Empowering Leaders: Connection and Development – PART TWO

Hey everyone! This week is part two of Sheri Treu’s interview! As mentioned last time, Sheri is the Manager of Organizational Development at Menasha Corporation, where she has worked for 32 years. While at Menasha Corporation she helped create a program called LEAF, which I’ll discuss in this article. Let’s dive in…

How do you ensure that the leadership programs you develop or facilitate are inclusive and supportive of everyone at all levels?

Sheri mentioned that they have programs that “are specific to an audience because they need to be and others are open to those that want to learn.” They have these options because they want their employees to have the option to learn more if they want to. Sheri also mentioned that there are programs they want their organization to incorporate based on “data/growth/succession planning.” She provided me with the example that they have a Director/VP-level program that gives them all the tools they need during the 6-month program. After they complete the program they provide their team with what they have learned. Sheri said that the impact of this program, along with others is “amazing” and “bigger than expected.” Menasha Corporation also offers “leader labs” which anyone can go to learn more about a certain topic. Overall they offer many programs that benefit every part of the organization. 

What are some key strategies women can implement in their day-to-day work that help them step into leadership roles, even if they don’t have formal authority?

“Learn to be INFLUENTIAL WITHOUT authority! The number one skill you can learn is that you do not have to be in a position of “power” or “hierarchy” to get people to follow you, engage with you, and collaborate with you!” -Sheri

Sheri also provided me with some of her keys that have been successful for her:

• Sheri never answers the question “How are you?” with a negative response. However she said that she always answers with “I am doing really well, thank you.” 
• She also mentioned being present daily. “Show up with a positive intent, this is not a rainbow and unicorns mentality – it’s a “know the audience, the space, and the time to be grateful, anxious, direct, compassionate, empathetic or bold.” 
• “Do what you say you are going to do. Period. No excuse, no delegating things you don’t want or have time for. Be accountable, authentic, and transparent.” – Sheri
• “Plan for your day – don’t let your day plan you.” By this Sheri means that you should not change meetings around and expect it to work with everyone else. Stick to your original answer. “Dont say yes then say no.” And lastly “Don’t commit to being somewhere then pull out last minute thinking they’ll understand.”
• “My favorite line in being authentic – -“you don’t have to have a good memory if you tell the truth” – so don’t’ shift and pivot and create excuses.” – Sheri

What advice would you give to young women just starting their careers and aspiring to become leaders?

“Learn how to be a leader before you learn how to be a manager – when we are individual contributors and want to “have direct reports or lead” we tend to move into those roles with the same skill sets and mindset of an individual contributor and remain doing the work we did while managing others – tasks, etc.” 

Sheri continued by saying, “Learning to empower others to learn and grow is a great transition as you grow into leadership.” She also mentioned watching those around you who are good leaders and taking notes on the way they do things. Focus on what aspects you like and those you dislike. She further mentioned that power can take over your authentic self in certain situations. To avoid this, it is important to create good habits/traits and break bad ones.

What does work-life balance mean to you? How do you balance it?

I found Sheri’s answer to this perfect: “Busy is relative to each person. What society norms tell us (as women) is that we need to be sure we are there for ALL of our family’s needs! When you share in a circle of friends that you took up a side hustle for fun, the question is always “Who watches your kids?” Or ‘Oh, I can’t give up that time from my family.’ Ladies – it’s not time away from anything, it’s time for you! So the people asking me this question are always the people that are already doing it right. If running your local PTO chapter brings you joy and purpose -that’s balance! If working out after work for an hour brings you balance and health/harmony – that’s balance – So work-life balance to me is “what am I doing with my time from morning to night that nurtures my well-being, brings out the best “mom, wife, partner, friend, etc.” that I can be and how am I modeling this with my children in the hope that they will learn to balance all that life has to offer them while taking care of themselves first! The last lesson we want our families to see is that we “gave everything up for them” and “that we are so burnt out from doing for others, we don’t do for ourselves” – we want to show the opposite of that!” 

Can you expand on the “Leaf Concept” that Orbis Corporation has implemented and how it has changed the leadership within this organization?

15 years ago Sheri was asked to help ORBIS work on their culture. With help from the president at the time, Bill, they developed the program called LEAF. Sheri said, “My intention was to come in, design and develop, and then a few years later move on… but what I ended up doing was transforming the culture – building leadership behaviors that stick and creating a common language, a space for salaried people to grow and share and it is stronger than ever 15 years later.”

LEAF is about engagement, instead of finding who did something wrong, they recognize what went wrong and why. Sheri also mentioned that it is important to know that how someone interacts in a situation matters because at the end of the day, everyone is human. Furthermore, Sheri said, “LEAF changed how everyone leads – and grows our influential leadership muscle! The impact has been on ALL of those who directly or indirectly lead across ORBIS and has changed how we show up as leaders!”

I am incredibly grateful that I was able to interview Sheri for this assignment. She is such an inspiration, and by reading this interview I hope you can see that as well. She has done tremendous work at Menasha Corporation and ORBIS, therefore I can guarantee she will do many more amazing things in the future. 

-Brea

Missed part one? Here’s the link: https://buzz.uni.edu/herleadershipmindset/sheri-treu-interview/