Laurie McGraw is speaking with Inspiring Woman Emily Fry.

Emily talks about her leadership journey from the point of view of a “mid careerist”. Today, she is leading innovation operations at Geisinger. Her path to leadership was not a clear or straight journey. She credits her prior diverse experience for giving her the confidence to lead when she isn’t the subject matter expert in everything.

Emily reflects on the time when she first became a manager. She is quick to thank the mentors she looked to for advice during that key part of her career (Maureen Jones, Karen Murphy, and Sajeev Thomas, to name a few).  Their advice was meaningful and helped her shape her leadership style. Establishing trust and learning from her team members and their experiences is important to Emily. Being kind first and smart second is part of her personal mantra.

Emily also shares how she approaches wanting to be excellent professionally while also doing her “best job” of being a mom.  Easy? No. A juggle? Sure. She gets help. She doesn’t expect perfection from herself in everything. And just because there isn’t a balance – she still finds peace and excitement in all of it!

Finally, Emily shares her excitement about joining WBL and attending her first WBL Summit. Expanding her network and investing in herself is a priority for Emily so that she can do her best work.