Thought Leaders: Lisa Agona, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, LexisNexis Risk Solutions

Lisa Agona describes herself as very thoughtful and very driven. After studying economics in college, she pursued a career in marketing for financial services and professional services companies. After climbing the ranks at Accenture to become the global marketing director for capital markets, she got a call from LexisNexis. “I actually wasn’t going to come – I loved New York City and I was satisfied at Accenture.” The role would mean moving away from the excitement of the Big Apple, and she also had the impression that the company might be a bit conservative for her tastes.

“But when I came and interviewed at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, I found it was anything but uninteresting,” she said. “The people were innovative – even ingenious. From a marketing standpoint, it was a place I could get my arms around and build transformation and new ideas into the business.” So she took the opportunity and made the move to Atlanta, unsure of what the outcome would be. That’s her first piece of advice on getting to the C-Suite – take risks.

“I was right. It was a risk that paid off. When I wake up in the morning, I can’t wait to get to work.”

Agona, now Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, shared her advice for women on breaking into the C-Suite.

1. Own Your Authenticity

Women are still outnumbered in senior management – and that can be unnerving, Agona says. “But I think one of the things to do is not focus on it as much, or become obsessed with being the only woman.”

Early in her career, she recalled, she sometimes felt defensive or isolated. “When I stopped comparing myself to my male colleagues and started owning it, I felt more confident in what I was doing. When you put the fact that you’re a woman in the back of your mind, you can roll forward in a positive way.”

Today Agona leads the company’s Women’s Connect group. “We’ve made it a mission to help develop women inside and outside our four walls.”

2. Keep Moving Forward

Agona says having one of the top jobs means you have to keep moving. “It’s a lot of hard work – you can never rest on your laurels.”

She continued, “Never take anything for granted. Things change so frequently and present very rigorous challenges – which I love.” One way to do this is to always think about how your work pushes the company ahead. “You have to remember that you’re building a business, not just running a department,” she added.

3. Network Across Business Units

It’s also important to make connections across your company, Agona said. You’ll meet more people, gain more information, and find out about more opportunities that way.

“Be present and look for opportunities. It depends on the culture of your business – sometimes it’s hard to get out of your box – but some companies are getting flatter. That means there are more opportunities to come across the aisle, shake hands, and meet people in different units.”

She added, “I tend to be a bit introverted, but I think about it, and make the effort. It pays off.”

4. Understand Culture

“In a prior job, I worked a lot with financial services clients on Wall Street,” Agona recalled. “And I thought that was the culture I thrived in. It was very difficult and I perceived that as a culture where I could be very driven. Even when you were having a tough day, you couldn’t sit down.”

But when she came to LexisNexis, she found that she could work just as well or better in another type of culture. “It’s much like a collegial environment and less political. Actually, at first I was not as comfortable with the closeness. But after the initial shock, I really grew to love it. It’s important to understand that company culture is critical. You have to know how to work in a specific culture and that will determine whether you are successful in that company.”

She continued, “You’ve got to adapt. If you go into a new job thinking you will be successful by doing what you were doing at your last job, that’s not necessarily going to work.”

5. Imagine Possibilities

“Once you start to advance, you get behind the scenes and under the hood. And once you get under the hood, you learn that anything is possible. There are tremendous opportunities,” Agona emphasized. “When you start out, and look up from the bottom, it can look impossible to change anything. But just be confident and go for it.”

For example, she said, in the past companies overlooked women when it came to jobs in the digital space. “This was a trait that was attributed only to men in the past. But today we are absolutely looking for women who understand technology and the digital world, and are analytically oriented.”

Keeping an open and creative mind will help drive you toward leadership.

6. Maintain Personal Passions

Finally, Agona added, it’s important to have keep your personal life rich. “I’m learning French and I’m trying to master the bar method. I’m also making plans for a trip to St. Petersburg, Russia.”

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)