Women Leading Change – Julie Gilbert, leader of the WOLF pack at Best Buy

Julie Gilbert comes as a “two-in-one”: There’s the Senior Vice President of Best Buy, who leads retail training, leadership development, and the company’s innovation engine for 140,000+ employees worldwide. And there is the founder of WOLF (Women’s Leadership Forum), through which Best Buy increased its female market share by more than USD 3.6 billion and the number of female general managers by 40 percent.

The amazing thing is how Julie seemingly effortless blends the two, driven by her firm belief that there’s a leader in all of us. The leitmotif that seems to run through her life is “Don’t underestimate the leadership potential of any given person”.

Painful but eye-opening experiences throughout her career have proven that women are often being ignored or patronised – be that as a senior executive of a company or as a potential customer in a store. But Julie wouldn’t be Julie if she simply lamented this fact. True to her credo that leaders identify opportunities, develop creative solutions and build support networks in order to succeed, she founded WOLF: A movement that empowers women, gives them a voice and, most importantly, an inspiring environment to share best practice approaches WolfInspires

report by Bettina Duske, Member of EuropeanPWN Amsterdam