Seven Tips for Women Executives Who Want to Rise to the Top

Attitude is everything? You bet it is when it comes to making it to the top ranks of any company. These tips from a woman in the C-suite are for ambitious women in any industry.

An executive thoughtfully looks out her office window.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

As I embark on my 16th anniversary at our firm while closing in on my 40th birthday, I have been doing a lot of reflecting on who I was right out of college, who I am now and who I want to become. When you live your life with a growth mindset, you must always be looking forward and understand that the learning is never done.

Like many women executives, I had a drive and desire from an early age to be successful, and I always set the bar high for myself. But even with all the motivation in the world, women still struggle to excel to leadership positions in equal numbers to men. According to BoardEx (opens in new tab), only 5% of CEOs are women, and only 19% of corporate leadership team members are female. With the odds and challenges stacked against women in the workplace, I found myself not only lucky, but grateful for the lessons I’ve learned along the way as a woman in the C-suite (a company’s top management positions).

My career path wasn’t linear by any means, and it has certainly been a roller-coaster journey filled with lots of highs and lows. But I ended up finding “my place” in the C-suite of a wealth management firm, a place where only 11% of C-suite executives were women (opens in new tab) a decade ago. It’s only fitting that these big milestones are also culminating during Women’s History Month, the perfect time to look back at the lessons I have learned during my journey to the C-suite and help inspire any other women who are looking to ascend the ladder.

Managing Director of Growth and Client Experience, Halbert Hargrove

Kelli Kiemle is the Managing Director of Growth and Client Experience at Halbert Hargrove (opens in new tab) and has been with the firm since 2007. Kelli earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration-Business Communication/Marketing from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California in 2006.