8 minute read
FEATURE STORY
from PWH Fall 20
Harnessing the Founders’ Passion
PWH® Thanks Sharyl Gardner
Former PWH® Board Advisor Sharyl Gardner retired from Midmark Corporation as Chief Administrative Officer on March 31, 2020. While COVID conditions have kept her from celebrating more personally with her direct team, the commercial side of Midmark’s business celebrated her career at their national sales meeting in February. It was a fitting commemoration since Sharyl started her career in sales at AT&T 40 years ago.
The members of PWH® would also like to commemorate and honor Sharyl’s outstanding contribution to the industry and our organization. Particularly, we’d like to recognize how she helped to harness the unbridled passion of our founding members without diminishing their spirit so that initial passion lives on and guides our leaders today.
– Sharyl Gardner
“Sharyl has been a trusted and cherished adviser to the PWH® also serves as a current board advisor. “Sharyl is a dynamic, caring, passionate, strong woman of the highest integrity. Her perseverance through life challenges has been an incredible inspiration to many.”
“Sharyl first came on the scene as a board meeting facilitator Julee. “Our board meetings have not always run as efficiently and smoothly as they do today. We have learned a lot over the years, and much of it came from Sharyl. She graciously, yet firmly, kept us moving in the right direction.”
“It has been quite a journey for me,” Sharyl said. “When entering a new situation, I subscribe to one of the principles of Stephen Covey: ‘Seek first to understand.’ I came to my very first
“There was this wonderful passion that I saw in these women who were the founders,” Sharyl recalled. “They were committed and engaged. Their passion was palpable. They were powerful and talented leaders all wanting the same thing – a more equitable industry – but with competing ideas of how to achieve it.”
At her next meeting, as the facilitator, Sharyl kept bringing the group’s conversation back to a few essential questions: What is the mission? What is the purpose? What is it that you all want to achieve with this organization, and how do you want to it grow? Who are you trying to serve?
“They knew it,” Sharyl said. “They just didn’t have it codified to a point where they could sell it and attract more members. It was a very grassroots kind of thing. The organization needed structure and governance. Thankfully, those were some things that I could bring.”
Sharyl claims that she is not necessarily a specialist at any one thing, but she is very good at connecting people with whoever and whatever they need to advance projects. “I connected PWH® with Deb Heuer, who was a more expert facilitator than me. And I connected PWH® with Midmark’s Sue Hulsmeyer because she is an expert at succession planning. She is an HR leader and was willing to step into that role for PWH®. Susan Kaiser is another able to bring her expertise and her passion to PWH® too.”
board for many years,” said PWH® Past Chair Julee Prefer, who
in 2010 when Sandra Parker was the PWH® Chair,” explained
PWH® meeting in January of 2010 to listen, observe, and learn, to find out what PWH® was and what it was trying to do.”
example. She has a strong PR background and skills, and she was
Sharyl Gardner, Sue Hulsmeyer, Odra Anderson, Susan Kaiser and Rachelle Ferrara at the 2018 PWH® Board Meeting.
Midmark team members at a 2017 PWH® regional networking event.
Sharyl admitted that while some boards function like a continuous Groundhog Day – repeatedly addressing the same thing, the PWH® board has always been different. “This is no stagnant board situation. PWH® has a dynamic board.”
“From the beginning, the PWH® board members were open to anything that I or anyone else had to offer the organization. It was pretty remarkable, and that willingness to be vulnerable came from their commitment to grow the organization. They weren’t just lip servicing. They really wanted a strong organization. Getting more intentional about its mission and vision made it easier to grow membership and programs, and to secure resources.”
Not only was Sharyl impressed with the commitment of the founding members to grow the organization, but also their openness to affect personal growth.
Sharyl Gardner being honored at Midmark Corporation’s commercial summit (national sales meeting), February 2020.
“I remember worrying that the organization would not sustain the strength of that founding group. But because of what they created and grew, their will has extended. You can see it in leaders like Rachelle Ferrara, Vicky Lyle, Odra Anderson, Sue and Susan to name just a few. They exhibit that same level of passion. This is why the organization has been successful. The founders extended ownership, inspiring passion beyond the founding group, and the organization is stronger because of it.”
Although Sharyl officially joined PWH® in 2010, she worked closely with one of its leading founders, Anne Eiting Klamar. During the time of PWH®’s inception, the mid-2000s, Anne served as CEO of Midmark Corporation and is now its Chair of the Board.
“I had the honor and privilege to be Anne’s right hand for many years at Midmark. It was an incredible experience to work with her in that way. I not only had the opportunity to influence her but to be influenced by her, which made me a better person. She is the most committed person to lifelong learning that I’ve met in my life, and she is truly visionary. She had big visions for PWH®. We talked about its brand and role in professional development. We had lots of good conversations about PWH® just like we had about the future of Midmark.”
Both Sharyl and Anne are known for their humility. Unsurprisingly, Sharyl feels as though she didn’t really help the PWH® organization as much as enable it and its leading members to help themselves. “They were so open to guidance. I helped them figure out an organizational structure that allowed people to participate without taking on too much. We helped manage through burn-out by getting the right vice-chair roles into place and the right kind of people into those roles.”
Touting Sharyl’s gift for organizational structure, Julee Prefer explained that “Sharyl is the one who first introduced succession planning and the 9-Box System to PWH® to help us develop our team and build a bench. She then brought in Sue Hulsmeyer and gifted us with her as our resident succession planning expert. Additionally, Sharyl played a vital role in mentoring and coaching many individual PWH® board members on personal and career issues, as well as PWH® issues. I was blessed to be one that Sharyl invested into. Not only is PWH® much stronger today than it would have been without Sharyl’s involvement, but our industry is stronger today because of Sharyl’s passion and investment in so many women.”
In closing, Sharyl has two sentiments to share. One has to do with how far the PWH® organization has come, and the other is about gratitude.
“You’ve come along way, baby!” she said, recalling that late 1960s Virginia Slims commercial. “Comparing the very organized meetings held today—with their specific goals, objectives and agendas—to the chaotic passion of the past, I realize the transformation is a testament to the founding group, but also to their ability to engage more people and keep the organization going and growing. The foundation of PWH® is much stronger than those industry meetings back in the day when ten women came together to talk over wine while the men played golf.”
“The other thing I want to say is that while I have not been able to give as much as I would have liked because of my personal health challenges, I want PWH® members to know that I so sincerely appreciate the sisterhood I have experienced. The support of the women in PWH® is amazing. They are a wonderful bunch of ladies!” Thank you all for welcoming me all those years ago. I will miss you.
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