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As Vice President for Partnerships and Cooperation with Philip Morris,

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I am really proud that our company has recently been awarded the global EQUAL-SALARY Certification.

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But I’m also very well aware that most women around the world do not make the same as their male counterparts

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and they still need to get to the corner offices.

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I’d like to invite you as top leaders, first of all to embrace your triumphs.

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And I would like to hear some personal stories on how you specifically contributed to your company’s success.

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So, maybe we can start with you, Diane.

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I’ve been with the NBA now for six years.

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I was in investment banking before.

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And so, I’ve been focused on strategic partnerships primarily within our international business.

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Our Africa League is the first time we’re doing something outside the United States.

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And leading that cross-functional team is something that I’m extremely proud of.

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I’m not sure that there’s that much difference between being a female leader and being a male leader,

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in terms of you want everyone to be the best performer they could be.

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You also want them to find peace of mind.

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I mean, I think it’s really important that people are in jobs where they feel satisfied

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and they feel appreciated, and they feel challenged.

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You need to have gender diversity in the management ranks,

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but you’ve got to have gender diversity in the boardroom, too.

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When there are multiple women on a corporate board,

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a company does not rush helter-skelter into doing a risky takeover

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because the women say, wait a minute,

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we need to think about what the consequences are here

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and weigh the pros and cons.

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Some of the impact can really be felt through accountability

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and women who go back into their organizations

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and say, you know, I have this greater awareness.

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I’m now empowered to look at reverse mentoring

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and what can I learn from more junior generations that will help me as a leader

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and help me help them.

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You know, they are the talent of tomorrow.

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Joann, maybe you can share some of your insights on what a large organization can actually do to redress this gap.

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If the CEO, in particular, is not making the compensation packages for his or her direct reports

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linked to how well they’re doing on diversity,

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nothing is going to change.

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There’s institutional sexism in large organizations

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that just have to do with how the pyramid works.

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And I think the only way to change that is to do a better job at the recruitment, hiring, training, retaining,

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but also giving women dreams.

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And we need to make it possible for them to dream bigger.

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It is often said that it’s lonely at the top,

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but it seems that it’s lonelier if you’re a woman.

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For many of these women that I interviewed for the book,

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it was a lack of role models.

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There wasn’t anyone who they could look to, to say, how did you get here?

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How did you do it?

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But they did then try to make it easier for the women who are younger and less senior than they were,

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to educate them, to make it clear that, you know, there is solidarity in numbers

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and there is some benefit to sharing experiences,

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which, at the end of the day, I think women are really good at.

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I cannot tell you how many women leaders will say to me,

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you know, I’m just a this point in my career where I just feel really lucky,

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I’ve had success, I like my colleagues,

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and now I just want to give back.

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What an incredible sentiment, right?

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And I truly believe that’s something that women lean more towards, too.

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I’d like to ask each of you to share the very best piece of advice that you’ve ever received.

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Don’t ever get too comfortable.

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If you’re in a job, or you’ve been someplace so long that it starts to feel like an old shoe,

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it’s time to go shoe shopping.

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I do regularly check myself around, am I learning?

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So, to your point about being too comfortable,

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I think even when you love your work environment or whether you hate it,

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it’s a good gut check, right?

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Because sometimes when you’re too comfortable and happy,

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you’re not learning anymore.

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The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

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Sometimes you’re always thinking about what the next step is, right?

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Is there a better company out there?

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Are there better opportunities out there?

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What’s next for me?

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And I think that’s normal to feel that way and always question.

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But then I think you also need to take a moment and appreciate where you’re at.

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The best career advice I ever got kind of came quite late in my career

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because it came from meeting all these women.

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And I think these women, at the end of the day, got to be successful senior executives

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because they were true to their true selves.

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You have to be true to you, and you have to believe in you.