Dina Gerber

I attribute my success to having a clear goal and being consistent in working towards it, even when the path wasn't a straight line. I've learned that it's not always about getting the next promotion - sometimes you have to make a horizontal move to gain the right experience for that next vertical move, and in some cases, you actually go down to go up. I focused on the longer goal rather than immediate promotions. Sometimes you feel you're never going to get there, but you do if you just keep working at it and make the hard decisions that are right for you. I've also taken opportunities that at the point in time when I took them didn't seem like I could do it, but I took the opportunities anyway. I've moved across the world and taken chances, and I really made the effort to say I'm going to make this happen. There's truly nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it and work hard at it.

I would tell young women that they have all the opportunities if they truly are willing to take a chance. Sometimes it doesn't work out, sometimes it does, but if you don't try, you're never going to know. Don't focus your attention on how you can get the next promotion - focus on a longer goal and then see how you get there. It might not be a straight line. You sometimes have to make a horizontal move in order to gain the right experience to make that next vertical move, and in some cases, you actually go down to go up. Sometimes you feel you're never going to get there, but you do, and it's just making those hard, difficult decisions that are right for you. I want young women to know that there's truly nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it and you really make the effort to say I'm going to make this happen.

For me, there are three main values. One is honesty. In my career, I've always prided myself that I'm honest, sometimes to a T, but I'm very honest, and I expect honesty from my team members. I'd rather have someone come to me and say they made a mistake than trying to hide it, because eventually things come out. My second value is that I love to bring the best out of my team. I've been in positions where I've had fantastic managers and not such great managers, but what I take away from all of that is that I need to not only take the good and share that with my team. I've got many team members in my current company that have worked for me and have subsequently moved on to other roles, and the best for me is when I see them getting a promotion, because I know that in a small way, I have laid the foundation for them. The third one is making sure that my children, my grandchildren, my husband know that I have taken opportunities and moved across the world, and even though at the point in time when I took the opportunity it didn't seem like I could do it, I took the opportunities. I hope that in a small way, that will resonate with my kids and grandkids, that there is truly nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it and you really make the effort. I also have one last value which is credibility. I live and die by credibility. If I say I can do something, I will make it happen and I'll do it. I think that builds such a great trust relationship with not only your stakeholders, but your friends, your family, because they know they can really take what you do and just make sure that it will happen.