Page 66 - MetalForming October 2012

“We as an industry must do a better job of selling manufacturing to women,” Lione stresses. “The jobs avail- able, and that will continue to be avail- able, represent great work opportunities for women, requiring varied skill sets.”
Lione saw excellent examples of the positive impact that women can have on manufacturing operations during her time at Harley. “We worked hard to
“Having a diverse leadership team became critical to ensuring we con- nected with women consumers, as well as men,” she says. “Now when I am riding my motorcycle, more of the ponytails I see on fellow motorcycle riders belong to women.”
Hiring women onto the Harley- Davidson team was not the end of Lione’s commitment to building a diverse workforce, it was the beginning.
Noting that while she was one of very few women in law school, “I was fortunate at school to be mentored by a few women pro- fessionals, as well as women
“We as an industry must do a better job of selling manufactur- ing to women,” says former Harley-Davidson executive Gail Lione. “The jobs available, and that will continue to be available, represent great work opportuni- ties for women, requiring varied skill sets.”
attorneys when I entered the workforce,” Lione says. “Those mentors taught me that all things are possible; you can achieve balance between work and home life, but it has to be your own. And so I’ve tried to pay that mentoring forward throughout my career—at Harley-Davidson and now in my roles as a member of several boards of directors (including a recently completed stint as chair of the Metropolitan Milwaukee YMCA), and as an adjunct professor at Marquette University Law School.
“Giving back as a successful career- woman is vital,” Lione concludes, “to encourage women to continue to climb the career ladder and move into man- agement positions, in manufacturing and elsewhere. A 2011 Catalyst survey found that companies with more women board members and women in senior management outperform those lacking women in these posi- tions. And, interestingly, a new Catalyst study conducted with the Harvard
recruit more women at all levels. In some ways, having more women in the work- force helped the company design for and market prod- ucts to women consumers. We sought and devel- oped diversity of thought and con- tribution, and it continues to pay off for Harley.”
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64 MetalForming/October 2012
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