Patricia Golden Webb, a cultural strategist, recently spoke at the Executive Women of Color Summit, hosted by the Leverage Network.
The EWOC Summit is a professional leadership and Board Governance conference designed to increase the representation of African American/Black women on boards and to enhance their leadership journey. They bring together some of the most dynamic, influential, and successful women in healthcare and corporate America to share candid, authentic conversations and lessons learned.
Patricia Golden Webb, a collaborative leader, and board member spoke about how to accelerate yourself to the C-suite.
“Everyone, but particularly women and women of color, have to make sure we always stay intentional about being high performers and getting results. Not just results, but desirable results. Those are the things that, as we prepare ourselves, and want to stay and move up, we must continue to do so.
“When talking about taking risks — I did a talk once about swimming with the sharks. That is what happens in any industry, especially as a woman or woman of color — you are constantly swimming with sharks. They could be your boss, colleagues, the people who work for you and so on. You have to protect yourself in your journey and one of the ways to do that is having a sponsor or mentor.
“If there was one thing that I would have changed through this whole career it would be to understand the importance of a coach early on. Some of the mistakes I have made or some of the things that I didn’t do intentionally, I would have or may have done differently. Some organizations don’t stress too much importance on mentorship etc., so you may have to find one outside of your organization, but that is okay too. Overall it is extremely important as you move into the C- suite.”
