Sheila Wellington, CEO, Catalyst

Factors in Career Choice: Thirty years ago I thought I’d build a career for myself in and around public health and academia. If you had told me then that I’d be running the most influential think tank on women in business and addressing standing-room only audiences of business leaders in the Waldorf-Astoria ballroom for Catalyst annual awards ceremony, I would have referred you to a very fine mental health center for which I worked and helped you check yourself in. But the business world has changed since then and so have I. Women populate business in record numbers. And we have six women CEOs in the Fortune 500, triple the number in 2000.

Pivotal Point & Mentors: I didn’t have a lot of mentors when I was building my career– one didn’t, back then. But there was one, Steve, a distinguished professor of Psychiatry at Yale, who gave me a professional nudge when I needed it. I had been working with one of his colleagues building a community mental health facility. For several years in the 1970s I took over running the mental health center, while my boss wrote his way to tenure. When my boss was appointed Head of President Carter’s Mental Health Commission he requested a leave, which was granted. Yale started searching for a new director, while I kept running the shop. And I have to tell you that back then, I didn’t even think twice about it. Then one day Steve called me into his office. He said in that classic, flat analyst’s voice: “Don’t you want to be the director?”

It never occurred to me that Yale might actually give me the director’s job. Even though it was the job I’d been doing in all but name for years. Steve said, “Just go to the Dean and the Department Chair and tell them you’re very happy they’re looking for a director and that after they find someone, and you orient him, you’ll move on.” So I did. And a funny thing happened – they stopped recruiting. They gave me the job. I did it just as well as I’d done it before they gave me the director’s title and paycheck.

Achievements: Since assuming the presidency of Catalyst in 1993, Catalyst has doubled in size and initiated annual measures of women’s progress in the uppermost ranks of corporate America. Under my leadership, Catalyst has spearheaded the most comprehensive research to date on women of color in corporate management.

Advice: Don’t be afraid to take risks. Don’t be afraid of change. Don’t be afraid to ask for and take on high-visibility assignments. And, don’t be afraid to fail. You can’t win without failing.

Goals: To spend time with my grandson. There is nothing better than being a grandparent! I’ve always been a mission-driven person. Professionally, my work has always been “cause” related. I don’t see that changing. It’s ingrained in my character. I want to continue to have an impact where I think there is a need.#

Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001. Tel: (212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919. Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of the publisher. © 2001.