Female Disruptors: Dr Patricia Anderson On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

“Be yourself, everyone else is taken.” Although mentors are helpful; it is important to emulate and not duplicate them. In my first management position (right after college) I did not understand how to manage so I mirrored what I saw other managers do. I remember connecting to one of my reports who was noticeably upset by the style I expressed. I immediately knew not to practice that style of management.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Patricia Anderson, Authentic Transformational Leader and Change Practitioner.

Dr. Anderson is a professor at the Forbes School of Business and Technology with more than 20 years of experience in executive leadership and business. She has combined years of extensive behavioral research with her proven abilities to manage complexity, volatility, and ambiguity in the realm of leadership, to become a leading expert in Authentic Transformational Leadership (ATL). Dr. Anderson’s mission with ATL is to position leaders and businesses to create people-powered, future-proof solutions and sustainable success through authenticity, transparency, and mutual real-time accountability.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I graduated from high school at 16, unsure of which career path to take so “I joined the Army to see the world,” where I began to work with technology. After my tenure, I studied Computer Science and supported organizations (country clubs, advertising agencies) and their vertical markets with technological implementations. After a few years, I decided to return to school to study business, while concurrently working in management at General Electric. Shortly after receiving my MBA in MIS and International Business, I started a technology consulting business. What surprised me during my tenure in technological studies and work was the lack of female representation in that field. My organization went through transformation and became a business consulting firm that enabled organizations like AT&T to operationalize their technology and employee wellness vision. Several years ago, I had the opportunity to study Transformational Leadership in a doctoral program and embarked on a path to “transform the world — one leader at a time.”

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

STEM careers, and specifically technological careers, have historically been under-represented by females, most notably in leadership positions. As a female leader in a technology space, there is still underrepresentation, especially for women, and in particular, women of color. In order to be disruptive in these spaces, you have to possess the acumen for both technology and leadership. Educating male counterparts is a necessity; the more credible you are, the more confident you are, and the more disruptive you can be. Fortunately; the world is currently disruption tolerant.

In addition, I am reorienting leaders and other stakeholders to what transformational leadership really is; it actually includes 4 types of leadership — one of which is unacceptable. By normalizing Authentic Transformational Leadership (the good kind) leaders have a roadmap that they can use to self-assess and be assessed by. The transparency, accountability, and authenticity required by stakeholders may be daunting to some traditional leaders. In my Lead, Learn, Level Up! immersive sessions, learning leaders are provided with an ATL playbook that supports their transformation and the ultimate transformation of their organizations.

I am currently enabling company leaders to perform agile digital transformation by employing Authentic Transformational Leadership specific principles that promote collaboration and buy-in, lower resistance, and result in higher levels of stakeholder adoption, engagement, and utility, which increases ROI. The combination of ATL behavior and digital-driven insights is disruptive in that it appears to be mutually exclusive, however, each is powered by the other.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The day I left General Electric to start my business, I had my business cards in hand in less than 24 hours; shout out to Kinkos! In trying to come up with a catchy name; I leaned into a television commercial about dog food that featured Kibbles ‘n Bits; so I wanted to name my company Cables ‘n Chips. I thought it was cute, however, the quickly formed focus group did not! Looking back, the takeaway was that it is important to solicit feedback, nonetheless, disruptors sometimes take risks that do not allow for vetting — knowing when to do what is key.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

While in B school I had the opportunity to listen to a lecture from Dr. Dennis Kimbro (Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice) who urged students to use the skills learned from large organizations to become entrepreneurs. I was working in management at General Electric at the time, and shortly after receiving my MBA, I pursued business ownership. Sir. Richard Branson, another status quo disruptor, urged organizations to focus on internal customers (employees). His reasoning of employees driving customer success influenced my study and research in transformational leadership (specifically Authentic Transformational Leadership and Pseudo Transformational Leadership — the bad kind). As we witness the rise of humans in today’s organizations, it is a buyer’s market for talent. They intend to ride this demand wave to pivot employers focus on their customer success drivers; their talent.

During my tenure in the Armed Forces, I was up for a promotion and sought mentorship from one of the leaders. I am sure he said many great things but I remember him saying to wear a skirt. I never forgot that as I witness women trying to fit in traditional male spaces by mimicking them in clothing and other aspects. Of course, I do wear pants in and out of male spaces, however, the takeaway for me was that femininity is empowering, and forsaking that power to adopt a pseudo male persona to be accepted is not only tragic to the woman but to the other women whom they are paving the path for.

My mother, Hyacinth, is one of my mentors. Despite the complexities of what I encounter in my career, she provides simple words of advice that work every time. She is that solid rock that is supportive, and at times provides a space to sit on, and just be.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good?

Disruptors are risk-takers, which drives innovation. Disruptions are always good; mistakes can be parlayed into opportunities. Being a disruptor sometimes means breaking away from the pack and doing things differently. Quiet disruption should not be overlooked, neither is disrupting the disruption. Negative disruption needs to be disrupted, and quickly.

