Sometimes women sell themselves short by not shooting for the moon."
And yes, they’ve all shot (and continue to shoot) for the moon.
There’s no hierarchy within the roomeveryone is an equal working towards a shared goal.
“Being relentlessly fair is so important,” Zatlyn says.
No one can accuse Zatlyn of failing to do just that.
Being cutthroat won’t get you far when you’re trying to strengthen a team.
The former Google and Toshiba exec compares the process of assembling hers to that of piecing together a puzzle.
You need people with certain backgrounds to fill in missing holes at specific moments.
At the same time, no background should be too similar.
When Debbie Sterling founded toy companyGoldieBloxin 2012, she was the sole visionary.
“I’ve decided to proactively learn about leadership.”
As part of that process, Sterling has read everything from Steve Jobs’s biography to Tina Fey’sBossypants.
One of the toughest skills to develop, she’s found, is giving effective feedback.
Even the most well-intentioned words of congrats can come across as corny or awkward.
“All the time now we see women playing major leadership roles,” she says.
As a group, we’re very good at mobilizing our networks, Dulski adds.
And strong networking morphs into strong friendships and support.
“We call our original team from Yahoo!
diaspora,” Dulski says.
“We’re all over the place now, but we all help each other.”
“If you’re going to make a mistake, go big!”
“In my coverage, I became a gender advocateit started coming naturally.”
As someone who is outspoken, Sklar came up against unexpected barriers.
“I was getting negative feedback about being pushy in how I framed my opinions,” she says.
“I realized I had to use softer language to get things done.”
Their collaboration works, Sklar says, because they’re constantly learning from each other.
“You want to stop and be in awe of the person you work with,” she says.
“Ask yourselfdoes this person bring out your personal best?”
The key, once again, is to be confident, while still keeping yourself in check.
“Don’t let your ego get in the way of your ultimate goal,” Arnold says.
“Forgive yourself and others more frequently, because we’re all going to screw up.
