sarah.nicastro@ifs.com, Author at Future of Field Service

By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

I came across a post in a working mom’s group I’m in where someone shared this article about former Xerox CEO Ursula Burns, who became the first Black female CEO of a Fortune 500 company in 2009, discussing the realities of what it took in her role as a mom to advance to the levels she did in her career. She says, “I would not be able to be CEO of the company unless I outsourced the caring for my kids. I was not a believer that you had to go to all your kids’ games. I just don’t understand what that’s all about. We did what we had to do.”

By outsourcing, Ursula is referring to relying on her late husband Lloyd to take care of their two children and she credits her career success to this strategy. Now, this interview took place in 2022, but the comments on the post from other moms in the group are of the present and show some very mixed emotions on Ursula’s stance. Here are some highlights:

“I can’t believe she refers to Dad taking care of the kids as outsourcing.”
“I think this is the unfortunate truth; you can’t have it all. It’s not talked about enough and women run themselves ratted trying to do it all because we’re told it’s possible.”
“My boss used to send me all the ‘you can’t have it all’ articles after I had my first baby. It was so toxic. I was promoted to her equivalent position when he was 15 months old. The fact of the matter is, I’m not going to take advice from a 60-something year old woman when parenting today is so vastly different. I don’t aspire to be the CEO of a large company, but I think you can have it all if what you want is a healthy career and to be present for your children. It’s not easy, but it’s totally possible.”
“I guess it depends on your definition of ‘having it all.’ I suppose what I mean is having a career that I’m satisfied with, being there for my kid’s activities/events, and doing things for myself as an individual and spouse. I’m doing all of that.”
“I believe the term ‘Supermom’ is so toxic. It disrespects every mom that is out here giving 100% every day just to be made to feel they should be doing more.”
“This article made me sad because I clicked the link thinking she was going to say that you don’t have to make every meeting, sometimes family comes first. But she didn’t and I think that’s unfortunate.”
“I’ve worked for moms like this and have always felt so inadequate. It’s almost a ‘if I can work this hard as a parent, so can you’ vibe, but disregarding what an absolute privilege it is to have a village like what’s mentioned here.”
“We need to STOP treating our working moms like they have to work a job as if they are single with no children, while at the same time expecting them to act like parents without a full-time job. It’s 2024. Why is it not acceptable to do – and be great at – both?”
“I think it’s crap that choosing my family should set me back in my career when it would be praised if a man did it.”
“I’m so grateful to have a job that supports working Moms. I am in executive leadership and regularly attend events for my child, do school pick up, and more and encourage my team to do the same.”

Choice, Circumstances, and Culture

It goes without saying that when we surface issues that working moms are navigating, there’s not a one-size-fits all. Not all, or even many, of us are aspiring to a role like Ursula had. And when it comes to service, some roles we discuss often – like field technicians – have certain considerations to weigh on what’s truly possible to accommodate.

But I’ll share this from my personal experience – I always wanted to both be a mom and have a career. When I had my boys and they were very small, I worked for a company that did not value or put effort into creating a culture that aligned with what it would take to do both well (and maintain my sanity). It was a very inflexible environment, and I remember with emotion many mornings that I had to weigh the choice of leaving one of my children crying at drop off or be late and be asked to take a quarter day of vacation time. My direct supervisor even asked me when pregnant with my second why I wouldn’t just decide to stay home.

When I transitioned to my role leading Future of Field Service for IFS, a huge weight was lifted – which was magnified in significance when Evan’s Type 1 diabetes diagnosis happened just three months in. Now I am in an environment where I work very hard but in a way where it’s possible to do that and be present for my children in the ways I feel are important. Part of this is flexibility, part of it is ethos; it’s understood I’m human and accepted that family is important to me.

This acceptance is a huge barrier to overcome, regardless of industry or role. I am a firm believer that moms bring unique value to organizations. For the organization to benefit from that value, it’s necessary to determine how to support those individuals (all parents) in balancing the ability contribute sacrificing their role as a parent. For some this is a flexible schedule, the normalization of attending school events or taking kids to doctor’s appointments, a supportive culture where it’s OK to be dealing with real-life, outside-of-work circumstances, among other things.

To be clear, creating a culture that supports working parents isn’t important for women alone. In fact, the impact that can be had by men in leadership roles taking a more active role in illustrating how parenting plays a part in their work-life blend goes so far in diminishing the weight working Moms feel on being judged for never being enough in either role. And the more both parents have support to care for children when sick, attend school events, adjust schedules to drop off and pick up times, and so on, the fairer the distribution of responsibility so that the conversation becomes less about supporting working moms and more about supporting parents.

In the world of field service where we strive to create more gender diversity, the default excuse becomes the inflexibility of the environment in which service is delivered. Coming up in this week’s podcast, I welcome Daniel Trabel of Thermo-Fisher Scientific to challenge those excuses by sharing an inside look at how his team has made changes to bring more women field technicians on board. Don’t miss it!

Episode 256

In this episode of the Future of Field Service podcast, host Sarah Nicastro welcomes back Dot Mynahan, who recently retired from her role as Executive Director of Field Operations at Otis Elevator after nearly 32 years with the company, to discuss her journey and her thoughts on the International Women's Day theme of inspire inclusion.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

Dot Mynahan: "I think the first lesson learned is never be afraid to ask for help. Especially at Otis, there was a culture of if you ask for help, people will make sure that they help you. And from day one with the organization all the way through my last day at the company. I mean, even now, I could call up anybody at Otis and say, hey, I need help. And I would get it. They're amazing. It's an amazing team. I think the other lesson learned is to think about your career as a lattice versus a ladder. Everybody seems to think it's important to get to the next step. But if you go up vertically, you lose the breadth of knowledge that you can get if you take some laterals. And so I think that there's great value in a lattice approach to your career."

Sarah Nicastro: Welcome to the Future of Field Service podcast, where we deliver both information and inspiration on how to differentiate your business through service and lead through change. I'm your host, Sarah Nicastro, and I'm here to guide you through conversations around the trends that matter most, from business transformation and customer-centric innovation to the service evolution and attributes of effective leadership. Join us on this journey as we welcome industry leaders, visionaries, and experts to share their personal stories of change, challenges, triumphs, and transformation. Let's dive in. Today, we're going to be talking with Dot Mynahan, who was formerly the Executive Director for Field Operations at Otis Elevator Americas and spent nearly or just around 32 years with Otis and in services. So we're going to take a look at her experience as a woman in service over the span of a few decades and just hear a bit what that was like. So with International Women's Day on March 8th, the goal this month is to amplify the voice of women in the industry as well as elevate the topics related to the International Women's Day theme of Inspire Inclusion. So Dot, welcome back to the Future of Field Service podcast. How are you?

Dot Mynahan: Thank you, Sarah. I'm well, thanks. And I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you again.

