Achieving Well-Rounded Successes

By Anthony Birritteri, Editor-in-Chief On Sep 27, 2024

From discussing today’s critical leadership skills and nurturing the perfect team, to making challenging decisions and finding time for oneself, a C-Suite panel of female executives at the closing day of NJBIA’s 10th Annual New Jersey Women Business Leaders Forum yesterday provided sound advice and inspiration on how to achieve well-rounded successes.

The session was moderated by Michele Siekerka, NJBIA president and CEO, who opened with the question: What are the leadership qualities needed in today’s rapidly changing business environment?

Paula Ferreira, assistant office managing partner at accounting firm Forvis Mazars, LLP, responded that the biggest quality is adaptability, as not everything goes as planned. “You must adapt to the moment, take control of it, be decisive, but be flexible. You must also use the best traits of the team around you,” Ferreira said.

A key trait for a leader is staying true to oneself, said Cathey Haigh, senior vice president and chief financial officer at Hussmann Corporation, a Panasonic Company. “If the organization already has a level of trust in your decision-making – and can almost guess what your approach is going to be in tackling a problem – you’ll find [it easier] to get the buy in,” she said.

Feeling lonely at the top was an issue that Monica C. Smith once dealt with, but that is not the case today. The CEO and founder of Marketsmith, one of the country’s largest LGBTQIA+ independent media and marketing agencies , looks for everyone’s point of view at company meetings. “I want to have everybody’s opinion. When you’re in a meeting with me, every single person, before we end the meeting, has to give me an idea, their thoughts, or tell me what they don’t understand. Every voice is heard,” she said. “They are participating and that’s massive. … Now, I’m sitting there saying very little and listening to everyone.”

Meanwhile, Marilyn Petite, vice president, marine systems at Marotta Controls, believes in leading by example. “I feel that if I work hard, they [staff] will see that and work hard as well,” she said. However, Petite has come to realize that she can’t do it all. “I thought I had to do everything, but in building a strong team, I realized I can go on vacation. I can do things other than work.”

Leading by example is also something NJBIA’s Siekerka believes in, as she recalled her time as deputy commissioner at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) during Superstorm Sandy. “I was at the ROIC, the state’s emergency management and intelligence center, from 5 a.m. until midnight because my team was there. You’ve got to be in the trenches with them,” she said.

Going hand in hand with supporting and building your team is nurturing future leaders within your business.

For Haigh at Hussmann Corporation, it’s important to start this early on. She personally does this with leadership development sessions. “It starts with new team members, just to help them get comfortable with meeting and having conversations at the senior leadership level. I also give them advice and spend time with them so they’re comfortable walking through my door asking questions and having conversations. That level of development is critical to succession planning,” she said.

Ferreira agrees: “Give younger team members the opportunity to partake in meetings, even if they think they don’t have a voice. Give them a voice and the opportunity to sit in a room and witness things. Everybody contributes differently, so recognize everyone’s different talents and reward those talents. Give them small victories, so they feel that they’ve accomplished something … give them that opportunity to feel victorious in any situation.”

Meanwhile, Smith warned of the trend of rewarding “certain generations” for second place, third place, or fourth place finishes. “We can’t get too empathetic,” she said. “You must set expectations for everyone on where we’re [the company is] going, where they fit in, and what they need to get done.”

Smith’s response led to the question of how to make a difficult decision that may affect a colleague, even having to let them go.

Petite said, “You must frequently keep telling the person how they’re doing. It can’t be at review time or once every six months. There should be a lot of feedback. There should never be a surprise. If someone is failing, you should be helping them to succeed. Never just let them fail.”

With that, Smith said one should not lose sight of the intent of the business. “It’s important for me, as a leader, to inform those who are representing my brand and or my clients’ brands that they are clear on what is for the greater good for the mission, even if it is hard or challenging or at the end of the day, somebody is not a good fit,” she said.

“At the end of the day, these are our professions. We were getting to a certain place. So, trust and intent are important. When you deliver from that place, it usually goes to the right place for the right person. It might not be what [someone] wants, but it’s going to be better for them in the long run,” Smith said.

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