Karen Francis '84

What I've learned since graduation

"THE DECISION TO START A SORORITY AT DARTMOUTH WAS SIMPLE. There were only three or four sororities here in 1982, even though women made up close to 40 percent of the class. Some of my friends and I said 'Let's start our own.' And we founded Kappa Alpha Theta. We were in a real leadership seat because there were a lot of sororities that wanted to get a presence on Dartmouth's campus and we had the ability to interview them and decide, as well as develop our own rules and our own way of working together."

"I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN REALLY HAVE ACCURATE EXPECTATIONS OF WHAT IT IS THAT YOU'RE GOING INTO AFTER GRADUATION. I was an economics major determined to go to New York and do what every good economics major does—banking. Then my adviser, Susan Wright, came in from left field with this idea about Procter & Gamble. She knew that they recruited for leadership skills as well as business skills. It was a fabulous first job, not just in having a job, but in connecting with what I'm really good at. I love marketing and it's the right place for me."

"HUMOR SHOWS A SENSE OF SELF-CONFIDENCE. One of the things I most value about myself is my sense of humor. When I launched the Venture mini-van for Chevrolet I would often joke I was only the only single woman in America who knew about mini-vans. I was in the truck division, which was, after all, pretty male. But it was fun."

"IT'S MUCH EASIER TO BE RECOGNIZED WHEN YOU'RE THE ONLY PERSON IN THE ROOM WHO LOOKS DIFFERENT. At General Motors I was one of the only women running a division. At Harvard Business School, women made up only 19 percent of my class. So I have a lot of experience being in the minority. I look at it as an opportunity to stand out. And as long as you exceed peoples' expectations, you can define that as success."

"DON'T EXPECT LIFE TO BE PERFECT Its not a fairness thing. It just happens. I've had my share of tragedy. Did I deserve it? No. But what counts is how you handle adversity. Recovery ranges from days to years. It's important to be patient with yourself."

"TAKING ON NEW ASSIGNMENTS IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS BUILDS AS TRONG ABILITY TO HANDLE COMPLEXITY. Every time I've moved, I've had to learn a whole new path. Being in different places gives you an appreciation of geographic diversity and makes you a better business person. I also have a good vision of the different types of lifestyles that people lead. It helps me build a broad skill set."

"AS A TRUSTEE, BEING YOUNGER ENABLES ME TO BRIDGE THE AVERAGE STUDENT AGE WITH THE AVERAGE TRUSTEE AGE. I can equally advocate what I'll call the 'adult fiduciary responsibility position,' but at the same time I can talk about the need to have an on-campus coffeehouse. Those perspectives are important, because many of the other trustees weren't students here as recently as I was."

"I ONCE MADE THE MISTAKE OF WEARING BLACK PANTS AND A WHITE SHIRT AT A DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MEETING. One older gentleman came up to me and asked for more coffee, thinking I was a server. I said 'l'd be happy to get it for you but it's really not my role.'"

JOB TITLE: Vice president, Ford Motor Co./president and CEO, Consumer Connect. Held previous jobs at Procter & Gamble, General Motors, Internet Capital Group, Berol Corp., and Bain & Cos. NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS: First woman to run the Oldsmobile division at GM; graduate of Harvard Business School; College trustee PERSONAL: Single, 39, lives in Birmingham, Michigan