Cece Sutton, new President of the Retail Banking Group at Morgan Stanley and Liz Smith, longtime President of Avon addressed the crowd of young MBA women attending the Dialogue with Leadership session that Babson’s Center For Women’s Leadership sponsored at the Forte Foundation Conference in New York this past Friday.  Interviewed by Patricia Sellers, Editor at Large at Fortune, these women were candid, smart, funny and very self-effacing.  Words of wisdom? Yes – these two veterans of  Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business List addressed topics from mentors they’ve had to juggling home and career.   

On the topic of mentors – enthusiasm and passion for what you do – these were the top characteristics that both women stated were keys to having mentors pick you and help you in your career.  Connecting with mentors on subjects that excite you will sustain the relationship and allow it to blossom.  Don’t necessarily target mentors who are even on your career path – you will learn a lot from solid, confident business people regardless of their current role.   How do you keep relationships going with people you might pass on your way up the ladder? Honesty, collaboration and hard work were cited as characteristics that would foster bonds with prior peers and bosses whom you now have to manage. And speaking of ladders, Moderator Sellers asked us all to consider the path upward more like a jungle gym than a ladder – with lateral and even backward moves to keep a career engaging and fulfilling.

On work/life balance, they were very frank.  Sutton counseled realism if you are going to the top - know what the job entails and make sure it’s a place you want to go because it is not easy.  With grown children, she felt she was now more able to really reach in her career. Although she shared that she might not always have work/life balance, she adds it back into her life with hobbies and downtime.   Her suggestion? Find an outlet like horses (her passion) or gardening to give you a release. To keep on top of family commitments, calendar key home events like they were a meeting with your boss.  “Family comes first for me,” said Liz Smith who has 2 school-aged children.  That being said, she was realistic about the challenges of the “juggle” and shared a recent story about landing in LaGuardia with her 2 kids and immediately changing in the ladies room for a speech that night, all the while thinking “hope I don’t see anyone I  know in here!” 

Lastly, on the topic of who these women were hiring to meet current marketplace challenges – agility was top of the list along with the ability to function well in ambiguity and admit that you don’t have all the answers.  To paraphrase Liz Smith, the business world has moved from “strategic planning to scenario planning” and people who think in terms of contingencies will come out ahead. 

These words were inspirational to a crowd of young women who were taking on the work world with gusto and wondering how it all plays out down the road.  Best advice from the veterans?  Focus on making what you are doing now a success – this effort will create the next step upwards for you.  Future planning is great, but you may miss the random and unexpected opportunity that vaults you upward if your path is planned out too far ahead.

Submitted by: Julia de Peyster, Assistant Director, The Center for Women’s Leadership at Babson