LEADERSHIP TRAILBLAZER
WOMEN who ROCK SUSAN HENRICKS
A New Journey
ICAN LEADER SUSAN HENRICKS EMBARKS ON NEXT CHAPTER For the early part of Susan Henrick’s more than 45-year career, she was the only woman in the department, let alone the room. “I was the first female VP at one company and the first female president at another,” Henricks, former president and CEO of the Institute for Career Advancement Needs (ICAN), said. “Now, there are so many women in the business workforce. But, still, there are too few women at the top of organizations, too few women on the boards of organizations.” Henricks, who retired at the end of January after around seven and a half years in her most recent role, noted that only 38 women lead Fortune 500 companies at present. “That is 7.4%,” she said. “I truly believed that by the year 2021 there would be many, many more women in executive leadership positions.”
From Education to IT Before Henricks embarked on a career in IT, the Northwestern graduate (Bachelor of Science, English and Education; Master of Business Administration, The Kellogg School of Management) aspired to teach high
school English – that was, until she student-taught in Chicago. “[I] was determined that this was not the path for me,” she said. “So, I graduated and began my business career in an entry-level IT position at a large insurance company. “I learned how to code, how to be a systems analyst, how to be a project manager, and this early training has aided me greatly in my career.” Henricks – whose notables include the Direct Marketing Association in New York’s Direct Marketer of the Year honoree – recalled how she progressed from being a trainee to being a project manager of major new system development projects. Next up, she would lead multiple project managers, teams and projects. “IT was truly just starting to evolve at this time: COBOL and mainframe computers were the technologies,” she said. “PCs were not even invented yet!” Post-mainframe system projects and immersing oneself in the intricacies of big corp operations, Henricks craved learning how to run a business. “I was very lucky that I had a CEO who was an incredible mentor and
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