Month: September 2020

Julie Parrish of RedSeal: “It’s ok to wear a dress; Don’t feel like you need to wear pantsuits and…

Julie Parrish of RedSeal: “It’s ok to wear a dress; Don’t feel like you need to wear pantsuits and hide your femininity just to fit in with the men”

It’s ok to wear a dress. If you like skirts and dresses, wear them. Don’t feel like you need to wear pantsuits and hide your femininity just to fit in with the men. Dressing professionally is important, so skirts, dresses and blouses should be appropriate length and not overly revealing — but it is ok to wear them if you want to.

As a part of our series about strong women leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Julie Parrish.

Julie Parrish has more than 30 years of experience across sales, channel management and marketing in Fortune 500 companies. Prior to joining RedSeal, Julie held CMO roles at both Check Point Software and NetApp, where she oversaw all aspects of marketing, including product, field, brand, digital, events, and both public and analyst relations. Her track record includes leadership positions at Symantec, Veritas, Nokia Internet (now Check Point Software), 3Com and Hewlett-Packard.

Julie has a degree in decision and information sciences from Santa Clara University

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I was opportunistic more so than strategic in managing my career path. My Bay Area university education and slightly technical degree led to opportunities based in the Silicon Valley, and in high-tech. I chose Hewlett Packard for my first job because it was a big stable company, well-known and well respected. At that point in my life, I did not have a clear sense of how I wanted my career to play out, but I knew that starting at HP would be a great platform for learning and growing.

While my degree was in Decision Information Science, I was not interested in programming or systems analyst work. The position that HP had for me was a marketing analyst role which was exciting because it was in marketing but allowed me to leverage my operational studies and do analysis. I spent five years at HP before taking a management position at a smaller company.

I think there are two approaches (at least) to developing a career path: You can decide you want to be head of a particular function and chart that course, or you can focus on doing a great job with the position you have and see what opportunities present themselves. I chose the latter, which took me into channels, marketing, sales and operations at various points in my career. I was very focused on “how can I add more value” instead of “what will it take to get the next job on my checklist.” I believe this approach is what landed me on many cross-functional teams over the years at various companies. I had the opportunity to participate in M&A integration, discounting/costing programs, internal communication efforts, IT governance and many other areas in addition to my primary function.

The COO title I hold today is really a direct reflection of all that experience coming together.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

My role as Chief Operating Officer started in May 2018. At that time, we were going through a cash crunch and had been fundraising for some time. A tremendous part of my job (even prior to the COO role) was dedicated to working with various PE, VC and banking organizations to raise money. There are so many interesting stories from that time period — from the people I met to the endless nights of spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and information gathering that was required along the way. I think the most interesting story happened on the day we actually got our funding from a terrific PE firm. My boss and I had had dinner the previous evening to discuss Plan B, C and D in case the deal fell apart at the 11th hour. My boss and I, along with our attorneys and our bank sat on a call with representatives from the PE firm, their attorneys and their bankers to finalize the transaction. Each of us had our banking portals open, ready to confirm account information. The final transaction terms were read to the group for each of us to verbally approve for the record. Once the approval was recorded, the “sending” bank was asked to confirm that they were ready to proceed, and the “receiving” bank was asked to confirm that they were ready as well. A very official command was given to transfer the funds and I will never forget literally watching the numbers in our bank account change in seconds. I felt a truly amazing combination of relief, awe, and pride that we’d finally done it.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Oh gosh, I’ve made a lot of mistakes. The one that comes to mind isn’t all that funny to be honest although it became funny over time, and the lesson is important. Many years ago, part of my job included organizing the annual sales kick-off meeting. Just before the meeting was to start, I was in the bar area with a few of my leaders and was informed that the external speaker that I thought was going to lead an important session was not available and a substitute had been chosen. I felt that the individual that had been chosen was not qualified and I loudly claimed that I would be a better choice to lead that particular session (which was a ridiculous claim). I’m sure you can guess where this story goes. I had not met the individual and he happened to be standing very near me. As I left the bar and headed to the general session room, he caught up with me. I introduced myself and his first words to me were “I’m happy to let you lead this session.” The funny part here is that I had no idea what he was talking about. I assured him that we were excited to have him and I helped him get set up for his session. As I started to walk away from him, I realized what had happened. I was mortified and turned around and went back and apologized profusely. He took it in stride, accepted the apology and was nice enough to compliment me on my integrity in owning up to my lapse in judgement. Now, here is where it gets really funny. He not only turned out to be a fantastic, well qualified speaker — but our paths crossed many times over the years. Since then, every single time I watched him speak he told this story (without mentioning my name or the company), including my apology and how it made him work harder to be a great speaker. What is the lesson? There are so many, but the basics are:

There was no reason for me to have been an unkind ego-maniac when I heard that the speakers had been switched. I have seen so many people do things like this over the years (without getting busted like I did), and the bravado does not make you look smarter or more powerful. It has the opposite effect.
Do not miss an opportunity to apologize. Human beings make mistakes, but if you want to be a leader you need to own up to those quickly, make the “wrong” right and learn.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. What is it about the position of CEO or executive that most attracted you to it?

I am attracted to roles that allow me to add as much value as I can to the company, based on my background and experience. At different points in my career, that has meant different roles — and sometimes even lateral shifts. For example, I previously made a big shift from a WW sales executive to be the CMO at a F500 company. On the organization chart, it was lateral move.

I’ve done a few of those lateral shifts over the years as opportunities presented themselves. The COO role is interesting to me because it can be a little undefined in terms of what functions sit within the organization, and it can change depending on what the company needs. When I first became COO, the role included IT, sales operations, corporate planning, business development and marketing. Over time as the needs of the organization changed, we moved IT and planning back into Finance and I took on more of a classic “Go-To-Market” set of functions — combining sales, service, support, operations and marketing. The range and focus of the role are dynamic, which attract me. And regardless of the functions within the team, the role always has a metrics and operational element.

Most of our readers — in fact, most people — think they have a pretty good idea of what a CEO or executive does. But in just a few words can you explain what an executive does that is different from the responsibilities of the other leaders?

Any “C” level role means you hold the highest level of responsibility for that function. Decisions made at these levels typically have company-wide, not just function-wide impact and can alter (positively or negatively) the overall results of the company. That fact really differentiates these roles from other leadership roles. If the CEO role is about setting the vision and strategy for the company, the COO role is really about helping the company operationalize and execute on that strategy.

What is the one thing that you enjoy most about being an executive?

I most enjoy the visibility and exposure to all aspects of the company. I don’t mean this from a personal standpoint, as in “I like to be visible.” I mean this from a business standpoint. At an executive level, particularly COO or CEO, you typically have visibility to all of the moving parts within the company, all of the challenges and opportunities that exist and can make a big impact on the overall success of the company. I like the range of decisions that I participate in, and the breadth of topics that I address.

What are the downsides of being an executive?

It can be lonely at the top. I did not know what that really meant until I became an executive. Yes, there is a team around you. Yes, a board votes and weighs in on major decisions, but at the end of the day, a C-level executive has to make the final call on difficult topics based on all the input and advice. The outcome of that decision is one that employees and external constituents will attribute to you.
You spend a lot of time managing optics and justifying decisions, which is challenging if not downright exhausting at times. As an executive, you are privy to more information and understand the constraints, options and variables that go into various decisions. The rest of the organization does not have this level of insight, and managing that gap requires the right level of transparency and nuance.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive. Can you explain what you mean? There are many myths, but a few that come to mind are:

Executives are geniuses and have all the answers. Great executives need to score high on the “smart” scale, but what makes an executive great is their ability to craft a vision/strategy, inspire teams to deliver the plan, communicate powerfully and take the right risks.
Most CEOs were born leaders. Not necessarily. Many have overcome academic challenges, social awkwardness, fear of public speaking and skillset deficiencies over time. Most have had terrific mentors and coaches at some point that saw the potential.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

The following three areas have been challenges for as long as I have been in the workplace (a long time). While we’ve moved the needle a little bit, we clearly have not moved it enough:

Pressure from society. Like it or not, men are still praised for bringing home the bacon and women for cooking it. Still. In 2020. How does that manifest itself for a woman executive? Women who work weekends, travel for work and do all the things required to be a successful executive will get the stink eye from teachers, pediatricians, neighbors and even family members that feel they should be spending more time at home. Men are rarely, if ever, asked “how do you do it all?” It is expected that men can be successful as a husband, father and a provider. It is considered extraordinary (as in not natural) for a woman to do the same.
Corporate America is still a man’s world just in terms of the sheer numbers. Even in a scenario where there is no harassment and no discrimination, women are really outnumbered. That creates a level of discomfort in many areas — everything from team-building activities optimized for men (golf, scotch, cigars, sports) to the style of communication men are used to — and means that women need to constantly adapt if they want to fit in. A woman who suddenly realizes she needs to pump her breast milk will have a very different level of (dis)comfort if she has to excuse herself to take care of that while in a group of mostly women instead of mostly men. In most cases, it isn’t necessarily hard to adapt — but it wears you down and becomes exhausting over time.
Unintentional bias in hiring and promotion processes. Women have not been in the workforce at executive levels as long as men have. Job descriptions for C-level roles are most often written with years of experience requirements at certain titles/levels. Men will, by default, have a greater number of years’ experience in most cases, simply because they have been in the workplace at these levels for much longer. This is why the pool of women candidates for executive roles and board of director seats is smaller than it should be, which leads to the predictable outcome of fewer women in C-level roles. We won’t make much progress here until we shift our thinking on how specific qualities, transferable skillsets and outcomes should shape a job description.

What is the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?

I’ve had a good progression of titles and responsibilities over the years. By the time I was at an SVP level, I was very close to the CEO and other C-Level roles and had a good understanding of what those jobs were about, in terms of scope of responsibility, decision making, expectations and outcomes. That said, the most striking difference was probably the amount of time spent positioning and explaining decisions. Internal messaging and communication are a big part of these jobs.

Certainly, not everyone is cut out to be an executive. In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful executive and what type of person should avoid aspiring to be an executive?

A great executive inspires the organization in many ways. Someone who is consistently identified as being an inspiration can communicate powerfully (even difficult messages), and someone whose teams deliver results and follow their leader is a generally a good candidate. Great executives have to be decisive, take risks and innovate, and these are also important traits to look for. There is a lot to be said for EQ, or Emotional Quotient, and making sure that is balanced well with the IQ. If you can’t get teams to follow you, you won’t be a great executive.

The types of people that should avoid aspiring to be an executive are those that prefer to support instead of making decisions, those that prefer to avoid risk and conflict, and people that are not effective at collaborating with others. Leaders who may have delivered great results but have high attrition rates are also not great candidates. Finally, being an executive is not an 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. job, five days per week. I know plenty of people that have the skills and traits to be a great executive but prefer not to travel, not to work weekends and prefer to have a reasonable workday. You will not have perfect work-life balance in an executive role, unfortunately.

What advice would you give to other female leaders to help their team to thrive?

Happy people produce better results, and women have natural skills in the areas of empathy, diplomacy, inclusiveness, resilience and humility. Lean into these traits as you work with your team to inspire results vs. dictating or demanding results.
Don’t over rotate to trying to fit into the “boys club.” That can quickly be perceived as political or overly aggressive (even when it is not) and may alienate the team from the leader.
Leverage the fact that the majority of your peers may be men. Ask them for advice and ask how they have succeeded with their teams. The best role models for female executives are not necessarily other women — but men.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

There are so many people that I am grateful to — starting with my parents who always encouraged and supported my path, all of the wonderful bosses (almost all men) that developed and promoted me, and companies that took chances on hiring me.

A related story comes to mind from many years ago. I really wanted to get that Vice President title checked off. I felt I had the experience, leadership traits and track record of results to support the title. In a conversation with the head of human resources for the company I was working for at the time, I expressed my dismay that this VP title had not happened yet. My current position was big enough to be a VP job, and I felt I’d earned it. She asked me if I’d ever told my boss that I wanted to be a vice president. I hadn’t. I assumed that the track record spoke for itself and I’d watched the process play out a few times. She told me that she did not think the executive team knew that I had that level of ambition. She was right — they didn’t. Very important lesson here: if you don’t ask for the promotion, you probably won’t get it. I asked for it and I got it.

Then I forgot the lesson, which brings me to the one person I would call out here: Dan Warmenhoven, who was the Chairman of the Board at NetApp at the time. I had been the SVP of WW Channel Sales for a few years, and I asked him what else he thought I could do for the company and what potential roles or functions should I look at as possible career paths. He looked at me and said, “I don’t know why the hell you haven’t applied for the CMO job that has been open for 6 months.” While I had an awful lot of marketing experience — and at the VP level — it didn’t occur to me that I would be qualified, but I hadn’t asked. And I was qualified. I went for that job hard — and I got it. While this story came later in my career it was actually instrumental in shifting the perception of who I was and what I could do and led to more C-level roles.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

It takes all kinds of people doing many different activities to make the world a better place. Some people start charities and foundations, and others contribute to the process one person at a time. I am in that latter group.

Because of my success, I am visible. I get asked to speak to large groups, contribute to conversations like this one, and am well known in my company and in my industry. I prefer to be known for how I behave and the impressions I leave on people than for what I may have accomplished. The most important thing I can do is be a great example for my peers, employees, children, friends and family. Some questions I ask myself are:

Am I seen as kind, thoughtful, caring and honest?
Do I leave more than my fair share on the table?
Do I exhibit grace, gratitude and humility?
Do I lift people up or do I tear people down?

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

Don’t be the girl at the bar. Classic high-tech bonding, particularly at sales meetings, often takes place after hours at a bar. This is a male-dominated environment, and trying to fit in by showing that you can hang with the bros won’t win you the points you think it will. It can actually work against you.
Some people won’t like you. Not every decision you make will make everyone happy, but you need to make the decision that is the greatest good for the most people. Similarly, some people just won’t like you… just because. You need people to respect you and you need more people to like you than do not, but you can’t worry about everyone liking you.
You have to ask for what you want (see story above on promotions).
It’s ok to wear a dress. If you like skirts and dresses, wear them. Don’t feel like you need to wear pantsuits and hide your femininity just to fit in with the men. Dressing professionally is important, so skirts, dresses and blouses should be appropriate length and not overly revealing — but it is ok to wear them if you want to.
Things happens and you will need to be resilient. You might have been up for a promotion, and the company re-organized and now that role is gone or has changed. Maybe your company will have a bad earnings call and a knee-jerk reaction to slash budgets will occur — that might mean the campaign you’ve worked on for months will get cut. Maybe your company will be acquired and instead of becoming a general manager, you end up taking an exit-package. There is an awful lot that will happen outside of your control that can impact your career progression (positively and negatively), and how you react to those challenges is crucial.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

“Is it true, is it kind, is it necessary?” This is a very old quote and philosophy. For me personally, it fits in with my view on how I personally can make the world a better place: I can start by being a decent human being or a great role model — starting with what I say and put out into various platforms. I think we waste a lot of time, cause a lot of damage, and create a lot of unnecessary confusion when we don’t follow this simple guide. Our 24/7 always-on world is filled with so many social media options and platforms for people to “speak.” This has created more opportunity for divides, propaganda and hatred, in my opinion.

I would love to see a movement that taught and emphasized this philosophy across several channels:

Schools
Businesses
Politics
Marketing
Media

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

As simple as this may sound, I’ve always liked the basics of the following: “Be on time, follow instructions and don’t be a jerk.” One of my first managers at Hewlett Packard told me this. I was shocked at the number of times that some of my co-workers would use a different template for a presentation than the manager had provided or routinely be ten minutes late. I asked him how he felt about it, and he said that in his experience, the key to success is doing those three things consistently because so many people won’t. I have never forgotten it, and he was right. Within that simple lesson are fundamental attributes of discipline, respect and integrity.

