This year I had the opportunity to say a few words to newly promoted women Managing Directors.   I couldn’t do it this year, but this is what I would have said:

“Congratulations to each of you on this accomplishment. For many of you, this most likely represents a first. Maybe you’re the first female MD promotion in your group, the first MD promotion in your family, the first Asian female MD in your division. It’s just the beginning of many firsts.

Here is the one thing I would ask of each of you: to coach, to mentor, to give feedback, to be available for other women who are coming up behind us.

Because our responsibility is to make sure our “firsts” don’t become the “only”. “