Release:
July 7, 2021

Women of NATE Today Newsletter
Volume 3, Issue 7

Company’s Comin’. Come a-runnin’. Company’s Comin’. Don’t you know. 
Company’s Comin’. Come a-runnin’. Company’s Comin’. Here we go! 

Today has been a very interesting day for me. It was the first day in my entire working career, that I got up, took a shower, got dressed, made breakfast, made a pot of coffee, and headed to work – at my house. Today, I started a new career path…I began a new journey working for an industry, and not for one specific company. Pretty dang awesome!

The story of my life is fairly boring in my opinion. I grew up in a wonderful town with the most amazing family. My grandparents lived next door to me while I was growing up. I would come home from school, drop my books off at my house, and then head out the back door to have an afternoon snack at my grandmother’s house with my “Mimo”. She was truly an angel on earth and could make all the troubles of my day go away with a touch on my face and a smile. I was the luckiest child, in my opinion, to have such amazing parents and having amazing grandparents living next door. Didn’t all kids have their grandparents live next door? 

I loved high school because it was easy for me. I did not have to study much and I got great grades. I played the violin – yes, the violin – and was in the orchestra. I played in every musical that our high school performed, and even at one or two at other schools. I love horses and was given my first horse on my 16th birthday in my junior year at high school. I became a violin teacher so I could help with the expenses of taking my horse to horse shows. I also played the piano and was better at that than the violin. I even thought about a musical career path. But to be honest, I just did not think I was THAT talented. I also decided it would be way too much work to major in music so I headed to Purdue to be a pharmacist.  

My first year at Purdue – I HATED Pre-Pharmacy. My dream of becoming Madame Curie quickly went out the window. College was a whole lot harder than high school and I was failing quickly. I needed to make a move. For my next college path, I decided I was going to be an Electrical Engineer – to be just like my dad. Purdue decided that I was not going to be “just like my dad” and recommended that I find a new major. Through a lot of soul searching and career testing – my calling ended up being the Krannert School of Management, with Labor Relations as a major and Psychology as a minor; sounds like a perfect education for me to become the Director of Personnel and Safety for my dad! 

Let me back up a moment. In 1978, my 5th and last year at Purdue, I met my dad in Indianapolis at the IOSHA office to discuss a “citation” that was issued to Dad’s company. He thought it was a good way to see his daughter, and maybe I would learn something. As dad explained it to me, the citation was not correct, and he thought IOSHA should remove it. Dad did a great job stating his case. The citation was appealed, we won, and, in my eyes, my dad was a hero. At the end of the meeting, the Executive Director of IOSHA made the pitch that Safety might be a perfect fit for me. Voila! I had a new career path. I graduated from Purdue and began working for my dad as his new Director of Personnel and Safety.

My second month at work, I got a call from one of our superintendents to tell me that IOSHA was on our jobsite at GE Plastics in Mt. Vernon, Indiana. Not one IOSHA inspector, but six IOSHA inspectors. I spent three weeks following these guys around asking them questions, making notes, seeing what they were seeing, taking pictures, and believe it or not, being quiet and listening! These guys were amazing, and they shared their knowledge with me. How cool was that? Over the next 31 years, if IOSHA showed up at any of my jobsites, the inspectors would say, “call Kathy”.  

I am not going to bore you with much more of my story, except to tell you that Safety has been my passion. 42 years in the safety industry without a fatality! I have some regrets – the recordable injuries that happened to my employees, while performing work for me. These broke my heart. There is nothing as painful as getting a call concerning an employee that gets injured. Your heart stops, you get cold inside. You finally ask the questions, where are they, I need to see them. Will they be ok? I know the dates of the injuries, I know where I was and what I was doing when I got the call, I know the details of the accidents, I know the employee’s name, I know their families.  As I uncovered the causes surrounding the accidents, I shared that knowledge with others in the field. I developed any additional training and completed the training. Safety policies and plans were changed and knowledge was shared. In every case, I remained accountable. 

