Fed chief Yellen takes sexism out of leadership

Janet Yellen had an interesting request when in February she became the first woman to head the Federal Reserve: She instructed her staff that she was officially to be known as "chair," rather than chairman or chairwoman, of the central bank. Just chair.

This is consistent with her low-key professional advance to what some might consider the pinnacle of financial power. Although Yellen has done barrier-breaking work examining the pay gap between men and women, her way has always been to ignore gender issues or to address them obliquely. Instead, she seems to have preferred letting her achievements speak for themselves, while presumably counting on others to notice.

First, she had a strongly supportive spouse -- (Nobel Laureate) economist George Akerlof -- who worked in her field and understood how it worked. She moved for his job over their respective careers, but he also moved for hers. No one took a back seat. Smart women have no hope of being treated as an equal at work if they aren't treated that way at home. The supportive spouse is not just a logistical, but rather a psychological necessity.

Second, Yellen had a number of strong female allies. At Harvard University, where she once taught, Yellen collaborated with another rare female economist, Rachel McCulloch. They didn't spend their time lamenting the absence of women in their department, or the unlikelihood of tenure. Instead, the pair produced five papers together. Later on, Laura Tyson, who headed President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers, recommended Yellen for the Fed.

Moreover, it's arguable that Yellen would never have gotten a chance to lead the Fed had it not been for the active and vocal support of other women who were prepared to argue publicly that President Obama's first choice -- Lawrence Summers -- would not be acceptable.

In other words, it's seductive for women to imagine that just working hard is enough to make it to the top. This is what one senior lawyer recently described to me as the "Cinderella myth." The more pragmatic truth is that men and women alike need strong allies and collaborators -- people who notice them and want to encourage and are willing to fight for them when doing so for themselves would be counterproductive.

When Yellen insists on the title of chair, she reminds us that leadership roles should have no gender attached to them -- not male, not female. Having experienced no small degree of sexism in her own career path, she appears to have no appetite for perpetuating it.

In this, she's entirely consistent with most of the female leaders I've known, studied and profiled. When women run their own businesses, they typically create companies in which men and women alike can thrive. It's just another reason why we should celebrate the accession of women to power -- because everyone wins.