Sarah Nicastro: Absolutely. I'm so glad you're here. So you are someone, you've been on the podcast before, and you are someone who has stood out to me in my time in field service as a woman voice in this space. You've done a lot throughout your career to advocate for women and to help support women. And I'm thrilled to have this discussion with you today. Now, you just recently retired from your role with Otis after nearly 32 years with the company. Just congratulations, first of all.

Dot Mynahan: Thank you.

Sarah Nicastro: Yeah, you look tan, you look rested. So I would imagine retirement is treating you well.

Dot Mynahan: It's treating me very well. Thanks.

Sarah Nicastro: I love that. So I guess to start, 32 years with Otis is a major accomplishment. And can you just share with everyone a bit what your career journey looked like?

Dot Mynahan: I'd be happy to. Thanks, Sarah. So I started as a temp. Believe it or not, I answered a newspaper ad in the Portland, Maine newspaper looking for a service clerk. And so I started and Otis had a policy at the time that all new hires had to be hired as a temp. So I started October 1st of 1990, and I was supposed to go permanent in December. And at the end of November, they implemented a hiring freeze. That put me in limbo until a position opened up once the hiring freeze was lifted. So it was a little nerve-wracking, but I knew when I worked there, I was like, I know I'm going to love this industry. I just knew it. Like it was just a perfect fit. So I hung in there and they were very good to me. Even as a temp, I hung around. And then June of 92 was actually when the first opening became available, where I was hired full-term as a service clerk. And then shortly thereafter, I was offered the opportunity to go into a training program to become a supervisor, which meant I spent 18 months out in the field working as a helper. So working with the tools, working with the mechanics, invaluable experience. And I would say the last four months of that time, the regional field ops manager who was overseeing my program had a really unique idea of every supervisor in New England who reported to him who went on vacation, he would send me into that office to cover for the week. So think about this. I have a year of field experience under my belt, a few years with Otis under my belt, but walking into an office and sitting in the chair of a supervisor, who typically had 20 plus years experience, many, many years in the field. I think the first supervisor I sat in his chair, he was a 40 plus-year Otis veteran. And so the mechanics would come in the office and say, who are you? I'm like, well, I'm Dot. And I'm training to become a supervisor. But what it did was build an incredible network. So I was able to meet all of the folks in all of the Otis offices across New England. I knew the supervisors, the branch managers, the sales reps, and started to know the mechanics. And then also, it was interesting because I knew the systems, I knew parts, but I had worked in the field. By the end of the week, I typically had a line of mechanics sitting at my desk asking me for help to fix things. Whether it's problems with what the equipment was that was on their route, but they definitely took a liking to me by the end of the week. So it was a lot of fun. From there, I actually got my first supervisor job. I went from Providence. I was there for about two years up to New Hampshire. Otis has an employee scholar program. So I went to school at night, got my MBA. At the end of that, I became a general manager, first in Albany, then back to Portland, Maine. And then I had the opportunity to become a general manager of a larger office in Boston. And then the transition happened to field ops. Solely field ops, where I came out of the P&L, went to the D.C. Area, and was the regional field ops manager there from 07 to 15. And then in 15, I had the opportunity to go to Latin America as the director of field operations. Didn't know Spanish, didn't know Portuguese, but was willing to take the job and give it a shot. Loved it. And then in 2018, I transitioned into my Executive Director role for the Americas.

Sarah Nicastro: Wow. So quite a journey. And I always say that I think it's really interesting when, so specifically thinking about like women in service and that team. I think it's really interesting when I speak with women about their progression. Like you started as a temp and you ended as the executive director of the field operations for the Americas. That's obviously very telling of your drive and your character and your abilities, right? It's also telling of the organization, I always think. When someone has been with a company for 20, 30 years, it does let you know that there's things going right. Otherwise, people would not stay around. And I think particularly when you see women advancing into leadership roles, it's representative of a company really making an effort and putting action behind this idea of equity and inclusion. So really good stuff. So looking back, what are a couple of your proudest moments?

Dot Mynahan: I think the biggest achievement I have was starting forward, which was the employee resource group for women in field operations. We started that in North America with a group of 12 women. It expanded to over 500 women internationally and really has made a difference in the careers and career ladders, not only for women in field operations and the offices, but even in the field. Because we talked a lot about career ladders and there are career ladders even within the field organization, that I'm proud to see a lot of the women getting the opportunities that they deserve. So it's just been an incredible organizational structure to have that employee resource group that Otis supported as well as they did. And so that's probably my number one goal or achievement. And then I think the latest one, I want to go current, is the integration of Otis ONE, which is our IoT product, into our service operation. So whether it be improved maintenance, guidance. I was looking at where faults are occurring and where should maintenance occur on your next visit. Looking at the time it takes to troubleshoot a callback or even if you need to respond to a callback, if we can see that the car's running. It was just a lot of fun and a lot of energy in looking at what's possible with that data. So that's been a lot of fun. I've really loved that a lot. And then I think the other one is we're just getting ready to go into production for a new equipment product called the Gen3 Core. And we took that through pilot and achieved our targeted installation hours. So just a lot of work, a lot of input from the field. Fantastic team on my team that just really drove the design of the product and really making it field friendly. And I think the customers are going to be thrilled. It rides like a dream. So I'm really excited to hear the feedback from the customers.

Sarah Nicastro: I love that. What's standing out to me about your answers is. And so I'm going to tie this back to just the theme of leadership as a whole, right? You are not going back to the glory days. You could easily. I think many people would. Just without thinking about it, go back to some fond memory of this, that, or the other thing. You're pulling really recent examples. I'm talking about how exciting the potential is. And I think that this, it reminds me of the importance in leadership today of bringing that positivity to change. So the only real difference between a challenge and a possibility is the attitude you have about it. But if you are a leader who can not fake it, but be excited about the potential, okay, this new technology, yes, it may be complex and we have a lot to figure out, but it's going to be so cool. That attitude is everything, right? And so that's what I'm thinking about as you're responding with these really recent examples is you're not going back to a lot of people that have been in a company for 32 years would just revert to the good old days and that sort of thing. And you're looking at these really recent things. And I love that. So when you think about the journey in terms of, are there any challenges that stand out to you of being a woman in a male-dominated field?

Dot Mynahan: I just never felt it. Of course, you run into those situations where a mechanic isn't thrilled to have you as their boss. I had a mechanic at one point in time come up to me and say, day one, walking into this office, I'm now their supervisor, saying, I've never worked for a woman before. I'm not going to start now. And I said, well, you have two options. I'm either your boss or you can go work someplace else. There's not another option. This is the structure and I am your supervisor. And why don't we just give it a shot? Let's see what we can do. And by the time he retired, he came up to me and he said, I remember day one. And I remember what I said to you. And I'm so sorry. You're the best boss I ever had. Because he gave it a shot and he was willing to give it a shot. And I think that spoke volumes for him. And there are times where I go, I would go to meetings. I'd be the only woman in the room. But I never felt that. I just never had that feeling of being a one-off or not being able to sit at the table. And maybe it's a cultural thing at Otis, where I was so accepted. But I was. And so it just wasn't really difficult.

Sarah Nicastro: I think thinking about your response to him, you were firm, but you were also, you showed like you were firm in I'm not going to take any crap. Okay. Like you're not going to treat me poorly. We're either going to make this work or you're not going to be here. You were firm, but you were also then, and I want to make this work. Like let's make this work, right? But that did make me think the ability to do that, I think has to be rooted in feeling empowered, right? There would probably be women in that position if they didn't feel supported and empowered in the role they're in fully. That wouldn't have felt comfortable saying, look, I want to make this work. Let's make this work. Or you're going to go need to go find something else. So I think that probably is part of it. And this is where I think it's always a combination. It's always a combination of that tenacity and that drive and the right type of support within the organization. A thought of an extra question I want to ask you, which is, I'm sure this is hard to answer because you only know what the experience has been. You can't really project what it would have been otherwise, but do you feel like having a woman CEO has an impact on what this has looked like for you at Otis and for other women at Otis?

Dot Mynahan: A hundred percent.

Sarah Nicastro: Yeah.

Dot Mynahan: I think there's a couple of things. First of all, UTC started our relationship and our commitment to Paradigm for Parity, right? Which is saying that we'll be at 50% parity in leadership roles by 2030. So UTC started it. We became an independent company. We've continued our commitment to it. Judy is extremely committed to it. And I think I always go back to, if you can see it, you can be it. And I think Otis does a good job of highlighting and sharing success stories so that you can inspire others to look for those roles and know that they can be successful and know that they'll be supported. And so I really think it's a culture at Otis to ensure success.

Sarah Nicastro: Yeah, that's a good point. And just to be clear, by asking that question, I wasn't trying to infer that Judy herself has made this so. It's more so that it's indicative of a company culture that is really valuing diversity and putting their action where the talk is, right? So that's what I meant. I don't think that in any way, you need to have a woman CEO to create a positive environment or to have that impact. I was just thinking about how it's telling of the company's focus. Okay, Dot, so we talked about some of your proudest moments, we talked about some of the challenges. What would you say are a couple of the biggest lessons you feel like you learned over the course of your leadership career?

Dot Mynahan: I think the first lesson learned is never be afraid to ask for help. Especially at Otis, there was a culture of if you ask for help, people will make sure that they help you. And from day one with the organization all the way through my last day at the company. I mean, even now I could call up anybody at Otis and say, hey, I need help. And I would get it. It's amazing. It's an amazing team. I think the other lesson learned is to think about your career as a lattice versus a ladder. Everybody seems to think like it's important to get to the next step. But if you go up vertically, you lose the breadth of knowledge that you can get if you take some laterals. And so I think that there's great value in a lattice approach to your career in order to expand the breadth of your knowledge and your experience, also your network.

Sarah Nicastro: Yeah, I was thinking about when you said early on that role where you would go and fill in with the supervisors, you got to know different teams really well. And I think that's another thing I was thinking about in the back of my mind in terms of leadership skills is you can never minimize the impact of face-to-face time and listening and learning and not just going to say, okay, I'm in charge. But getting to know people and getting to know their challenges and understanding what it is that's going on in a particular functional area or region, that makes a lot of sense.

Dot Mynahan: Right. And I think the last piece of the puzzle is to always take the interview. If someone is approaching you about a potential, they're seeing something in you that they believe makes you a good fit for the role. And I think that the fit the lesson for women is men will apply to a job if they have 60% of the credentials and women will apply if they have 100. So I did a lot of mentoring, a lot of coaching over the years to a lot of women who had been approached to roles or I was approaching them for roles. And I'm like, look, I understand that you may not think you're ready, but if we look at all of the skills that you bring to the table and what you're capable of, then this role will take you to the next level. This role will take you from a regional footprint to a national footprint. And then there's learnings there. And even if you go to an America's level footprint, some of that is influencing remotely. And that's a big lesson for a lot of leadership to learn is how do you influence when you're remote? Now, obviously, through COVID, a lot of us were forced to learn that. But pre-COVID, that was a big part of me going to Latin America was how could I influence, learn to influence remotely? So there's a lot to be said there. And I think that always taking the interview, even if you're not successful, you've met a person in leadership who you may work with or for down the line. And I can cite several examples of that happened to me. And I was so happy that I took the interview, even though I wasn't successful, that I made those connections, which later on in the career ended up becoming great friendships.

Sarah Nicastro: Yeah, because they might come back and say, hey, Dot, we didn't think you were a fit for this role. But now that we've met you and we know a bit about you, there's this other thing and you would be great for that. Yeah.

Dot Mynahan: And there's always somebody better. There's no harm in applying for a job and there's a better candidate. You still learn something from the application process, the interview process. It's okay that there was someone that was a better fit for that role. There could be other roles in your future.

Sarah Nicastro: Yeah, that's good advice. So the theme for International Women's Day this year is Inspire Inclusion. So what do you think about when you hear this year's theme?

Dot Mynahan: I love the word inspire. I think it's a great verb when you think about it, right? Because to me, inspire invokes passion and an urge to act, an urge to do something, right? So how do you create in others an urge to act? And so when I saw the theme, I was like, oh, my gosh, they nailed it this year. That's such a great theme. And so I think I was excited. I was excited to see the theme and I'm excited to see what people do with it.

Sarah Nicastro: Yeah. And this will be reflected in our content this month. They talk on the webpage for about the theme, inspiring inclusion is everyone's job. Yes, on this platform throughout this month, we want to amplify women's voices, but we also want to talk about the role everyone plays in inspiring inclusion. That's very important. So when it comes to areas of service that are still struggling with not only bringing more women into service, but diversity as a whole, what do you think are the reasons that as an industry, we're still not where we want to be? What do you think needs to happen next?

Dot Mynahan: I think the number one factor is unconscious bias. When you think about when you interview people, you feel very comfortable with someone who looks like you, thinks like you, went to the same school, you know, that you have a lot of things that you share in common. And so I think that there's just a tendency to default to those candidates because they're comfortable candidates, right? But diversity of thought brings a lot to the table. And diversity of candidates brings a lot to the tables. I think we just have to look at and address and really think about unconscious bias and try to eliminate it. So if you're part of a hiring panel and you're having a discussion post-interview process and reviewing the candidates and somebody is advocating for a candidate and you're like, okay, why? What makes this person the better candidate, right? And I think it helps too if you start the whole process is to have a diverse slate, force yourself to develop a diverse slate of candidates. Because you'll have a gem in there that you didn't expect to have.

Sarah Nicastro: It's hard to really make progress if consciously or unconsciously you're still selecting from a pretty homogenous group, right? I mean, you have to first think about how do we articulate the roles and post the roles and reflect on the requirements that we're listing and things like that to make sure that you aren't imposing that bias before you ever even get to an interview situation, right? And again, knowing that there's that difference between men and women on men will apply at 60%, women 100%, you really have to think about are we inadvertently turning potential candidates away by the terminology we're using or an outdated requirement or something like that? That's a really good point.

Dot Mynahan: We had a great example of that in Brazil. So we would hire 20 to 40 trainees every year to become route mechanics to go out and do routine maintenance on maintenance routes. And we hired from local electrical, mechanical, engineering type students, like graduates. And in the years prior to Forward, maybe we had four to six women who would apply and be accepted into the program. Through Forward, we worked with HR and through the president of the region, he said, I want gender parity in this next hiring. So it really forced us to think, okay, if you want gender parity in the result, what do we have to do? So we changed the advertising, right? Just like you said, the advertising said this year women are encouraged to apply. And we took a graduate from the program and we had her picture with another male technician in all of the advertising that we did. So they could see that a woman had been successful in the role. Over 400 applicants applied, women applicants applied out of 1,200. And we achieved gender parity.

Sarah Nicastro: Part of it is remembering if you don't do different, you're not going to get different. So I think especially in field service, there is a lot of, whether it's, I don't want to say unwillingness, whether it's not really wanting to change or whether it's just habitual. Like the requirements have been the requirements for however long and we just haven't sought to really dig in there, right? It's that, like you said, it was that prompt of, okay, well, we need to achieve this goal. Now what do we need to do differently? I think everyone needs to be thinking about that. You mentioned that with Forward, how you worked with HR to get better at that piece. Looking at the work that you did with Forward and how it grew over time, what are the other sort of, if you were to bullet point a couple of its sort of missions and purposes that it played within the company? Because I'm just thinking listeners could reflect on, do they have something similar? Or if they have a group, is there areas of action that they might be missing? Can you talk a little bit about that?

Dot Mynahan: Yeah. So one of the things that we did was had training, technical training as part of our meetings. Not every meeting was technical training. Maybe once a quarter we would have a technical training topic. And the women were happy to have that because they felt comfortable asking questions in that environment because they knew it was a mostly female audience. Whereas if they were in a regular training class and they were one of few, then they would feel uncomfortable asking questions. So that was very successful. The other thing we did in talking about career ladders and lattices is we celebrated different roles in the company, even within the field, right? If somebody was a field employee and had progressed within the field from an apprentice to a mechanic to maybe an adjuster level mechanic or had taken a role as an education instructor for the union, like we celebrated those and we showed their picture and we had them speak at the meetings. And we did the same thing with an Otis to show that most of the people who were in leadership roles and who were being successful, not only had the career ladder, they had the lattice and they also put themselves out there in leadership roles, right? Even as a field employee going to teach at union school at night. So then they were leading a classroom and learning those skills. So we really celebrated that. And we tried to share and put pictures and names to success so that the old adage of, if you can see it, you can be it. We lived that. And tried to share everything that we could to just show that to encourage other women to apply. And then if somebody approached us about a job or an opportunity, we would do coaching on maybe at night. I'd have a call and say, okay, you're going to apply for this job. Why do you want this job? What's your interest in it? Okay. Let's talk about what the job entails and what you need to think about as you're interviewing for the role. And think about the experience because a lot of people say, well, I don't have that experience that another person has who's applying for a role. Okay, that could be true. But what do you bring to the table? What have you done that you bring to the table?

Sarah Nicastro: Yeah, I think there was a point I wanted to bring up, which is this idea of when we think about, I wanted to first comment on the point you made about showing pictures and names and having people speak. Because it brings me back to the reaction you had to the term inspire, which I think is rooted in its emotion, right? And we're people, we're humans, we connect with other people. So rather than putting up a stat, in the meeting that says, this month or this quarter, six women advanced, okay? It makes it personal. That's when you have that connection to, I see them doing this, I could do this too. And so I think it's something to keep in mind. The other thing is related to a lot of the coaching and that sort of thing. I think programs like this are important because when we go back to the theme of inspiring inclusion, that isn't at one level. The goal should not be, let's get more women or more diverse candidates into the organization. It needs to be at every level. And that means helping people understand their strengths and progress throughout their careers. And whether that's lattice or ladder, that's not the point. The point is the job isn't done when we are successful, like getting those 400 applicants and even hiring parity, it's all the way through. I think obviously at Otis, having a woman CEO is helpful because you have that relational point all the way up. But there's a lot of organizations where that isn't the case. And companies, I don't think, are putting as much thought into not just the initial task, but what happens all the way through. Are there any other things beyond the coaching and mentoring that you think are important in making sure that women are progressing through roles within the company?

Dot Mynahan: I think that comes to the coaching piece of the puzzle is part of what we would talk about as well. When I talk to women who are interested in progressing with the company is, okay, so you want to be a leader. You're not a leader now. You want to be a leader. What can you do that would show your leadership skills? So whether that's a volunteer opportunity where you set up a volunteer opportunity in your branch. And then you take a picture of yourself leading it, you post it on LinkedIn, you're leading it, right? And not that it's me, but just the visual of you're in the lead, right? Now people associate you with a leadership position. And the same thing with the employee resource groups, right? Become involved in those, take a leadership role in those. Everything that you can do, whether it's at work or outside of work in the community, where you can share that you have leadership capabilities. Do it.

Sarah Nicastro: Yeah.

Dot Mynahan: Do it. Put it on social media. Let people know I'm interested.

Sarah Nicastro: Absolutely. And that's where we come back to talking about at the beginning, your journey. It's part personal responsibility for owning your journey and your growth and your expansion of knowledge and your expansion of your network and your engagement in resource groups, activities to continue to work on yourself. And it's part company mission to, and leaders, leaders and company itself to figure out what role they need to play in building programs and processes that are targeted toward removing that unconscious bias and taking real action behind this topic. Awesome. Okay, so you're retired. Is there anything you're able to share on what's next for Dot?

Dot Mynahan: I call it, I tell my family it's Dot 2.0.

Sarah Nicastro: Yeah.

Dot Mynahan: So it's really a chance to do what I want to do. And I can choose to stay retired. I can choose to go back to work. I'm still vacillating between that. But in the meantime, I walk the talk. So I'm going to be participating for the National Elevator Industry in a SkillsUSA conference in Atlanta, which is a student-run organization that helps place graduates into ready for trade roles. And so I'll be helping there. I'm also very much involved in Tradeswomen Build Nations, which also helps our women in the field. And I'll be participating in New Orleans this fall with that. And then I'm really looking for opportunities, whether to be served on a board or to maybe work for a smaller company and help a startup or help a PE-backed company that's looking to get into digital transformation of their operations or how to integrate IoT into their service operations. Like all of the stuff that I was passionate about at Otis, I have the skills to share. So I'm willing to entertain those possibilities. But I just think, like, the future is so open for me. I don't want to constrain myself in my opportunities. I just want to be open to them and see where it takes me.

Sarah Nicastro: Yeah, what a wonderful spot to be in. And congratulations to you again for getting yourself there and a wonderful 32 years and the work you're continuing to do to help support women in the trades and diversity in the trades. And we'll be excited to see what comes next. So thank you for spending some time with me today and sharing your journey and your knowledge and really appreciate you.

