Women and Leadership — Emily Kennedy

For Women’s Equality Day on 26th August, we spoke to women across our network about their experiences and where they want the experience they’ve gained to take them in the future.

In this interview, we hear from Emily Kennedy, Group Director, Trading, U.S. of Amnet.

Leaders innovate, they inspire, they mentor. I’ve seen many examples of great leaders who push the boundaries, inspire their teams and drive success for their clients by thinking outside of the box.

I’ve always aspired to be a leader like that.

Over the years, however, my view of what a leader should be (and the kind of leader I want to be) has grown beyond that. I want to innovate and inspire my teams, but I don’t think that’s the full picture. Digital advertising has evolved into an increasingly complex technical landscape. It’s easy to focus on big ideas or get caught up in the minutia.

I think to be an impactful leader, you have to have a healthy balance of both. We should lead by example and by experience — and if we don’t have the experience, we should learn. All positions and levels are key and understanding how they work together and how to utilize strengths, is crucial. I think that is also the mark of a great leader — being able to look under the hood and fix it.

Beyond understanding the work, I want to know my team. Do they feel that they are an integral part of something bigger than themselves? Are they empowered, supported, equipped, motivated? Most importantly, do they feel valued, not just for their work but for their unique personhood, viewpoints and ideas?

I hope to develop teams who never become passive or feel that a task is too insignificant to master. I hope to inspire leaders to get in the weeds with their team and help take on the workload when fire-drills happen. I hope to continue to grow with my team, hand-in-hand, daily, challenging while empowering one another, working together with a unified goal to achieve greatness.