Women of Impact: Leveling Up Through Strategic Influence

At the 2024 ACFE Women’s Summit, Linda Miller, the founder and CEO of the Audient Group, emphasized that, “Leadership is a state of mind, not necessarily a title. I don’t want people to say, ‘Well I am not technically a leader’, because everyone can behave as a leader every single day, no matter where you are in your career.”

During the panel discussion titled, “Women of Impact: Leveling Up Through Strategic Influence,” Miller began by pointing out that society views women in their roles as: “’You got there. Good job, you got your seat at the table.’ And then if you have the audacity to want to sit at the top, at the head of the table, society is like ‘Huh… interesting’”.

Using Your Role and Influence as a Woman in Leadership

Kimberly Howell, CFE, Inspector General for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and ACFE Regent, said, “If you don’t have a seat at the table, bring your own.” One of the main things Howell does as a leader is make sure that other people have opportunities, especially people who are overlooked and may not know how to advocate for themselves. She believes women are less likely to advocate for themselves, which is why she tries to push other women to apply for a job they’re seeking. They might say that’s it something they may not think they can do, but that is for the hiring manager to decide. Women should not sell themselves short. As a leader, Howell strives to make sure everyone has a voice and is seen within her organization.

Similarly, Angeli Patel, Executive Director for Berkeley Center for Law and Business, believes a lot of women struggle recognizing that they have a seat at the table. You can have the title and can be at the physical table without realizing you have that seat—and that it is a place of power and influence. She added that just because you have a seat, it does not mean your job is finished. You now occupy this leadership platform, and that is something you can either use for yourself or use to bring others along.

Julie Bell Lindsay, CEO of Center for Audit Quality, uses her role and influence to promote open and honest communication. She shared a story about how she made a mistake as a first-year associate at her law firm, and her reaction was to bunker down and not say anything. Her higher-up then came into her office and said, “Julie, we are human. We are going to make mistakes. But you need to let me know.” Lindsay still says that to her team to this day.

Listening, learning and understanding are key attributes for every leader.

“IF YOU DON’T HAVE A SEAT AT THE TABLE, BRING YOUR OWN.”

- Kimberly Howell, CFE

Making Space for Inclusion

Miller explained how, as a woman in leadership, she has been invited to cigar bars and whiskey bars after dinner, but only the men on her team were actually going. As a woman, this made her feel like she wasn’t being included. Because of these leadership meetings occurring in a place that was not considerate of other people’s situations, it made Miller feel like she was missing out on opportunities to collaborate and build her professional network.

Much like Miller’s experience, Howell encountered similar exclusionary events during her time as a secret service agent when the men would play ice hockey together. As a leader today, Howell makes sure to invite her entire staff to after-work meetings and purposefully picks places that everyone will enjoy, can afford and feel included in. She furthered her point by emphasizing that leaders need to consider those with differing abilities and cultures.

Patel added the importance of embodying your own inclusion to create an environment of inclusion for all. By taking days off for your religious or cultural holidays, and bringing that to your team’s attention, it signals that you care about what culture you represent, while creating a space where others can feel free to represent their culture as well.

“EMBODY YOUR OWN INCLUSION.”

- Angeli Patel

Networking as a Female Leader

Lindsay is a huge believer in quality networks over quantity. When she meets individuals who say that they have more than a thousand connections on LinkedIn, she wonders how impactful those thousand people are. To Lindsay, a network is about having a couple strong connections that you can reach out to when you are having a bad day. When it comes to mentors and networks, having those connections is really important. She added that it is important to keep in touch with people from your “prior lives” because you never know how that’s going to lead into the next big thing you want to do.

Patel referenced the quote, “Who you keep in company is who you become,” to emphasize why she believes networks are important. Three key questions she thinks women should ask when building their network are:

• What kind of values does this person have?

• Is this person someone who will empower me?

• Is this someone I want to empower?

LinkedIn can make networking feel strictly transactional. Instead of just adding individuals with a big title to your network, go for those who you share values with. Patel emphasized that most individuals are not stagnant and will want to eventually change their career paths, and having a network that reflects every single part of yourself, not just one career aspect, is important so you can tap into the kind of people you may want to be in the future.

“QUALITY NETWORKS OVER QUANTITY.”

- Julie Lindsay

Future of Women in the Workplace

Lindsay hopes to see the way women are spoken about in the workplace change within the next five years. Saying “There is a woman in the room” should evolve into saying “Julie is in the room.” Women in the workplace should not just be viewed as women, but viewed as an individual who contributes to the workplace.

Patel wants to see less burnout and burden for women in the workplace. She thinks women should be able to just be themselves, do their jobs and be at peace with doing that.

For Howell, she wants to see more representation and power for women. She highlighted how there is not one state within the U.S. where women are more represented in leadership-empowered positions than men. She would like to see the country showing more of a 50/50 split instead of the men holding all the power and representation like it is right now.