Dot Mynahan: Thank you, Sarah. It's been a pleasure.Sarah Nicastro: Thanks, Dot. Thank you for listening to the Future of Field Service podcast. We hope today's conversation has provided you with a light bulb moment or given you some valuable food for thought. To learn more about any of the topics discussed in this episode, visit us at futureoffieldservice.com. If you enjoyed this episode, please don't forget to rate us on your favorite podcast platform to help others join the conversation. Also, remember to hit the subscribe button and turn on notifications so you don't miss a future episode. The Future of Field Service podcast is published in partnership with IFS. To learn more, visit ifs.com. On behalf of everyone at Future of Field Service, thank you for listening.

By Sarah Nicastro and Angel Vossough, CEO and Co-Founder of BetterAI

Amid Women’s History Month our month-long focus on the International Women’s Day theme of inspiring inclusion, it’s important to challenge ourselves to think creatively about all the ways we can make greater progress in gender parity, equity, and inclusion. This includes evaluating how today’s technological capabilities, like AI, can help us to mitigate bias, improve recruiting and hiring practices, and provide new opportunities for women seeking personal development and career growth.

On this topic, we’re excited to share the perspective of Angel Vossough, CEO and Co-Founder of BetterAI, a Silicon Valley-based AI service provider. Angel, a technology leader and serial entrepreneur, holds dual bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and computer engineering, as well as master’s degrees in software engineering from San Jose State University and data science from UC Berkeley.

Angel was previously a Senior Network Engineer at Cisco Systems, specializing in Network Architecture for major telecommunications companies including Verizon Wireless. She subsequently founded DiverseUp, a public-benefit corporation building a professional community for technical and scientific women and is also Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Caspian Capital, an early-stage investment firm focusing on deep tech, biotech, and AI.

It's inspiring to see AI company helmed by a female data scientist CEO and it's the perfect time to discuss how women's career platforms like BetterAI’s DiverseUp can play a role in the progression of not only women’s individual careers but in greater gender equality in the workplace. The DiverseUp platform anonymously collects data focused on gender-equality practices from current and past employees and aggregates it to provide a holistic view on how female-friendly specific employers are. Its intelligent matchmaking algorithm then pairs prospective female employees with potential employers to help increase retention. The company aims to bring transparency to workplace practices, measure policies’ effectiveness, and help the tech sector retain female talent

Future of Field Service: How do you feel AI can play a role in advancing gender equality in the workplace?

Angel: AI has the potential to significantly advance gender equality in the workplace by offering unbiased data analysis and decision-making processes. For platforms like DiverseUp, AI can analyze vast amounts of data regarding corporate policies, culture, and practices to identify biases and recommend improvements. More than 50 percent of women in tech leave their positions mid-career, making retention of female talent one of the big challenges for tech companies. AI can assist in developing more equitable hiring practices, identifying gender pay gaps, and suggesting corrective actions. AI can also help in creating personalized career development plans for women, taking into account their unique circumstances and preferences, thereby promoting a more inclusive workplace environment and increasing retention.

Future of Field Service: How can women use AI in their career search to help make wise selections?

Angel: Women can leverage AI in their career search by using AI-powered job recommendation engines that align with their career goals, personal values, and work-life balance needs. AI can analyze their profiles, skills, and preferences against job listings to recommend the best fits. Additionally, AI can provide insights into company cultures and practices, helping women choose employers based on their personal preferences, such as flexible working hours, maternity leave, and career development programs. AI can empower women to make informed decisions when it comes to career choices.

Future of Field Service: What are some of the ways women could be leveraging AI for personal/career development and growth?

Angel: AI can offer personalized learning and development recommendations, identify skill gaps, and help with upskilling or reskilling in their chosen field. It can suggest courses, workshops, or assignments to bridge these gaps. It can also help with networking by connecting women with mentors, peers, and professional communities that can support their career advancement, using matching algorithms to find the best mentor-mentee relationships.

Future of Field Service: How can organizations use AI to help ensure their recruiting practices are equitable?

Angel: AI-driven analytics can help organizations identify patterns in hiring and turnover, and predict shortcomings in their recruitment processes, enabling them to make data-driven adjustments. Organizations can employ AI to design job descriptions that are neutral and appealing to all genders, analyze resume data without bias, and standardize interviews. However, post-recruitment retention of female employees is as important as recruitment and is a challenge for tech companies. For example, unlike men, women display a pattern called “returnship,” where they leave their careers to focus on family life and return to the workforce a few years later. These qualified candidates are often overlooked by recruiters because of this gap in work history. By training AI on this known pattern, AI can identify and target these potential employees for recruitment and retraining.

Future of Field Service: What do you think the next five years holds in terms of the increasing impact AI and other technologies will have on women in the workplace?

Angel: In the next five years, the impact of AI and technology on women in the workplace is likely to increase significantly. We can expect more sophisticated AI tools for career development, networking, and mentorship, specifically designed with women's needs in mind. AI will also play an important role in eliminating biases from recruiting processes, which can help more women enter tech roles. Furthermore, as remote and flexible working becomes more prevalent, AI will help women balance their professional and personal lives more effectively.

Future of Field Service: What else related to this topic is important for us to keep in mind?

Angel: It's essential to approach AI with a critical eye, recognizing its potential to both challenge and reinforce societal biases. As we integrate AI into the workplace, continuous efforts must be made to make sure these technologies are designed and implemented in a way that promotes equity. This includes diverse teams in AI development, transparent AI models, and ongoing assessment of AI's impact on workplace equality. Through thoughtful application of AI, we have a unique opportunity to shape a more inclusive future for all.

Episode 255

In this episode of the Future of Field Service podcast, host Sarah Nicastro discusses how Future of Field Service plans to celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day theme of inspiring inclusion and shares some of her favorite words of wisdom from women featured on the podcast this past year.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

Episode Highlights:

