Libby share with Shannon the importance of community and how having a mentor impacted her career

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Shannon Pritchett 0:22Hi, I'm Shannon Pritchett with CareerXroads and I had the pleasure of speaking with Libby Sartain at our women and talent meeting. During our talk, Libby shared some impactful moments from her career as an HR leader. What particularly stood out was our discussion around the value of mentorships. And the importance of community is my pleasure to share conversation with you today. I hope you enjoy it.

Very interesting story about how you have the company you were working at prior to Southwest Airlines, you know, as one of your moments that matter if you have several, but you know, would you be willing to share that story or perhaps a different moment that mattered in your career?

Libby Sartain 1:00No, I'll be glad to share it. Um, Chris asked me that on a prep call. And I was like, I don't know if I have one. And then one popped into my mind. But I was working for a technology company, it was publicly traded, but it was very small. And I had been the manager of comp and benefits. And we had a new chro come in, and I work with him and the team for a couple of years. But he brought in two guys about my age, they both came from the military, because my boss was also from the military. And I had by that time, 10 years in HR, and they were starting an HR fresh or maybe with a year of experience out of the military. So they had some good leadership experience, but not HR experience. And they were brought in making in one case, $10,000 more than I was making, or maybe both cases. And then when a succession plan was developed, one of them who had very little experience in HR at all was named as the successor. And so when that happened, I just decided, and I had a great relationship with the CEO who had been a mentor. Because in another question, you're gonna ask me about a mentor. He was a great mentor. But I just decided I'm leaving, because this just isn't fair. And I talked to my boss about why they were paid more than I was. And he said, Well, they have military experience. I'm like, they're the same age as I am. I've been in HR for 10 years, I have an MBA, and a BBA, you know, that just wasn't, it just wasn't resonating. So that's when I decided to look for a job. And I landed the job at Southwest Airlines. So another, you know, sometimes those things work out. Ironically, or interestingly, about three months after I was at Southwest, the CEO called me back and asked me if I would rejoin as the chro of that company. And he decided that neither one of those guys were ready to be the successor. And even though I wasn't only the head of comp and benefits at Southwest, I decided to stay at Southwest, because I did not want to go back there where that had happened. But anyway, it was a it was a good thing. It worked out well. But it was a moment that mattered.

Shannon Pritchett 3:24Well yeah and the rest is history, I think, look how much you transform to very large companies. I think that's just absolutely, you know, incredible story that many of us can resonate with. You brought up mentorship. And you know, I think it's such an important part in not only how females get into leadership position, but how they grow into senior leadership. And of course, mentorship is great for everyone, regardless of your gender. So you know, who did open doors for you? And also two part question is, who do you look up to for mentorship and guidance?

Libby Sartain 3:58Well, I think the first situation where I really felt like I had a mentor is I joined a Mary Kay cosmetics, which is a cosmetic company, and in Dallas, and it was publicly traded at the time,