THE CHANGE AGENT
>> Continued from page 25 opinions on the industry – were female .
WOMEN IN THE PARTNERSHIP It was a bartending job while she was attending school at Michigan State University where Berg tapped into a love for the restaurant business , steering her to major in hotel and restaurant management . Her first job out of college was with the consulting firm now known as Pannell Kerr Forster .
Or , as she describes it : “ 140 white men and me .” She said her male boss at that time was “ of the opinion that women should never be voted into the partnership .” Despite that limitation , Berg said that boss actually ended up being a strong mentor for her . “ He taught me so much ,” Berg says . “ He taught me self-discipline , he taught me to be analytical , he taught me to bring out team members .
“ And eventually I taught him that women could be in the partnership .”
Yes , that ’ s right : Berg became one of the firm ’ s first woman partners at the age of 32 , after 10 years of climbing the corporate ladder .
“ The rest of us are basically running along behind her ,” says Karen Johnson , a Castell board member and longtime friend of Berg ’ s . “ She ’ s on a mission and she ’ s not taking any prisoners .”
For Johnson , the key is getting higher-ups ( more frequently male ) to see the potential of
their female workers . “ For most men , they ’ re looking out at their subordinates and their eyes catch on the person who looks like they did at that age ,” continues Johnson , president of New York-based Pinnacle Asset Management . “ Whether or not he is worthy of that mantel .”
“ When I was elected to that partnership ( at PKF ), I thought the problem was fixed ,” Berg says . “ Like , obviously somebody had to be first but after that it would just solve itself and ultimately , it didn ’ t . And every year when I look around the industry , I ’ m reminded that it doesn ’ t solve itself .”
Berg eventually left PKF and founded her own consulting firm , the Highland Group ( which she ’ s since sold ), becoming a Comfort Inn and Hampton Inn franchisee along the way .
The year Berg formed Highland Group , she had her first baby .
“ The year I had that baby , I produced more for the Highland Group than I had produced
THE INDUSTRY COLLECTIVELY TENDS TO THINK THE PROBLEM ’ S FIXED AND IT ’ S NOT .
PEGGY BERG for PKF in the couple of years leading up to it ,” she says . “ And the reason I could produce more was because I worked smarter . So if you assume that in order to productive , a woman has to do exactly the same process that she did before she had a child , you ’ re setting her up for failure and you ’ re trapping the company inside of a box .”
“ It ’ s a mission for her ,” says Johnson , “ and it ’ s ironic because if she ’ d had two daughters , you might ascribe the passion to her wanting to make things better for her daughters , you encounter it but it ’ s something that we have to address to move this particular needle . So that ’ s something that both the company and the diverse people in it have to think about and thoughtfully work on . H : One of the theories of thought within the broader # MeToo movement is that this is a moment where women of privilege , i . e . white women , should be taking a step down and letting more women of color step up so that their voices are heard . Is there room for something like this within a hotel company ’ s strategy ? PB : So that has an implicit assumption that there are only so many spots for women . So either you have a white woman or you have a woman of color but you can ’ t have both . H : Well , it sometimes feels like that , doesn ’ t it ? PB : But that ’ s wrong . So I think it ’ s very dangerous for any of us to let that implicit assumption go unchallenged . I think what happens , what should happen , is you evaluate people on what they ’ re delivering and what they can bring to the both company and you . H : Right , yes . But , while that ’ s the rational way of thinking , like you said previously , there have been biases in place that have been keeping women out of higher positions for years and then there are also biases that have been keeping women and people of color out of higher positions for years . PB : Yes . H : So then how do company leaders break the cycle of people hiring people who look and act just like they do ? PB : If you look around your group , whatever group it is , whether it ’ s the group in the C-suite or it ’ s the group of general managers or it ’ s the group of food and beverage directors , whatever it is , if you look around that group and you see a really strong concentration
26 hotelsmag . com April 2018