and to hear about our upcoming events:  https://www.facebook.com/TeamMinotLeanIn/.  To hear more of Sheryl Sandberg's talk, go to:  http://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders.