NFL CMO DAWN HUDSON sat on a panel of female leaders "from the worlds of banking, advertising, media, e-commerce, fashion and professional sports" brought together by MSNBC, Adweek and ad agency Droga5, and ADWEEK's Lisa Granatstein noted the group shared "valuable lessons on leadership and insights on how they get the very best out of their teams, and themselves." Asked about her propensity for risk-taking, Hudson said, "You've got to take some risks to see your opening, and you have to take it. And it actually has given me a lot of skills for the business world. You don't want to take foolish risks, but success comes from taking appropriate risks. Wall Street rewards growth. Now I work for owners; they want growth, and that tends to not be static -- that tends to be things where there's innovation and big change." She said of the transition to the NFL from her previous role as PepsiCo North America President & CEO, "I thought I knew the NFL, but that's from the outside looking in. It's a very different organization when you're on the inside looking out. The commissioner called me and said, 'Will you help me find the right woman for my senior team? Will you help me find my person? Is there any chance you'd be interested?' ... All of a sudden, I'm saying, find the right person? I want this job." Asked whether she has had any challenges getting her point across at the league office, she said, "Honestly, no. ... I'm coming in to do a job to make a difference, and you can listen to me and I can help you, or not. It's not that big a deal for me. It is probably the most collaborative group." She said of working in team settings on the job, "The definition of teams has gone from being linear -- who works for you -- to being matrix cross-management -- leading people across different functions, and that really becomes an appreciation of diverse opinion as opposed to just gender-based" (ADWEEK.com, 9/27).
