In celebration of Black History Month, Shearman & Sterling and Morgan Stanley together hosted an engaging evening program on Wednesday, February 26, featuring a fireside chat with LaTanya Langley, Vice President and General Counsel of Emerging Markets & Group Supply Chain at BIC International. Partner Denise Grant (New York-Project Development and Finance) gave opening remarks and Paula Anderson (New York-Litigation) moderated the conversation.

During the fireside chat, Ms. Langley discussed the career journey that led her to her current leadership role, lessons learned, and pearls of wisdom gathered along the way as a professional who is a woman and diverse. 

“I am living my passion today, right now. There is a story behind every job on my resume,” said Langley as she took the stage.

She spoke about the qualities that make a good leader, including adaptability, fearlessness and doing things that are out of one’s comfort zone.

“As a leader, you must be able to adapt your behaviors depending on the circumstances. I never change who I am, but ensure I acclimate in front of different business partners and leaders, based on the given circumstance,” said Langley. 

She also stressed the importance of letting others shine by empowering them and letting them lead. She described creating opportunities for others as being mutually beneficial. 

The conversation concluded with some final words of wisdom for the audience, including letting your guard down in the workplace, building your brand and letting it speak for itself and recognizing that when you are in a space where no one looks like you, making an effort to look for people who are like you is key.