Leading in High Heels

Monique Honaman

Monique A. Honaman of Atlanta, Ga., is an expert at finding the high road and taking it, striding up that sometimes hard climb, high heels and all. Honaman is the founding partner of ISHR Group, a merger company of her own two firms:  Incite Strategies and HR OptIn. Incite Strategies focuses on global leadership assessment, development and coaching, while HR OptIn provides contract human resource project management solutions. The ISHR Group has been featured in HR Executive, the New York Times, NY Post, and Corp Magazine.
 

In October 2004, Monique was profiled by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of ‘’40 of Atlanta’s Most Promising Young Stars Under age 40.” In 2007, she was named one of the “2007 Enterprising Women of the Year” by Enterprising Women, and,  in 2010, she published her first book, “The High Road Has Less Traffic.” www.highroadlesstraffic.com

How does the high road have less traffic?
Specific to my book, and the ‘high road’ concept as it applies to divorce, think about how many people take the low road in ending a relationship. They say things they will often regret. They demonstrate behaviors in front of their children that no child deserves to see or hear. My book chronicles my relationship, my marriage, its demise, and my divorce, and the fact that I confidently know that I was able to survive divorce, as were my two children, because we chose to take the high road.

The ‘high road’ philosophy has so many other applications. The High Road Has Less Traffic at Work – think about if our business or government leader made decisions using the high road mentality. Perhaps we would have fewer instances of corporate greed and scandals. The High Road Has Less Traffic for Teenagers – think about if our teens utilized a high road framework before deciding to post inappropriate comments or photos on social media sites.

What do you love most about being a woman?
I love that I can leverage all parts of my personality and my leadership style without being questioned. I can be analytical and logical; I can be process-focused and conservative; I can be emotional and sensitive; and I can be strategic and a risk-taker. Being a woman brings a certain expertise in having the ability to multi-task. I love being a mom and knowing that my most important role is raising my two children to be joyful, productive members of society who always choose the high road!

Do women have to do anything different than men to attain positions of leadership?
No, women don’t have to do anything different than men. However, many women, by virtue of their natural leadership styles, do operate or choose to operate differently by leveraging their natural strengths, abilities and preferences.

Modern leadership literature and research is devoting significant attention to the idea that our most successful leaders need to leverage strengths that are stereotypically considered to be ‘female’ traits, such as a higher level of social intelligence, an open communication style, the ability to focus for extended periods of time, and the ability to multi-task. I believe women need to focus on leveraging their natural skills, as opposed to emulating leadership styles they perceive to be more important, to attain positions of leadership.
 

What is the light of your life right now?
One, my family. I am inspired by their resilience and openness. Another person who is the light of my life is my husband (yes, I recently remarried!). I am inspired by his joy, his passion to do what is right, his tremendous energy, and the way he has taught me to trust again. The final ‘light’ I would identify right now is my book, and more specifically, the impact it is having on so many different people.

What was the biggest 'aha' moment of your life? How did you respond to it?
I believe my biggest ‘aha’ moment came with the realization that I am in charge of my destiny and I alone am in charge of defining “having it all” by my own standards, not by society’s standards. To me, having it all means being a great mom, raising two amazing children, being a wonderful wife, having a career, being able to volunteer, being able to cultivate rich, lifetime friendships with women around the world, and being able to pursue my passions.