Great female leaders

Chris Celletti

People can be inspired to do great things in their professional careers, but eventually actions need to be taken. But today’s professional landscape is crowded and uber-competitive. It’s difficult to go from being inspired to do great things to actually doing them. Like any other progression, there are steps to be taken along the way and actions one can take to make sure they get where they want to be.

That was the theme of the recent kickoff event from the new partnership between Ogilvy & Mather New York’s Women’s Leadership Professional Network and American Express’s Women’s Interest Network. The partnership of these two strong organizations will provide new and different opportunities for women to further their professional growth and advance their careers. The “Turning Inspiration Into Action” event began with a keynote address from Made By Many Managing Director Leslie Bradshaw. Four successful professionals took the stage next, joining up for a spirited panel discussion on how women can successfully lead, advance their careers, and actions to take when in the process of turning inspiration into action.

Give and take

Bradshaw’s keynote focused on the key ingredients for launching a business or advancing one’s career. Networking was a key theme throughout the day—as it often is for discussions of leadership. Bradshaw urged the audience to create what she called a “reciprocal advisory network”. It’s a bit of networking give-and-take. Bradshaw suggested reaching out to people and ask what you could do for them and to do it before they need something from you. Even if they don’t need your expertise at the moment, you’ve planted the seed. When the time comes that they may need someone with your expertise, they’ll remember who reached out to them.