15 tips from female leaders of Fortune 500 companies

Don’t take yourself too seriously. That’s the advice of successful businesswomen Allison Bubar, vice president of strategy, market presence and real estate at Advanced Auto; Allegra Stanek, senior marketing manager at The Coca-Cola Company; Bryce Caswell, in-stock manager at Amazon; Nora Lee, systems integration manager at Accenture; and Serbrina Cammerato, managing director at The Siegfried Group.

These leaders of Fortune 500 companies spoke about the challenges for women in business at the 2017 Carolina Women in Business Conference and shared these tips for success.

1. Always conduct research on the company you wish to work for. What is the training like? What are the opportunities like? Ultimately, the goal is to advance.
2. Make sure that you are aware of and comfortable with the culture of the company. Find one that will support you.
3. Be honest with yourself and the types of situations in which you thrive. Do you have the tenacity to be a big fish in a big pond?
4. Be confident.
5. Always be prepared and unapologetic. Own it.
6. During tense situations, take a step back, ask questions and stay calm.
7. Don’t be discouraged by being called bossy.
8. Feedback is very important. Asking for it all the time from everyone is the only way you’ll ever improve at what you do. Don’t wait for reviews to hear feedback for the first time.
9. Make an effort to get to know people at work who you don’t know well. Don’t be afraid to ask to connect.
10. Build trust with your co-workers and be aware of how you come across to them.
11. Make time for networking inside and outside of work.
12. Always be intentional and pro-active.
13. Be prompt, timely, responsive and always follow-up.
14. Make eye contact and be conscious of cultural aspects.
15. Know you’re good at what you do and that there’s a reason why you’re there.

By Shawna McIntosh (BA ’19)