Women in Leadership: Why UPS head of sustainability says you don't need a title to lead

Throughout Women's History Month, we're bringing you a special series of the ESG Insider podcast focused on women in leadership. We're speaking to women CEOs and executives from across industries and around the globe.  

In this episode, we interview Laura Lane, Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer at UPS, a multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company. 

Laura explains how her "life-changing" experience as a Foreign Affairs officer during the civil war in Rwanda impacted her outlook on life and leadership.  

"That taught me the importance of people, the importance of principles, and gave me that internal courage to challenge the status quo, advocate for new paths — and in many ways, set me on the path to eventually joining the private sector and being a part of the change that we wanted to see in how companies show up in the world," Laura says. 

Laura explains how her leadership style has evolved over the course of her career. "One of the constants has always been something that was career advice that I was given early on in my Foreign Service days, which was: Don't wait for someone to give you a title to act. Lead from where you are," she says. 

Diversity in leadership has received increasing attention in recent years from stakeholders in the sustainability world. Investors have pushed for diversity on company boards and management teams, and in some parts of the world, that push has extended to laws and regulations. But the number of women in top roles remains low. Read recent research from S&P Global on women in leadership here: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/insights/featured/special-editorial/women-ceos-leadership-for-a-diverse-future    

And here: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/insights/featured/special-editorial/the-path-to-gender-parity  

You can listen to previous episodes in our Women in Leadership series here: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/insights/featured/special-editorial/women-in-leadership  

You can listen to Laura's TED Talk on her time in Rwanda here: https://www.ted.com/talks/laura_lane_when_you_shouldn_t_follow_the_rules 

Photo source: UPS 

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