leadership roles Archives

Col. Robert Sinkler is the new Water Resources Infrastructure director at The Heart of Illinois Regional Port District, which is branded as TransPORT. The retired commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Rock Island District says that after establishing the Illinois Waterway as a U.S. Port Statistical Area by the U.S. Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center, his second priority is “getting Global Trade Magazine to recognize the Illinois Waterway as a ‘Top 50 U.S. Power Port’ in their annual port rankings.” (Sir, yessir!).

Michael Andaloro has ascended to CEO of BDP International, replacing Richard J. Bolte Jr., who will remain as chairman of the board for the privately held global logistics and transportation solutions company. BDP also promoted Nina Olatoke to vice president, Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, a newly created role for the Philadelphia-based company.

San Diego, California-based Airspace, a leader in time-critical shipping, promoted SVP Alex Coates to chief financial officer while Ruan has promoted Marty Wadle to chief commercial officer and Chad Willis to chief transformation officer overseeing Information Technology, Operations Support Services and the Extended Operations Center. The Des Moines, Iowa-based logistics leader also welcomed Sofia Samuels as VP, Marketing and Communications. More Ruan news (sadly) ends our column.

Minneapolis, Minnesota-based logistics giant C.H. Robinson snagged Arun Rajan to become chief product officer. BlueGrace Logistics, which is headquartered in Riverview, Florida, announced that Chief Commercial Officer Adam Blankenship has been added to the Digital LTL Council, which is comprised of more than 20 industry-leading Less-than-Truckload transportation providers, logistics service providers, shippers, technology providers and organizations.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Board of Directors has appointed Heidi Heitkamp, a former U.S. senator (D-North Dakota) and the founder of the One Country Project that aims to reconnect Democrats with rural voters, the chair of its 2021-22 Advisory Committee. The EXIM board also selected James (Jim) P. O’Brien, a partner with Baker & McKenzie LLP, to chair the 2021-22 Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee.

Speaking of EXIM, its former VP of Economic Security and Operations is now the executive director of the Alexandria, Virginia-based International Wood Products Association. Before EXIM, Bradley McKinney was chief of staff for the International Trade Administration at the Commerce Department.

Wood Dale, Illinois-based Optimas Solutions, a global industrial manufacturer/distributor and service provider, elevated COO Daniel Harms to president of Optimas Americas. Harms and Optimas International President Mike Duffy are also new members of the corporate board.

Samantha Galltin has replaced Kenneth W. Duncan as managing director of the Port of Long Beach (California) Commercial Operations Bureau, which comprises the Business Development, Tenant Services and Operations and Security Services divisions. Meanwhile, Carlo Luzzi has become the acting director of Tenant Services as the port recruits for that role.

Massimo Messina has been appointed vice president of Mergers & Acquisitions at Crowley Maritime Corp. He will be based in the maritime, energy and logistics company’s Jacksonville, Florida, office.

Brett Parker has joined Charlotte, North Carolina-based EDRAY, The Collaborative Port Logistics Platform, as chief commercial officer.

We end on a couple of sad notes: The Ruan family of companies is mourning the loss of Chairman Emeritus John Ruan III. He was 78. Dennis Rochford, a World Trade Center Delaware board member, also passed away. He was 73. RIP, gentlemen.

While more women are rising to the top of the corporate ladder, a question persists: Why do female CEOs still comprise a small percentage of the highest leadership positions?

Research underscores women’s capabilities as corporate leaders and their positive effects on organizations. An extensive worldwide survey showed that having women at the C-suite level significantly increases profit margins. And a study by the Harvard Business Review reported women scoring higher than men in most leadership skills.

But research also partly sheds light on why women aren’t proportionately represented in corporate leadership roles. Reasons include male-dominated corporate boards and leadership stereotypes. Not to mention that women, in addition to having the bulk of at-home family responsibilities, can be seen as threatening to men when in leadership positions.

How can more women ascend to executive positions? Andreas Wilderer, author of Lean On: The Five Pillars Of Support For Women In Leadership, says it starts at home with a supportive husband willing to take on more of a household role while not worrying about reverse stereotypes – the stay-at-home dad or secondary breadwinner.

“Even though society is getting used to strong women in the workplace, men who take care of the house and kids are still often seen as an oddity,” Wilderer says. “Old attitudes in society fade slowly, as many still believe that each sex should keep its place.”

“In many families, however, that place is changing. Change tends to begin not in the big arenas, but in small places. And change starts within the family unit – long before many corporations and institutions recognize what is happening. Now more and more men are proudly accepting the role of staying home to fully support their wives and their career pursuits, and it’s time more companies were supportive of women in well-earned leadership roles.”

Wilderer suggests four ways companies can make leadership opportunities more accessible to women:

-Gender equality training. “With evidence proving that women make excellent leaders,” Wilderer says, “it is clear that not having these qualified individuals in leadership positions is a detriment to your business. Gender equality training within a company is a transformative process that enables women to be assessed on the basis of their skills, not restricted from upward movement by their gender.”

-Gender equality training 2.0. Wilderer says normal bias training needs to go an extra step, emphasizing how companies can show support for male partners and the family of the female leader. For example, when companies sponsor events such as dinners for employees, they often buy gifts for spouses attending. Wilderer says an important cultural shift can occur in the form of a gift. “It’s a cultural shift to not assume that the spouse of a leader is a female,” Wilderer says. “You can no longer make that assumption. Companies should make the gifts gender-neutral, emphasizing the importance of the supportive spousal role.”

-Recruiting. A company’s commitment to promote women’s advancements from within starts in the recruiting process. “Recruiting women on the premises of equal opportunity provisions is the first step to help women rise to important positions,” Wilderer says. “Organizations should issue meaningful equality plans to absorb women members in proportion to men.”

-Career-mapping. “Organizations should have an effective career-mapping plan in place for female employees,” Wilderer says. “Being aware of higher-level opportunities within the organization and the path required to achieve them helps women to set out clearer plans for attaining these roles.”

“Ingrained attitudes take years to evolve into acceptance,” Wilderer says. “Acceptance starts with simple gestures like the gifts but has to go much further – flexible hours, provided daycare, a partial home office. As far as women have come in the corporate structure, there are still too many barriers, and too few of them get to fulfill their potential as leaders.”

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Andreas Wilderer (andreaswilderer.com) is the author of Lean On: The Five Pillars Of Support For Women in Leadership. A business leader and entrepreneur, Wilderer worked in the event and marketing field. As Gallup-certified CliftonStrengths Coach he founded GLOBULARiTY LLC, a business coaching company that helps leaders grow and learn how to strengthen their Adaptability Quotient (AQ). While working on his business pursuits, Wilderer stayed at home and cared for his two children while his wife pursued her career. Recognizing that women can be providers and men can be nurturers, Wilderer began focusing on coaching female leaders while teaching men how to actively support them. As a motivational Keynote speaker, he is advocating for females in leadership and the system they can Lean On.

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