A unique style of leadership
Published Saturday October 11th, 2008
Success Vice-president shatters glass ceiling climbing corporate ladder
CALGARY - Kathy Sendall is a shining example of where smarts, talent and hard work should take a career.
As Petro-Canada's senior vice-president, North America natural gas, Sendall's gender makes her somewhat of a rarity in the senior ranks of the energy patch.
A mechanical engineer who's held a number of management positions since joining Petro-Canada in 1982, Sendall is a beacon in the fog for women with serious career advancement in mind.
Her successful climb up the corporate ladder in the male-dominated energy industry is an achievement in its own right - though Sendall said she's not sure she'd single that out as separate and distinct from other career challenges she may have faced.
That she's done it without suppressing her femininity or losing her sense of humour is quite another in the eyes of everyday working women slogging it out in the trenches.
With her well known penchant for shoes and sunglasses, Sendall said she likes to be known for having a sense of style.
"Although I know that it has been very important for me to develop a style that men are comfortable with, I don't want to be an honourary man," Sendall recently told a sold-out crowd at the Women of Influence luncheon series.
Regarding the humour, she recently bought a doormat for her office that says, 'The Witch is in,' because she thought it was fun and it brought a smile to her face and that of others.
Sendall's career success is only part of the reason why she's won the admiration of legions of career women looking to get ahead.
In 2006, Sendall was the first woman to be named chair of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP); last year she was inducted into Canada's Most Powerful Women, Top 100 Hall of Fame - just two of many accolades she's garnered over the years.
In short, she's done it all while having it all, including a 32-year marriage that produced two children, now grown, as well as an enviable record in community service.
"Among women leaders in Calgary, in the oil and gas industry, and in Canada, Kathy stands out as an example of what is possible," said Esther Colwill, senior manager, consulting, Deloitte.
Possible, yes, but for many women, breaking through the barriers they encounter as they navigate their course to the top can be daunting.
It's a point Sendall touched on during her speech to a largely-female audience of 350 at a Women of Influence luncheon.
"What I get paid to do at Petro-Canada may seem somewhat unique and non-traditional," Sendall told the crowd.
"There are a lot of engineers in the oil industry, there are certainly lots of executives, but not a lot of them, unfortunately, are, at this point in time, women."
Sendall later said that in nearly every meeting she goes to, the executives in the oil industry are all men.
In fact it's a bit of a surprise to walk into a room and find another women there, she said, "because it's not the norm."
It's a systemic drought that encompasses female mentors, which Sendall scaled her career ladder without.
For her part, Sendall took two years of pre-med before switching to engineering at Queen's University. "No one told me girls weren't supposed to be engineers," she told the crowd.
Fellow Queen's engineering classmate Kim Sturgess, founder and chief executive of Alberta WaterSMART, a not-for-profit organization devoted to improving the management of the province's water resources, said Sendall succeeds in the industry "because she is always herself."
"She has never tried to be something she is not in order to fit in with the male crowd. She speaks her truth in all situations; she treats everyone with respect and she expects others to do the same. She has followed this path for 30 years and I expect she will never change. I, for one, hope she never does," Sturgess said.
Young women will see in Sendall a person who excelled in the field of engineering "at a time when women were rather rare in that arena," said Bonnie DuPont, group vice-president, corporate resources at Enbridge Inc.
"Not only did she become an engineer, she became a leader and an executive, responsible for multi-million dollar projects, innovation and growth in her organization. That is powerful and has a huge impact on young women coming up behind her," said DuPont, who in 2007 became the first female president of the Calgary Petroleum Club.
While Sendall didn't zero in any one challenge in her career, Sarah Raiss, TransCanada Corp.'s executive vice-president, corporate services, said that's likely because Sendall has found - similar to her own experience - that there's challenges every step along the way.
"I think that's probably why something doesn't stand out for her, because her whole career she's had some significant challenge she's had to overcome," Raiss said.
"People always think of it as, there's one glass ceiling. I think she would be a believer from her experiences that there isn't one glass ceiling."
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