Molly Lisenco

I think just watching the growth of the leaders that I have had the pleasure of working with and navigating and coaching and mentoring, and seeing them hit new heights - that's what I hold on the highest of regard. I am not necessarily the expert in any room. I like to surround myself with those folks and help kind of unlock and unblock them, and so seeing folks that I've seen come in and work to get to new levels and break ceilings is always a personal success for me. A lot of my general awareness really lies heavily on the relationships that I've fostered and have built over the years, and my ability to kind of remove myself from just what I need, and also understand my cross-functional partners, and then what they need from me, and have that kind of bi-directional conversation and alignment. I've also been lucky enough to have a mentor within my manager - I found somebody who is a coach, a mentor, a cheerleader, a confidant, somebody who can help meet me where I am, with what I need to kind of progress and challenge me in productive ways, and really be there every step of the way as I need it, and pull back where I need to kind of find things and learn on my own. I've also created my own core network of mentors and friends, because I think mentorship goes both ways. I'm not afraid to ask for help or ask for feedback.

Molly shared that she has benefited from both a strong manager-mentor relationship and a broad network of mentors who have provided guidance, support, and honest feedback throughout her career journey.

For women, I think it's hard because, especially in male-dominated fields, both comedy and tech, we often have to walk into a room guarded, we have to - there's a perception, we feel that we have to over-prepare, where maybe our male counterparts don't necessarily go to the same limit. One thing I like to remind my leaders is that you don't have to know everything. It's an impossibility to know everything. It is okay to say, I don't know, but I will find out, or I will work to get an answer for you. I think that just giving that space to go, we're not going to have all the answers today, but this is an ongoing conversation, creates a more productive environment, and it removes some of the pressure to be perfect, because there's no such thing as perfection.

I think there's a natural opportunity in the leadership and management consulting space. I believe that 80% of people leave jobs because of poor manager experience, and most companies don't necessarily put the right investment on management training. The result of that is people learn on the job, and so they replicate maybe sometimes less ideal or toxic behaviors, because that's what they saw. I think there's an opportunity to reset that - there's opportunity in that green space. In terms of keeping up with tech changes and staying current, I think AI and some of the efficiency opportunities there can really help summarize any massive changes and kind of keep some of the administrative work that was done previously to kind of stay on top of things - it makes it a little bit easier. I also think that the relationships I've fostered and built over the years, and my ability to understand my cross-functional partners and what they need from me, and have that bi-directional conversation and alignment, really helps navigate the constant changes in our field.

I think the leadership work is what makes the creative side of my life that much more sweet and worthy - I value maintaining both. I try to keep a rich life outside of work, because, especially from a services point of view, if you don't take care of yourself, I don't think you can really take care of your customer. In my leadership approach, I value creating environments where people don't have to be perfect and where it's okay to say 'I don't know, but I will find out.' I believe in giving space for ongoing conversations rather than expecting all the answers immediately - that creates a more productive environment and removes the pressure to be perfect. I also deeply value the relationships I've fostered and built over the years, and my ability to remove myself from just what I need and also understand my cross-functional partners and what they need from me. I'm not afraid to ask for help or ask for feedback, and I've created my own core network of mentors and friends because I think mentorship goes both ways.