Local Profile's annual Women in Business summit is an incredible experience that brings together women in all walks of their careers, to inspire and build them up.
In this recap, these three panelists share valuable advice for women leaders in business, broken down into one nugget each, just for you!
The second panel discussion at Local Profile's Women In Business virtual summit was comprised of three local leaders who also happen to be women.
Here are each one's tips and unique perspectives on becoming a true leader in business... especially for the women leaders out there!
Don't let imposter syndrome sneak in on amazing opportunities
Nakesha Lopez, Chief HR Officer at Baylor, Scott & White Health said this:
"There are a lot of studies that talk about how women experience things like imposter syndrome. And they allow that to affect our ability to go for opportunities, because we feel that we must have every single experience me to have every single skill said on a job before we would apply for that job, or raise our hand to be promoted for that job or even advocate for ourselves. And the reality is our male counterparts, they do not.
"I think really wrestling with that imposter syndrome is key. I think many times we're our own our own obstacle. And for me, what I found in my career, development and growth is that you just have to go for it. You have many skills that are translatable to many areas, and you can bring those experiences and drive value. So how can you have confidence in yourself? And how can you find mentors and folks around that help?"
Don't be afraid of failure
Deborah West, Tx Group Manager of Enterprise Delivery at Toyota Motor North America, said this:
"How I think about it: maybe we should fail more often. You know, when you fail, you get a chance to seek feedback. You get a chance to improve. I look at it as a process overall.
"I live the concept of agile, with short two week sprints, and then every two weeks we look at what we do. We take a sprint review. We understand what we did we conduct a retrospective. We reflect on what happened.
"Sometimes we laugh, sometimes we cry. But then we pick one thing every two every sprint to think about and improve. And so that constant discussion gets a lot easier. Try things, fail, and then reflect and improve.
"I think if we think about it more of a process, not like a big thing that happened, then it's just part of 'why,' right? Sometimes you fail, sometimes you succeed. You figure out what to do to improve, and then you reflect it. How are you reflecting improvement?"
Invest in YOU and your own professional development
Vickie Yakunin, Dallas Senior Manager of External Affairs at Amazon, said this:
"At Amazon, one of our leadership principles is 'learn to be curious.' So it's a definitely a learning environment. The philosophy is really that leaders are never done learning.
"When I think about investing in my own growth, I look at participating in conferences or reading a business publication that can give me some thoughts on different ways to do my job and to grow. Also... talking with my colleagues.
"I work with some some really, truly brilliant people. I'm very fortunate in that regard. And if I ever have a question, I know that I can call a colleague and have a 15-30 minute conversation to learn everything I need to, or at least, what I need to know. So I think there's multiple ways that you can continue to invest in your professional development in different stages of your career."
Watch the whole panel discussion and get more advice below:
