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American City Business Journals Oct 27, 2000Barbara Stonebraker has never been too concerned with climbing the corporate ladder.
Nevertheless, she is a senior vice president of Cincinnati Bell, part of Broadwing Inc., and the highest-ranking woman executive in the corporation. Obviously she didn't get there overnight and had to pay some hefty dues along the way.
Stonebraker joined Cincinnati Bell in 1965 and since that time has held some very difficult management positions. She attributes a great deal of her success to a simple business philosophy.
"If you worry too much about the next job, you will lose sight of your goal. Just make sure that you do the job at hand better than it's ever been done before. If you do that the next job will come," Stonebraker said.
As senior vice president of external affairs, Stonebraker works closely with high-level government, business and community leaders. She considers it part of her job to help others achieve their objectives. "You're dealing with constituencies. Everybody has something they want. It takes creativity to help them achieve their goals."
But that' s only part of Stonebraker's business strategy. Another key element in her success is involvement in community affairs. Over the years Stonebraker has served on the boards of the Cincinnati Nature Center, Cincinnati Zoo, Fine Arts Fund, Cincinnati Minority and Female Business Incubator - the fist goes on. Jim Kiggen, chairman of the board of Broadwing, has known Stonebraker for more than 15 years and has collaborated with her on a number of communityoriented projects.
"On a community level, Barbara has been involved with a significant variety of worthwhile community organizations and not just as a name on a letterhead. Barbara has been actively involved, " he said.
Her current project is perhaps the most challenging and demanding community service endeavors in the area: chairing the Greater Cincinnati United Way Campaign 2000. And Stonebraker is the first woman to lead that effort.
"She is fearless," Kiggen said. "There isn't a single task that she's unwilling to take on, as evidenced by her leadership of the United Way campaign. Chairmanship of the United Way campaign is, by any stretch of the imagination, a very difficult job. To be the first woman doing it is additionally daunting."
For the United Way campaign, Stonebraker's "constituents" are the CEOs of every major corporation in Greater Cincinnati. Her goal is to meet with them and persuade them to give their corporate support to the campaign. Stonebraker is well qualified for the job. She is comfortably at ease in the highest circles of business and community. And according to Kiggen, she knows how to handle problems.
"She quickly grasps complex, abstract problems, analyzes them, breaks them apart and puts them back together again to provide a direction or solution," he said. "But, she is also a very down-to-earth, direct, one-on-one person (who deals) with people regardless of their rank, or stature, or lack of it She is handling the campaign absolutely perfectly. We are going to meet the goal this year. I have no doubt about it"
Dick Aft, president of the United Way & Community Chest agreed. "I am so pleased with the way she has tackled this job; she has made (the campaign) just as important as any other assignment she could have for family, or for business, or for community. She gives high priority to all those areas.
"Barbara Stonebraker is completing every United Way assignment that she has been asked to tackle - on schedule. She looks for every critical element of leadership that she can contribute and gives 100 percent" Aft said.
Aft believes that Stonebraker has not only the ability to understand, manage and carry out extremely complicated jobs, but also the people skills necessary to bring together large groups with diverse viewpoints. He also feels that she brings a unique perspective to the United Way campaign.
"When she was newer with the company (Cincinnati Bell), she was involved with community activities, including the United Way, which brought her into contact with details. She has visited many of the United Way agencies, has reviewed programs and budgets and she has helped allocate the money raised in the campaign. She understands what every one of those 20,000 volunteers in her army of volunteers are doing, because she's been there."
Barbara Stonebraker
Age: 56
Residence: Montgomery
Personal: Married to Dave Stonebraker: two sons - Nicholas, 20, and Stephen, 18.
Education: University of Cincinnati, associate degree in retailing; bachelor's degree in management; University of Cincinnati Executive Program.
Background: Since joining Cincinnati Bell in 1965, Stonebraker has held a number of management and supervisory positions. In 1987, she was promoted to assistant vice president of Cincinnati Bell Inc. The following year she was appointed assistant to the president, and then, senior vice president. She is chairing the 2000 United Way campaign.
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