Women in Leadership Series: Kathryn Clouse
Kathryn Clouse is a wife, mom of 2 daughters and a trail blazer.
She’s unapologetically authentic.
She’s got big powerful ideas.
And she has a brilliant outlook on leadership, parenthood and what really matters in life.
I hope you enjoy Kathryn’s wise perspectives as much as I did.
Kathryn, tell us a bit more about you and what you do for a living.
I'm working with Kohler Kitchen and Bath to find fresh business opportunities. My focus is on tying these opportunities closely to the core products that have been a big part of Kohler's success for the past 150 years. It's about maintaining the legacy while exploring new avenues for growth. The ideas I work with and help others explore are ideas fueled by consumer insights and conceptualized from within the organization. My work is a playground of creativity, finding traction and accelerating worthy concepts.
How long have you been in a leadership role?
I have moved between individual contributor roles and manager roles throughout my 14-year career. Most of my formal leadership roles have actually been in individual contributor capacities. I’m a big believer everyone leads from where they are regardless of hierarchy. My first formal leadership opportunity was 3 years into my career when I became a team lead. I was responsible for the throughput of an engineering team which later formalized into my first true manager position back in 2014. I left my role of leading two teams (total of 10 people) to become an individual contributor tasked with developing, launching and scaling our diversity and inclusion program at Kohler Co. To this day, I consider that role one of my most formative leadership experiences. Learning to influence without authority is a skill I enjoy developing and have found it useful regardless of whether I have people reporting to me or not.
Did you always know you wanted a leadership position? Why/why not?
A mentor of mine once told me that I will always try to start at the back of the room, but my nature compels me to the front of the room, next to a whiteboard with a marker in my hand. She said I shouldn’t fight my nature. Doing so would lead to a life of misery. She was right, of course. Indeed, when I did embrace my nature, I’ll just say my lived experiences have shown me that behaving in the way that comes naturally to me isn’t always socially accepted as a woman.
Amid the calibration of leaning in and out, I have found there is no replacement for time-tested experience. And it’s only been in the last year or two where I have genuinely started to feel credible enough to be trusted to lead more strategic areas and strategic teams directly. In the beginning of my career I wanted, so badly, to lead people. To be in charge. Now that I am middle career, I think long and hard before attempting to add people to my team or try for larger leadership roles. It’s a HUGE responsibility to be in a position of power and authority over another person or people. I consider leadership opportunities with the utmost care.
What do you find most rewarding about being a leader?
A life in service to others is extremely meaningful and being a leader is a direct way to live such a life. I’m a cultivator at my core. Helping organizations, teams and people reach their potential is my genuine pleasure.
What has parenting taught you about leadership?
Parenting is the hardest form of leadership. Next question.
In all seriousness…becoming and being a parent has been the most humbling leadership responsibility of my life. I would not be the professional I am today if I hadn’t become a mom. For me, it has brought perspective, patience, calmness, long term thinking and self-awareness. My children watch me and learn from me SO closely. It has influenced me to sit up a little straighter and start following through with those promises I had been making to myself for years. Exercise more, sleep more, eat healthy, express affection and gratitude freely. Be open about when I’m feeling disappointed and why. They are learning how to be people and mine and my husband’s examples of what life looks like will be one of the strongest influencing factors in helping them navigate into adulthood and beyond.
How do you manage being a wife, mom and a leader in your organization?
I don’t manage. We manage. And by we, I mean: Me, my husband, my kids, my girls’ childcare systems, my girls’ schools, my extended family, my friends, my teammates, my boss and every boss above her and the values/policies of the company I work for. Cultivating a full life and great leaders is a team sport.
The people and organizations you choose to have on your bench will greatly determine how easy it is to manage the interconnected dynamics of work and life. I have seen many young women underestimate the importance of their partner’s role in their future happiness and success. This goes for anyone – partners are exactly that. Partners. You have each others’ back. You show up for one another. You help when the other is down. And you let your partner help when you are down. Together, you cultivate your village. And if you don’t have partners, then it’s the other relationships in your life that are most important.
Do you believe work/life balance exists? What do you do to manage both?
I think work/life balance is easier to achieve if you integrate the two and when you love what you do. When you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work. Your partner and kids get energized by you being energized. Making big decisions (should I apply for that role, change my job, step back from career) as a family is an opportunity to co-create family shared values around how work fits into overall family happiness and success.
My husband and are open with our girls about why we work (money for our family, motivational work that utilizes our skillsets, impactful work that helps other people), why we exercise, why we eat healthy and more. And we believe that we become the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with or around….so are ever cognizant of the company we keep (and our own personal mindsets).
Likewise, my wall at work is FILLED with artwork from my daughters. All of my teammates know they can expect a random walk-in from my children if they are on a call with me before 8:00AM and after 4:00PM. And everyone knows I have family time from 5:00-7:30PM, strict no meeting time every week night. I bring my daughters to work-related events when possible and talk about them openly, though not excessively, to anyone who asks (and some who don’t). :)
What are some of the biggest challenges women in leadership face and what advice do you have to overcome them?
It’s a good question. And I’m going to avoid some of my go-to answers for one that I have been increasingly high on these past few years.
IF women are given feedback at all, it’s often on their approach or how others perceive them. Don’t get me wrong, as a leader, emotional intelligence and interpersonal strengths are imperative. Self-awareness, etc. But, I have found my ability to overcome societal barriers about how I don’t fit the expected feminine mold is directly influenced by my ability to get shit done and understand and contribute to strategy. Focus on the soft (certainly), but really lean into the hard-tangible business work.
What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in your career?
I wish I would have known that success isn’t having the highest paying job and the biggest organizational control. Sure – that’s some people’s version of success. I have found success is genuinely loving your work, being skilled in your work, and being able to make enough money to be comfortable by doing your work. All while having a worthwhile life with people who are meaningful to you.
What advice would you offer the next generation of female leaders?
You don’t need the whole plan, just the next step, aim for directionally correct. They can’t say “yes” if you don’t ask. Work harder to uncover your north star and follow it.
