Thank you, Mary Wells and Charlotte Beers for paving the way for a new generation of powerful business women lighting the path with insights like these.
- “Curiosity and creativity are never far apart. You need to be curious to identify problems worth solving, and then come up with new solutions… It’s too easy to say ‘no’ all the time. It’s too easy to be cautious. Pushing the boundaries of creativity means saying ‘yes,’ taking risks, trying new things, learning, and being surprised.”
- Lorraine Twohill, Google
- “Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do thinks differently from everyone else.”
- Sarah Blakely, Spanx
- “Marketing’s job is never done. It’s about perpetual motion. We must continue to innovate every day.”
- Beth Comstock, GE
- “I learned always to assume positive intent. Whatever anybody says or does, assume positive intent."
- Indra Nooyi, Pepsi
- “If you create a purpose, make sure you deliver on that purpose. It is the filter through which you make every decision.”
- Anne Finucane, Bank of America
- “Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live.”
- Anne Sweeney, formerly at Disney
- “I have a theory that burnout is about resentment. And you beat it by knowing what it is you're giving up that makes you resentful.”
- Marissa Mayer, Yahoo
- “What I always say is, Do every job you're in like you're going to do it for the rest of your life and demonstrate that ownership of it.”
- Mary Barra, GM
- “Growth and comfort do not coexist.”
- Virginia Rometty, IBM
- “Embrace diversity of thought and people. Embrace light. Shine it to spot the flaws in an idea or innovation before your competition does that for you.”
- Ellen Kullman, DuPont
- “Things happen to you. You have to make sure you happen to things.”
- Ursula Burns, Xerox
- “If you have the choice between being bored and being engaged, that’s an easy pick. We work really hard to make sure we take the right risks and try new things because they almost always pay off—and that makes it so much more fun for people to engage.”
- Dana Anderson, Mondelez International
- “How you manage change can make all the difference.”
- Irene Rosenfeld, Modelez International
- “If it doesn’t scare you, you’re probably not dreaming big enough.”
- Tory Burch
- “Choose to do less fretting & more doing, less wanting and more having.”
- Jessica Herrin, Stella & Dot
- “A woman with a voice, is a by definition, a strong woman.”
- Melinda Gates, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- “It’s less about what you sacrifice and more about what you prioritize. The best advice I got early on: Only make your family a priority.”
- Angie Hicks, Angie’s List
- "Not that I would have listened, but I wish I'd known that it was okay to make mistakes earlier in my career. I went on to make some real doozies, but I wish that rather than being embarrassed, which I was, I appreciated it was all part of learning and developing on the job."
- Irene Chang Britt, Campbell Soup Company
- “When you're at work as long as we are, you need to be inspired by the people you're with as much as the work itself.”
- Kristen Lemkau, JP Morgan Chase
- "It’s not about what I like or what one of my colleagues likes. It's about what the customer wants, where she is and how she wants to communicate."
- Martine Reardon, Macy’s CMO
- "If people really want to move up the career ladder, I say take risks. Take the toughest, most difficult job or project someone can give you because that’s how you move ahead. You take the toughest, thorniest thing, and you pull it off, and that helps you get recognized and get promoted."
- Stephanie Linnartz, Marriott
- "Be brave. The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of making a mistake."
- Meg Whitman, HP
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