How to Lead and Create Career Growth for Your Team with Dawn Will

Rock Your Trade Show

Are you looking for ways to lead your team or find a way to get promoted? Dawn Will shares leadership tips she uses for her team of 10 people and how she helps develop personal and professional careers within her organization in this third interview of our 3-part series. Dawn started her career in the military and her ability to forge long-term relationships is highlighted by her amazing approach to interacting with direct reports and leadership alike.

Find out how you can have meaningful one-on-one meetings, create a capabilities road show for your internal stakeholders and how to communicate effectively with leadership and win their buy-in. If you are looking to have a big impact with your team, this interview is for you!

Starting with one-on-one meetings Dawn gave an overview of how she conducts positive interactions with her team. She suggests to first start with an agenda for each person meeting with and identity topics that are important to them. At the end of the year, having documented meetings will help with personnel reviews. Dawn tried to connect weekly with her team and recommends continuing to have conversations throughout the year.

Effective Planning List for One-on-One Meetings:

1. What are you working on now?
2. What do you have coming up?
3. Opportunities for improvements.
4. How else can I help you?
5. Professional and Personal Development.
6. Vacation days coming up.

These tips will help both the manager and direct reports better prepare for the meeting and enable positive personal and professional growth.

Dawn also shared how to hold effective internal meetings to help everyone involved in an event stay on track and accomplish goals:

Internal Meeting Agenda Outline:

1. Start each meeting with follow up with action items from the previous meeting
2. Ask stakeholders what works, what doesn’t work what are the best process for planning meetings
3. Keep everyone focused on the topics most urgent for approvals.
4. Provide target items at every meeting
5. Continue it until the implementation of the convention

“We partner all across the organization because we manage all of the Regeneron meetings”- Dawn Will

In an effort to help other departments learn about what meetings and conventions provides-Dawn and her team implemented a Capabilities Road Show across Regeneron. In the capabilities presentation, an organizational chart with names and main contacts were shared to help inform different areas about what is offered at meetings and ways to effectively work together. It was very well received and is something I encourage each listener to consider!

Personal Approach to Leadership:

1. You are either a manger or you lead people.
2. In the military, Dawn always wanted to better the people she around her.
3. Four foundational principles she learned in the military: Team work, Collaboration, Comradery and Integrity. Dawn integrates these every day.
4. Everyone has unique qualities and that is what makes a good team

Dawn moved into leadership while in the military and to this day some of the females she mentored still keep in touch with her. In addition, as mentioned in episode 81 with Jennifer Harrison, Dawn was her business reference from Pfizer and it turned out the two are working together again. The power of personal connections and passing forward these principals will help your team grow and become leaders.

A big thanks to Dawn Will whom you can reach on LinkedIn for taking the time to share her amazing approach to leadership. Be sure to check out episodes 79 with Kristen Leikwold and 80 with Jennifer Harrison if you haven’t heard what is like to be on Dawn’s team. If you have any questions about this episode or any of the topics we review on this podcast, reach out to me.

Credits: As always, a big thanks to Christy Haussler at Team Podcast for editing this episode!