Julie Parrish of RedSeal: “It’s ok to wear a dress; Don’t feel like you need to wear pantsuits and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Michelle Cheo of Mewah Group: “Why is it so essential to protect your energy and mind space”

Protect your energy and your mind space. Nothing great can be achieved without having positive mindset and we must be able to keep our positivity in order to enable change. There will always be the “naysayers” and conflict. If we focus on things we cannot change, we will be less likely to be the positive force of change that is required. You have to believe that you can do it.

As a part of our series about strong women leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Michelle Cheo.

Michelle Cheo is CEO of Mewah Group, an agricultural-commodities group of companies that has a global presence in over 140 countries. The Mewah Group is headquartered in Singapore, with manufacturing facilities in Malaysia and Indonesia. Michelle is responsible for the formulation and execution of the overall strategy and day-to-day operations of the Group. In 2019, she was awarded the Her Times Women Empowerment Award for Entrepreneurship.

Michelle serves as a Council Member of the 60th Board of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (SCCCI). She is an active member of the Young Presidents Organisation (YPO) and currently serves as Chair of the Singapore Chapter. She is also a member of the YPO Asia Pacific Regional Board and Co-Champion of the YPO Women Business Network in the Asia Pacific Region.

When I started working, my first job was at ExxonMobil, where I served in both Baton Rouge, Louisiana and its new chemical complex in Singapore. It was a very exciting project where we were part of a team, setting up a new chemical complex located on 7 reclaimed islands. Being a part of such a team brings about a sense of fulfillment, when you are able to see a dream manifest itself into reality from the ground up.

This feeling of fulfillment was not only in terms of the tangible structures in place, but also from a holistic view of building a brand-new infrastructure. We had to ensure the plant was fully functional after commissioning, be prepared to solve unforeseen technical hiccups from the use of relatively new technology to simultaneously building the necessary teams, culture and the systems needed.

I joined Mewah as I wanted a more commercial role and I started out in the trading department. From there, I then did a lot of business development which allowed me to ideate, initiate and bring to fruition many projects of various capacities in the business for both the soft and hard infrastructures necessary for our growth as a group. Creating something from ground up and adding value through new innovations is something I truly am proud of and thoroughly enjoy.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

One of the main perks of my role as CEO of the Mewah Group, is that I am able to engage, interact and meet with many interesting people who, in their own way are making an impact in their respective fields. And because I have a healthy interest in innovations within the food science sphere, I am always impressed by all the passionate people I meet.

For example, I had the pleasure of meeting a very interesting Italian chap some time ago in America. He had spent a year living on a boat in the middle of the sea for a research project he was conducting on algae for its nutritional benefits and its potential of being a reliable source of energy (a study that many researchers have been looking at, in the world of sustainability). I was intrigued with his knowledge for algae and the passion with which he spoke about it.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Well, I speak mostly conversational mandarin and many of the Chinese terms in the Asia Pacific Region vary from the Chinese terms used in mainland China. While I was on a business trip, I was trying to introduce a friend to a roomful of businessmen and intended to say that he had four daughters. Everyone soon started to laugh and I quickly realized that I had erroneously said he had four mistresses. Unfortunately, the phrase I used for daughters is the same as the colloquial term for mistress!

In my journey so far, I stand on the shoulder of giants and I am blessed to have many contributors to my success. I am very grateful to my parents for where I am today. My upbringing was a typical tiger mum and dad sort of upbringing where there was always constant pressure, never said, but always inferred to try our best, to be useful members of society and to constantly improve myself. My mother realized at a young age that I was very good at Maths and Science, which was why I decided at a young age to study Engineering in School.

I was not aware then that not many women did STEM and I did not grow up with any mental barriers to what I could achieve in life. My father constantly told us to read widely and that there was no use doing well in school without then constantly investing in our personal life-long learning throughout our careers. He is also a very strategic thinker and through him I have learnt how to set boundaries, understand risk-reward ratio’s when studying a business deal and to never give up on my dreams and aspirations.

In my work, I often talk about how to release and relieve stress. As a busy leader, what do you do to prepare your mind and body before a stressful or high stakes meeting, talk, or decision? Can you share a story or some examples?

I spend a lot of time thinking about what is important to me. At the end of the day, the things that matter most are good health, family and friends. Practicing gratefulness and empathy help to balance out the temporal stresses which may occur from day to day. I believe this is a habit that many of us can attain.

We must prepare well before hand for any task set out but it is very important to be able to have a good night’s sleep the night before as well.

As you know, the United States is currently facing a very important self-reckoning about race, diversity, equality and inclusion. This may be obvious to you, but it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you articulate to our readers a few reasons why it is so important for a business or organization to have a diverse executive team?

It is always easier to have a team that agrees with you where, if you don’t ask the hard questions, then you can move with great speed. The question remains though, if this is the best for the business and whether we reap the best outcomes with this approach, because if not, then everyone loses.

I believe that what works is having a diverse executive team with different perspectives, braving to approach the difficult questions and making us rethink our assumptions to hopefully arrive at solutions and outcomes. However, this can only happen when there is a company culture that respects people with different opinions.

In that aspect, I am lucky to belong to a company that has practiced equality in the number of men and women on their board of directors, not because we were looking for gender equality but each of the board of directors deserved to be there in their own right. We also have an executive team which includes many senior women members who have worked their way up and whose opinions are greatly valued.

As a business leader, can you please share a few steps we must take to truly create an inclusive, representative, and equitable society? Kindly share a story or example for each.

In my opinion, the most important thing for any society is social mobility. People do not choose the circumstances that they are born into, but if they have the talent and the willpower, they should be able to have the opportunity to rise above their circumstances. One of the best levelers of this is education. I believe if we mobilize more good schools in less fortunate neighborhoods together with teachers who can inspire people to dream big, then this pool of talent too can rise above their circumstances because they have been given the opportunity to do so.

The beauty that comes with social mobility is the empathy that is cultivated when people explore different perspectives, regardless of religious beliefs, upbringing and even political views. This creates a better understanding of the “US” vs “THEM” approach.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Most of our readers — in fact, most people — think they have a pretty good idea of what a CEO or executive does. But in just a few words can you explain what an executive does that is different from the responsibilities of the other leaders?

The most important job of the CEO is to be able to paint a vision of where the company is heading towards and mobilizing the team to follow him/her in this direction. Sometimes, it is very difficult for people to see opportunity especially in the face of many potential challenges, but this is a necessary skillset. Often, we may get dragged down by the routine jobs and daily operational challenges but as a CEO, I believe it is my duty to be able to cut through the “business as usual” and to continuously challenge the norm before it shapes complacency. As Andy Grove said, “Only the paranoid survive” and no business will survive indefinitely if it doesn’t evolve in the face of changes in business trends or competition. Therefore, even when something seems to be going well, the CEO must jump in and inspire people to change what or how they are operating to avoid any form of oncoming threat on the near horizon. It is the classic case of trying to get people to change before someone has “moved their cheese”.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive. Can you explain what you mean?

I think most people think that the CEO has all the power to make things happen. This is not true. A title is just a title. It is the people that make you a leader and we can only lead people based on our ability to convince and inspire them.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

There are many views and traditional perceptions of the responsibilities between male and female, especially in the home front. These views and responsibilities further changes after the birth of children, where there is even more division of labor. This is then backed by societal pressure of being a perfect mother. Having equal division of responsibilities here is imperative, especially when one is juggling dual careers that require extensive travelling. In many cases, the women will often decide to take a slightly less demanding career path or takes a step back altogether, leaving the man as the main breadwinner. Therefore, the female talent pool for senior positions might not be as large of men who have had more years of relevant experience.

What is the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?

All of us have some level of ability to influence the job and the job takes on the personality of the individual as well. Over time the two become one.

Most people will choose to put in their mind and spirit into something they are passionate about. At the end of the day, we do what we do well when it is driven by passion. Being a CEO is hard work and that does entail many sacrifices that many may not know about.

What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?

In my view, the most important thing is to cultivate positive mindsets. We can only believe in changing things for the better if we believe we have the power to change them. This is how we can maximize our efforts, intellect and nurture our passion.

There are scenarios at work that we can control and yet there are many that we cannot. This can ultimately seem negative. However, there are also many levers which we can use to influence the things that we can control and continuously expanding our sphere of influence. If we only focus on the negative or the small conflicts, we might give up our power of influence even before we can build or create anything.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I believe women hold up half the sky. I am Deputy Chairlady of World Vision Singapore and by investing in women and children in developing countries; we hope to build skills and capabilities to break the chain of poverty in these countries.

Closer to home, I continue to be passionate about women empowerment and I build platforms for women to connect. I have been involved with the Career Women’s Group at the Singapore Chinese Chambers for more than eight years and it’s a platform by which we organize events to help women entrepreneurs grow their business. As of last year, I have also been building the YPO Women’s Business Network in Asia Pacific with my co-champion. I love entrepreneurship and the YPO WBN has given me a platform to connect with other women entrepreneurs and business owners in the region. I am also a mentor with the Young Women’s Leadership Connection (YWLC) which is a network focused on women who are just starting out in their careers.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

Protect your energy and your mind space. Nothing great can be achieved without having positive mindset and we must be able to keep our positivity in order to enable change. There will always be the “naysayers” and conflict. If we focus on things we cannot change, we will be less likely to be the positive force of change that is required. You have to believe that you can do it.
Keep learning and growing. In order to lead people to where they have not yet been, we have to be constantly learning ourselves. Learning can take place by reading, attending courses or surrounding our-selves with people who are constantly at the top of their game. If we do not invest in ourselves, we will not be able to inspire our team.
Surround yourself with good people. You will not be able to get there alone. When you have a good team, they help to propel you upwards. I constantly feel blessed working with the people I have around me at work because all of them have great technical skills, tenacity and belief that they can work through any challenge that comes our way. It is only through them and the vision that we collectively have that we can constantly push the company upwards and onwards.
Hire for a good attitude, teachability and resilience. Technical skills are important but it is only half of what is required. I have been working for close to 20 years and the entire business landscape has changed drastically during this time. Changes have come in ways which we never thought possible but we embrace them and the team has to continuously keep themselves updated with new skills and capabilities. I am grateful to work with people who can adapt to these changes. Unfortunately, I have also met many of who could not.
You can only implement change at a speed that average people in the organization can accept. Many occasions in my career, I have had to speak about change and how we adapt to these changes, and in many cases not everyone can accept a new idea. This process involves a lot of convincing and leadership skills to bring people to a higher performance level. It is the hardest when it involves a scenario that we do well in but maybe not the best at. I personally realize that speed of change coincides with the speed of acceptance of the average person in the organization. If we push too hard there will be too much resistance, however, if we wait for everyone to accept, then change will never happen.

I spend a lot of my time and energy studying subjects revolving around food technology and efficient ways to bring food to the table. The opportunity to merge technology and business innovations to improve food production is massive. This is the key to minimizing the environmental impacts of a growing human population. Some people estimate that food production is 17% of global carbon footprint; if I could make a dent in this somehow, it would give me a lot of fulfillment.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Be the change that you want to see.

I see so many who are unhappy with their work or in their personal lives and by default they keep blame it on their external circumstances and the people around them. With a little introspection, they will be able to determine what the actual source of their unhappiness is and what they can do to make a positive change. I think they would find that there is a lot more they can influence for the positive instead.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them

Jeff Bezos. This is a guy who in his mid-career decided to start his own business. His tenacity is testament to how he has elevated his once small business to the Amazon we know today. I would just love to meet him and understand what keeps him going.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Michelle Cheo of Mewah Group: “Why is it so essential to protect your energy and mind space” was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Joanna Trimble of Kira Systems: Having the skill to empower others so that they can be the best…

Joanna Trimble of Kira Systems: Having the skill to empower others so that they can be the best versions of themselves will be paramount to your organization’s success

Empower others: if you’re aspiring to be a leader, having the skill to empower others so that they can be the best versions of themselves will be paramount to your organization’s success.

As a part of our series about strong women leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Joanna Trimble.

As Kira Systems’ Chief Revenue Officer, Joanna leads sales, customer success, technical solution consulting and practice consulting disciplines. She has over 25 years of experience working in the legal industry, and has held various sales and sales management positions at both large complex global organizations and startups.

I decided to go into sales because I enjoy people and honestly wanted to own my paycheck. I bought a house when I was 23 and single and loved the concept that the harder I worked, the more money I could make. I felt a sense of true accountability and ownership of my destiny. After several years selling, I began to have a shift in perspective as I started getting more energy from leadership opportunities and attempting to make an impact on a greater scale. This led me to various leadership roles within sales and sales strategy. I’ve had the privilege of working in both large matrixed global corporates and start-ups. At the end of the day, I’ve developed a love of helping others reach their fullest potential and making the biggest impact on the bottom line as much as possible.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

In January 2020, all Kira Systems’ employees came together in-person for the first time at a company retreat. The power of the comradery and the mission of our founders were a powerful source when brought together. It was a memorable moment for me because of the energy and alignment of everyone working towards the same goal, which is to enlighten the world’s enterprises through delivering the insights which are already within their contracts and documents.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Not necessarily funny but definitely an epiphany: one mistake I made as a new sales leader is when I was listening to a call between a sales rep that I was coaching and a customer. I didn’t think the call was going well and I basically said “introduce me, give me the phone.” I couldn’t stand to watch him fail and this was the most important lesson of all — let people make mistakes and empower them with the lessons learned.

When I was at LexisNexis I participated in a leadership program led by an executive leadership trainer, Dr. Linda Burrs. On the last day of the course the call to action was to find a great mentor and I decided that the person I respected the most was the sales VP, Tim Corcoran. So, I naively knocked on his door and I said “Hi, I’m Joanna. Will you be my mentor?” I literally did that. Luckily, he said, “okay,” and took me out to lunch once a month for a year, and what he taught me set me off on a leadership path that wasn’t as common back then. He focused on asking me hard questions so that I would examine my perspective more deeply rather than telling me what he would do. This shaped the leader I became and maybe even more importantly, taught me how to properly coach a person to feel empowered.

I took a course on executive presence and the impact of anxiety and stress, and how it clouds your ability to think and react in a proactive manner. Through that course, I learned how to relieve stress, centre my thoughts, and be mindful of my emotions. The course taught me tactics like deep breathing to avoid fight or flight and to think clearly. The impact of stress and anxiety on performance is substantial. There is a physiological reaction in your body which can constrict blood vessels, cause shortness of breath, etc. The science of it all really convinced me to start yoga and leverage 4–7–8 breathing when I felt my emotions were getting the better of me. With practice over time, this is now much more natural when old triggers crop up. I’ve been practicing yoga for over 10 years now and it has also played a key role in managing stress and ensuring my health is a priority.

When you have diversity and representation within an executive team, you gain access to the best problem solving skills for real-life problems, as well as the right responses to situations that affect people differently. On the other hand, if the executive team is too homogeneous, employees within the organization could feel that leading is not an attainable goal. The power of seeing someone like you in a role that you aspire to is a powerful force to drive confidence.

As a business leader, can you please share a few steps we must take to truly create an inclusive, representative, and equitable society? Kindly share a story or example for each.

The first step is to identify any barriers that are preventing you from creating an inclusive, representative and equitable company. Increasing your awareness of these barriers and then strategically planning around them matters. The internal commitment to diversity also has to be real. Relying on performative displays is different from authentic commitments to listening, learning and evolving as a company, which are likely the most important things any company can do. The second step is to empower your employees with resources and stories to create a supportive culture that is informed of injustices, inequalities, cultural differences, etc. There is strength in knowledge-sharing and this is something that we focus on daily; it has also helped with recognizing privilege. For example, I remember driving at night through Idaho, rural Montana, and was cranky because I was so hungry and had to stop at a gas station for food — I felt safe doing this. The next month, my husband, who is black, did the same drive. He called me during the drive and said that he was paranoid because the area used to be a hotbed for white supremacists. He told me he was worried that if he got a flat tire that he might not be okay. It was that moment that I truly realized how privileged I was.

