“You Don’t Have to Choose Between Family and the C-Suite”: Tracey Newell’s Game-Changing Leadership Playbook

Despite women comprising nearly half of today’s workforce, a striking disparity remains at the top: less than 12% of corporate C-suite positions are held by women. This gap isn’t just about systemic barriers; it’s also about the internal battles many women face when considering senior leadership roles. In this exclusive interview, we explore groundbreaking strategies from a new voice in women’s leadership development who’s determined to change these statistics by addressing both the practical and personal dimensions of executive success.

Meet Tracey Newell, former president of Informatica and author of Hers for the Taking: Your Path to the C-Suite & Beyond. With an impressive career spanning executive positions at companies like Proofpoint, Polycom, and Cisco Systems, plus current board positions at five companies, Newell brings more than credentials to the conversation. She brings lived experience. Having mentored women for over 25 years, she understands the unique challenges of balancing ambitious career goals with family responsibilities, the confidence gaps that hold talented women back, and the critical importance of playing the long game in career planning.

In Hers for the Taking, Newell redefines what C-suite success looks like for modern women, advocating for a path that doesn’t require sacrificing family, faith, or personal fulfillment. Through inspiring stories from her own journey and those of other female executives, she offers practical strategies for everything from building high-performing teams to silencing that inner critic that whispers “you’re not ready.”

We had the honor of interviewing Newell, and our conversation reveals why she believes women systematically underestimate their capabilities, how to practice leadership before you have the title, and most importantly, why choosing to aim for the top seat isn’t just about personal ambition. It’s about blazing trails for the next generation of women leaders.

Check out our full interview with Tracey Newell below!

What inspired you to write “Hers for the Taking,” and why do you think the timing is crucial, given that women hold less than 12% of corporate C-suite positions?

Tracey Newell: Having mentored women for more than twenty-five years, we simply haven’t made enough progress in moving more women into the C-Suite. While women represent nearly 50% of the workforce, in 2023, only 16% of women were named executive officers in the Russell 3000, as reported by the Corporate Counsel. 

What is causing this gap in women leaders in the C-Suite? It is a complicated answer, for certain. Gender bias is real. Work and life balance while raising a family can cause many women to say no to promotions, when they should be permitting themselves to think big about where they’d like to be long term. And as the book The Confidence Code points out, women clearly have confidence gaps and significant challenges with imposter syndrome. As we work through many of these issues in the future, we have an opportunity to make progress in each of these areas.

My goal with Hers for the Taking is to inspire mid-career women executives to embark on a leadership journey culminating in a role in the C-suite and a seat in the boardroom. The focus is on empowering women with the courage to dream big, providing strategies to chart a path forward, and offering perspective on how their success can blaze a trail for future generations of women leaders. My intent is that each reader will feel as though they have been tapped on the shoulder to say, “You can achieve this,” just as her mentors once did for her,  motivating more women to answer the call to leadership with an emphatic, “Yes!”

 Your book emphasizes the importance of hiring skills. What specific advice do you have for women leaders about building and nurturing high-performing teams?

Tracey Newell: We all know great companies are made up of great people, and with this in mind, women make great managers and leaders. Forbes wrote an article in 2023 entitled “New Research: Women More Effective Than Men In All Leadership Measures,” where they cite many attributes that allow women to thrive in leadership roles, including their communication skills, their values, and their creativity skills. But what really jumped out at me from the article was the insights about how women leaders are extremely strong at building connections, specifically in mentoring and nurturing their teams. 

As you think about hiring your “A team,” I advise leaders to hire people who can do at least the current job, but ideally the next job too. Look for high achievers, people who have proven they have both staying power and grit, with the drive and determination to achieve breakthrough results. Study who your best performers are and then work with your recruiters to create your perfect profile as you set up your interview process. And never settle. A new hire will be with you for a long time, so find the right person who will raise the bar for your team.

In your experience serving on five different company boards, what are the most significant barriers you’ve observed that prevent women from pursuing senior leadership positions?

Tracey Newell: One of the biggest inhibitors holding women back is that most of us don’t play the long game, planning our careers out over the long term. I’ll never forget a mentor of mine asking me when I was in my mid-thirties if I wanted to run sales for our company someday.

At the time, we were a Fortune 500 company, and I was shocked by the question. How could someone like me run a large sales organization consisting of thousands of people? I clearly didn’t have the skills required. And what about my family? Would I ever see them again? And then she asked me a question that changed my life.

She said, “Well, in 10-15 years, would you run a company when your children are older?” When I stammered out a “maybe,” she replied, “Then make the right career decisions now, so you have the option down the road when the time is right.” And that is exactly what I did.

My advice? We need more women to aim for the top seat earlier in their careers, even before they’re ready. If you want to grab the brass ring for that corner office, the earlier you set your sights on that big goal, the better. Playing the long game with your career goals is important, as is asking yourself some hard questions. How far would you go if there were no limits in your career path? What’s the biggest, most audacious role you can imagine yourself doing in ten or fifteen years? As you get clarity on what the long game could look like in your career, write it down. And then tell your boss, and your boss’s boss, your goal. People will help you when they know where you want to go.

You mention that women often underestimate their performance compared to men. What strategies do you recommend for building confidence and accurate self-assessment?

