In TiE Women’s Leadership Forum, Rayona Sharpnak, founder and president of Institute for Women’s Leadership, brought together three panelists from industry to share with a roomful of women their successful stories as female leaders, and discuss the topics that are mostly of concern by women in their career.
“Follow your passion” emerged as a theme of discussion. Amal Johnson, CEO of MarketTools, told us she was never qualified for any job she was looking for. What she has is her love of learning, and that has got her to where she is today. “Set your own metrics for success – it’s your life, and enjoy each chapter of your life.” was the advice Amal gave to the audience.
Meeta Mhatre, CIO for Siemens Medical Solutions, emphasized the importance of interpersonal skills, which was not taught in school, especially from a traditional Indian background.
Stacy Sullivan, Director of Human Resources at Google, gave a perspective on emerging core competences in corporate America from a hiring point of view: 1) team players who can promote the team’s success, 2) people with potentials rather than experience, and 3) well-rounded individuals who also excel outside their work areas.
It’s very inspiring for me to hear these women talk about their experiences and reflections. Many of them I can relate with my own. I found the ending remark by Rayona particularly encouraging, which I will use to end this post:
“Success is moving from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”