“When I joined the Marine Corps in 1967, I did so because it offered me an opportunity to earn the respect of people in a superb organization, equal pay for equal work, and a way to learn about the world—by seeing it. That was also the year that the Women’s Armed Forces Service Integration Act … was amended to allow women the opportunity to be promoted to the rank of General. Little did I know then the implications that change in statute held for me.”

—Lieutenant General Carol A. Mutter, Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Headquarters, Marine Corps

“As a woman Marine officer, I never let my gender play into my role as a leader. I found that if I ignored the fact that I was a woman, my Marines would learn to ignore it as well.”

—Millie Wilkerson, Vice President/Area Sales Manager of twenty-four branches, Wachovia Bank, former Captain, USMC

When we told the Marines we interviewed that we intended to devote a chapter to women Marines, the response from men and women alike was, “Why a special chapter? The Marine Corps doesn’t treat its women any differently; why should you?”

Well, because the business world does. Despite all the progress that has been made over the years, the corporate environment is still pretty much of a man’s world. In many companies, the woman manager or executive earns less money than her male peers, must still contend with an old boys’ network, and must disengage herself from the protective, but patronizing, arm around her shoulders from upper management. We believe women who work in male-dominated companies can learn a lot from their female counterparts who have been trained to successfully deal with the most masculine environment of them all—the Marine Corps.

It is difficult to think of another organizational culture that is more of a man’s world. The very term “Marine” evokes images of cigar-chewing, tough-talking sergeants, drill instructors from hell, and seemingly suicidal charges into hails of bullets. The Marine Corps’ mascot is the pugnacious-looking bulldog (don’t tell anybody, but bulldogs are the sweetest of breeds); the Marine-to-Marine greeting is a guttural “OORAH!” that, to the uninitiated, sounds more like a growl. Yet, in this most masculine of environments, the orders of female Marine leaders are followed without a thought to their gender. How this happens will be of great interest to every businesswoman.

It should be noted that this chapter is necessarily brief, because, as we noted at the beginning of this book, every leadership principle discussed in this book applies to women Marines as well as to men.

The Leader Within

There is only one Marine boot camp experience, and it is indifferent to gender—everyone is pushed to the limit. Women recruits have drill instructors shouting into their faces, just like the men; they get just as dirty and just as tired. It’s definitely no place for a woman.

That is why, from Day One of basic training, the woman recruit is taught to think of herself not as a woman but as a Marine. Boot camp denies the female recruit the very accoutrements the outside culture forces upon her. Just as the male recruit must forgo hair, jewelry, and athletically cut clothes, the woman is reduced to the same common denominator. Although she has tried to prepare herself psychologically for the stresses of boot camp, it still comes as a shock. Makeup and perfume become things of the past. Hair is shorn, stylish clothes are sent back home in a cardboard box like the personal effects of someone who has died. Even her glasses, if she wears them, are replaced by bulky Marine Corps-issue “goggles.” She must wear blocky “utilities,” which make overalls look fashionable, combat boots, and a heavy steel helmet that keeps sliding down her face. Looking in the mirror—after years of looking in mirrors, dressed presentably for school, or work, or for a date—she now sees an unattractive, frightened stranger.

If she is tempted to feel sorry for herself, she finds no sympathy from her superiors. Whatever ordeal the men recruits are put through, she must also endure. If she cries, she is scorned instead of comforted. During the first few weeks of boot camp, it probably never occurs to her that she will eventually be the equal of any Marine on base, man or woman, and that one day she will be giving orders to many of them.

Marine Corps basic training is really the antithesis of our cultural indoctrination. The efforts of conscientious parents and teachers not withstanding, far too many little girls grow up in America believing that brains and ability are of less importance than personal appeal. Madison Avenue, with its never ending multimedia bombardment, would have women believe that what they wear is more important than what is within. The Marine Corps takes away any such dependencies and forces the woman recruit, and the man, to rely upon a much more substantial foundation of self-esteem and demonstrated competency. Upon graduation, both sexes are allowed to grow their hair back, although it will remain fairly short. Woman Marines will be able to use cosmetics again, and the men will splash on cologne, but both will know that these accessories have nothing whatsoever to do with leadership.

Many women in our society insist that they want to be judged for their ability alone and not their attractiveness, but few take this desire as far as the woman Marine. Most Marines would be surprised to hear the Corps described as a feminist utopia, but there are few environments more blind to gender. A woman Marine has no problem taking orders from, or giving them to, another Marine. Rank is the final arbiter, not gender. The woman in uniform, like the man, is treated simply as a Marine. And that is one reason why the retention rate in the Marine Corps is the same for women and men—about 88 percent.

We are not suggesting that the newly hired female trainees of the corporation report to work with shaved heads and without makeup. We do suggest, however, that both sexes within the corporation may have something to learn from the Marine Corps’ insistence that what you put on has nothing to do with your ability to lead. In the image-conscious workplace, men color their hair or glue on expensive (and, sometimes, not so expensive) toupees, wear lifts in their shoes, and undergo cosmetic surgery. And too many women feel equally uncomfortable about themselves. Even an adult woman business executive will occasionally catch herself preoccupied with a distracting hairstyle or facial blemish before a meeting. Both genders would do well to remember Marine recruits, who are purposely “made ugly” during the twelve-week ordeal of boot camp, in order to become confident, self-reliant individuals—on their own, without any assistance from Madison Avenue.

Dealing With Sexual Harassment

The prosecution of sexual harassment in the workplace is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Even in an enlightened society like ours, which has endeavored to protect the rights of the individual, the male prerogative has been so deeply ingrained that—minus a physical attack—many Americans have had difficulty even recognizing what constitutes sexual harassment. Some of the most conscientious men, ready to leap to the defense of every victim of persecution, might be surprised to learn that their behavior toward women—which is very often the behavior of a lifetime—borders on harassment. Our culture seems to have long considered certain kinds of male conduct—from pulling pigtails in a grade-school classroom to making passes at the “girls” at the office—to be inevitable, as if the expression “boys will be boys” described a genetically determined pattern of behavior that could not be modified. The protestations of the woman were not taken seriously by men, who had the audacity to believe that their victims secretly enjoyed such attention. Even the earnest efforts of the feminist movement did not seem to awaken the male consciousness at the workplace. What finally did get the attention of at least the corporate leadership was the millions of dollars awarded over recent years to the victims of sexual harassment.

While the armed forces are somewhat more insulated from lawsuits, the repercussions of scandal and accusation can have a severe impact on the retention of existing personnel and the recruitment of new. Careers have been ended; and no one is immune from the process that follows a sexual harassment complaint—not the general, not the commandant, not the commander in chief. Every branch of the service takes the problem very seriously; but only one has been disproportionately successful in dealing with it.

The Marine Corps deals with the issue of sexual harassment by first acknowledging the very real likelihood of its happening. Young men and women generally enlist in the Corps at their sexual peak, around eighteen or twenty years old. They are away from home, perhaps for the first time in their lives. They are under tremendous stress during boot camp, and in great need of emotional support. It would be the most natural thing in the world for a man or woman recruit to seek out a member of the opposite sex. Recognizing this very real possibility, the Marine Corps makes it impossible. Today, it remains the only branch of the armed forces that still segregates its male and female recruits throughout basic training—a practice the more “progressive” services, plagued by scandal and numerous charges of sexual harassment, are now considering reestablishing.

So, for the first twelve weeks of boot camp, the opportunities for any interaction at all between the sexes are denied. During this period, both genders are trained to protect themselves from, and to prevent themselves from committing, acts of sexual harassment.

It might strike the visitor to boot camp as rather incongruous to hear a D.I. lecturing his men recruits on the evils of sexual harassment, but this kind of social awareness is considered vital to the goal of achieving mission readiness. These lectures are definitely not delivered with a wink and a nod; the last thing a drill instructor wants is his beloved Marine Corps on the front page of the newspapers because of a scandal. Nor are they the kinds of talks through which a recruit can daydream. D.I.s have a way of commanding the utmost attention. At any moment a recruit may be asked to repeat the D.I.’s last sentence, or else. Furthermore, the recruits are called upon to participate in the discussion and made to think about, and to personalize, the whole idea of sexual harassment. Private Jones, for example, might be asked to give an example in his own words. He might respond by creating a scenario in which a Marine repeatedly makes crude comments to his female counterpart—at which point the drill instructor might demand, “Jones, what kind of Marine would go around making another Marine uncomfortable?” (“A bad one, Sir!”).

Similar sexual harassment training is simultaneously taking place on the women’s side of the fence. The only difference is that the D.I. is a woman. This is another Marine Corps tradition. Recognizing at least the theoretical potential for complications in cross-sex training, the Corps has men teach men and women teach women. The woman drill instructor is equally as competent as the male D.I., fully as proud, and just as tough. No man in his wildest dreams would attempt to force his attentions upon a woman D.I.—not simply because he might find himself on report (or on his backside) but because of her dignity and bearing.

Her woman recruits must participate, as well, in interactive discussion groups. They are taught to recognize sexual harassment, rebuff it, and report it—and to refrain from such unwelcome behavior themselves. Of course, the daily regimen itself—such as shooting the M-16 rifle, crawling through the muddy, barbed-wire machine gun obstacle course, and learning self-defense—tends to produce a rather assertive, confident woman, who in no way resembles the “victim” profile.

Just as the men are taught to shave and dress properly, the woman recruits are shown how to apply cosmetics “the Marine Corps way.” There is a manual for everything in the Corps, including the proper wearing of lipstick and nail polish. The formal, tersely written policy would no doubt amuse many young women in the outside world, as it dictates skirt lengths (slightly below the knee), nail lengths (no longer than a quarter inch from the tip of the finger), hair styles (on the short side), and earrings acceptable to the Corps (diminutive pearls are OK, only one per ear). But the message is quite serious—Marines, regardless of sex, are expected to put forth the right public image, and those who do not comply with Marine Corps standards are ordered to change their ways.

