Director of Patient Advocacy, Ipsen Pharmaceuticals
What advice can you give students that can help them develop their own leadership skills?
I would seek out someone who’s style of leadership the student admires and ask for some of his/her time, perhaps to serve as a mentor, champion, etc. Students could also seek out several people on an informal basis and ask them about leadership, i.e. what are the top 3 characteristics of a good leader? And use that insight to establish a pattern for desired competencies. And I would definitely encourage students to start to develop a network and/or their networking skills now! (I learned this far later in my professional career.)
Speaking of the theme “influence” what were (or are) the biggest influencers on your own leadership development?
Learning to be my authentic self. As far as people, my mother, grandmother and older sisters were big influencers personally. Professionally, I have the great oppty to work with some wonderfully strong, confident and smart female leaders who took the time to mentor/coach/guide me in my own leadership development journey.