In the late 1970s and early 1980s business magazines heralded the coming of a new era in corporate America. Women, they said, were entering the business world in unprecedented numbers-a phenomenon guaranteed to shake up the bigwigs and power brokers running the show. With its promise of autonomy, flexible hours and high earning potential, the sales field became a mecca for women entering the workplace. For many, sales offered hopes of a lucrative career and before long these newcomers were outperforming many of their male counterparts. Today in some of America’s top industries women make up more than half of the field sales representatives.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the corporate shakeup. Despite their performance, many highly successful saleswomen have found the path to the top crowded with old boys and dated values. In today’s business world where women represent 50 percent of the work force but merely five percent of corporate managers, the symbolic glass ceiling has shown it won’t be shattered as easily as some had anticipated.

Some women, however, have managed through hard work, perseverance, diplomacy and, most important, performance to ascend to positions of genuine power and influence in sales management at large corporations. To locate some of these women, PSP approached Fortune 500 companies in the computer, pharmaceutical, insurance and office products industries.

Our quest was simple. We were looking to interview women in sales management positions. What we found was something of a shock. Instead of giving us the names and extension numbers of their women sales managers, many of these companies were reluctant even to give out figures breaking down the percentage of women in sales or management, much less put us in contact with any women sales managers.

Thankfully, there were a few notable exceptions. Xerox, Schering-Plough and Allstate welcomed the opportunity to have their women sales managers discuss issues of performance, management, sexual harassment and changing attitudes in corporate America. It is worth noting that although all the women PSP spoke with mentioned at least some gender-related adversity over the course of their sales careers, each gave abundant praise for their companies’ efforts to level the corporate playing field with regard to compensation, opportunity for advancement and dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace.

The women PSP spoke with were among the trailblazers who broke into male-dominated sales forces in the late 1970s. At the time most had no ambition to ascend to management, but soon, on the strength of top performance, they took advantage of opportunities that quickly opened up.

Gwen Wooten, Xerox district sales manager for the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, was convinced to enter sales at Xerox in 1976 by a family friend. “My husband had a childhood friend who was a sales instructor for Xerox,” she said, “and he kept saying that if there was anybody cut out for Xerox sales it was me and for a year he just kept badgering me. He was in the process of relocating to the area, so he spent some weekends in the interim with us, and from the time he walked in the door on Friday to the time he left on Sunday all he talked about was Xerox. It took quite a while to convince me to try selling at a company like Xerox, because I didn’t think of selling copiers as very creative. I realized from talking with him, however, that the real value of it, even if I didn’t stay, was that I would walk away knowing how to sell. So I decided to try.”

Paula Morgan, VP of sales and marketing operations for the Schering division of Schering-Plough, tells a similar story. She took her first job because of the opportunities available in pharmaceutical sales.

“I liked my prospects with Schering,” she explained, “because it appeared financially rewarding and because in sales I was rewarded for performance. I also liked that in sales everyone is rewarded or compensated or recognized differently depending on how good or bad they are-there are definitely discrepancies. So I felt that I had a little more control over determining my fate.”

Perhaps few of these women harbored initial ambitions for advancement because at the time there were virtually no women role models in sales management. Yvonne Montgomery, who was recently promoted from Xerox district sales manager for New York City to executive assistant to the Chairman, feels that her climb up the corporate ladder was impeded by a lack of other women in the company.

“I don’t think there were any female role models for me at the time,” she said. “There were people in the organization with experience I could look to for sympathy and trust, which was very helpful. But a lot of my experience was trial and error because there were not many women in the sales force or managing the sales force. My education came from a combination of both having mentors to call on-primarily male at the time-and just trying things out. And of course in that type of situation you always make mistakes so it probably took those of us a little longer because we didn’t have any role models in the organization.”

Kathy Honaker, Indianapolis-based regional sales manager for Allstate, remembers only one other woman who preceded her in sales management.

“In my five-state area of Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, there was one woman in sales management,” Honaker explained. “She had been a secretary who changed jobs and worked her way up through the system and was in sales management. So I guess I looked upon her as a role model-here’s somebody who’s done it, albeit in a different way. I wanted to do it as an agent, but either way it was apparent that it could be done.”

Despite the general lack of role models, these women set their sights on management. In sales, more than in most corporate divisions, management opportunities come first to top performers. In addition to the usual sales challenges, many of these women faced external obstacles from both customers and co-workers unaccustomed to dealing with women in a business environment.

“There was some reaction to me by customers,” Montgomery said, “because I was only 21, which was relatively young and previously Xerox had only hired people with some sales experience. The other women and I were also probably somewhat of an enigma to both our customers and our internal peers. But ultimately customers really want somebody who will support their needs and requirements, and after getting over their initial surprise or curiosity, I think people measured me by what I delivered. Providing for and meeting my customers’ requirements facilitated getting and earning their business. And that goes to the bottom line. So by focusing on what the customer was asking for and being able to support the customer I moved beyond that curiosity.”

Wooten said that she and other new women salespeople also experienced a reaction to their success from male co-workers.

