Women’s leadership roles are as varied as women themselves, which means they aren’t limited to a single career track or set of experiences. For Denise Colella, vice president, global digital strategy group at software maker Adobe, those circumstances were somewhat unorthodox in that she started her career as an expatriate American in Japan.
“It’s interesting that you ask me about my journey and my career because it’s a little bit non-conventional,” Colella said in this interview with Lisa Granatstein, editorial director of Beet.TV, at the “Lift As You Climb” luncheon presented by She Runs It at the Beet Retreat Santa Monica.
“I started my career in Tokyo, probably promoted above my ability simply because I was bilingual,” Colella said. “I was placed in a role that was honestly above my ability and forced to perform at a level that I really hadn’t matured into yet. One of the things that really helped me perform and achieve the expectations was good mentorship.”
Women continue to advance in the workplace, though these changes are subject to a variety of broader cultural movements and changes in popular attitudes, Colella said.
“Women in leadership has been an interesting phenomenon to watch because it really waxes and wanes with a lot of things, whether it’s politics, whether it’s trends, whether it’s technology,” she said. “Over the years, I’ve seen it really shift from growing closer towards equality, towards falling backwards. Then there was MeToo, and there’s some animosity around that. There’s obviously political considerations to take into account.”
It’s important to recognize that Western values of women’s workplace equality aren’t always evident in other countries and cultures.
“Having worked internationally, it’s also a cultural issue, whether you’re working in Asia or in Europe, Middle East,” Colella said. “I don’t think you can look at women in leadership as one global idea. I think it’s really the situation in the location at the moment that you’re considering.”
You are watching “Lift As You Climb,” a Beet.TV Leadership Series at Beet Retreat Santa Monica with She Runs It. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