The formal education delivery industry has been disrupted in very positive ways. Learner demand has driven suppliers to be diverse in scope, offering, pricing, and structure. Further, formal education has been re-defined and is more agile and responsive to market needs. With the advent of the metaverse, we will witness another disruption in education delivery as prototyping, simulation, and immersive learning takes front and center before traditional education.

When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’?

The leadership model that has withstood the test of time is Authentic Transformational Leadership. These leaders are inspiring, motivational, influencing, possess high EQ, are risk-takers, innovative, and collaborative. These behavioral traits are disruption proof; no pivot is required.

Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

Social media has provided the platform to disrupt industry standards about women’s beauty standards, which like the metaverse, puts the power in the hands of the majority, and not just a few key players. These new beauty standards have created inclusive communities and extended the definition of beauty. However, this movement has seemingly regressed to the norm, and has now created a standard where there is a prototypical projection of what beauty is. This is especially harmful to young girls who in lieu of (or sometimes, in spite of) strong role models, see social media as defining crucial aspects of their lives.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

“Be yourself, everyone else is taken.” Although mentors are helpful; it is important to emulate and not duplicate them. In my first management position (right after college) I did not understand how to manage so I mirrored what I saw other managers do. I remember connecting to one of my reports who was noticeably upset by the style I expressed. I immediately knew not to practice that style of management.

“The simplest solution is usually the best.” (Occam’s Razor) This approach was never so evident as in the COVID pandemic era when all of the complexities of living and business were reduced to a simple binary choice..stay alive/healthy. Normalizing simplification is mentally healthy; it allows prioritization.

“He’s just not that into you!.” I remember how relieved I felt after hearing one of the male characters on Sex and the City offer unsolicited advice to a group of women who were (pseudo) psychoanalyzing the reason why one of them was ghosted. That advice has helped me tremendously in dealing with people. It is important that as women we get the male’s perspective about their counterparts and understand what they prioritize while doing our best to prioritize ourselves as well.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

There are two key pursuits that I am engaged in currently to “change the world: one leader at a time.”

1. Researching/establishing best practices for leading in the metaverse. As we plunge further into the Internet of Things (IoT), leaders must exploit the convergence of people, data, and virtual artifacts in ways that deliver meaningful experiences to their internal and external stakeholders.
2. Realigning leadership perspective on change versus transformation:

Change is a one-off binary pursuit; you change from State A to State B, but can revert to State A. (resolution to work out, exercise, COVID pivot, etc.)

Transformation is an intentional, systematic, and incremental pursuit of a better future state. The infrastructure that supports the transformation is so powerful that there is no path backward (caterpillar to butterfly.)

The optics of change by stakeholders is often viewed as an untenable headwind: conform to, or else! Transformation, on the other hand, communicates a prescriptive communal approach where tailwinds guide progression to better future states.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

• Non-inclusive architectural, emotional, and mental design in “workplaces” that considers the collective contributions of diverse mindsets. Women want to be observed for their capabilities especially in fields that have been historically associated with men. Shifting mindsets goes beyond inclusive design which may actually backfire (either conceptually or actually) for these women. Inclusive design has to, therefore, be seamless and unobtrusive.
• Male-dominated networks, intimidation, and harassment are detractors to women pursuing leadership positions where they can be the most disruptive.
• Cultural standards, gender socialization, and perception play vital roles in de-railing women from being disruptive.
• Non-inclusive succession planning in leadership. Leaders in the C-Suite usually look for more of the same and do not exploit what diversity (knowledge, experience, innovation, insight) brings to the table.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

• Several years ago, I was experiencing challenges with new business ownership. One of my friends suggested that I read the Book of Proverbs; there are 31 chapters (1 for each day of the month.) She felt (and was right) that as an entrepreneur it provided guidance on every facet of business ownership (leadership, internal/external customer relations, governance, and personal assessment/development.)
• Deep Leadership by Dr. Joe Macinnis. There is an EQ component that some women naturally possess (or are socialized to) that is instrumental in leading in high-risk, disruptive environments.
• Research spaces that provide evidence-based data to support effective practices. Gartner Group, Deloitte Insights, Harvard Business Review, Psychology Today, Project Management Institute. Regarding the latter, I am awaiting PMI to fully bake in OCM practices in their methodology. The merging of both frameworks can add significant value to how complex digital transformation is approached and executed.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

My passion currently is to enable leaders to adopt the Authentic Transformational Leadership (ATL) model. As we witness the rise of the Human, it is clear that the leadership status quo has to be disrupted. Individuals in and out of the workspace are demanding that leaders are held accountable in ways that are meaningful and have deep social impacts. At GE, I learned to “walk the talk” from Jack Welch, and now more than ever ATLs have the capacity to disrupt disruptions and not only survive but to thrive. The KSF factors for their disruptions are now two-fold: driving social and economic ROI.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“People do what they want to do.” This is a very powerful and freeing concept, that un-tethers you from (un)realistic expectations of people. Once you understand this you can pursue influencing them to want to…or not.

How can our readers follow you online?

They can reach me on my website at DrPatriciaAnderson.com, and on social media as Dr. Patricia Anderson (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter.)

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

You’re quite welcome; I enjoyed it!