An executive ensures that the company’s overall vision and strategies come to life. They are also empathetic leaders who empower their employees by providing them with the right resources to grow.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive. Can you explain what you mean?

When you look at an executive from a different organization you create a narrative around what they do, what they’re capable of, and assume that they know everything; that they have this indescribable gift that allows them to take on everything without going through barriers. But, that’s’ just not correct, and it wasn’t until I began working with some amazing executives and mentors that I realized this.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Being assertive to make your ideas and opinions heard can come across as overly ambitious, or even as aggressive. This is a double standard that exists in all industries. During my career, I felt the need to filter my words so that I wouldn’t be perceived in this way, but I’ve realized that it’s important to feel comfortable in your own skin. So, I started to care less about what others think by owning my words, being authentic, and leading with purpose.

What is the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?

You can’t do everything by yourself. I love creating data-driven reports and putting them in motion, and to do that I need a strong operational leader by my side managing follow through. With the appropriate amount of data and analysis your decision making becomes accurate. In many respects, my job is putting the right people in the right roles to deliver the best results. Many leaders make the mistake of hiring in their own image and this really limits growth.

Authenticity is a key for any successful executive in my view. Understanding your market, your customers and having a vision for the future are important but if you are unable to rally the company through a genuine approach, it can be a real challenge to achieve true buy-in.

There are people who desire to climb the ladder to gain power and those that lead through fear. Although that can work in spurts, long term success and full engagement from a team come from finding your authentic voice as a leader. Most people can spot a fake from a mile away. Our internal motivation and drive creates this massive amount of energy so it’s important to not underestimate the power of a strong, healthy culture to drive performance.

What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?

Help employees identify their strengths; empower them to do things that they didn’t even think were possible and to find their purpose. Throughout my career, I’ve been able to bear witness to these results and seeing employees succeed is my fuel to keep leading.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I have enjoyed mentoring youth and young adults and hope that their confidence and motivation to be their best makes the world a better place. The other area that I think can make a big shift in the world is the fact that kindness is not weakness and although we are not in business to make friends, when we are honest and kind in our approach it can unlock an underlying alignment that is a force to be reckoned with.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

Find a mentor: search your network for someone you believe is a powerhouse in your industry or company, and ask them to be your mentor. When I did this at LexisNexis, I was taught real life lessons that put me on a leadership path. It also helped with stepping outside of my comfort zone.
Focus on professional development: I’ve taken a lot of courses focused on leadership and learned about practical techniques that, in the end, helped me get to where I am today. The power of learning, at any stage in your career, should never be undermined.
Be authentic: as a female leader, authenticity has been key to my leadership style. When I’m authentic, I feel confident and comfortable in my own skin.
Network: I did an exercise a couple of years ago during this women’s leadership course, and it really helped me. I wrote down everyone that I could think of within my network, and divided it into different groups. For example, people that could help me with my job, people that will help me get promoted, people that could help me when I’m feeling unmotivated, etc. Then, after completing this diagram, I realized that I have a powerful network of people who can help me overcome different challenges. This was such an amazing tool to have and I still refer to it when I need help with something.
Empower others: if you’re aspiring to be a leader, having the skill to empower others so that they can be the best versions of themselves will be paramount to your organization’s success.

If I could inspire a movement it would be for leaders to embrace the idea that kindness is not weakness. Addressing mistakes and failures of our own can be a powerful catalyst for those we lead to do the same. As a leader and a mentor, I try to teach the concept of radical candor and bring it to life. Show that you care personally, and be absolutely honest and direct.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“A goal without a plan is just a wish” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. This quote has always resonated with me because it speaks beautifully to the importance of being committed and setting up a roadmap to reach success.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been an incredible source of inspiration to me. Especially her tenacity to never be discouraged in spite of the odds. This has shaped how I think about challenges when the odds are stacked against me personally but also generally trying to channel a mindset of perseverance when faced with adversity. She has some great quotes but one that sticks out is that “you can disagree without being disagreeable.” Honestly, this has not always been easy for me.I’m an extraverted passionate and direct person, and the reason it resonates for me so much is that when I can pause and channel my energy and listen, I’m a more effective leader.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Joanna Trimble of Kira Systems: Having the skill to empower others so that they can be the best… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Adrianne Tipton of Novolex: “Promote a culture of inclusion where employees feel empowered to both…

Adrianne Tipton of Novolex: “Promote a culture of inclusion where employees feel empowered to both bring their genuine selves to work, and their ideas to the table”

Build a workplace that enables respect and success for all employees: Promote a culture of inclusion where employees feel empowered to both bring their genuine selves to work, and their ideas to the table — no matter their role. Our CEO refers to all employees as family members and we carry through on that approach whenever possible. For example, when someone is ill or there is a death in the family, we try to support that person with engagement that goes beyond the factory door.

As a part of our series about strong women leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Adrianne Tipton.

Adrianne Tipton joined Novolex in 2014 as the Vice President of Innovation and Market Development and was promoted to Senior Vice President in August of 2019. In her role, Tipton focuses on integrating all of the innovation teams at Novolex to ensure the company continues to grow as a worldwide leader in packaging and food service industries. She also drives innovation in new product development, product management and product marketing.

Before joining Novolex, Tipton served as Managing Director of Compass New Product Consulting. Before then, she was Vice President of Business Research for ORC International as well as Vice President of New Product Development and Marketing for Cenveo (formerly National Envelope). Previous to that, Tipton spent six years at Clorox where she served a variety of critical roles in research and development.

Tipton earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Northern Arizona University and later a PhD in bio-organic chemistry from the University of Nevada, Reno. She then served as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota / Center for Metals in Biocatalysis.

It definitely wasn’t linear. I am a PhD chemist by education. It all started in my teen years and early 20s — my mom was in and out of the hospital with a degenerative lung disease — and it seemed that sometimes the drug side effects were worse than the cure. This led to my goal of entering the pharmaceutical industry to develop life-changing drugs.

It was during my post-doc when I realized there was a lot more to experience in the world than just pharmaceuticals. I got a call to join a high-tech company as a process engineer where I would be developing technologies intended for 10–20 years into the future. It was out of my element, but it was a great learning experience. Over time, I learned more about different types of companies and jobs from people in the industry, which led me to later move into the world of Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) product development. I found working in the CPG space to be very exciting and fulfilling, and loved watching the product I was developing appear on shelves within six to 12 months. My experience in CPG led me to work for a research consulting company where I collaborated with several CPG companies to develop new innovation platforms and identify new markets and opportunities. That opportunity led me to a local opportunity in private equity, where I was responsible for building out a new innovation team and pipeline for a paper converting company — a completely new area for me in terms of manufacturing.

The most illuminating period while serving in this role was when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. I was one of the last people standing and had to work with our suppliers while supporting the layoffs and office closures. It was one of the most stressful times of my career, but I learned more in my 18 months in that role about business practices and operations than I had at any of my prior jobs. That last opportunity is also what led me to Novolex, where I have spent six years and have had such an amazing experience with a growing company that combines all my previous learnings in product development, team building and business integration.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

From an innovation standpoint, I would say the most interesting story has been the pivot we just made — and which is still evolving — from manufacturing our typical product line of food packaging to manufacturing PPE as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This new process has highlighted so many strong attributes of Novolex, ranging from the breadth of our manufacturing capabilities to the talent of our innovation team and engineers. For me personally, it has been an aggressive learning curve in the regulatory environment for PPE and medical devices — a true example of building a plane while we are flying.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Early in my CPG career, I managed a team that developed all the product claims and product performance data for competing products. One day in a town hall, the CEO of a nearly $6B company mentioned he would be interested in understanding more about our product performance. My data-driven mind said “I have that data”, so I emailed him and said I would be happy to send some product overview information (keep in mind, I had just come from a $1.5B company where I was in meetings with the CEO on a regular basis). I got an email back that said, “please set up a meeting.” It was at that point that I had a bit of an ‘Oh Sh*t’ moment, realizing that the chain of command was very different and that may have not been the best approach. We eventually had the meeting, but it took multiple deck iterations and multiple meetings with multiple parties to get there.