[03:25] - In episode 206, Cait Donovan challenges the common belief that avoiding burnout is solely an individual's responsibility, arguing instead that it's a broader issue tied to societal and organizational factors.
[04:32] - In episode 209, Trina Stargard Nielsen enlightens us with her wisdom on leadership in the era of digital transformation. She champions the essence of humility in leadership, highlighting the necessity of embracing a team where members may surpass you in intelligence, education, or even salary.
[07:00] - In episode 217, Mita Mallick unpacks the myths holding us back from real progress. In her latest book, "Reimagine Inclusion," Mita challenges 13 common misconceptions, encouraging us to confront the uncomfortable truths that prevent meaningful change.
[08:40] - In episode 221, Marie Cobessi stresses the importance of gender equity within the organization, advocating for increased representation of women at all levels, from technicians to management. She believes the visibility of women in diverse roles is crucial for inspiring change and promoting the idea of "Why not me?" among potential female candidates.
[11:00] - In episode 224, Lauren Winans highlights the importance of treating employees as human beings, stressing that neglecting soft skills can lead to significant turnover costs. She advocates for viewing every business element through a lens that asks whether it will benefit or harm employees.
[12:50] - In episode 226, Christine Miners and Rick Lash share priceless insights on redefining leadership beyond simple task completion. They note a common pitfall where leaders equate their value simply with getting tasks done, neglecting the essential roles of reflection, clarity, and empowerment. This mindset shift is crucial for fostering a culture of innovation and empowering employees.
[15:05] - In episode 236, Sara Smith unveils her inspiring journey from a toxic background to becoming a trailblazer in field service by overcoming gender-based challenges and harassment in her early days as a service technician. Her story is a powerful reminder of the importance of creating supportive and inclusive workplaces, especially for women in technical roles.
[18:54] - In episode 241, Linda Tucci underscores the role of authentic communication, compassionate leadership, and the power of vulnerability and self-reflection. Linda's journey highlights how facing challenges can deepen our understanding of leadership, making her insights incredibly valuable.
[21:26] - In episode 246, Caroline Häggström Marklund dismantles the myth that putting people first is ineffective, highlighting how it empowers teams, fosters complex problem-solving, and enhances customer relationships. By trusting and enabling her 400-strong team to navigate their roles with autonomy towards shared goals, she showcases the importance of adaptability and trust in today's work environments.
[24:20] - In episode 248, Ann Sørensen explores the shift towards valuing attitude and behavior alongside technical knowledge. This approach, increasingly adopted by service organizations, underlines the critical role of diversity in all its forms, not just gender equity but diversity of thought, background, and perspective. Such diversity fuels innovation, creativity, and growth, which are essential for business evolution.

Episode Notes:

Episode 206: Busting the Biggest Burnout Myths
Cait Donovan’s Website
Episode 209: A Logistics Leader’s Perspective on Innovation, Digital Transformation, Diversity and More
Trine Storgaard Nielsen on LinkedIn
Episode 217: Debunking the Myths that Impede Workplace Inclusion
Mita Mallick on LinkedIn
Episode 221: The Pillars of Transformation in Focus at Fnac/Darty Episode
Marie (Sabet) Cobessi on LinkedIn
Episode 224: Is the Soft Skills Gap Growing?
Lauren Winans on LinkedIn
Episode 226: How Can Service Leaders Nurture Empowerment?
Christine Miners on LinkedIn
Rick Lash on LinkedIn
Episode 236: Reimagining Change Management for Today’s Service Needs
Sara Smith on LinkedIn
Episode 241: What I’ve Learned About Leadership Through My Breast Cancer Journey
Linda Tucci on LinkedIn
Episode 246: Vattenfall Customer Service's Prize-Winning People First Strategy
Caroline Häggström Marklund on LinkedIn
Episode 248: Building Competence in Service – Today and Into the Future with Alfa Laval
Ann Sørensen on LinkedIn

By Sarah Nicastro and Scott De Long, Ph.D, author of I Thought I Was a Leader: A Journey to Building Trust, Leading Teams & Inspiring Change

I have a lot of respect for people who prioritize continual learning and personal development rather than reaching a point where they relish in the complacency that even success brings.

When you consider how the talent landscape has evolved in service, and across many other industries, it requires leaders to reflect on what it takes to lead well in today’s circumstances – not those of yesteryear. Whether this is navigating external challenges, like COVID or the economy, redefining traditional roles based on the modern possibilities of technology, or simply balancing the needs of an increasingly diverse team; leaders are being called to level up.

Scott De Long, Ph.D, author of I Thought I Was a Leader: A Journey to Building Trust, Leading Teams & Inspiring Change, wrote his book to reflect on his approach to leadership. Scott is a speaker, educator, and serial entrepreneur with three successful company exits and a doctorate in leadership studies. He teaches practical applications at the university level and, as CEO of Lead2Goals, he provides coaching for growth-oriented organizations. Additionally, he co-hosts The CEO Podcast, discussing pivotal topics for business leaders.

In this Q&A, Scott weighs in on what he feels is helpful in leading a multi-generational workforce.

Future of Field Service: Gen Z often receives negative labels or reputation. What does this perception say about how our thinking needs to evolve?

Scott: The negative perception is that they won't stay long at a company, and that they really don't want to work. Where we can change this is by providing the type of environment and leadership that fosters their desire to stay. They are seeking organizations that prioritize environmental sustainability, diversity, and offer ample opportunities for personal and professional growth. Leadership must actively listen to their concerns, rather than ignoring or dismissing them, if we aim to cultivate a thriving workplace.

Future of Field Service: What do leaders know about the differences in communication style among generations?

Scott: Millennials and Gen Z are generally more comfortable with technology, having grown up with devices at their fingertips and communicating through text-based platforms. There's often a perception among them that older generations have not fully embraced technology, leading to a divide. This is an area where older individuals can play a crucial role in emphasizing the value of face-to-face communication. It's important to recognize that digital communication may not effectively handle conflicts or differences of opinion; such interactions are better suited for face-to-face discussions or phone calls. Therefore, it's our responsibility to educate rather than simply expect them to adapt.

Future of Field Service: What should leaders keep in mind about what each generation is motivated by?

Scott: It's tempting to categorize generations and make predetermined assumptions about what motivates them. However, the reality is that leaders must invest time in understanding the unique needs and values of each individual under their guidance. While this approach requires patience, the rewards of treating people as individuals and actively listening to them are invaluable. Building such relationships fosters longer-term loyalty to the organization and stronger interpersonal connections, ultimately leading to increased productivity and a more robust organizational culture.

Future of Field Service: Mental health is an important topic in the workplace today – how do the needs differ among generations?

Scott: Again, if we were to generalize, we might observe that Gen Z and even millennials tend to experience feelings of being "overwhelmed" more frequently compared to older generations who were often instructed to simply "deal with it." While there may be assumptions about the greater resilience of older generations, I don't necessarily subscribe to that belief. Older generations were often taught to suppress emotions, whereas younger generations tend to express their emotions more openly. I believe everyone faces challenges, and it's crucial for us to strive to understand the needs of our people. It's akin to therapy for businesses. By engaging in open conversations, actively listening to our employees, and seeking to understand their perspectives, we can mitigate the impact of the mental health crisis by helping individuals navigate through their struggles.

Future of Field Service: What advice do you have for leaders on how best to meet the diverse needs of a multi-generational team?

Scott: Similar to the previous point, the first step for leaders is to comprehend the issues faced by our team members. This requires empathetic listening—asking insightful questions, attentively listening to responses, and striving to understand their perspectives. Only then can we discern how best to support them. However, I contend that empathic listening itself constitutes a significant portion of that support. People need to feel heard in order for solutions to be effective.

Future of Field Service: What works in terms of fostering collaboration and a sense of camaraderie among teams with multiple generations?

Scott: Spending more time together, even if it's virtual, is crucial for fostering collaboration and a sense of camaraderie among teams with multiple generations. This time should be dedicated to getting to know each other as individuals rather than just focusing on job functions. Every meeting should serve a purpose, and I believe that purpose can include allowing time for team members to see each other and actively listen to one another. This approach is essential for meeting them where they are and building stronger connections across generations.

