There’s real power in admitting you’ve done something wrong and reapproaching the problem with a solution. I don’t always have the best idea, but somebody else might. A lot of people are willing to tell you exactly what you want to hear at all times, and the sound of your own voice echoing back at you is a very hollow sound. I look to hire people who are passionate about what they do as well as people who will argue with me. Part of being a great leader is hiring amazing people and delegating well, so you can let these great people do the things they are great at, while you do the things you are great at.

I was raised to believe I belong in every single room I’ve ever been in. Which is why, as we approached our 30th anniversary, I wanted to take this moment in our heavily digital, often fleeting world to create a permanent testament to our honorees, with our brand-new women’s empowerment book Glamour: 30 Years of Women Who Have Reshaped the World. The awards have become a living, breathing history-mapping out the evolution of women’s power. But Women of the Year is so much more than just one spectacular night each year.

Those very sentiments have formed the beating heart of Glamour’ s annual celebration ever since. The “doers,” as she called them, the “darers,” and the “defiers.” Women who, as that year’s special Women of the Year print issue also declared, “took charge, spoke out, risked their lives, made a difference.” A note from Samantha Barry, Glamour e ditor in chief: At the very first Women of the Year Awards, in 1990, Glamour’ s legendary editor in chief Ruth Whitney took to the stage at the Rainbow Room in New York and saluted the women who lit up the year.

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