WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP FORUM Wake Forest alumnae and Board of Visitors members share thoughts on success, superpowers, and leadership with students “Have a game plan. If you don’t, you are working from someone else’s plan,” Ashley Skyrme (MBA ’99), managing director of Accenture, shared with 50 female students from the Wake Forest School of Business during the Women’s Leadership Forum this fall.
School of Business Board of Visitors panel shares outlook across industries “The world is becoming a computer,” Kate Johnson, president of Microsoft U.S., told faculty and staff gathered at a School of Business Board of Visitors (BOV) panel discussion on the future of work. “Everything’s being connected — the cars, the streets, the buildings, everything inside. The implication of this is that the pace of business is accelerating.”
Skyrme was joined by Marybeth Hays (BA ’90, MBA ’94), recently retired as executive vice president of Walmart’s consumable and health & wellness division, CRH Healthcare CFO and Co-Founder Andrea Malik Roe (BS ’99), and Goldman, Sachs & Co. Managing Director Susan M. Benz for a panel discussion on leadership.
out when it’s time to roll up our sleeves and put on our shoes to race, or when it’s okay to take a bigger view,” she explained.
Benz moderated the panel where the female members of the School’s Board of Visitors shared thoughts on success, superpowers, and the importance of work-life balance during a luncheon in the Bern Beatty Colloquium.
For Andrea Malik Roe, she learned early in her career the importance of building positive relationships. “Work hard, fit in, and remember the people who are managing you today are going to be your references later,” she said.
Drawing from her successful career at Walmart, Hays emphasized the importance of maintaining a work-life balance. She described it in terms of three circles. “Career goes in one circle, then you have family in the second circle, and the third circle is personal passion — things that make you unique. At any given point in your life you can do two of the three circles well. If you attempt to do three, you will wear yourself out and you won’t perform well. So choose. We can’t be everything to everybody,” she said.
Benz said a comment from her son, a 2017 graduate from the Wake Forest School of Business, put things into perspective when she was preparing for a presentation. “I told him presenting was outside of my comfort zone. He said ‘But you’re so old. You know it.’ You have to learn to own it. What other superpowers can I draw on? It’s the challenge, the excitement, and risk that makes it rewarding,” she emphasized.
Skyrme also shared that choosing the right pace for life’s many races was key. It is something the Accenture executive wished someone had told her when she was learning to balance her career and family. “I learned to pace myself. I paced myself so much I realized I had to sprint again. Now, I do both. I figure
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THE FUTURE OF WORK
Following the panel discussion, the women joined other Wake Forest alumnae and Board of Visitor members for a networking lunch where students had the opportunity to ask questions, expand on the conversation, and build relationships with the female leaders.
B U S I N E S S .W F U. E D U
Johnson was joined by panelists Marybeth Hays, recently retired as executive vice president of Walmart’s consumable and health & wellness division, Sharon French, Oppenheimer Funds’ executive vice president and head of beta solutions, and Tony Thomas, Windstream Holdings’ president and CEO. The panel was moderated by BOV chair Alan Kelly, adjunct professor of the practice and retired ExxonMobil Corporation executive.
a trusted source, especially online. “Customers get very overwhelmed. They are much more accepting of someone deciding for them, the way Blue Apron sends them meals, Stitch Fix chooses clothing options, or other services offer tailored shopping experiences,” she said. “When you throw in gamification, it makes this new generation more avid problem solvers.”
“I used to dig ditches and put fiber in them, but now we actually build software,” said Thomas. “Like Microsoft, we had to reinvent ourselves completely. To do this we needed high performing teams of people who have the ability to communicate, listen, and develop new capabilities.”
Attendees also broke out into three sessions for more in-depth discussions amongst board and faculty members. Professor Ajay Patel moderated the future of financial services panel, Associate Dean of Business Analytics Jeff Camm led the future of retail commerce session, and Associate Dean for Accountancy Jim Willis led a discussion focused on the future of the accounting profession and consulting practice.
Thomas and the other panelists discussed how technological advances have changed the way they recruit employees. “It’s all about hiring people who have some technology fluency, but are also well-rounded business people,” he said. “You don’t want a pure technologist or someone who has a phobia about it. We need people who can bridge between the two.”
When the whole group reconvened, teamwork and agility were the major topics of conversation. “It’s about managing your degrees of wrong,” Hays said. “I want someone who can quickly synthesize the data, crunch it, and add a layer of judgment. It’s not about experience. It’s about mental agility. The younger generation should value their ideas, offer recommendations, and if they get shot down, try again.”
Oppenheimer Funds’ French said some of the focus in the financial services industry is changing because of the interest millennials have in issues around environmental impact, social responsibility, and even governance. “This gigantic generation “I talk about mission, asset, and culture,” Johnson added. from ages 21 to 37 thinks about the dimension of how each “Technology is important, but it’s more about the people and company is constructed when they interview for positions,” whether they understand what the North Star for the orgashe said. nization is. That’s what separates the success factors for an employee pursuing individual transformation.” When it comes to retail and commerce, Hays suggested personal recommendations and curated suggestions will offer consumers 2018
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