“When we started, the environment seemed like a locker room. When we walked into the office at the end of the day, a sort of hush would fall over all the other salespeople. At one time I was the only woman on my sales team and whenever I would come in with an order and then share the experience at a team meeting, my colleagues would say, It was because of that skirt you had on, wasn’t it?’ or some similar comment, but never because I was just good. The interesting thing is that I had mostly the non-profit organization market and the management inside these associations are very often female. The comments were not said in a malicious way-it was always in a kidding manner. If I said anything, I would just say, The decision-maker was a woman and I don’t think she quite cared.'”

Due to a combination of top performance and progressive company promotion policies, within a few short years of entering sales positions all of these women became managers. Women in most sales departments during the late 70s saw a sea of male faces; women sales managers comprised an even more select crew. Honaker recalls one national sales management conference she and one other woman attended with 35 men. When facing this kind of potentially hostile minority environment, Morgan feels that she succeeded by staying true to herself.

“I didn’t and still don’t want to have to become one of the boys to be successful,” she said. “And I think it helped that my colleagues realized that I was not trying to become one of the boys but that I was just trying to become a manager. I also think it was because I didn’t have a big chip on my shoulder that said, Look at me and what I can do.’ I had seen other women who came in with that attitude and I can understand why they might have felt that way but I knew that wasn’t right for me. I knew it wouldn’t work. It was too alienating and divisive.”

Not being “one of the boys” didn’t always inspire her salespeople’s confidence. On Morgan’s first day on the job as a new manager, a staff salesman gave her an undeniable vote of no confidence.

“He told me that he and a lot of others didn’t feel good about some women being promoted whether they deserved it or not. I just looked at him and said, Well I’m really sorry that you feel that way but I hope after we’ve had an opportunity to work together that you won’t feel that way about me, and indeed you’ll find there are things I can bring to the party that I’ll be able to help you with.”

“My answer seemed to dissipate any animosity and over time he probably became one of my biggest advocates. I knew that responding with hostility wouldn’t work-I had to include him and bring him into things instead of setting up this battle front. But just imagine having someone new in your group say that to you. I couldn’t believe he would say it to begin with. In a situation where hostility might have been understandable, I felt it was more important to build rather than burn bridges.”

Were the gender roles reversed it is unlikely that such a bold expression of a lack of respect would occur, yet most women in sales management face these feelings from unhappy salesmen at some point in their careers. Montgomery feels she faced similar feelings when she became a manager not only because she was female, but also because she was young, black and had less experience.

“Hostility might be a strong term,” she said, “but I’m sure there was some jealousy because people felt they should have been moved forward rather than me. At the time there had been many women moved into management so I think there was some resentment in the majority male community because women were being promoted to management positions who had bypassed some of the males with more tenure. So that presented a challenge.”

All of these women agreed that performance provides the one equalizer that no one can criticize. With top bottom line performance, it’s possible to get ahead in almost any environment.

“I think for both women and minorities,” Montgomery explained, “performance opens doors. No one can discriminate against performance. That’s the objective measurement that really has to be in place in order for you to move forward-probably more so than any other in an organization. So although perseverance and pushing back on the system is important, it’s difficult to push back on the system if you don’t have the performance to support you.”

According to Honaker, women in many cases make better salespeople and managers than men because they are more capable of focusing in on the uniqueness of their customers and employees.

“Although it almost sounds chauvinistic,” she says, “I think women are more capable of seeing the uniqueness in others and building relationships. It may have something to do with the way we’re brought up in America. Women tend to be in tune to the sensitive side-it’s just part of our culture. As far as my management style is concerned, I’ve always just been myself whether my people were black, white, Asian, men or women. And I think I’ve always recognized that each customer is unique, so you can’t treat all customers the same. I apply the same approach to my employees. Each employee is unique, and the way you relate to one is very different from the way you relate to another. And I think sometimes women are more sensitive to that type of thing than men.”

Morgan echoes these sentiments. She says she prefers to seek out each person’s particular motivators rather than focus on the person’s gender.

“I think that there are inherent differences between men and women in how we communicate, respond to things and tackle issues,” she said, “but I think that viewing the situation that way is a mistake. You may not work with two men the same way or with two women the same way. You’re much better off just looking at the person’s set of circumstances, then deciding the best way you can work together. I’m very open to what people have to say to me, but I’m also very free-flowing with how I feel about things and how I respond to things and that makes it easy for people to know what to expect from me. That also takes a lot of the male/female thing out of it.”

Anyone who hasn’t been stuck in a cave since the Eisenhower administration knows that sexual harassment is the most potentially incendiary gender issue in the American workplace. Just ask Anita Hill or Bob Packwood. How managers deal with this issue often determines the difference between a healthy working environment and a hostile one. Rare is the woman salesperson who hasn’t faced latent, if not overt, sexual harassment from either co-workers or customers. As Morgan explained, the woman involved makes the decision how to best deflect the situation.

