The Truth Behind Our Titles, 3 West Club: New York City – October 1st, 2014

For high achieving women, the road to the top is not always smooth sailing and luck as many would think; it is more often a long road of small and large triumphs - mixed in with setbacks, challenges, and deeply personal struggles and difficulties.  To bring these issues out into the public discourse, Michelle Tenzyk, President of the East Tenth Group, has founded The Truth Behind Our Titles - a movement and forum where women can openly talk about the difficulties and adversities one encounters on the road to success. 

On October 1^st, 2014, The Truth Behind Our Titles held their first event at the 3 West Club in New York City.  It was a night of networking, drinks, and a panel discussion where a group of high achieving women collectively share their stories of struggles in their professional journeys. Speakers at this event included Tracy Davidson (NBC Philadelphia News achor), radio show host Susan Rocco,  branding and marketing executive Jennifer Brooks, tax lawyer Nikki Johnson-Huston, matrimonial lawyer Wendy Samuelson, executive coach Kelley Black, and Chief Human Resources Officer of American Express Global Business Travel JoAnne Kruse. 

Everyone on the panel shared stories of personal struggles (from disabilities to family members with addiction problems) and reflected on how leadership and management can make it more acceptable for employees to openly share their struggles and ask for help in the workplace.  To improve productivity in the workplace and create a good corporate culture, leadership teams need to make it easier for people to get help for personal struggles; and as one speaker brought up, keeping what happens at home at home is not always the best solution. 

A workplace where people can be their authentic selves and not get stigmatized for being open about their personal challenges is a more productive workplace.  A culture like this can only be created top down and it starts with good leadership.  As people spend more time at work, it is even for critical for the workplace to function as a support network as are families and friends so that companies can stay even more competitive and productive.