Leading with Heart: Sherry Langdeau & Tabetha Alvarado of Great Lakes Communications On The Power of Authentic Women’s Leadership

An Interview With Pirie Jones Grossman

Empathetic leadership, especially from women, can easily be seen as a weakness waiting to be taken advantage of. The saying ‘business is business’ exists for a reason. It’s easy to want to help everyone with every problem. This is where the personal and professional boundaries you put in place become important.

In today’s dynamic world, the concept of leadership is continuously evolving. While traditional leadership models have often been male-dominated, there is a growing recognition of the unique strengths and perspectives that women bring to these roles. This series aims to explore how women can become more effective leaders by authentically embracing their femininity and innate strengths, rather than conforming to traditional male leadership styles. In this series, we are talking to successful women leaders, coaches, authors, and experts who can provide insights and personal stories on how embracing their inherent feminine qualities has enhanced their leadership abilities. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Sherry Langdeau & Tabetha Alvarado, Great Lakes Communications, LLC.

Great Lakes Communications has over 20 years of answering service experience. They are a HIPAA compliant, Indiana state certified Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE). Great Lakes Communications values the business of their customers by offering the highest level of customer care possible to all their clients, regardless of size. Day or night, calls are answered by a live, experienced agent. All companies are unique and your experience with Great Lakes Communications will be too. They work directly with you, building an account tailored to your specific needs.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion about authentic, feminine leadership, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

Sherry — As a stay-at-home mother of three, I needed something outside of the house for my own sanity. The answering service industry was a fast-paced environment that let me talk to other adults! I could contribute to my community in a meaningful way via the calls taken and dispatched.

Tabetha — Before working at an answering service, I did all sorts of stuff — like selling perfume on the streets and retail. The answering service industry felt like it was made for me. The variety of scenarios each call brought was invigorating. Talking to (all the) people is something I’ve always done, and now there was purpose behind it.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

It’s hard to pick one, there really have been so many through the years. One interesting situation we found ourselves in had to be back in 2012/2013. We were working for the same answering service at that time. There was a brutal snowstorm that shut down roads and prompted all sorts of advisories. Everyone refused to come to work, so we both packed a bag and made our way in. We slept/worked at the office for three days straight to keep the phones answered.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Our personalities. We really make it a point to get to know all our customers, not just as clients but as people, other business owners and professionals. Because we’re located on a main street in our town, a lot of our customers drive by us each day. Many of our clients like to ask us if we heard them honking as they went by. We do hear it, and even though they can’t see us, we raise our hands and say ‘hey’ every time! Now, we realize not every honk is for us, but those people get a wave too.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

1. Determination — Opening our business didn’t go as imagined, to say the least. Many times, things will come along and make us completely change our plans. Instead of being derailed, we used the roadblocks to learn and grow and strengthen our resolve.
2. Enthusiasm — When you do what you love, they say you’ll never work a day in your life. Well, when what you love is a business that’s open 24/7, you work a lot of days! But when you really do love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work. It feels like every day is an opportunity to get to do this thing you love. Plus, our thing is to make it easier for other people to do their things. Everyone wins!
3. Honesty — We like to say that EVERYONE needs an answering service. But more than that, everyone needs an answering service they can afford. We keep our billing simple and straightforward; without a bunch of surprise extras thrown in. As a small business ourselves, we know the struggle between wants and needs. Whether you come to us as a need or a want, we do our best to become both.

Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two apparently good paths. Can you share a story with us about a hard decision or choice you had to make as a leader?

I’m curious to understand how these challenges have shaped your leadership. As co-owners we face these choices all the time. People are frequently surprised by the fact that we’re not just business partners, we’re real-life friends. We’re both very passionate about this industry and our business. Just like there’s more than one way to make a bed, there’s more than one way to run a business. We’ve gotten really good at seeing things from multiple viewpoints and that helps every aspect of the business. Compromise is key in maintaining any healthy relationship, and businesses are no different. Your way can’t always be the only, give and a take is a must

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Can you share a personal experience where embracing your unique leadership style, which might not align with traditional expectations, led to a significant positive impact in your organization or team?

They say to keep your emotions out of things, and in most cases, this is good advice. However, our business is knowing your business. We’re going to be as excited about your success as you are. Your concerns are our concerns. We’re all business owners but we’re also all people. Our family-like approach has led to great relationships with all our clients.

In your journey as a leader, how have you balanced demonstrating resilience, often seen as a masculine trait, with showing vulnerability, which is equally powerful, but typically feminine? Can you give an example where this balance created a meaningful difference?

