On Wednesday, April 3, 2013 Maryville University hosted an event titled “Maryville Talks Women and Leadership: Lattices and Ladders.” This event was sponsored by Edward Jones and provided a panel of speakers from various areas of the company identifying what it means to be a leader and to succeed in today’s workplace. Moderating the talk was Emily Pitts, with panelists Kristin Johnson, Pat Faust, Susan Venn, and Ninoska Clarkin. I was able to attend the talk, and enjoyed it both as a representative from Maryville University and as a woman in industry.
The panelists spent the hour identifying characteristics of successful leaders, identifying important components for success in industry, and offering advice to budding women in industry. The panelists opened by emphasizing several characteristics that are important for today’s women, including the ability to adapt to change, the ability to build off of strengths and weaknesses of others, the ability to articulate goals and desires, and the ability to identify a need for change within an organization and then act upon it. All of the panelists identified entrepreneurship as essential for women; we should reach for opportunities both presented to us and hidden from us. In addition, they identified the power of advocates and mentors as a driving factor in success (especially for women).
Finally, the panelists offered several bits of advice to budding women in industry. For one, they recommended practicing leadership in smaller organizations outside of industry—professional affiliations, volunteer organizations, etc. They encouraged women to push beyond the comfort zone. When taking risks, one must be comfortable with failure; it provides the opportunity to learn and adjust, and as a result an opportunity to grow. However, they identified the ability to react to failure quickly as a must, especially admitting to failure and requesting help.
The talk was a great opportunity to network with others in industry in St. Louis. There were representatives from Maryville University, Elsevier, Edward Jones, and other organizations. There will be two more events in 2013 for the Maryville Talks series, including “It’s Not a Job, It’s an Adventure” on Friday, May 31 and “Access, Exposure and Opportunity: A Focus on Diversity and Differences” on Friday, August 9.