By the time the Marines graduate, they have become confident young men and women who enjoy a great deal of selfesteem and pride of membership. The women and the men Marines, in their sharp graduation uniforms, look upon each other as equals, each deserving of respect—and a shared sense of equality and mutual respect are certainly not the conditions that would encourage offensive behavior. Graduation day probably represents a high point in terms of the improbability of an incident taking place, but the sexual harassment training does not stop there. Marine Corps policy requires the discussion groups to continue throughout one’s career, at the very least once a year.

Given all these precautions, are there incidents of sexual harassment reported in the Marine Corps? Unfortunately, yes, but the number of complaints filed is proportionately much smaller to those filed in the other branches of the service. Each report is fully investigated by an equal opportunity counselor—a career Marine dedicated to examining discrimination and harassment complaints. The responsible party is dealt with in a number of ways, ranging from psychological counseling, to dishonorable discharge, to jail time. The fact that these incidents occur, albeit far less frequently, in an organization that conscientiously tries to discourage such behavior is testimony to the difficulty of preventing sexual harassment. If it can happen in the Marine Corps, it can happen in any company.

Certainly the comparatively open, friendly workplace is much more conducive to the kind of behavior that would constitute sexual harassment than in the tightly regimented Corps. Young men and women who have had no formal training on the issue find themselves together in a fairly unrestricted, genial environment. Everybody dresses to look his or her best. (Of course, Marines want to look their best, too, but that usually means starched camouflage “utilities” and polished combat boots.) Many companies, while having a dress code on paper, are loathe to enforce it, especially when it comes to women’s clothing. It is much easier for a male manager to tell a man he cannot wear jeans to work than to tell a woman that her skirt to is too high.

There is also in the workplace that curious mixture of courtesy and patronization that most women abhor. A man who is staggering under the weight of an armload of files will nonetheless struggle to open the door for an empty-handed woman with his foot. If she wears a flattering dress to work, she may have to endure the admiring inspection of her manager (“Helen, you really look good in that.”). If she attempts to lift a few reams of paper, he comes to her “rescue.” Instead of a pat on the back for a job well done, she receives instead an arm around the shoulders. Many women, fearing to appear rude—especially to a superior—put up with this kind of solicitude, which unfortunately may be interpreted as a “green light” for more of the same.

When the pattern of behavior becomes intolerable and the woman employee leaves the company, it is usually the company—not the offending party—that suffers the most. The transgressor may lose his job, but it is the corporation that is sued for not having taken the necessary steps to prevent sexual harassment in its workplace. Fear of litigation has forced many companies to pay huge insurance premiums to protect themselves from the damages that may follow a single complaint.

We believe the best insurance is a firm, proactive sexual harassment policy like the one implemented in the Marine Corps. Instead of simply requiring every employee to sign a form—out of so many other unread forms—acknowledging acceptance of the company’s sexual harassment policy, management might follow the Marine Corps’ model of interactive discussion groups. Possessing a signed piece of paper from every employee may help the company’s legal position in case of a suit, but it does not constitute training. Management will never be confident that the message is really getting through unless it hears, in the words of its employees, their understanding of what is, and what is not, sexual harassment. Men and women alike must be guided into considering the unhappy predicament of the victim of unwanted attention; and the only way to awaken that kind of empathy is to have the employee vocalize how he or she would feel in such an uncomfortable situation.

Managers must not be shy about enforcing dress codes for either gender. Certainly this can be done with tact, but, lacking results, the manager must not compromise. The company is paying salaries to its personnel, and it is entitled to expect each individual to present a public image consistent with the corporate message. The company, like the Marine Corps, must also consider its women employees to be equals in every sense of the word, and, moreover, to be leaders. That means they must be treated accordingly. A Marine commander does not consider the gender of a Marine when a task must be assigned, in fact he may not even be aware that Private Smith is a woman. The business manager must be equally oblivious to gender. If all of his subordinates are equals, why would gender be of the slightest relevance?

Most important, the manager must lead by example on this issue. He, of course, must show no favoritism. When a woman enters his office, his door should remain open. Bawdy jokes and suggestive innuendoes around the water cooler must not be tolerated, either in single-sex groups or in mixed company. This does not mean the manager can walk away, goodnaturedly shaking his head and proclaiming his neutrality; it means that he must, like the Marine officer, forcefully discourage humor of a sexual nature in his workplace. No employee should feel as if he could take his manager aside to whisper a ribald story he heard the night before. It is important to note that the Marine officer does not blame Marine Corps policy for his inability to join in the “fun”; he frowns upon anything that might jeopardize mission readiness—men and women Marines must be free of resentment and feelings of victimization. Similarly, the manager must create a culture in which such negative behavior is literally considered a form of sabotage.

Leadership Strategies Checklist

—Recognize that gender has absolutely nothing to do with leadership.

—Create a corporate culture of scrupulous equality.

—Realize that every leadership principle in this book applies to women associates, managers, and executives as well as men.