One of my first managers when I worked in high-tech really grounded me with his words of wisdom around working in corporate environments. I still use his counsel today when coaching my team and practicing self-reflection. They may seem basic, but it is surprising how you can lose sight of them:

Trust your coworkers. They may not do it how you do it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t right.
Think about what you could have done differently to improve an outcome. In any situation, always focus on your role in the process, regardless of who was responsible for a mistake that may have been made.
Provide solutions for problem statements.

For me it is two things:

I have to do high intensity workouts in the morning, such as running, CrossFit, or peloton — basically anything with a target and end goal. It clears my head, provides a goal to complete in the morning, and gives me 60 minutes out of the day to focus on something other than work.
In the moment, I focus on taking a breath and pausing before responding, especially when things may be heated.

As you know, the United States is currently facing a very important self-reckoning about race, diversity, equality, and inclusion. This may be obvious to you, but it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you articulate to our readers a few reasons on why it is so important for a business or organization to have a diverse executive team?

It’s all about perspective. Diversity, no matter in what form, provides more data points to make better informed decisions for the company as a whole. There have been many times in leadership team meetings where a point of view arises that could only come from an individual’s specific experience because of their particular background. Those points of view and these experiences have made it clear that diversity makes our teams stronger and our leaders better.

As a business leader, can you please share a few steps we must take to truly create an inclusive, representative, and equitable society? Kindly share a story or example for each.

Build a workplace that enables respect and success for all employees: Promote a culture of inclusion where employees feel empowered to both bring their genuine selves to work, and their ideas to the table — no matter their role. Our CEO refers to all employees as family members and we carry through on that approach whenever possible. For example, when someone is ill or there is a death in the family, we try to support that person with engagement that goes beyond the factory door.
Build a culture where people come first: Our Chief Commercial Officer at Novolex — Paul Frantz — often says that the strength of a brand — and the key to its success — is not in its scale, but in its people. When Covid-19 hit, Novolex realized we might be able to make PPE with our plastics production equipment to help address the shortage; however, we’d never produced any medical supplies. We pulled together a diverse team of product developers and engineers and — all by video conferencing twice a day — designed, tested, and launched both face shields and medical isolation gowns in weeks, rather than eight to twelve months (which is the more typical product development timeframe). Both men and women, people with different heritages and all with great expertise came together to bring this idea to fruition.
Strengthen equity within the communities surrounding your organization: I find the best sense of community in a corporate culture is when the leadership supports activities around diversity or community support. I have been at companies with diversity groups who sponsored events that all employees could participate in: 5K’s, local soup kitchen volunteering, meals, and other outreach and it really drove a sense of community and awareness of the company’s diverse culture.

Executives need to represent the company both internally and externally and should understand all facets of the business. That understanding may not be as detailed as the executive’s knowledge of his or her role in the business, but leaders should know enough about all components to speak intelligently about it when asked.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive. Can you explain what you mean?

Being a CEO or an executive doesn’t require a specific educational pedigree or knowing every detail about a business. It’s more about the leadership skills and knowing what questions to ask.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Being a mom — especially of younger kids — can be a challenge with a demanding career. While the societal norm is shifting, it was only just a few years ago that my daughter’s teacher asked her if she was having a difficult time because her mom “worked and was gone a lot” as a result of me being unable to attend events during the week due to travel and meetings.

What is the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?

A transition for me has been the need to rely more on delegation. As the role gets larger, you can no longer be as deep in all the details. It’s good for empowering up-and-coming leaders and providing a coaching opportunity for them to understand what information should be relayed.

Many corporate professionals say that the only way to move up is to manage people, and some people just don’t possess the skills to be a good people manager. They may be great individual contributors, but not good managers. Executives inherently need to be able to manage people both directly and indirectly. It takes a level of EQ in addition to IQ.

What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?

Find the successful people in the organization and identify what makes them effective. From there, identify how you can masterfully develop those skills.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

From a work standpoint, I focus on developing products with true consumer and customer benefits. From a personal standpoint, I try to set an example to my kids and their friends and talk to them about the different types of jobs and careers that are out there. For instance, when I was younger, I was unaware of all the possible career options out there. If anyone had told me what I am doing now when I was in college, I would have had no idea what they were talking about.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

Get comfortable with conflict and feedback: While now I understand how to manage it and that the best way to approach it is head on, it was initially hard for me to not take conflict personally and I would avoid it.
Perception is reality: As a data driven person, I was always under the impression that the facts will prevail. However, if not presented properly, even good data can be just as problematic as faulty or bad data.
Find a place to work that makes you want to go every day: In my first “real” corporate job, I met a lot of great people and learned a lot of new things, but I didn’t love the culture and the type of work. It took me a while to figure that out. I am an extremely committed person who doesn’t like to “quit” anything. So, I struggled with the fact that I was “giving up.” When I finally made the move, I realized how motivating and fulfilling it was to be doing something that I really loved.
Learn to ask for what you want: It’s easy to just expect you will get rewarded or coached for what you need to do to get to the next level or to do your job effectively; however, knowing how and when to ask for what you want is the key to success.
Not everyone processes information like you do: I have always been a fast processor and not always the most patient. It took me a while to understand that the way I take in information and make decisions isn’t the same as others. Typical personality and Meyers Briggs type of assessments have taught me a lot, but it would have been great to have had that insight earlier in my career. It not only helps you be a stronger colleague, but also a stronger manager who better understands where people are coming from.

It would be for everyone to give out five compliments a day. We always tend to focus on the negative, but if we challenged ourselves to offer positive statements more, it would promote a sense of teamwork and make people feel better about themselves. Personally, this would make a huge difference, as I’m not comfortable with receiving compliments and, as a result, I tend not to compliment others. While it’s not something I’m comfortable with, I recognize the importance of it and have seen the impact of celebrating the positives.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

I was scared to death of chemistry when I went to college. In fact, I tried to avoid it. Despite being awarded a full scholarship and graduating in the top 5% of my class, I had the impression that I wasn’t as smart as others and only “smart people should take chemistry”. I had a professor tell me “you know you are actually good at this.” I ended up getting an American Chemical Society (ACS) Advanced Degree in Chemistry. When applying for grad school, I decided to get a master’s degree because I didn’t think I could get a PhD. Once I was in the master’s program, I talked myself into the PhD and never looked back. I think it’s easy to underestimate what you are capable of and sometimes, the outcomes of ignoring the doubt and jumping in with both feet will surprise you.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them

I would have loved the opportunity to sit down with Margaret Thatcher (also a chemist), the first female prime minister and the longest serving in the 20th century. Her ability to command respect in a male dominated profession during a male dominated era — and with a sense of humor — is impressive to me.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Adrianne Tipton of Novolex: “Promote a culture of inclusion where employees feel empowered to both… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Monica Garrett of Margaux Agency: “Let’s inspire a movement to offer mental health services for…

Monica Garrett of Margaux Agency: “Let’s inspire a movement to offer mental health services for young people early in life”

I would love to implement a program that offers mental health services for youth and children early in life. I don’t think we devote enough education or resources to youth programs in developing and dealing with issues they might not understand. Often early warning signs are ignored or simply not addressed because we don’t know how to deal with them. Embracing open dialogue about feelings and seeking support with issues could help form stronger and more confident adults and overall empathy for society.

As a part of our series about strong women leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Monica Garrett.

