TW: That’s a good question. I think it’s unfair. There are a lot of things unfair in this world. I was reading a book, The Well-Spoken Woman, and one of the things that struck me was that when women speak, people look and then listen, but when men speak, they listen. Such bias is reflected, for instance, in the number of times that people comment on what a woman is wearing or their hair. Women do the same thing. Women comment on women’s hair and makeup, so we do have to try to mitigate that and acknowledge that this exists. There are biases in the world that exist, and as much as people and I would like to kick and scream about promotions being on merit and success and being purely on functional and technical competency, it’s not the way the world works.

KK: Your comments really help illustrate how many of us see our colleagues, like you, who manage it well, thus we don’t realize some of the accommodations you’ve had to make for others in the world who may impose subconscious biases on others. I’m looking forward to the day when you don’t have to pay such close attention to your hand gestures or exactly what outfit you choose for that day or if you’re being too assertive or not assertive enough. Why can’t you just be you?

TW: It speaks to the point of the importance of having a more diverse leadership group that is nationally recognized because then you start to break down those barriers. It’s not just about putting a female out there and making us talk; it’s actually about the audience seeing different types of leaders. There are different types of leadership out there, but when you’re only used to seeing one type of leader, it may bias everything you do.

KK: Let’s go back to the ED Directors Academy for a minute. At what moment did you say, “I need to say something to somebody,” and what prompted you to do that?

TW: I think what prompted me to do that was I felt like I could change things. I really did. I really did think that my voice made a difference. That was what prompted me to speak up about it. I didn’t think it was outright racism or anything that was malicious at all. I thought it was just an oversight. When you point out these oversights, people say, “Oh my goodness, we’ll change this for next time.” I don’t complain without doing something about it. I hear complaints, as medical directors hear a lot of complaints about the ED, and I use that as an opportunity to do something about it.