Do Work That Makes You Proud, and Don't Get Comfortable!

At today's 18th annual Bryant University Women's Summit, we heard from many terrific speakers, including Sallie Krawcheck (former president of the Global Wealth & Investment Management division of Bank of America) and Hoda Kotb (morning anchor at NBC).  One of my favorite pieces of leadership advice came from Martha Sullivan, CEO of Sensata Technologies.  That firm is one of the world's leading suppliers of sensor technology, and it generates approximately $2.4 billion in annual revenue.  Sullivan accepted the New England Businesswoman of the Year Award at this year's summit.  In her acceptance speech, she reminded attendees, "Do work that makes you proud, and don't get comfortable."  First, don't make your focus the judgements of others.   Ask instead, am I proud of the job that I have done?  Did I do my best work?  Did I do it the right way?  Second, don't get complacent based on past success.  Don't think you've got it all figured out. The world's changing quickly, and the best leaders never get too comfortable.  Great advice from a very successful leader!