If you’d like to hear more from Scott, visit http://scottdelong.net or catch Scott’s show Lead2Goals and TheCEOpodcast on YouTube. You can also stay updated with Scott on Instagram @scottdelongphd.

Episode 254

In this episode of the Future of Field Service podcast, host Sarah Nicastro is joined by Frank Odogu, Director of Lifecycle Services at Atlas Converting Equipment, for a discussion around moving beyond seeking only technical skill in service and taking a more holistic talent approach to meet future needs.

Frank has over eight years of leadership experience in the global service sector at Atlas Converting Equipment, where he is committed to providing outstanding customer support and leading revenue growth. Frank holds a Six Sigma Green Belt certification and is highly skilled in IIoT solutions, process engineering, and enhancing manufacturing processes.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

Episode Highlights:

[02:46] - Businesses are increasingly distinguishing themselves through superior service, which demands a workforce skilled in technical aspects, emotional awareness, and business acumen. This trio of skills is crucial for delivering outstanding customer experience. However, finding talents who excel in all three areas is challenging, especially regarding business awareness and emotional intelligence. Developing these competencies requires a thorough approach, including training and real-world application, to prepare a well-rounded and effective workforce.
[12:03] - Effective leadership is key in steering the focus of talent beyond immediate tasks to embrace the broader organizational vision. This involves providing teams with the necessary tools and knowledge for their roles, as well as fostering a culture of engagement and continuous improvement. Leadership should recognize and develop solutions that serve both customers and employees, ensuring the integration of digital innovations benefits all stakeholders.
[16:00] - Navigating the challenge of balancing immediate needs with future planning, especially in talent management, is essential for sustained growth and innovation. Frank highlights the importance of integrating long-term strategic planning with daily operations through effective budgeting, stakeholder engagement, and management buy-in. By setting aside time to review and adjust strategies regularly, businesses can ensure they are meeting both current and future demands.
[24:25] - To foster growth and retain young talents who crave career progression, companies should offer a dynamic work environment where employees can explore various roles and responsibilities. Mapping their strengths and interests into different areas of business expansion allows businesses to create personalized growth paths. This enhances employees' skill sets across a broad spectrum and keeps them engaged and motivated.

Watch the full episode here:

By Sarah Nicastro

Countless companies have turned to employee engagement initiatives to help boost morale, reduce burnout and improve retention. And, in my opinion, rightly so. It’s high-time we put proper emphasis on the crucial role our frontline teams play in the customer experience and company objectives. The question is, what’s the right way to track employee engagement?

I was interested in the findings of a recent Marketresearch.biz report on the growing market for employee engagement software. According to the report, revenue is going to reach $4.4 billion by 2033 with a compound annual growth rate of 16%. The software not only gathers employee feedback, but also evaluates performance and provides tools to encourage specific behaviors and improve engagement. These can include things like mobile learning portals, onboarding/training, streamlined communication tools, and recognition/reward solutions.

When it comes to the capabilities of AI-driven tools, though, what’s the proper balance between wanting to assess employee engagement without breaching employee privacy? I came across a write-up recently in The Hustle titled “How Companies are Using AI to Spy on Slack,” which was exploring news of how companies like Walmart, Delta, Chevron and Starbucks are using an AI tool called Aware to monitor employee messages.

While the premise of Aware and similar tools is positioned around gaining knowledge about employee sentiment (as well as monitoring for certain risks), it’s hard to determine how much tracking becomes counterintuitive to the reasons employee engagement is so important today – which is to make employees feel more valued and empowered.

We know that engagement is going to remain a critical topic moving forward in field service. In the most recent IFS State of Service report, the second-highest top concern of service organizations was dealing with a lack of skilled workers and high employee turnover. Efforts to improve engagement can help relieve some of the staffing pressure. Where should those efforts be focused? The Service Councils annual Voice of the Field Service Engineer survey provides some guidance.

That survey found that 45% of service engineers either were not planning to remain in the industry or were not sure; only 28% of those planning on leaving were retiring.

The Service Council report also digs into some areas where technicians are not satisfied with their jobs. Roughly a quarter were dissatisfied with career opportunities, mentoring/guidance, and learning and development opportunities. The survey also found that 43% of engineers did not feel like they were recognized for their results, and 42% felt they were not coached on areas where they could improve.

The Potential for Progress in Employee Engagement is Huge

What I wonder is, would those metrics be far better if not for these two: Just half of respondents agreed that their company prioritized employee engagement, cared about their personal development, or was interested in collecting technician feedback. And only around a third agreed that their employer directly addressed their concerns/feedback or rewarded them on feedback that improved processes or business outcomes.

So regardless of where you stand on the best ways to track employee engagement, the more prominent issue in my mind are the companies failing to recognize the need to do so. As I have pointed out numerous times, and others have emphasized during our podcast interviews, technician engagement is critical for pretty much every program, initiative, or technology deployment. They are not just the face of your company during service interactions, they are also the eyes and ears – they have insights you can't get anywhere else.

Software may be part of your solution, whether that’s in the form of surveys or something like the Aware tool discussed above. But it certainly isn’t the whole answer – employee engagement initiatives need to be more holistic and include not only a mechanism for taking the pulse of your workforce’s feelings and feedback, but also for providing quality training and enablement, strong leadership, career growth opportunities, and more. You also need processes in place to respond to technician feedback and show, through action, that their voice matters.

The benefits here extend beyond HR-related concerns of high turnover. Engaged, energized technicians provide better service, can help spot new revenue opportunities, and play a critical role in the success of things like digital transformation initiatives.

Have you had an experience or success with employee engagement software? I would love to hear about it; email me here.

Episode 253

In this episode of the Future of Field Service podcast, host Sarah Nicastro is joined by Hany Salah, Head of Services Sales at Schneider Electric, to dive into skills, approaches, and tactics in selling today’s service solutions. They also touch on storytelling, customization, and talent challenges.

Hany has over 23 years of experience, mostly in the service sector, and has been working at Schneider Electric since 2008, now leading the service sales team for North East Africa. Besides his corporate role, Hany has a parallel career in education and learning, serving as a certified instructor and consultant in project management, accredited by the Project Management Institute and the Egyptian Syndicate of Engineers.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

Episode Highlights

[04:02] - Today's customer-centric sales landscape success lies in understanding and valuing the customer's journey, prioritizing their experience, and aligning our offerings to their specific needs and benefits. The key is to question and validate your assumptions about customer needs, engage deeply to understand their expectations and ensure every interaction adds value. Instead of focusing on what you offer, shift towards a consultative approach, customizing your services to address the unique challenges and desires of each customer.
[06:30] - Regarding the evolving service landscape, Hany has witnessed a transformative shift, expanding beyond traditional service roles to embrace a digital, insight-driven approach that fundamentally enhances the value proposition for customers. This change highlights the critical role of digital transformation in scaling service capabilities and enriching customer relationships through 24/7 connectivity and advanced data insights. At its core, service remains a people-centric business. However, the integration of digital tools and AI capabilities has multiplied its impact.
[13:32] - Embracing a holistic, customer-centric approach is essential in today's service delivery, moving beyond simple additions to deeply incorporating solutions across all service areas for a seamless customer experience. Personalization plays a key role in this transformation, highlighting the importance of understanding and segmenting customer personas to tailor services effectively. From addressing unique challenges faced by data center managers to meeting the expectations of facility managers, customizing your approach based on a deep understanding of each persona ensures that your services resonate with the specific needs and expectations of each customer segment.
[17:08] - Integrating storytelling with smart customization and personalization strategies allows sales professionals to create compelling value propositions that truly meet customers where they are. Keep in mind that this approach goes beyond simply presenting a product or service; it's about creating a narrative that resonates with the customer, incorporating real examples, success stories, and lessons learned to demonstrate value. Listening is the first critical step towards a customer-centric approach, ensuring that the sales narrative is more than a list of capabilities but a tailored story that reflects the customer's voice and priorities.