“With customers,” she explained, “you feel like there’s always another customer, so I always dealt with it up front. I remember one instance where I said to a customer, I’m very disappointed that you would do or think that.” I managed to do it in such a way that did not keep us from continuing to have a business relationship. I felt very good about that because the next time I saw him he actually apologized and said, You know you were absolutely right-I was totally off base and never should have done that.’ And that was pretty much the end of it, although I must admit that there was always some uneasiness there.”

Wooten feels that her experiences with customers’ sexual harassment have not been unusual; she is glad that unlike many others, she has never faced situations where she felt threatened physically. To her, handling these types of advances is part of the territory and most woman learn relatively quickly how to handle themselves in a professional manner.

“Sometimes,” she said, “It’s like dealing with a small child who says a bad word-you pretend you didn’t hear it and hope they don’t do it again. At other times you have to stop what you’re doing and make it clear that you won’t tolerate it. It really just depends on the situation.”

Harassment from co-workers is a different story. For Morgan, it becomes an issue of choosing your battles.

“With co-workers,” she said, “I think it’s a really fine balance to decide, Am I offended enough to confront him, or do I let it slide this time and only say something if it happens again?’ Because I think if you squawk about every little thing that then eventually you’ll be excluded. Whether that’s right or wrong or fair or unfair is irrelevant. Dealing realistically, if you squawk every time something is said that you don’t really like, at some point people will say that you’re such a pain that they won’t want to be around you.

“But I am very big about encouraging people in my sales force and in my group that if they ever feel like they’ve been offended in any way, they have the responsibility to put that person on notice about it. They also have to feel comfortable to come to somebody above them, knowing there won’t be any retribution. However, they can’t expect to come to me and say, I have this problem, but I don’t want you to do anything about it.’ Because if they come to me I have a responsibility to look into it.”

Wooten says that as a new manager she was confronted almost immediately with a case where one of her reports was charged with harassing a co-worker.

“At Xerox,” she said, “we have mandatory prescribed guidelines and training that we refresh every year or so. As a manager I am very empowered to act in that situation. As a matter of fact I can’t not investigate and follow through on an incident. And in one instance I had to terminate a top performer, which was difficult. It was the absolute right thing to do, but it was difficult because I came into a district where there had been previous incidents over the years that had never been dealt with, so an environment existed that allowed these things to be perpetuated. I had to come in and after going through a very detailed investigation that included personnel people, I had to take action, which on the surface I perceived as a very unpopular thing to do. Although I was going by the rules, I was also changing the standard operating procedure. It did send a message, however, and I think that environment no longer exists here. But before that I think that although women outnumbered men in the district, they all still felt that such behavior was allowable.”

While all the women PSP spoke to lavished praise on their companies’ efforts to make the workplace a safe, secure and productive environment, most felt that there is still room for improvement. Wooten said that although in her district women outnumber men, she does not believe that holds true across the board in other regions or divisions at Xerox. Gender inequities are more pronounced in some smaller metropolitan areas, but she believes that the company will continue to improve on that record with what Xerox calls “Balanced Work Force Targets.”

“Just as we have used quality as a competitive advantage,” she said. “Xerox sees balanced work force targets as a competitive advantage as well. And I think that will be a difference between us and the way business is operated in Japan, for example. I think that Xerox’s corporate leaders, starting with the chairman, really embrace the idea of diversity as a business principle. That’s not to say it’s problem-free, but at least you see the attempt.”

Honaker feels similarly about Allstate. Because she has seen a concerted effort being made over the years on a company-wide level to eliminate discrimination and embrace more progressive hiring practices, she says she feels great pride working for that organization. Morgan also feels proud to work for Schering-Plough, but she is still aware that corporate America needs to embrace a more open appreciation for new ideas from all of its employees, especially at top management levels.

“For women in management today,” she said, “it seems like the higher up you get, the tougher it is. I think that’s partially because at every level you are still one of the first. At the top levels the differences between the ways men and women approach things seem to stand out more and I’m not sure everyone is as willing to embrace those differences as they should be. It may be that your communication or the way you approach challenges was OK at one level, but less well received at the next.

“At lower levels your peers are going through experiences and changes similar to the ones you are experiencing. For example, some of the men that I used to work with had working wives. But the closer you get to the top, you find fewer men who have had any of those experiences. Of the people at my level or above, I can think of very few men who have wives who work. At the top, traditional practices are ingrained. But when they see somebody getting things done in a different way, they’re not sure that can be effective.”

To move beyond this sometimes trying atmosphere, Morgan has learned that the path to success lies in doing what’s right, and not just what is expected of everyone-man or woman-in management.

“At one stage of the game,” she said, “I thought that playing along was the way to do it. But I quickly learned that becoming one of the boys was not for me. I felt that once I became a manager I had to be true to myself and to my people and that I couldn’t play these games. I’ve given this issue a lot of thought recently, and I feel that to become successful you have to be true to yourself, although that’s no guarantee of success either. I have to do what I feel is right and that is going to drive the business but is within my value system. I’ve learned that maybe you can’t be a purist, but when it comes to a real core decision or core values, I don’t think you can afford to violate that just to be successful. It’s not just women; men face this issue, too. It just another of the many challenges any manager must face.”