Paying it forward — i.e., responding to a person’s kindness by being kind to someone else — is an integral part of successful leadership.

In the final article in this five-part Power Panel series, I recap the group’s thoughts on paying it forward. The “Power Panel” is a panel of executive women in the retail space who spoke during a session on leadership at the Women in Retail Leadership Summit in Miami this past April. (Here’s part one of the series, part two, part three and part four.)

The Power Panel included Miki Racine Berardelli, president, digital commerce and chief marketing officer at Chico’s; Gerri Elliott, director, Whirlpool, Bed Bath & Beyond, Charlotte Russe; Devon Pike, president, North America, Givenchy; and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, co-founder and CEO, GLAMSQUAD.

During their session, the Power Panel shared personal experiences around five key leadership qualities that they believe are instrumental to their success. The five leadership qualities discussed were:

  • leaders are expert communicators;
  • leaders deal with failures gracefully;
  • leaders have emotional intelligence;
  • leaders are keen negotiators; and
  • leaders pay it forward.

Paying it forward is becoming more common today, according to Berardelli.

“There’s a seismic shift happening globally with more women helping other women,” she said. “And I can say that I wouldn’t be where I was today if someone didn’t pay it forward for me or helped me along the way.”

t_V-uLQPWRLjYoeCBLV2Exa_tPN6v5AmsfZfkro264Q

Barerdelli also regularly pays it forward. “I spend 10 [percent] to 15 percent of my time — even if it’s Friday night at 5:45 before I’m leaving the office — to pay it forward,” she said. “I refer to it as career karma; you put good stuff out in the world and it comes back to you.”

How does she pay it forward? “I forward that resume that someone wanted me to send along, or connect a recruiter with someone who I know is miserable in her job, or answer that LinkedIn request from that college student who wants the internship,” Berardelli said. “And I’ve had great things come from that college student who has been watching my career and wanted my advice. In fact, amazing connections and networks have come out of those relationships. I encourage everyone to carve that time out of their day.”

Paying it forward is a little harder for Wilson, who said she’s very bad at saying no — even though she’s working on it.

RNRrv2hHdR4yeWV0mYhUDdXn-e8LZS2BPVcpfOjTRO0

“I do want to help people, but the reality is there aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything I’m supposed to do, so I have to spend time prioritizing the charities that I care about and the organizations I want to be a part of,” she said. “I really have to pick the ones that matter to me, and ones that I can either add value to or learn from.”

Elliott said the best way to pay it forward is by simply sharing your story and allowing other women to share their stories with you.

RWlkH7Njo0tV--g4Nqp5TSH4Qy8E_jOldh5E0N4qRbY

“One of THE things I’ve always done as a senior leader in the companies I’ve worked at is form roundtables for women,” she said.

Elliott’s roundtables always had two rules: one, they were straight talk zones where women were encouraged to tell it like it is and the conversations were kept anonymous unless they were compromising the company’s values and two, they were humble-free zones where women were encouraged to talk about their accomplishments, brag and pat themselves on the back.

“I’ve found that just having an environment where women can share stories with one another creates a feeling of bonding and allows women to help each other,” Eliott said.

In closing, Elliott offered her favorite quote, which was authored by former U.S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women. And adding to that, I believe there are free mani-pedis and a masseuse in heaven for women that do!”