Words of Wisdom: Failure Is an Option On the Road to Success

Thank You for One of Our Best Events Ever

To all the list makers out there..

This past week I enjoyed an open conversation between 4 female Tech Execs about what it takes to Lead in the Age of Digital Disruption, along with insights from the President of CIO Executive Council’s acclaimed program The Future State CIO®.

I learned a couple of things along the way including the revelation, that much to my surprise, FAILURE IS AN OPTION!  That things are going to go wrong, and your success is determined by how you get back up and move on. 

This lesson from Miami Dolphins CTO Tery Howard was one of the many nuggets that stuck with me, along with advice from CIOs Emily Ashworth of ABB Optical & Marie Lee, ILG: that you need the courage to take on the stretch assignments, the jobs you don’t think you are qualified for to move up.

Vice President of Johnson Controls, Sharon Moura, echoed the panels’ sentiments that during the most challenging times, such as mergers and acquisitions, you need to be agile, adopt a growth mindset and find ways to add value to the new program, or you really should prepare to move on. Furthermore, you need to learn how to lead through others (another difficult, but necessary transition on the leadership journey).

Another key takeaway was Pam Stenson’s lesson that it is vital to invest the time to build those oh so important stakeholder relationships, up, down and sideways with those you need to enable your success, and while it’s hard work, you need to make a list, and make it a priority.

And last, but certainly not least, we learned that 40,000 data points can’t be wrong! That women in fact consistently score very highly in the strategic competency of collaboration and influence, one of the Super Powers necessary to lead. And most of us didn’t even realize it!

I can tell you these women, came, shared and made an impact on other women aspiring to Leadership roles amidst the sea of constant change and hyper competitive times we face. So as the one who cajoled these humble, yet highly accomplished women to leave the comfort of their offices to battle peak hour traffic to share their wisdom, my sincere thanks! You inspired others to follow in your footsteps, to go with courage, and to take a few others along with you 🙂

Hope to see you at ITWomen’s next event.. Don’t forget to let us know how we can empower your journey!

— Claire Marrero
President, ITWomen