The Network of enlightened Women kicked off the 2026 Leadership Retreat with a panel discussion featuring Melanie Passons, Deputy Chief of Staff in the Tennessee Governor’s Office, and Palmer Williams, Partner at Holtman Vogel Law Firm. Although Passons and Williams took different career paths, they offered similar advice to Gen Z on succeeding in the workplace. 

Here are a few key takeaways from their conversation –
1) Don’t underestimate the power of relationships.  

Your career is not always linear. Much of the time, it is about what doors are open to you. Passons shared that she has only done one formal interview. All her other roles have come through people she’s developed and maintained relationships with. Associate yourself with good people and build a strong network through them.  

2) Interpersonal skills and conflict management are crucial. 

Gen Z has a lot of empathy and heart, but sometimes struggles with conflict management. Learning how to handle conflict and have those tough conversations will help someone stand out in the workplace. If you need to have a hard conversation, start by finding common ground and seeing the other person as human first.  

3) Own your mistake and be solution-oriented. 

Trust goes down when you try to hide a mistake or place blame on someone else. It’s better to own your mistake, propose solutions, and fix it quickly. If you’ve been working on a project and you reach a component that you are struggling with, it’s okay to say, “I don’t know about this, can you help me figure it out?” 

4) Leadership isn’t just the “top dog”. 

We typically assume leadership refers to the “top dog”, but leadership trickles down to even entry-level positions. Leadership is the ability to inspire people and bring them together around a shared purpose. As a leader, you push people to be the best they can be so that the organization can be the best. A good leader shows loyalty and hard work. Rather than thinking about their next step, they think about where their staff is going to land. A good leader is servant-hearted and puts the team’s best interests before their own. 

5) Reading is so important!  

NeW founded as a book club, so of course Passons and Williams were asked for their book recommendations. A few of those recommendations included Theo of Golden by Allen Levi, Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara, The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, and A Time to Build by Yuval Levin. 

You can watch the panel with Melanie Passons and Palmer Williams on our YouTube Channel.