Monica Garrett is the CEO and Founder of the Margaux Agency, a Los Angeles County-based digital marketing agency. A seasoned expert in design and digital marketing, Monica has developed a sleek and recognizable brand for the agency as well as for her clients. Her passion for her work, an eye for detail, the trust built with clients, and a deep understanding of marketing are the secrets to the success of her agency.

My interest in design began at an early age. I always loved designing things by cutting pictures out of magazines and making new ones. These images inspired me in many ways and sparked my interest in learning art and design. The idea of mixing art and business was a way to have a career and still be creative. Along the way, I worked with many small businesses and learned so much about running a business. I was even a bookkeeper in college so I got some great insight into being an entrepreneur. All of this experience combined encouraged me to do the same thing and now I am running my second company that combines my love of business and design.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

By far the most interesting that has happened was earlier this year right before COVID restrictions were in place. We helped a local client in Southern California prepare and implement an event in Indianapolis, Indiana for the 2020 NFL Combine. I would have never imagined our company working on a project like that let alone making it happen in a matter of a week! It turned out amazing and was such a cool experience meeting many of the NFL prospects in person. Not only was it an amazing success it was a first for us! We planned and coordinated the event days leading up to it and traveled immediately to meet our client there. From event planning to social media marketing it was unforgettable and an experience we will never forget.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I started my first company, Paper Cut Industries, I knew the name was very grandiose sounding. It sounded as if we were an industrial-sized paper company! Well, I was actually running that company out of a studio apartment initially. One day I had a printing manufacturer come to my apartment wanting to speak to the sales department about partnerships. Needless to say, when they came to my apartment unsolicited, they were surprised to find only me and not a large factory! I don’t think they looked up the address prior to visiting.

When I get asked this question I always think of my mom, which has always been my biggest supporter. That is definitely a huge part of my success. However, now that I have been an entrepreneur for over ten years, I am truly grateful for my husband as well. Without him and his support, I don’t think I could have accomplished what I have. Having a strong support system is so crucial when starting a business because it’s risky. Ultimately the decisions I made along the way affected others and without them on my side, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.

When I know I’m walking into high-stress situations or I’m about to meet with a potential client, I really like to ground myself and remind myself that we are just people. They are just another person like me and we are going to talk and it’s as simple as that. I try to avoid getting in my head too much and overthinking it as that brings on stress for me. Also, I love to laugh and be silly. This also reminds me not to take anything too seriously. If no one is going to get physically or mentally harmed, I want to just have fun. Life is beautiful and I want to be happy and share that. Once I start to feel stress and overwhelm I like to remind myself that no matter what, it’s going to be ok. Now, if I leave that meeting stressed, I go on a run!

The main part of what our company does is to provide solutions for businesses and that stems from understanding and solving problems. We know the value of having a diverse team because it ensures you can approach problems from different perspectives and experiences which allows for a greater understanding of people and solutions. Also, by having a diverse team you are giving opportunities to voices that are often ignored or overlooked and that could ultimately provide powerful insights and ideas.

As a business leader, can you please share a few steps we must take to truly create an inclusive, representative, and equitable society? Kindly share a story or example for each.

First, I think there needs to be an open conversation about the long history of inequality and admission to the fact that mostly the white and elite upper class have benefited in wealth for far too long. The conversation needs to bring to the forefront perceptions and ideologies on the current state and continue by asking tough questions. Ultimately race and gender-conscious solutions should be at the center of policy discussion.

For us, we have a very small team so I have been able to not only decide what those responsibilities are but to break the mold of what a CEO should be. Ultimately, as the CEO my responsibilities include making all major decisions for the company, implementing creative solutions and problem-solving, managing all operations of the company and culture of the brand, and creating systems and processes that lead to company growth.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive. Can you explain what you mean?

Being the CEO sometimes comes with the idea of living a lavish lifestyle or one very different from your team. As exciting as that sounds, it’s far from the truth. We are a young company and with that comes more sacrifice than consumption. For me, I’ve made many sacrifices financially because I believe in the company and our mission.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Women Executives often get asked about life and balance because we are expected to be wonderful moms and in powerful positions that don’t seem to exist cohesively. Men don’t get asked this question and it’s because it’s not assumed they balance both perhaps. It’s always interesting to me to think about this. In general, executives have to make many sacrifices as we are in positions of making decisions that affect many people.

What is the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?

Every day has a different set of challenges and I thought my days might be a little more structured. However, they aren’t. Nothing is the same and every day I’m presented with new challenges so it’s not a cookie-cutter list of things that I work on. I’ve also pulled away from the creative design of most things and I never thought I would do that!

While I think many people are very capable of excelling in their careers, managing others is not for everyone. Ultimately I’m responsible for my whole team and that pressure alone could really tear people down. I’m in tune with everyone on my team and I can sense when things are wrong. It’s my job to make sure everyone is included and set up for success. Although being CEO sounds like you’re at the top and perhaps alone, nothing would hold you there without your team so it’s important to be able to communicate and listen. You need to be able to problem-solve and if you aren’t good at that or are impatient, I don’t think being an executive would be easy.

What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?

Women leaders should approach the role and responsibilities with open minds and an eagerness to learn from the mistakes of those before us. Often this means looking to how men have approached these roles historically. When we reflect on what worked and what didn’t we begin to see solutions and opportunities for change. Always be learning and be aware of your own limitations to increase your performance.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

We are a growing company but it’s always a part of our values to give back in ways we can. We have a very passionate team and we choose different organizations to support whether they are through contributions or service. It’s always been important to me to give back to our community and praise our diversity. By being involved in the community and volunteering I feel very connected to others with the intention of improving our community.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

When I began my entrepreneurial journey, I didn’t really know much about business at all. I knew I had skills and I could offer services and somehow that could be a company. I truly wish before I started I had a mentor that could guide me on tough things like pricing. Pricing services or products has always been the most difficult part of any business I’ve had.

I would love to implement a program that offers mental health services for youth and children early in life. I don’t think we devote enough education or resources to youth programs in developing and dealing with issues they might not understand. Often early warning signs are ignored or simply not addressed because we don’t know how to deal with them. Embracing open dialogue about feelings and seeking support with issues could help form stronger and more confident adults and overall empathy for society.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Life shrinks and expands on the proportion of your willingness to take risks and try new things.”

― Gary Vaynerchuk, #AskGaryVee: One Entrepreneur’s Take on Leadership, Social Media, and Self-Awareness

Being an entrepreneur means being able to take risks and understanding that you might fail. Failure isn’t a bad thing. It’s an opportunity. As the CEO I’m trusted to take risks that are in the best interest of the company and I’m not afraid to try. We embrace change and technology and are always ready to learn more. I’ve never been afraid to go after what I want and that takes courage that not many people have.

I’m amazed at many of the top women in leadership positions. Lately, I’ve been keeping up with Natasha Koifman, a Canadian president of NKPR Inc. She has grown an amazing brand that has stayed true to their identity while continuing to support passionate brands. She is also an authority on pop culture and trends which I truly admire. I would love to chat with her about her journey in growing her company and expanding into new areas.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Monica Garrett of Margaux Agency: “Let’s inspire a movement to offer mental health services for… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Andrea Pirrotti-Dranchak of Office Evolution: “Just Launch! Entrepreneurs build the plane as they f

Andrea Pirrotti-Dranchak of Office Evolution: “Just Launch! Entrepreneurs build the plane as they fly”

Just Launch! If you engage with me, you’ll know that one of my favorite sayings is, “Entrepreneurs build the plane as they fly”. We simply don’t have the luxury to “wait” until the product, service, the initiative is perfect. So often “showing up” is 95% of the win. I’ve seen founders, creative directors, coordinators, fail because they were too riddled with fear to release a deliverable and press go. Fear of what? Fear that the deliverable was not yet “perfect”. Fear that the proposal, flyer, product, pricing, website, speech, banner ad, you name it — could not be released because it’s wasn’t “ready yet”. Fear of failure. That means we must launch with confidence knowing that if we have the right systems in place, the numbers, the feedback, and our gut will guide us through continuous improvement and lead to success.

As a part of our series about strong women leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Andrea Pirrotti-Dranchak.

