The people who work with and for Pete Seewald at Location3 Media are so enthusiastic about what a great job he does treating women as equals in the workplace, I heard from even more of them after the mention he got yesterday.
The first comes from JV, who said,
Pete Seewald and I worked together for about a year and a half on a large software project. The team was comprised primarily of men. I was in a product owner role and Pete was a developer. Pete was willing to talk to me about technical issues and not deliver it in a way that was condescending. He actually listened to my opinion and point of view which was evident in his final work product. Pete made me feel that my perspective was just as important as the other members of the team. The idea of gender and treatment of individuals based on their gender does not seem to enter into Pete’s mind. It is a refreshing approach.
Next I heard from BB, who said,
As a woman in the IT field, a lot of the times people treat you like you are not as good as men unless you prove to them it is not the case. I have been in the situation where a new manager came on board (a guy) and I am the only woman in the team so I was assigned to do all the administrative tasks such as booking meeting rooms, arrange lunches, photocopying and etc, I was eventually pulled away from those duties after the boss realized I am actually one of the strongest programmers in the team. There is also the opposite situation that I have heard: the team hired a woman programmer but she couldn’t really deliver anything, but because she is a woman so the team was very lenient with her incompetency and it turned out the value of her being in the team was to help out some administrative tasks. I’d like to be in a team where people just treat me as a professional, and that is how I felt working with Peter Seewald. I felt that I was given the same opportunity and respect while working with Pete, he is very direct and candid, and also very attentive to my professional opinions.
And finally, from his boss, Brandi.
Pete works with me in an environment where he tries to find solutions to problems and facilitate opportunities for everyone in the business including me, as his female boss. He constantly looks to give me information, or ensure that I’m filled in when I may be seen outside of the “good ol’ boys club”. Pete has always promoted my work and realizes that in some cases as a woman, I may need to manage businesses differently and accepts and embraces those challenges. He has always respected me and my decisions, and reflected on me in a positive and friendly manner as we have worked together in a wide range of types of businesses.
Thanks to Philip Reed for getting all this organized among the folks at Location3 Media.
As for myself, I want to see Pete speaking at tech conferences and telling all the brogrammers who attend how to act around women in the workplace. He has some advice to give, methinks.
If you can share a story about a conference where you see women treated as equals – delivering keynotes, leading panels, giving talks – please contact me and I’ll share the good words in a Good Guys post. See Women in Tech: Can You Help Find a Few Good Men? for more details.