A few months ago, Forbes published their annual list of Top Female Business Leaders. In honor of those phenomenal examples of female leadership, we’re sharing our favorite leadership quotes from these powerful women:
- Mary Barra—Chairman and CEO of GM
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.’
- Indra Nooyi—Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo
The distance between number one and number two is always a constant. If you want to improve the organization, you have to improve yourself and the organization gets pulled up with you. That is a big lesson. I cannot just expect the organization to improve if I don’t improve myself and lift the organization, because that distance is a constant.
- Marillyn Hewson—Chairman, President and CEO of Lockheed Martin
You can’t forget that organizational success flows from the hearts and minds of the men and women you lead. Rather than treating your people as you’d like to be treated, treat them as they would like to be treated. Small gestures like opting for face-to-face meetings or sending personal notes can have an enormous impact on teams and their morale.
- Abigail Johnson—Chairman and CEO of Fidelity Investments
You have to think that the answer – and the right answer – for you and your organization might not be something that’s been done before. And it’s up to you to discover and work with your team to form and figure out how to do successfully.
- Sheryl Sandberg—COO of Facebook
We can each define ambition and progress for ourselves. The goal is to work toward a world where expectations are not set by the stereotypes that hold us back, but by our personal passion, talents and interests.
- Ginni Rometty—Chairman, President, and CEO of IBM
Clients say, ‘What’s your strategy,’ and I say, ‘Ask me what I believe first.’ That’s a far more enduring answer.
- Meg Whitman—CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Success happens when good people with good intentions cooperate and work together over a shared interest. Believing that people are basically good is what fuels most inspired individuals. Cynics and pessimists do not change the world.
- Safra Catz—Co-CEO of Oracle
You can never become #1 by chasing #1. You can’t run fast enough. You have to do something new.
- Ruth Porat—SVP and CFO of Google, Alphabet
Businesses perform better when you have diversity of view in your senior leadership positions. This is not just the right thing to do socially; it’s the right thing to do for your business.
- Lynn Good—Chairman, President, and CEO of Duke Energy
As you think about developing people through their careers, you’re looking for that transition from being the smartest person in the room – and caring so much about that – to being the most effective.