Welcome to the Inspirational Leaders Series, a collection of short interviews with sharp, impactful leaders that I know and respect—because the business world needs more refreshing people like them.
"I've come to appreciate the chapters of challenges; these are growing moments and opportunities. If you get fired, that's an opportunity. If you didn't get along with your boss, that's an opportunity. If you have strife with some of your colleagues, that's an opportunity. All of these are opportunities to learn. I think you have to know that when you embark on your career. You're going to have weeds and blossoms, thunderstorms, and sunny days. And all this is going to take time. “
Meet Judy Wert, Executive Recruiter and Co-Founder of one of the design community’s most trusted search firms, Wert&Co. She’s the kind of person you might quickly find yourself sharing much of who you are with—because she’s warm, a skilled listener, and can offer valuable perspective informed by over 27 years of working with the leadership of innovative companies.
What leadership qualities have you grown to appreciate through recruiting, meeting, and Getting to know so many leaders?
Anybody who knows me knows I love the world of gardens. You can learn so much about leadership as a master gardener. You know where to weed, you know which flowers will bloom. You can spot orphans that stand on their own, the tulip that sits and blooms by itself. You know where to water and when. You know what needs fertilization, and what grows in which conditions. You can weather the thunderstorms; that’s a really big one. You know what needs less attention and how to cultivate growth. Like leadership, it's an art.
The artistry of leadership takes time. I've come to appreciate that it comes in many different forms. You have the optimistic leader when times are tough. You have growth leaders who can work up, sideways, and down. You have the catalyst leader who knows how to bring out the best in people. You have operational leadership and team leadership. You have visionary leadership. There are all different kinds of leaders that I've come to learn about and from.
In leadership, the ego is the enemy. Get rid of the ego. Be someone who knows what it means to be real and authentic. I've come to appreciate leaders who lead through humor and joy because I think the world is a tough place sometimes, and a little bit of humor impacts people.
I've come to appreciate leaders who celebrate other people. I recently had a client who celebrated publicly that she was leaving a company. It was so beautiful that she could applaud and embrace her decision to grow elsewhere but still be a part of a family. Detaching oneself from the outcome and focusing on serving others, bringing a truly giving experience, matters.
I’ve also come to appreciate not standing alone on your principles. I recently had an experience where a leader stood on their principles and made a decision based on principles alone. And they missed out on the humanity of the decision. There is a little post-it note that sits on my desk that says “Loosely held with strong beliefs.”
I think it’s important to be able to say, “Oh, well, we will learn from this.” Disagree, commit, support and engage. I can disagree and still engage. These are things that guide me daily so I can be flexible.
Let's talk about a few real people I've encountered over the years that have taught me firsthand about what good leadership is in real-time.
I have a client named Katherine; she leads one of the largest design organizations in the world. She’s a practical leader with humanity. She brings vision, and she's down-to-earth. She's amazing at framing the context of the challenge at hand. She's brilliant at scale and complexity. She knows how to navigate tricky prey in the corporate world. She knows how to diagnose where the knots are in real-time. She's resilient and perseverant. She understands patterns of culture. She can map and employ those lessons in various situations.
Another leader that I was fortunate and honored to represent was a woman named General Dunwoody. She was the former commanding general of one of the Army's largest commands. She retired now, but she was the first woman in US military history to achieve a four-star officer rank. She led divisions home and abroad. And she commanded at every level and supported the largest deployment of US forces since World War Two.
A few years ago, we were invited to work on a board search with Matt Mullenweg, founder of Automatic. And we brought her in because she knew how to lead a global tribe of leaders—they were one of the first distributed workforces, long before COVID. She had a learning spirit. She knew nothing about the world of technology, but she joined the Automatic board to develop her leadership, grow, and contribute to an organization that she knew very little about. You might enjoy her book called “A Higher Standard: Leadership Strategies from America's First Female Four-star General”.
I have a client who I've known since she was practically out of school. She now leads a very large design organization in the tech industry. Audrey has a soulful DNA. She's a giver. She is very purpose-driven. She brings an amazing amount of empathy. She's an awesome listener. She brings a spirit of positivity into all of her conversations. She's self-effacing, which I love about her. She's modest, and she's humble. And she has the ability to lead without an authoritative voice. She is real and present with her people. And her team loves and adores her; the loyalty is remarkable.
There is a great leader many of us know—Ted, from the show Ted Lasso. His enthusiastic, optimistic leadership style is authentic, joyful to watch, and inspirational to his team.
And there is my husband and business partner, Jeff. He’s a thoughtful, quiet leader. He draws out vision through quiet listening. His sense of time is not about tomorrow or in an hour—it’s over a very long duration. Trusting time is something he brings to all conversations at work. He’s a challenger in a quiet, gentle way. He’s the quietest member in the room, but all our team wants to hear what Jeff has to say.
So, I think there’s a lot to learn from the optimist, the quiet soul, the Commander in Chief. They all stand with different postures.
What do you wish that more leaders knew earlier in their careers?
Don’t caught up in your own narrative. You're going to miss so many learning opportunities if you do. It doesn't matter how much you're worth on paper; it doesn't matter what your compensation package or what your spreadsheet looks like. At the end of the day, when it comes to being a true leader, you will earn it. Don't anchor on the shiny or moving to the top too quickly. It will happen with time.
When I started my company, I was just in a tiny desk at an architecture firm. I didn't have a business plan. I went with my heart, craft, intuition, and care for people. Fast forward 28 years later, we're a company that is standing strong on who we are, what we believe in, what we care about, and what we do. Don't get caught up in pursuing success because you're bound to be disappointed.
Do right versus be right; that’s also something that people need to try to remember. If you want to be right, you may not be doing right because you're not listening to everybody and their messages will not come through. You're just focused on being right and being listened to versus listening to others and letting that inform what is right.
I've come to appreciate the chapters of challenges; these are growing moments and opportunities. If you get fired, that's an opportunity. If you didn't get along with your boss, that's an opportunity. If you have strife with some of your colleagues, that's an opportunity. All of these are opportunities to learn. I think you have to know that when you embark on your career. You're going to have weeds and blossoms, thunderstorms, and sunny days. And all this is going to take time.
In fact, taking a harder path or the path that you didn't expect to take can lead to amazing opportunities. Forced reflection is what I call being laid off. Being able to bring a spirit of reinvention to those moments really matters. The most important lesson for leaders is reinvention happens every day.
I love this quote from The Little Prince: “Here's my secret, a very simple secret. It's only with the heart that one can see rightly what is essential is invisible to the eye.” And I think it's really beautiful because it means what is invisible to you at the moment will become visible to you over time. So take every day as an opportunity to learn. The best leaders have that learning mindset.
