In the last several months, I have had the incredible opportunity of speaking to many women about their work experiences.  One of those recent opportunities was with a woman named Margret, a sharp individual who didn’t mince words.  Margret held a degree in Finance and Accounting as well as a CPA designation.  She had served as a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at several firms before taking a job at an established and publically traded mid-sized firm on the west coast as the CFO.  She took the position without knowing the seriously crumbling state of the Finance Department.  Margret is a very detailed oriented and asked the right questions.  Unfortunately, the executive management team (made up of 11 men and 1 woman) had no idea of the problems that existed.   

When she arrived she immediately noticed key components of the firm’s processes for providing accurate data to the Finance Department were very weak and lacking of appropriate controls.  Additionally, processes within the Finance Department for budget projections and financial reporting were poorly developed.  

Shortly after she arrived, a governing regulatory agency began to notice problems with the firm’s financial reporting.  Regulatory examinations identified considerable deficiencies and put the firm on notice to take appropriate action.  While Margaret led the efforts to address the deficiencies, she also had to convince the executive management team that it wasn’t a matter of the regulatory agency treating the firm unfairly.  Frequently, her expert judgement and solutions where questioned causing added time to implementation.  The regulatory agency began questioning whether the executive management team understood the risks of their business.

It took five long years before the issues were resolved and the regulatory agency gave them a clean bill of health.  During that time, Margaret devoted 70-80 hours a week leading her team through the enhancements and changes.  She served as a change agent for a firm that didn’t know it needed to change and mostly resisted those required changes.  Eventually, the firm evolved to understand the need for the changes and recognize the lack of appropriate oversight that was originally needed to have prevented the failures in the Finance Department.

It would be great if the story ended there, but it didn’t.  After the clean bill of health, the Board of Directors (made up of 5 white males over 65) told management to bring in a new CFO as they didn’t think Margret could lead the firm’s Finance Department through further growth.  No specific reason was given to Margret to explain.  The firm offered to still retain her in a lesser job (also notifying her they would need to adjust her salary). 

For Margret, this was insulting for many reasons including because of what she managed to achieve for the firm and given her expertise.  Additionally, there were individuals serving in key management roles (General Counsel and Audit Director) who had been with the firm for many years that should have previously identified the seriousness of the problems within the Finance Department and informed executive management.  Margret could not understand how these individuals (both males) were not any way held accountable for the failure to execute their duties and identify the problems that existed. 

When Margret asked the head of Human Resources to explain why it appeared she was being treated differently than two male counterparts.  Here was no explanation provided, only excuses.  Margret declined to stay with the firm in some lesser role as she felt the demotion was unwarranted and had come to question the integrity of the firm as it related to discriminatory practices.  In the end, the firm offered to pay her an undisclosed sum of money.

In a recent interview with Margret, I asked her why she didn’t stay with the firm and accept the lesser position.  She said it was a matter of ensuring she was aligning herself with her values and the firm she worked for didn’t align with her values.  I then asked her why she didn’t take some legal action against the firm.  She shrugged and told me, “This hasn’t been some delightful garden party.  I’m damn tired.  I don’t have a fight left in me and I just want to distance myself as much as possible.”  I also learned her old firm replaced her with a male.  Hmmmm.

Sometimes, maybe it is better just wait here instead of pursing a just outcome.  Maybe there are other methods for achieving a just outcome.  Sometimes “good living” is the best revenge.  When I bid farewell to Margret, I got the impression she had a plan for doing just that!