On some things, the Alaska leaders of the oil giants BP, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell agree: The state’s oil future remains solid despite today’s global oil glut. Any natural gas development will require cooperation among a large circle of interests both in and out of government. And it probably shouldn’t be news that the far north operations of three of the world’s biggest privately held hydrocarbon businesses are now spearheaded by women.
Almost as quickly, too, Janet Weiss, the regional president for BP Alaska; Karen Hagedorn, the Alaska production manager for Exxon; and Laurie Schmidt, the vice president for Shell Alaska, concede that they can understand why others might think differently.
The oil industry has become not only a business that heavily recruits for talent; it has become a business that cultivates and develops it.
None of the women of power in today’s Alaska oil industry set out to become managers. There is not a master’s degree in business administration among them. Hagedorn trained to be a petroleum engineer, Schmidt a mechanical engineer and environmental lawyer, and Weiss, a chemical engineer.
They were boosted into management when others recognized they were naturally gifted with the ability to organize, motivate and lead.
See Full Story at The Telegraph Macon, Georgia
