Why Smart Failure Wins feat. Michelle Lewis '05

Owl Have You Know

What’s worse than failing in your career? For Michelle Lewis ’05, it’s not trying at all.

That fearless mindset propelled her from a fine arts degree to a global career as a C-suite leader, board director, and private equity principal. Over the years, Michelle has helped drive $10 billion in acquisitions across 30 countries and guided companies through complex strategic transitions in the energy and industrial sectors.

At the Women in Leadership Conference, she sat down with Owl Have You Know co-host Brian Jackson ’21 to talk about her journey — from the arts to executive leadership, why soft skills matter more than you think, and how failing fast and smart can shape a resilient career.

Michelle also shares one of her favorite tips as a self-proclaimed uber-organizer, and what it’s like balancing board service, entrepreneurship and motherhood.

Episode Guide:

00:10 Meet Michelle Lewis

00:55 Insights from the Women in Leadership Conference

01:42 The Role of Luck and Hard Work in Career Success

05:15 Mentorship and Leadership

06:42 Pathway to Board Membership

11:23 From Fine Arts to Private Equity

22:06 The Importance of Soft Skills

26:07 Tips for Balancing Career and Family

28:25 Final Thoughts and Takeaways

Owl Have You Know is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.

Episode Quotes:

Failing is learning not losing

17:25: I've never been afraid to just try something new. I mean, because what can happen, right? You can fail. And what happens when you fail? You learn. You learn more than when you're successful. You know, I sell all the veggies, and great, I got, you know, some points in my pocket, but if I don't sell them, I have to try a new way the next day. Right? Yeah. So, I mean, there are a lot of my mentors who I attribute that to, like there's another woman. Same thing in executive recruiting. All you do is just, like, pick up the phone and ask someone—it's an opportunity. Maybe they're interested, maybe they're not. Like, worst case, they say, "No thanks," right? But a lot of people are afraid to pick up the phone. I mean, you can meet some fascinating people. So, I've just always thought, like, there's no downside to trying. The downside is if I don't try. Not if I fail.

What led Michelle to where she is today

02:05: I think I've been in a fortunate position to, wherever I am, to be working really hard and trying to do a good job and be a good person, and, and then, through that, have found that other people have come to me and said, "I see something in you that maybe you don't even see in yourself, and we think you can do X," which might be completely different to what I was doing at the time. And, and that's typically been the case throughout my entire career. So, the majority of my career, I was just going along to get along, and then someone else came along and said, "We're going to move you over here"—either a different industry, a different city, a different function. All really through someone else's vision.

How mentorship shaped Michelle's approach to leadership

06:00: One of the things I think that I learned, and that I do as well, is just conversations where I'm asking a lot of questions, not necessarily telling them what the answers are, and it's the same thing in a board and advisory role, right? I'm not there to tell the CEO what to do. I mean, if I'm telling the CEO what to do, we don't need that CEO. I'm there to ask questions. So, it's the same thing that my mentors did for me: asking questions that may highlight there are different ways, different paths, different answers for me to consider. That's the same thing that I'm doing when I'm in an advisory role or a board role.

Show Links:

• Transcript
  
  

Guest Profiles:

• Michelle Lewis on LinkedIn