Lessons learned from women in leadership positions: How working women can survive and thrive

BACKGROUND: Eileen Elias has decades of experience in leadership positions within government and nongovernmental organizations. As the first female Commissioner for Mental Health in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the US in the early 1990s, Elias gained experience on navigating gender-based challenges to attain recognized performance outcomes. OBJECTIVE: From lessons learned from women leaders, educate young women entering their careers on attaining leadership positions. METHODS: Comprehensive research of literature from 2012 through 2017 and interviews with women leaders representing non-Fortune 500 companies including academia, research, non-profit, for-profit, and primary and secondary education. Interviewees included: 1. Gail Bassin, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Treasurer, JBS International Inc. 2. Jeri Epstein, Executive Director, The Ambit Foundation; 3. Valerie Fletcher, Executive Director, Institute for Human Centered Design; 4. Christine James-Brown, President and CEO, Child Welfare League of America; 5. Daria Mochly-Rosen, PhD, Professor and Fellow, Chemical and Systems Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine; 6. Eileen O’Keefe, MD, MPH, Clinical Associate Professor and Director, Boston University Health Sciences; 7. Jeri Shaw, President and Co-Chief Executive Officer, JBS International Inc. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: A comprehensive understanding of key women leaders’ lessons learned and recommendations targeting young women as they assess leadership opportunities in the public or private sectors.