Tracey Newell: Tell that inner voice to stop talking. You know the voice. It is asking, “Are you really good enough?” “What makes you think you can do that?” “You’re going to fail if you try.” And on the list goes! Your inner voice means well; it is trying to protect you from harm. However, it is simply your fear speaking, and you can’t let fear keep you from reaching your full potential. 

How do we change the narrative? Let’s tell ourselves different stories. Focus on the many barriers you’ve been faced with and how you overcame those challenges, just as you’ll overcome any upcoming challenges you run into. Facts can also help. As you think about the actual requirements of the next big job you aspire to, write down the skills you need, and then set a goal this year to get better at one or two of them. Most CEOs were not born with the ability to run companies. They learned the skills along the way, and you can too.

A friend recently shared, “Bring your inside voice, outside,” meaning write down your fears, and then bring them to your friends and mentors for feedback. The people close to you will help bust those myths wide open, so you can get busy moving forward again.

Can you share a pivotal moment in your career journey from sales leadership positions at companies like Cisco Systems to becoming the president of Informatica?

Tracey Newell: In my early thirties, the SVP running North America for Cisco Systems pulled me aside after a review to state, “You can do more.” I remember thinking, really? When you’re in the moment, running at a flat-out sprint, it can be difficult to imagine that you can possibly achieve more than you’re currently doing.

It was a few years later when I was extremely frustrated with my career, and I was in the SVP’s office, ranting about all of the things that the company should be doing differently. He was my boss’s boss at the time, so my rant was a bit inappropriate, but I was planning to leave the company, so I wasn’t worried about repercussions. When I stopped to take a breath, he said, “Would you like to come work for me?”

He went on to explain that he was thinking about creating a Director of Strategy and Operations role, and if things worked out, I could shadow him for several months and then help to represent him in other meetings. I said yes, I’d take the role, and I learned more in those 12-18 months than I’d learned in a decade. This mentor changed my life and my family’s life, and I’m forever grateful.

Could you elaborate on your statement that “you don’t need an official title to help guide others”? How can women practice leadership before formal management roles?

Tracey Newell: Some of the best leaders I’ve ever worked with did not manage people. I am a big believer that there are leaders at every level. And in my opinion, the most effective type of leaders lead through a methodology known as “servant leadership.”

Many women struggle with finding the balance with gender bias issues of being too tough…or not tough enough. My strategy was always to lead as a servant leader. Servant leaders believe we’re here as leaders to help our teams succeed. If we’re hiring the right people, I haven’t met an employee who joins a company planning to fail in their role. Which means our job is to make them successful.

I love the old show “Undercover Boss,” where the CEO literally dresses up as a first-line employee to find out what is really happening with those closest to the customer. I spent a career trying to be the “undercover boss,” focused on how I could make it easier for employees to thrive in their roles.

There have been times when leaders equated the term “servant leadership” with the inability to drive results, which I completely disagree with. I was once described by a peer as having an “iron fist with a velvet glove.” I believe that you can (and should) be kind as a leader….while also making it clear that results matter. One of my favorite sayings is, “There are a lot of reasons, but no excuses.” Those are words to live by.

 What role has mentorship played in your career, and how do you suggest women build effective mentoring relationships?

Tracey Newell: Mentors have certainly had a big impact on my success, and if you don’t have a mentor, you need one. I’d also add that many women want to have female mentors. And yet, as I shared earlier, most of the top jobs are currently led by men, so I believe that having a strong male mentor is critical to help women accelerate their career growth. 

I am asked often how to find a mentor, and my feedback is that it should feel natural. Asking a stranger or someone you barely know to be a mentor can feel overwhelming. And yet, asking someone who is one to two levels above you if you can spend thirty minutes with them is a very reasonable ask. (Note, I said one to two levels above you. If you go much higher, you may not get the advice you need in your current role.) 

I always say flattery will get you everywhere, so share why you respect the individual you’d like to spend time with, and once you have the meeting, prepare an agenda to ensure your potential mentor knows you’re taking their time seriously. Once you have had the meeting, send a thank-you note on lessons learned, and ask if you can follow up in a few months regarding progress. Before you know it, you’ll have an advocate helping you to succeed.

Looking at your journey from UC Santa Barbara economics graduate to multiple executive positions, what advice would you give to young women just starting their careers?

Tracey Newell: When I think about what gave me the courage to say yes to leadership, I can point to many mentors, but it all began with my very first role model: my father. My dad taught me, from a young age, that anything is possible. Whenever I faced something that seemed impossible, he reminded me that I had a choice: Would I accept the obstacle in front of me, or work through it for the outcome I really wanted?

His belief in me, and his willingness to push me just a bit further, has stayed with me to this day. And in writing this book, I want to do for the young graduates what my father did for me: tap you on the shoulder and say, “You can do this. You can do more.”

Everything you need to go where you want to go is already inside you. As author Marianne Williamson wrote, “Who are you not to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?” I would add, ”Who are you not to dream your boldest dreams? To live your best life?” 

And if not you, then who?

Lastly, is there a specific mantra, quote, or affirmation that you hold close to your heart?

Tracey Newell: You can do so much more than you know. So dream big.