Originally posted on Forbes.

Question: If Nisha Chittal gives us a sense of the ambition-forward woman of the future and Mad Men gives us a sense of the ambition-corseted woman of the past, who built the bridge between the two?

Answer: Women like Karen Vander Linde.

To get to partner-level management in a global firm by the 90s, Karen Vander Linde had to strategically approach her career in the 80s. And we are not just talking about mapping out where she wanted to be; we are also talking about the subtleties of navigating two of the world’s largest consultancies, Booze Allen Hamilton and PricewaterhouseCoopers, ending up as a partner and growing a practice from two to 1,500 globally.

Working with Karen as a mentee through Merryck, I await our sessions like Christmas Day. She has more real, lived insight and advice about scaling, operating in a global marketplace and sitting in the power seat than anyone else I’ve met — let alone maintained ongoing contact aimed at growth and improvement.

And now, one of the first to figure it out how to make it to the top and have a family and live to tell the tale is here to share her secrets. Buckle up.

Name: Karen Vander Linde

Hometown: Grand Rapids, MI

Current City: Bethesda, MD

Employer & Job Title: Retired PricewaterhouseCoopers Partner (led a U.S. and global business), and currently Executive Mentor with Merryck & Co.

Board member of Greater DC Cares and Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Education Center and volunteer for the Business Council for Peace.

Educational Background: BA in English and History, Kalamazoo College; MA in English and Communications, University of Illinois; All but dissertation for doctorate in Human Resource Development and Business Administration, George Washington University

Previous Work Experience: I worked in education for 11 years and in consulting for 27. I started my career in consulting with a small-woman-owned business that is now very successful, moved to Booz Allen & Hamilton, and then spent the majority of my consulting years with PricewaterhouseCoopers. What I liked about both my educational and consulting experiences were simultaneous opportunities to help others learn and to learn from them. I was recognized by Consulting Magazine as one of the Top 25 Consultants in the industry, 2008

LB: In your role as mentor at Merryck & Co., do you have a specific approach with women to help them climb the corporate ladder?

KVL: There is no “one way” to climb the corporate ladder. As a mentor what I can do is help a woman build on her strengths and identify and remove obstacles so she can move to the next level of performance and responsibility, at a pace that is right for her. I don’t make strategic, operational, relationship, or other leadership decisions for a client. Rather I provide a very candid, objective, business perspective that reflects years of leadership experience. Over the years, I learned to leverage who I am to my advantage. Now I help other women — and men — do the same.

LB: What do you think is holding women back from getting more seats (inside/outside factors)?

KVL: We are suffering from a long history of being second-class citizens, and the same is true of minority groups. The men who dominate the CEO landscape today did not have centuries of limitations behind them. History has not been on our side.

But that is now changing dramatically. Women are entering the work force at a higher rate. More women than men are graduating from college. More women are getting graduate degrees. Men are taking on more home responsibilities. This change has been dramatic, but not fast enough to put women in 50% of the leadership positions. Remember many of the business leaders we have now were growing up in organizations in the 70s and 80s when women were only beginning to play more of a substantial role in the work place.

Women will occupy many more executive seats over the next 10 to 20 years. The time is right for women to leap frog ahead in business. Research demonstrates that more women at the table lead to better business results. By helping ourselves, we move the dial forward for the business world and our societies at large.

LB: I love asking this of everyone, so: What drives you? What motivates you to get out of bed, stay late and/or work on the weekends?

KVL: In the business world, I describe myself as someone who loves to “design, develop and disappear.” I am most happy starting new businesses, growing them rapidly, and then moving on to new territory once the business is on its feet, leaving others to manage it for the long-term. I’m passionate about working with and building a great team. Building something from scratch that leads to sustained success is what really motivates me. Growth may not always be a clean upward path. You will make mistakes and experience difficult market conditions. But with the right team and right ideas, you will recover and move on and continue to drive and celebrate impressive and long-lasting growth.

LB: What key personal characteristics do you see in yourself that you’ve found especially critical in achieving success?

KVL: Vision, communication, persistence, and a roll-up-your- sleeves attitude have been important factors in my success. I both seek and give feedback, often – across all levels of the organization chart. With insight from others, including customers or clients, I have found it easier to develop a vision and specific game plans for the business. I see the development of the vision and game plans as a team activity, but consistent communication of the vision and game plans – and our progress — is one of my prime jobs as a leader. Key to communicating the path forward is to work directly with your team to achieve the goals you have set with them. One cannot lead from afar. When your employees see you roll up your sleeves, they do the same.  But you have to know when to delegate and when you need to be there. I learned to focus my efforts on the “tricky bits” and the “new stuff.”

