Leadership is a ‘Never-ending Journey of Learning,’ Leaders Agree During Lunch-and-Learn

In her early days at the Exchange working on the compensation team in HR, Tiffany Evans made a mistake that was addressed by her supervisor, Susan Simone. When Simone talked to her about the mistake. Evans pointed out her desire to have more frequent interactions with leadership besides when there were mistakes to be addressed.

“And in her wisdom and in her grace, she took that in, and that to me defines leadership,” Evans said Thursday during a lunch-and-learn titled “What it Takes to be a Female Leader.”  “She said, ‘I hear what you’re saying. You’re saying to me that the only time you see me face to face and the only time that you actually get is when you’ve made a mistake.’ And I said,  ‘Yes, ma’am, that’s exactly what I’m saying.’ And she said, ‘Thank you. Thank you for the feedback. I appreciate you letting me know that. I will work on that.”

Evans was surprised: She was fairly new to the Exchange and realized that maybe she should have approached talking to Simone, who was either a vice president or a senior vice president at the time, differently. “But that just shows that you know you can lead at all levels in the organization,” said Evans, now a leadership development manager in HR. “She set her authority to the side and had a conversation with me at that point.” Evans now considers Simone one of her greatest mentors.

Evans’ anecdote underscored a recurring theme in the lunch-and-learn, which also featured Shirley Strano, director of planning for the merchandising-public affairs representative allocation team: Leadership is an ongoing process.

“Leadership is a never-ending journey of learning,” Strano told some 200 associates attending virtually. “Leadership is not a destination. It is something that you have to work at regularly, throughout your career. Regardless of what level you reach in your organization, you should always be learning.”

Both said that the first influential female leader in their lives was their mothers. Evans talked about her mom, a domestic worker who went on to attend nursing vocational school and have a 40-year career as a nurse.

“The greatest lesson that I learned from her was to put everything into what you do,” Evans said.  Don’t half-do things. And eventually, your efforts will catch up with you.”

Evans’ mother taught her to be an independent thinker, not a follower. Evans learned other virtues from her as well.

“She has this humility and kindness and sincerity,” Evans said. “I believe when you can bring that independence of thought and that resilience and couple that with kindness and humility and sincerity, that’s really when you can pack leadership power. I’m still working on it. I’m a work in progress. But those are the leadership traits that I hold true as I continue on this path of leadership.”

Strano said her grandfather made her mother quit school in eighth grade to get a job to support a large and poor family, which affected how her mother raised her own children.

“She pounded into us the importance of getting an education – and I don’t mean just a formal education,” Strano said. “Constantly learn. Read professional literature. Listen to podcasts. Always improve yourself. Education doesn’t necessarily mean a degree.”

Strano’s mother also taught her the importance of working with a team – a lesson Strano’s mother had to learn herself when doing work at her church.

“She was a little bit of a control freak who thought, ‘If you want the job done right, do it yourself’,” Strano said. “I can’t tell you how many times I saw her disappointed because things didn’t turn out the way she wanted them to. What I saw her start to do was rely on other people, to build a team that she could work with. She had to start trusting that they would follow her vision on whatever church project it was and make it happen.”

Like Evans, Strano distilled what she learned from observing her mother into her own leadership style, which she defined as inclusive, communicative and self-aware.

“I find that being an inclusive leader helps teams feel valued,” Strano said. “I want everyone to feel like they are part of my team and part of my mission. I want them to know that they are contributing to the success of the team, the group, the company.”

Strano said she not only thanks people on her team, she makes sure they know why she’s thankful. And she keeps her teams in the know as much as she can.

“We spend way too much time at work to be unhappy, and staying informed and having a leader who informs you is one way to reduce anxiety and general unhappiness in your job.”

Self-awareness is internal and not on display every day, Strano said. “The better you understand yourself, the more effective you can be. I know what I’m good at and I know what I need to improve. I can apply that knowledge to all the challenges that come my way.”

Even learning from her mother’s experience, Strano said, she struggled with building relationships. “From my earliest career, I always thought, just the nose-to-the-grindstone philosophy,” she said. “Just put my head down and do my job. It wasn’t until I started raising my head that I realized there were people out there who wanted to help me succeed. I highly recommend that to everyone on this call: look around you. Who do you want to help you?”

And, Evans added, don’t be afraid to make the first move.

“Start by reaching out, setting up quarterly calendar invites, whether that be with a leader within your directorate, a VP or maybe an SVP or a manager,” she said. “Ask for 10 or 15 minutes of their time just to pick their brains or ask what you can do to grow in your skills and in your leadership.”

Brought up by a mother who told her “Shirley, self-praise stinks,” Strano eventually learned that teams and team members need to celebrate their successes.

“Generally speaking, women tend to be less comfortable with self-promotion,” Strano said. “I have learned that, as a woman leader, I have to help you do that. I have to tell other people how well my team does. So if you have an opportunity to recognize female colleagues during team meetings or highlight their impact, do it.“The next time you are in a meeting with leadership discussing a project or business,  take that opportunity to advocate for a colleague, man or woman — take that chance to be their champion and support that associate’s professional accomplishments.”

She stressed advocating for associates, recommending women for specific projects and development opportunities. “If you see someone and you think, ‘gosh I really think she needs to be more assertive in meetings, reach out to her and tell her how she can become more assertive and what that means for her and the company.’”

The lunch-and-learn partnership came about, in fact, because Evans had heard good things about Strano during a meeting. “so when this opportunity came along, you were the first person that came to mind,” she told Strano. “I had no other person that I wanted to partner with in order to share on this topic of women in leadership and present a snapshot of our journey. That’s an example of advocating for other women – when you hear about women doing great things, reach out to them.”

Strano also talked about the lighter side of leadership. In addition to checking in with her team members regularly during the pandemic, she has started regular “Happy Friday Team Strano” meetings to update team members on Exchange news and even invite guest speakers. The meetings also include a “Happy Birthday” singalong.

“We call out monthly birthdays and we are all horrible at it, and it cracks me up,” she said. “Your ears would bleed if you heard me sing. But I think it’s important for leaders to show that side of themselves to their team: ‘Hey, I’m a person, too.’”

The lunch-and-learn, which took place on Women’s Equality Day, was presented by special emphasis group POWER (Promote Opportunities for Women by Effecting Results) and the Exchange’s Equal Employment Opportunity, Diversity & Inclusion directorate.

If you missed the lunch-and-learn, you can watch it here.