McGough’s Amy Thompson, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Strategy, Marketing, Legal and Risk, joined leaders from across the Triangle at the Women’s Leadership Conference 2026: Amplify Your Influence to share practical perspectives on how professionals can define excellence, align their work with organizational priorities and communicate their impact more effectively.
Hosted by the Raleigh Chamber, the conference brought together women leaders and professionals from across the Raleigh community for a day of dialogue focused on influence, growth and leadership. As a Gold Sponsor, McGough was represented throughout the event, with Kellie Ford, Vice President, Southeast Client Engagement, serving as emcee for the day’s program. Amy participated in the breakout session, “Amplify Your Excellence: Define and Align Your Success at Work,” alongside fellow panelists, contributing insights on what strong performance looks like in practice and how individuals can build credibility over time.
The session focused on a challenge many professionals face: understanding expectations, connecting day-to-day responsibilities to broader business goals and clearly communicating the value they bring to their teams. It also highlighted the role leaders play in creating clarity, offering feedback and helping others understand what success looks like beyond a job description.
During the discussion, Amy emphasized that excellence is often built through consistency, accountability and communication. She noted that meeting deadlines, tracking progress and communicating early when plans shift are all essential habits that help move work forward and build trust across teams.
Meet your deadlines, get your work done on time, and have a way to track progress. Are we moving things forward? Are we communicating? If we aren’t going to meet a deadline, let’s communicate – that’s a skill.”
Amy also pointed to the value of standardized work in helping teams create clarity and improve over time. By establishing repeatable processes and shared expectations, teams can create a framework for continuous improvement while making it easier to train and support others.
Create standards for how you perform repeatable processes in your job. That gives people a framework from which they can improve. As teams find better ways to do the work, they can improve the process together. Having those baseline standards is really important.”
Her perspective added to a broader conversation shaped by women leaders sharing practical experience, honest insight and lessons that others can apply in their own work. Events like this create space not only for professional development, but also for stronger connections across the Raleigh business community.
McGough was proud to support this important event in Raleigh and to take part in a conference that elevated the voices and experiences of women leaders across the region. Opportunities like the Raleigh Chamber’s Women’s Leadership Conference create room for meaningful dialogue, shared learning and continued momentum for the next generation of leaders.