LB: What, if any, distinct traits have you seen fellow female coworkers bring to the workplace? Do you yourself exhibit them? (Why or why not?)

KVL: Let me preface my comments with the fact that I see much variation within each gender. I believe that the way we behave is more the result of cultural influence, both in and outside of work, than any irreversible, innate behavior patterns. Because of this cultural influence, I do think women in the workplace, in general, are less competitive with their colleagues, though they can be equally competitive in the market place. Furthermore, I believe, as research points out, that women in leadership change the dynamic, and can lead to increased success for a company.

Men jockey for power more than women tend to do, but this is also a weakness for women. I don’t think women negotiate within an organization as well for themselves as men do. Women often walk out of an organization, without negotiating for the compensation, role, or support they want and deserve. We tend to expect that our good work will be recognized, and do not specify exactly what we are seeking. Early on, I learned that I needed to make it clear what my contributions were and what I expected in return. You cannot expect others to know all of the details of what you have done or to read your mind concerning what recognition and reward you believe you fairly deserve.

LB: What was your first job? What did it teach you that remains with you today?

KVL: When I acquired my initial “dream job” as a teacher, I learned the value of tough love and standing true to your principles. I was a 12th grade English teacher in an inner city Catholic boys’ school located in Chicago, a few blocks away from Cabrini Green, one of the failed housing projects of that era, which has since been torn down. When I walked into my first class with 40 expectant boys who had not had a female teacher in high school before, one of the boys whistled at me. I told the class that I expected an apology. When no one said anything, I called them all in after school. I again shared with them that there were ways to complement a lady that were appropriate and those that were disrespectful – and I waited for the apology. When no one apologized, I said that I would see the class after school each day until I heard the apology. The whistler apologized the next day.

After that first day, I really wondered if I was going to be successful at the school. What that first day gave me, however, was a reputation of “being tough” and “not someone to mess with.” The boys soon learned that I also cared and would work very hard to help them learn. To this day, I find that people respond well when you set a high bar and provide feedback that includes tough messages, as long as those messages are supported with fact and delivered with respect.

LB: Did you make assumptions when you first started your career that subsequently proved to be wrong? What sort of insights did you gain?

KVL: I thought that I was always going to teach, first at the high school level and then at the university level, when I started my career. But I ended up being a consultant for the bulk of my career because I was drawn to business and the wide range of experiences consulting offered. I learned that the core of one’s passion – in my case, helping people address challenges and learn in the process – can express itself in many different forms. I experimented with different roles and different careers. Now this experimentation is more the norm, and I am happy to see that career movement is a goal the Millennial generation is seeking.

LB: How do you give credit where credit is due?

KVL: You need to know who is doing what, which means, as a leader, you need to learn what your leaders and their teams are doing. Recognition does not have to be formal – simple notes of thanks and brief, direct and timely feedback can go a long way. Jim Collins and others in their studies of leadership have outlined the importance of humility as a leadership trait. A leader can be both confident and humble. Giving credit that is due to others is one way of demonstrating humility. No leader can succeed without the major contributions of his or her followers. Public praise of your own contributions is not necessary. You can make your own contributions known more selectively in less public settings. People will know that you as the leader were a major contributor to the business’s success.

LB: What, if anything, drives you nuts about male coworkers?

KVL: I don’t have much tolerance for internal politics and power plays, which both men and women can be guilty of, but I see it more in men. Behavior that resembles the stand off at the OK Corral leads to lost talent and results in too much of an internal rather than external focus. I value fierce competition in the marketplace, but not within a company. Yes, there is limited room at the top, but self-inflicted internal battles do not often result in getting the right talent in the right places.

LB: Have you ever encountered the “Glass Ceiling”? Was it possible to overcome it? How?

KVL: The glass ceiling does exist for many people – women, minorities, and even some white men — because our business cultures do not fully value and promote a wide range of diversity of thought and perspectives, despite the fact that research demonstrates diversity of perspective leads to higher performance. As indicated in a HBR article last year, progress for women in management ranks is not what we would expect with the entrance of more women to the work place. Women are still woefully underrepresented in executive ranks, board rooms, and high-level government positions across this country. Internationally, the situation gets even worse.

I believe that if the business world were more open to different thinking, diversity of gender and ethnicity would follow.