My life in the telecommunications industry sort of just happened. I did not know anything about telecommunications really, until ERI called me. Yes, I had been in the construction industry forever. But this industry is just a tad different. Most all of the work being completed is vertical instead of horizontal! Little known fact, I am terribly afraid of heights. Falling off the high dive when I was 10 may have caused this fear. But my passion for safety, and my strong personality, 😊, helped me along the way. I encouraged so many of the NATE Safety professionals to share knowledge with me and teach me. They mentored me. Not one safety professional – all of them! This is what NATE is all about. This is why I love NATE. We all have the same goals, and we all help each other. This is what Women of NATE is all about – helping the Women of the industry. We all have the same goals…we all help each other. Cool stuff!!!!     

So why the intro? Company’s Comin’? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6S9U8tl6MU I am excited about what is comin’. I am excited about the WON Leadership Conference. I am excited about NATE UNITE! I am excited about getting to work for all of you! I cannot wait to see everyone. Let’s get up and dance!   

WON Profile: Barbara Houdek

Where will you find the Women of NATE?

Take Women of NATE with you!

Are you traveling for work or taking a leisure vacation? Take a creative photo holding a Women of NATE (WON) logo in front of a landmark that lets us know where you are. 

Brittany Scandello enjoys a famous beignet at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Jordyn Ladner, Sheri O'Dell-Deuer, and Stephanie Brewer take a break from SEMC Meeting to enjoy the Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida. 

Upcoming Events

Women of NATE invites you to join the WON Power Hour on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 3-4:30 PM CDT hosted by Andy Page Lee and Sheri O’Dell-Deuer. This event is open to all in the industry. Please encourage those you know to attend.

Recent Event Highlights

Women of NATE in Action

The NATE Team welcomes Kathy Stieler to the NATE office as the NATE Director of Safety, Health & Compliance. 

Women of NATE Committee member Jessica Cobb convenes with NATE members during the South Wireless Summit.

Stephanie Brewer, Kathy Stieler, Jordyn Ladner and Sheri O'Dell-Deuer meet during the South Wireless Summit in Nashville, Tennessee.

NATE Members and Industry Professionals attend the Golf Event during the South Wireless Summit.

Stieler, a long-time industry subject matter expert and safety professional, joins NATE after serving as Director, ERI Installations and Safety since 2012. During her tenure at ERI Installations, Kathy’s leadership was instrumental in managing the company’s tower crews through a safe and successful broadcast repack transition. 

As the NATE Director of Safety, Health & Compliance, Stieler will be tasked with directing, developing and overseeing the general health and safety policies and procedures of the Association to ensure its safety materials and best practices documents are in compliance with OSHA and other applicable state and local regulations and standards. In her new role, Stieler will also be available to provide technical subject matter expertise to the Association’s member companies, as well as helping these businesses navigate the oftentimes onerous compliance onboarding process.             

“Today, I get to embark on an amazing journey that will allow me to work alongside the NATE staff and to work for the Association’s member companies whom I respect so much,” stated Stieler. “I am excited and honored to have this opportunity to assist the NATE membership as we work toward our common goals to ensure the continued well-being of tower and communications infrastructure personnel, and to progress toward safer standards and practices within the industry. My passion for safety is well known by all who know me. I hope to pass that passion along to everyone as we work side by side,” Stieler added.

“NATE is elated to welcome Kathy Stieler to the team,” said Chairman Jimmy Miller from Gulfport, Mississippi. “Through the establishment of this Director of Safety, Health & Compliance position, NATE is doubling down on safety and investing directly into our growing membership of companies. Kathy will be a tremendous asset and I encourage member companies to leverage her expertise to enhance their respective safety cultures,” added Miller.  

Please help us welcome Kathy Stieler to the NATE family! Kathy can be reached via email at kathy@natehome.com. Visit www.natehome.com to learn more about NATE.

    How to Shut Down a Colleague Who Takes Credit for Your Work

Has this ever happened to you? You’re in a meeting and the unthinkable happens: a colleague claims credit for your work.

As you reel from the shock of what just occurred, your self-talk goes into overdrive. “How dare they. The audacity!” you say to yourself as you start to play out the consequences in your mind. “What does the rest of the team suppose my role was? Making the coffee?”

