Long before Linda Ball became president and CEO of the Central Maine Power Co. last year, she got her start at Maine’s largest utility in accounts and customer relations.
While she no longer relies on the same skills she used in that first role, Ball said adapting is a natural — and necessary — part of moving into leadership.
“Learning to let go of some of those strengths and adapting to a new position is incredibly hard and incredibly critical to be able to succeed,” Ball told a Mainebiz forum in Portland on Wednesday.
Ball also emphasized the importance of recognizing one’s accomplishments and not always framing success in terms of the team.
“Own your space,” she advised.
Ball was among the speakers at Wednesday’s Mainebiz Women’s Leadership Forum, a 90-minute panel discussion moderated by Mainebiz Publisher Andrea Tetzlaff. The event, held inside the Stevens Square Community Center, drew 270 registered attendees who networked in the atrium before the panel discussion inside the Good Theater.
The other panelists were: Jennifer Breton, CEO and partner at Falmouth financial planning firm Lebel & Harriman Retirement Advisors; Courtney Holub, executive director of Westbrook nonprofit WinterKids; Kylie Mason, president and chief operating officer of South Portland-based engineering and design firm Sebago Technics; and Kaveri Subbarao Nauhaus, CEO of Portland law firm Bernstein Shur.
From the “disease to please” to minimizing one’s physical presence, the discussion examined habits that can hold women back from reaching their goals, as outlined in the book “How Women Rise,” by Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith.
Panelists also touched on their approaches to tough conversations with underperforming employees. Holub said she tends to be direct while making sure she is kind, while Subbarao Nauhaus described herself as “more of a confrontationist.”
Underscoring the need to have those conversations early on, and always with compassion, Subbarao Nauhaus warned that “the longer you wait, the less likely it is that something can be fixed.”
Ball noted that avoiding those conversations are a disservice to the entire team, who knows if somebody is not pulling their weight. She also shared an anecdote about an employee she let “flounder longer than they should have,” whom she later discovered was waiting to be fired so she could have an excuse to be a stay-at-home mom. The parting was amicable.
“If you have to let somebody go,” Ball said, “they should never be surprised by that.”
To close the discussion, panelists were asked what behaviors in women should be protected rather than changed. Responses ranged from preserving emotional intelligence and empathy to embracing ambition and not being afraid to be driven.
Other takeaways
“Being kind is being direct.” — Courtney Holub
“Be the presence in the room.” — Kylie Mason
“If you really care about somebody, delegate something to them.” — Jennifer Breton
Call out the team that supports you: “We have an opportunity to lift each other up, but we’re also modeling for others how to do it.” — Kaveri Subbarao Nauhaus
