Page 106 - Leadership Secrets of Hillary Clinton

LISTENING TOURS

many of the women in the room. In a very short amount of
time, they were able to build common ground around some
of the issues they faced and gain both important informa-
tion and intriguing insights from one another. One impor-
tant outcome of the session was that the women had the
chance to listen and learn what their colleagues did, their
key business objectives, and the challenges they faced. This
dialogue enabled them to have a more cultivated perspec-
tive on the business and how they all connected with and
supported one another. This is key, particularly for women,
as I hear many times from senior executives that one obsta-
cle for women in advancing their careers is their lack of
being strategic. This is primarily due to their not getting
out and learning about the larger context of the business
because of their assumed need to “do the work,” which lim-
its their ability to tap into other views and perspectives
across and outside the organization.
Over the course of the year, we leveraged the success of
this event by conducting satellite forums, an annual one-
day leadership conference, and a series of Webinars,
newsletters, and informal mentoring opportunities for
women across the organization. This single idea of creat-
ing a network for women within this company evolved into
a very successful program for women in the company
worldwide. Not only has it served as a tremendous catalyst
for women to see the value of advocating and mentoring
each other, but it has also helped to create a greater sense

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