But in the time it takes to come to grips with what just happened, something even more critical occurs: The moment passes. The team moves on to a new topic. The time for speaking up and publicly correcting the “mistake” has passed. Everyone “knows” who owned the accomplishment, and it’s not you.

Prevent it from happening again

There’s really only one sure-fire method of preventing this from happening, and it is to preemptively, publicly, claim credit for everything you do.

At the Executive Women International Academy of Leadership conference last week, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, keynote speaker (and all-round awesome lady) Fawn Germer said “If you don’t take credit for what you do, it is likely that someone else will.”

To be completely realistic, though, I understand that are many very reasonable reasons why you may not be entirely comfortable doing this. And you are by no means alone. Later that day at the EWI conference I asked my class of 120 women (and one man) in my leadership workshop “Who here feels 100% comfortable promoting their accomplishments at work?” As is usual in such groups, only three or four individuals raised their hands.

Publicly claiming credit for the work you do, also known as “tooting your own horn” is not comfortable for most people. Why? Here’s my theory: We’ve all worked with someone who overdid it and was always bragging about their achievements. In response to this, we say to ourselves “I never want to be that person” and cease claiming credit for our work – even in situations where it is appropriate and necessary.

But consider the consequences: Unscrupulous colleagues can seize the opportunity to claim credit, because you’d left it sitting on the table as though it was there for the taking.

Now consider what feels worse: Proactively claiming credit for your major accomplishments, or having that credit taken by someone else. Hopefully you can agree that promoting your achievements is the lesser evil.

So mark each major milestone by stopping work and taking action to attach your name to the result. For example, make an announcement in a meeting or by email such as “Team, I just completed the financial modeling for this quarter and have begun work on next quarter. If you’d like have questions or would like to discuss the results or methodology, please let me know.”

In theory, doing this consistently should shut down the likelihood of a colleague claiming credit, but of course in the real world, one might still slip through! If so, how should you respond?

Here are three steps to decisively and diplomatically shut down a colleague who takes credit for your work.

Step 1: Immediately set the record straight

Let’s say it happens again. You’re in a meeting and a colleague, Kevin, claims credit for your work… again. What should you do?

Whatever you do, don’t let the moment pass. It is important to speak up immediately, even if this means interrupting or speaking over the top of someone.

If you feel flustered, try not to let it show. Smile, and aim to speak with warmth and authority in equal measure, and say “To clear up any misunderstanding, what Kevin is trying to explain is that we collaborated on this effort. He led the initial data gathering, while I devised the methodology and performed the analysis. ” Smile one more time, and then shut up.

Why say it was a collaboration, even if it wasn’t? It is to help Kevin save face with the team, because the real conversation will take place with him privately, later. You don’t want to raise his defenses any higher than they already are. If you thrown him under the bus now, you can forget about having reasonable conversation later.

Step 2: Follow up in private

Later, but not too much later, with your trademark mix of warmth and authority, approach Kevin privately and ask if this is a good time to discuss what happened.

After you have his permission, tell Kevin that you respect his work and his contributions to the team, and that you won’t hesitate in future to praise him publicly for his contributions. Then with a tone of pure authority, say “But if you claim credit for my work again, I will set the record straight. Is that clear?” Listen carefully to what he has to say, but don’t be persuaded to back down from this very reasonable request.

Close the conversation by thanking him for understanding and adding anything else you’d like to say to ensure there are no hard feelings.

Step 3: Repeat

With that, the matter should be settled. But just in case it ever happens again, be on the alert and ready to speak up, firstly in public and then later in private, whenever someone else claims credit for your work, Kevin’s work or that of another colleague. If their behavior continues after multiple conversations, escalate your complaint to a higher authority such as your supervisor, and share your track record of prior conversations to show that you’ve been handling it like a grown-up and taking reasonable action.

In her keynote speech to EWI members, Fawn Germer also said “Don’t avoid uncomfortable conversations. They take between five and fifteen minutes,” and often a lot less! Ultimately, a short, uncomfortable conversation can be far less stressful than working in a team where credit and praise are unfairly given and taken.

Please send recipes with photos to Nikki Gronau at nikki@natehome.com.