Daring Women: It’s Never Just About One Person

Architecture captivated Marie Henson at an early age.

By the time she was 10, Henson had accompanied her history-buff father on visits to all eight Virginia presidents’ homes. It left a lasting impression: She decided on a career in architecture before she graduated from elementary school.

Today, the Seattle-based Henson is the firmwide health practice leader at Chicago-based architecture and planning firm Perkins&Will. If you’ve visited UW Medicine, Providence Health Services, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, MultiCare or Kaiser Permanente, chances are you’re acquainted with her award-winning work. Henson gravitated toward health care early in her career while earning a master’s degree in architecture from Clemson University. She joined Perkins&Will more than a dozen years ago, and has led the firm’s health care practice since 2023.

Leadership

Good leaders should be collaborative, approachable, inspiring and empathetic.

Overrated traits

Architecture and design are creative fields that rely on teamwork and communication. Collaboration is critical to the final product. Any leadership style that focuses on singular success or stroking an ego is overrated. It’s never about one person. Never. Of course, when leading, it is great to highlight individual contributions, but to build something big like a hospital — and do it well — takes a village.

Prominence

It can be an uphill battle for women to get the recognition they deserve. Advocating for yourself and for other women is critical. Advocacy can be big, like paving the way for those behind you if you are already a leader. It can also be small gestures, like asking the opinion of somebody who hasn’t spoken up in a meeting or repeating a good idea that went unnoticed and giving due credit. More voices make it harder to deny talent and good ideas.

Lessons learned/mentorship

I view my career as having its own “Board of Directors” who mentor and guide me professionally. My board consists of people I reach out to when I need to make career decisions or come to a crossroads. In thinking about women who have been instrumental on my board, one person who comes to mind immediately is Gina Berndt, Perkins&Will’s chief marketing officer. She has inspired me in countless ways and has reinvented herself professionally several times over. This makes her an incredible mentor to anybody following in her footsteps. She has taught me to create space for the next generation while still giving yourself space to grow and accelerate your own talents.

Advice

Focus on being a great leader. Don’t limit yourself to the confines of being a great female leader. Ultimately, if you’re good at your job, you’re good at your job, plain and simple. At a certain point, you aren’t a female leader, you’re just a leader. You’re just talented. Leadership isn’t considered a matter of checking a box. It’s a matter of recognizing genuine talent. If you focus on doing what you do and doing it the best you can, you’ll often graduate beyond feeling token in any way.

Networking

Networking is extremely important. I expand my contacts by attending industry events as well as one-on-one meetups like going out to coffee or drinks after work. I would say if you don’t know where to start, reach out to women in your office and ask for specifics. In architecture, this often means staying connected with clients, engineers and critical subconsultants, and contractors, even if you are not currently working on a project together.

Do differently

To be honest, I wouldn’t change much. I’m in a profession I’m passionate about and I love what we do, the creative process, and working with clients. I’ve had great mentors who have guided me. They’ve been my sounding board throughout my development, and this has been so valuable in guiding me to success.

On Saturday afternoon?

Enjoying time with my husband and two kids. We take them to sports practices and games, or you will find us out in nature as a family, enjoying the Pacific Northwest.

Autobiography title

Perspectives Gained: Defining your Career Through Experience.