Watch the full podcast here:

In last week’s podcast, I welcomed back Roy Dockery, VP of Field Operations at Flock Safety for what was his fourth appearance on the podcast (making him the most repeated guest!). His insights were featured way back in episode 2, discussing the need for organizations to take ownership of the talent gap. Next in episode 147, with a fresh take on the same topic – this time with the hope leaders were more ready to listen. Again in episode 243, where he actually interviewed me about my 2023 predictions. And last week, where we had a conversation around his new book, The Art of Leading: Truth, Love and Empathy in Action.

After reading an early copy of the book, I asked Roy to speak to some of the points that stood out most to me. One of the biggest is the very first chapter of the book, where he talks about how love is imperative to impactful leadership. He says love is “a fundamental element that can empower you to excel in leadership and drive remarkable outcomes. I don’t disagree, especially if you read his explanation on why and how, but I did tell him I feel this is a bit of a “hot take.”

In services especially, there are a lot of leaders in place who might cringe, laugh, or roll their eyes at the statement that love is essential to good leadership. I think those reactions could stem from a number of things that I won’t delve into here, but I also think those reactions are what prompted me to state in my 2024 predictions that I believe this year we’ll see more and more “old-school” leaders ousted. My point in that prediction has nothing to do with age and everything to do with mentality – including the outdated beliefs that leaders who are caring, vulnerable and empathetic are “soft” and not as effective.

There’s a growing realization of course that those beliefs are, frankly, bullshit – supported by plenty of evidence on how characteristics like vulnerability and empathy actually improve leadership influence and create cultures where overall performance rises.

One point Roy made in his book that we discussed on the podcast, though, is one I hadn’t heard framed in this way before. This is the connection between love in leadership and equity in the workplace. He says, “Equity has become a popular term, but I truly believe that love is the only true path to equity. Tolerance and inclusion can easily become prisons for those in the outgroup because to be given access without true consideration is a cruel illusion.”

This was probably the statement from his book that will stay with me most – and it’s one I think we can’t reflect on too much or too often. We have so many discussions around increasing diversity, creating more inclusion, reaching equity – but are we considering how unlikely it is to really reach those goals without coming from a place of love? It’s such an important point.

Honesty, Accountability Factor In

For anyone reading along thinking, wow – this guy must be all peace/love/feelings, there’s more to the conversation than the importance of love. Roy also discusses how “love without accountability becomes enabling; honestly without tact, empathy or maturity is damaging” and gives some very specific examples of not only accountability but even harder conversations like termination, through a lens of love. While the book shares Roy’s conviction around the importance of characteristics like love, empathy, and authenticity in leaders, it’s also full of real-world examples of what these traits look like in practice, even under challenging circumstances.

So, to answer the question posed in the title of this article – is there a place for love in leadership? Yes, there is – and I believe leaders who don’t find their own authentic way to lean into that reality will struggle to connect with employees in the coming years in a way that will allow them to be successful, in their purpose or their ability to drive productivity.

Roy’s book is well worth checking out! It’s officially available the 20^th, but you can pre-order on Amazon now.

In this episode of the Future of Field Service podcast, host Sarah Nicastro welcomes back Roy Dockery, Vice President of Field Operations at Flock Safety and author of the new book "The Art of Leading," for a discussion around the mindset and practices that lead to impactful and effective leadership.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

Episode Highlights

[04:21] - Embrace love as the cornerstone of leadership for transformative outcomes. Leading with love isn't just an attractive ideal; it's a practical strategy for cultivating empathy, inclusion, and genuine care in the workplace. Contrary to traditional views that sideline love is inappropriate for professional settings, Roy argues for its power in building deeper connections and ensuring everyone feels valued and heard. In its broader sense, love empowers leaders to create environments where employees thrive.
[17:12] - Authenticity in the workplace is more than being genuine; it's about respecting and valuing your unique qualities and encouraging others to reveal their true selves, creating a ripple effect of mutual respect, understanding, and empowerment. Being authentic means sharing your interests, passions, and vulnerabilities appropriately. This fosters a culture of openness and mutual support. Leaders can kickstart this positive cycle by gradually sharing more of themselves, showing it's safe for others to do the same.
[25:20] - Embracing acceptance and authenticity is key to leadership and personal growth. It's about recognizing the power of not having all the answers but instead valuing the unique contributions of others. This mindset fosters diversity, unleashing the potential within teams by appreciating various experiences and perspectives and challenging the outdated notion that leaders must know everything. Besides, it highlights the importance of work-life harmony over balance, promoting a seamless integration of personal and professional life.
[35:15] - Creating a positive and inclusive workplace culture relies on authenticity and leadership by example. Leaders must demonstrate honesty and embrace life's demands, including family commitments, to develop an environment where employees feel valued and understood. Encouraging open communication, acknowledging the individual needs of employees, and ensuring that actions reflect the company's values are vital, as well as addressing toxic behaviors and maintaining a culture of accountability and respect.

Watch the full podcast here:

The Pressure for Women to “Have It All” is Alive and Well – Is the Possibility?

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By Sarah Nicastro and Angel Vossough, CEO and Co-Founder of BetterAI

Future of Field Service: How do you feel AI can play a role in advancing gender equality in the workplace?

Future of Field Service: How can women use AI in their career search to help make wise selections?

Future of Field Service: What are some of the ways women could be leveraging AI for personal/career development and growth?

Future of Field Service: How can organizations use AI to help ensure their recruiting practices are equitable?

Future of Field Service: What do you think the next five years holds in terms of the increasing impact AI and other technologies will have on women in the workplace?

Future of Field Service: What else related to this topic is important for us to keep in mind?

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Episode 255

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The Feminist Plumber Who’s Paying It Forward

Q&A: Advice for Leading Multi-Generational Teams

Q&A: Advice for Leading Multi-Generational Teams

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By Sarah Nicastro and Scott De Long, Ph.D, author of I Thought I Was a Leader: A Journey to Building Trust, Leading Teams & Inspiring Change

In this Q&A, Scott weighs in on what he feels is helpful in leading a multi-generational workforce.

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