Describe the Fellowship in Transformation Leadership and what it means to you.
The Fellowship in Transformation Leadership program has had an impact on me in so many ways, but three specific thoughts stand out. First, the program allowed me to invest in my personal development and the confidence that I can juggle being in a learning program, work, and family commitments. Through the program, I gained exposure to hard and soft tools to survive and thrive in the business transformation space that I didn’t have before. It’s helped me widen my aperture and hopefully, that helps me be a better leader. Also, this program has given me many enduring friendships – coaches, counselors, jokesters, resources – and simply people who will genuinely be there for one another through good times and tough times.
When the opportunity presented itself, what drove you to apply for the program?
At first, I was apprehensive to apply. I believe I had a combination of fear, commitment and failure that was making me second guess myself. I am a working mom and I was nervous that joining this program would take away valuable time from my two daughters.
I brought these concerns forward to various mentors in my life and realized that it would be silly to not take this amazing opportunity. I realized that through conquering my fears, I could teach an important lesson of perseverance and dedication to my young girls and to our early career associates at Publicis Sapient about being bold and fearless.
What makes an effective transformational leader?
I believe that empathy is so important in our business. Being able to help someone believe in the future of their company and being understanding with clients in their decisions to move forward in digital business transformation is very important to all of our leaders. Through the program, we worked a lot on listening and communicating with each other to prepare us to be that much more understanding with our peers, teams, and clients. Along with being empathetic, hard skills are also essential to be an impactful leader in our space.