Personally, I was very fortunate. I did not encounter a glass ceiling as I rose in the ranks at PwC. In fact, I found that bringing a unique approach and perspective proved to be an advantage when I entered a room of mostly men who had a background that was very different from my own. PwC would be the first to admit that the firm is not where it wants to be yet in terms of diversity at the leadership levels, though the firm is recognized for its success in fostering diversity. I did not feel that my gender was a handicap in the firm. I found more support than I found barriers, and any barriers I encountered were those posed by outlying individuals who were less comfortable working with women. I found, however, that I could work around these individuals and engender the support of my colleagues in doing so.

LB: You have a great husband and have raised four kids. So how do you do it? How do you manage work/life balance? Do you find this balance more difficult as a woman?

KVL: Work/life balance, by nature, is very personal. My husband and I have four children altogether, and I adopted one of our children as a single mom. I found that what helped me achieve the balance I was seeking were the following:

• Clear communication with my husband regarding who would do what and when. We both adjusted to the ebbs and flows of each others’ business obligations to ensure we met our family responsibilities and enjoyed sufficient quality family time.
• Outsourcing household tasks, such as cleaning, cooking, yard work, etc. to free up quality time for family interactions.
• Getting quality day care – not settling for what was OK, but what was great!
• Designating family “sacred time”, e.g. family meals, bed time hours, designated weekend time, and family vacations. My husband and I took at least a month of vacation with the family each year, in addition to regular holidays. We did not make those vacation days “virtual working days”; instead, we disconnected as much as possible from the office. When you take a long vacation, you will be surprised by how much is not absolutely dependent on you!
• Flexibility of work hours. I would work at night after the kids were in bed rather than miss dinner. Or I would take time off during the day to see an important school event, go to the pediatrician or stay home to be with a sick child. In addition, I would leave work for more personal activities, so I did not use family time for haircuts, certain errands, etc. I would then work later at night, after the kids were asleep.
• Managing business travel wisely. I planned business trips carefully, getting on a plane when necessary, rather than as a routine.
• Managing the guilt. Working moms often feel guilty that their children are “suffering” or “losing out” when they are at work. A recent Time article, called “Chore Wars” reported on a study examining the workloads of men and women. The study demonstrated more equality of work time between men and women than in the past, at least when the researchers combined work hours out of the home and in the home. Though women still carry much more of the work in the home, men are taking up more of the home duties, including 3 times as much child care as they did in the mid 60s. This is a major cultural shift that will impact how both men and women approach work. There was also data that demonstrated women who work in the home spend only about 10 more hours a week on child care than women who work out of the home. Stay-at-home moms are also doing work and other activities besides child care. So if you are working outside of the home, don’t assume your children are losing 40 hours or more of your attention. Plus, I have found that children benefit from a range of good role models and activity outside of the home. Look at how your children are doing. That is the gauge of success for all parents, not the exact number of hours you are in their company.

LB: How do you deal with uncertainty? How do you approach the unknown?

KVL: Uncertainty and the unknown are givens in business. It is best to expect and anticipate change and uncertainty, rather than be surprised. Rapid and dramatic change is now more of a norm than an anomaly. If you continually reexamine your plans, progress, and the market environment, you will be able to make timely adjustments

LB: What’s the worst business advice you’ve ever received?

KVL: I have been told, “There is nothing you can do.” I believe there is always something you can do. Things happen that you cannot control, but you can control how you react to what changes around you or within you.

LB: What have been the main challenges you have had to overcome in your career? Has gender and / or being a mom played a role?

KVL: The major challenges I have faced have been dealing with highly political players, whose integrity is questionable. When you are working with those who do not share your values (and I mean core values, not opinions or perspectives) win-win solutions very difficult to find over the long-term. Sometimes you may need to be a whistle-blower; sometimes you may need to both blow the whistle and walk away. Even if you perceive that you have “lost” the battle at a certain point in time, in the long run, staying true to your values becomes the winning position. I have found that being on the “outside,” of the so-called norm can be a real advantage. You see things differently and are more willing to question what others may accept.

LB: What key mistakes have you made in your career? What were some of the key lessons learned?

KVL: I have made many mistakes – making a wrong decision, reading a situation incorrectly, communicating in an ineffectual manner, hiring someone who was not right for the job, and the list goes on. What is most important is not to ruminate about the mistake, but to recover quickly. Your people and your customers or clients appreciate honest recognition of a mistake, and they will also honor your recovery efforts.

Tags: forbes, karen vander linde, leslie bradshaw, mad men, More Seats, working girl