Should a Female Director "Tone It Down"? (HBR Case Study and Commentary)

Sarah is a director of a Real Estate Investment Trust whose CEO has expressed his admiration of her intellect and drive for information, but board meetings have become tense recently, and the CEO has grown distant. In Sarah's opinion, the problem is obvious: Sid Yerby, the CFO. Despite Sarah's repeated requests for comprehensive financial statements, he continues to come to board meetings with a mere two pages of analysis that lack any explanation or footnotes. Increasingly, however, hers seems to be the minority view, and, as the only woman on the board, she is starting to feel isolated. The chairman has warned her that everyone is starting to think of her as "pushy." Should she quit the board? Expert commentary comes from Ilene S. Gordon, CEO and chairman, Ingredion, and Sue Decker, former president, Yahoo. This HBR Case Study includes both the case and the commentary. For teaching purposes, this Reprint is also available in two other versions: case study-only, reprint R1410X, and commentary-only, R1410Z.