Faced with a huge roadblock our second year in business, we never for a second thought about giving up. With a bullish, won’t be stopped mindset, we started thinking of options. Quickly realizing help was needed, we didn’t hesitate to ask. Though it seemed a long shot, our determination to make this business happen was enough to get the help we needed to get us through and here we are coming up on our 10yr anniversary.

As a woman in leadership, how have you navigated and challenged gender stereotypes, especially in situations where traditional male-dominated approaches are the norm? What strategies have you employed to remain authentic to your style?

As women, we certainly have our share of stories about people telling us how we should be doing things. The beauty of owning your own business is running it the way you think it should be run. Nobody wants to have to be the consummate professional all the time. When your clients know business is being handled, it’s easier to be open with them. We want to have good relationships with each of our clients, so strategizing and troubleshooting can be easier and more productive. Our strategy is to just be straightforward with people. It’s easy to tell everyone yes, but sometimes the answer is no. If we’re not going to be able to do a good job for you, based off your needs, we’re going to tell you so. These instances are where the relationships we’ve built can come into play. We’d much rather refer you to someone who can provide the great service you need, than have you unhappy with us.

How do you utilize emotional intelligence and active listening to create an inclusive environment in your team or organization? Could you share a specific instance where these qualities particularly enhanced team dynamics or performance?

Many times, it’s what people don’t say that you have to listen for. Frequently people don’t know what they need, or how to vocalize the need. By paying attention to detail, you can learn more than they’ll ever tell you. When you take the time to let team members know that they matter and support them, it helps create a more relaxed and productive environment. Just the other day while lamenting a tedious task, an employee spoke up and offered a simple solution. Resigned to just doing the deed, it never crossed our minds to come up with an easier way. Now we’re, almost, looking forward to the task moving forward.

What role has mentorship played in developing your authentic leadership style, and how do you communicate authentically to inspire and empower both your mentors and mentees?

We both worked for companies with women owners that inspired us to really take control of ourselves and our business. They showed us that women can be independent, in charge, and still be caring and compassionate. We’ve taken all the lessons we watched them learn and are using them to grow to our full potential.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Ways Leading Authentically As A Woman Will Affect Your Leadership”? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.

1. Strong Connection Building

2. Pursuing Purpose with Passion

3. Self Confidence/Discipline

4. Being Resilient

5. Practicing Solid Values

Are there potential pitfalls or challenges associated with being an empathetic leader? How can these be addressed?

Empathetic leadership, especially from women, can easily be seen as a weakness waiting to be taken advantage of. The saying ‘business is business’ exists for a reason. It’s easy to want to help everyone with every problem. This is where the personal and professional boundaries you put in place become important.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start 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. :-)

The movement we would want to get started would be doing one kind thing each day. In a world where everyone is rushing from place to place and absorbed in their own lives; the briefest king gesture can change someone’s day. It’s easy to drop a compliment (i.e. nice hat, I like your shirt) and sometimes just being seen is what people need. Feeling extra froggy? Drop a card in the mail. It’s the small things that can really add up to something big.

How can our readers further follow you online?

https://www.facebook.com/answergreat

https://www.instagram.com/glc_answeringservice/

https://twitter.com/greatlakescomm

https://www.linkedin.com/in/great-lakes-communications-6242882b8

Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

About The Interviewer: Pirie is a TedX speaker, author and a Life Empowerment Coach. She is a co-host of Own your Throne podcast, inspiring women in the 2nd chapter of their lives. With over 20 years in front of the camera, Pirie Grossman understands the power of storytelling. After success in commercials and acting. She spent 10 years reporting for E! Entertainment Television, Entertainment Tonight, also hosted ABC’s “Every Woman”. Her work off-camera capitalizes on her strength, producing, bringing people together for unique experiences. She produced a Children’s Day of Compassion during the Dalai Lama’s visit here in 2005. 10,000 children attended, sharing ideas about compassion with His Holiness. From 2006–2009, Pirie Co-chaired the Special Olympics World Winter Games, in Idaho, welcoming 3,000 athletes from over 150 countries. She founded Destiny Productions to create Wellness Festivals and is an Advisory Board member of the Sun Valley Wellness Board.In February 2017, Pirie produced, “Love is Louder”, a Brain Health Summit, bringing in Kevin Hines, noted suicide survivor to Sun Valley who spoke to school kids about suicide. Sun Valley is in the top 5% highest suicide rate per capita in the Northwest, prompting a community initiative with St. Luke’s and other stake holders, to begin healing. She lives in Sun Valley with her two children, serves on the Board of Community School. She has her Master’s degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica and is an Executive Life Empowerment Coach, where she helps people meet their dreams and goals! The difference between a dream and a goal is that a goal is a dream with a date on it!