Andrea Pirrotti-Dranchak is a 20-year veteran of the co-working industry and was recently named Office Evolution’s Chief Marketing and Development Officer. Pirrotti-Dranchak’s career spans thirty years, which includes creating revenue for emerging growth and Fortune 500 companies. An early co-working evangelist, Pirrotti-Dranchak’s depth of sales and marketing experience has supported new product/services, global expansions and new brand rollouts.

Growing up I had a dream to be a pop star. I played the violin, trumpet, piano and I sang. My parents supported me but provided some “gentle” guidance to have a plan B. My three siblings and father were all attorneys and I knew that wasn’t for me. A path that felt obvious to me was communications. After graduating from Boston University with a BS I landed a job on the business side of the record industry, working for an independent Jazz record label. I had a roll up your sleeves type of job to launch amazing artists to our international team of distributors. I soon realized, the music industry life wasn’t for me. I moved over to WarnerVision, now Warner Home Video, where I was project manager for Tony Little (who outsold Jane Fonda’s fitness videos) and launched new brands like LaCosta spa and SweatTracks. After a stint at Ernst and Young LLP, where they paid for my MBA, I found little satisfaction in trying to drive change at a 500 pound gorilla day after day — I wanted to go back to my roll your sleeves up, entrepreneurial life. I found myself at a little known company called Regus Business Centers, where I was a member of the leadership team that grew the business from $200 million to $1 billion in revenue. We were a small and lean team that brought the company through lifecycles none of us had ever experienced. We birthed the now “coworking” category, achieved unprecedented industry growth, launched new products and services which serve as the foundation for just about every cowoking provider in the world. We acquired a franchise arm that I ran marketing support for, we filed and went public on the NASDAQ and FTSE, we filed for bankruptcy (which I positioned as great news) and emerged in less than a year. Our next move: we acquired our largest competitor. I ran marketing for 65 countries and found myself steering a billion-dollar ship. I was no longer interested. I quit my job — without a job. Bought and flipped a house. And in the same year, I was offered a full-time job at PWC and a fractional job for a development company with $5 billion in mixed real estate assets. In that one year, I gave birth to two children (who are not twins) and I launched my consulting company, where during my tenure I became a fractional CRO to more than 80 companies across 65 countries. After a year of dating, my client Office Evolution, the #1 and fastest growing coworking franchise in the nation invited me to join as their Chief Marketing and Development Officer. The press release announcing my appointment read, “Office Evolution Hires Co-working Industry Rock Star”.

My life came a full 360. While I chose a different path and didn’t become a POP Star singing on a stage, I did achieve ROCK star status amongst my colleagues at Office Evolution.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

Covid-19 hit and the world as we know it came to a halting stop. I ran marketing through 9/11 (Regus had a location in the World Trade Center the market downturns in 2000 (I successfully positioned Regus as the seatbelt for the economic rollercoaster) and a bankruptcy (which I positioned as “great news”) and the excitement of the IPO. So, when Covid-19 hit I knew that I had to take pages from my playbook early on in my career when unpredictable times took over the world. Our corporate team at Office Evolution knew we had to provide a beacon of hope. We needed to guide our messaging so that our Ohana (Hawaiian for family) had some semblance of compassion and continuity — business continuity. Our CEO and COO planned franchise owner meetings three times a week where they talked about lease negotiations, retaining members, providing guidance. From a marketing and development standpoint, we knew that our messaging needed to evolve and be nimble with the ebbs and flows of Covid. My creative manager and I would stay up every night developing new messages that we could post to social to guide our narrative. We would come up with the words together and then she would bring them to life. We relaunched our brand book reminding our Ohana (Hawaiian for family) of our core values and unique points of differentiation. We added an FAQ and narrative to show how to use those messages in practice. Every day we launched new messages to share via social. Our members are small business owners who use our coworking spaces to run their business. For them, working is fundamental to putting food on their table. So, we let them know: “Business is Getting Done. Here”. “Business Continuity. Found Here”. “Business UNusual made USusal. Here”. “Your Physical Presence in a Virtual World”. This narrative provided a sense of hope, which was greatly appreciated by members of our Ohana.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I gave my Managing Director’s phone number out on a DM list to 10,000 people! It was 1992 and I was working for GramaVision, an Indy jazz record label distributed by RHIN/WEA. We were announcing a release party, Medeski Martin and Wood via a postcard mailer. I gave the Managing Director’s personal phone number for the RSVP! The great news is, we got a tremendous response (great band, great album), the bad news is the Managing Director’s secretary had to answer a lot of unexpected phone calls! The lesson: getting the details right is paramount.

The power of the “last hurrah” and subsequent pivot. Joanna FitzPatrick who was my first boss, Managing Director at GramaVision records left an indelible mark. Joanna taught me the power of reinventing. The daughter of a Hollywood film producer Joanna had several “last hurrahs” and pivots. I joined her for a last hurrah in Provence, France. We had attended MIPIM, an industry event in Cannes where the Cannes film festival is held, and as we walked la Croisette she announced that she was leaving the label to get her MFA at Sara Lawrence College. She did. And, she has since published several books.

Mornings are my quiet time. I lay in bed with a pillow over my head (with my nose out) so that it’s dark and I’m not distracted by light or sound and take a journey through the narrative of the event from different perspectives. Once I have the complete story line in my mind, I’m relaxed and confident to take “whatever it is” on.

Allow me to start with what may be a bold statement. Diversity without inclusion does not work. Let me share why. When you have a diverse group of people working together without the tools to celebrate that diversity, and to bring out the best from that diversity, then the true power of innovation that is inherent in inclusion will not be realized. Moreover, there are statistics that prove the power of inclusion and the impact of inclusion on innovation. So when companies move beyond D&I as a compliance requirement and drive a cultural shift towards inclusion the business benefits and D&I moves to a core, and mission critical aspect of the business.

As a fundamental, having diverse representation at senior leadership levels sends a clear message to the workforce and the public, that the celebration diversity is indeed a priority and that promises of inclusion are more than PR and lip-service.

As a business leader, can you please share a few steps we must take to truly create an inclusive, representative, and equitable society? Kindly share a story or example for each.

There are three ingredients that will contribute to advancing a more equitable society- Empathy, Compassion, and Collaboration. These three components need to occur within all of us in our households, communities, and workplaces. Elevating underrepresented voices, and providing a platform for discussion is the vital first step. Equity only occurs when underrepresented voices are elevated by an establishment group, we only advance change and mutually beneficial growth when we collaborate.

An executive establishes the prize — that incredible “prize” that each member of the team will play an integral and vital role to achieve. The executive keeps each person, individually, and the team as a whole focused, energized and motivated. The executive empowers each individual to fulfill their role enabling them to achieve their personal best. The executive removes barriers, breaks down silos and drives inclusion. Perhaps most important, the executive is visible and accountable. The executive is a good listener who has a clear vision for the business and his team. The executive is never too proud to say, “I appreciate you.”

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive. Can you explain what you mean?

I am NOT an expert in most things! I pursued and received my MBA early on in my career to gain exposure into all areas of business. And, I have had the opportunity to work with a wide variety of amazing people who I learn from. So, I do know what I don’t know. I am quite good about knowing how to surround myself with people who have diverse ideas — ideas different than mine- and how to break down silos and open opportunity for voices to be heard and those ideas to be fostered and brought to fruition.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

I gave birth to two babies, who are not twins, in one year. Our son was born on January 9, 2007, and our daughter on December 5, 2007. I worked up until the day of going into labor, in the room while in labor, I never took a day of maternity leave. I was concerned that if I left, I would be out of the game and marginalized. I had seen it happen before and was concerned it would happen to me. We will never know, but I didn’t want to leave it up to chance.

What is the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?

When I sit down in a meeting, I put my phone on the table, face up with the ringer off. I let the folks in the meeting know that the only time I will pick up the phone is if my children or husband call. My family clearly understands the only time they are to call me during the day is with an emergency. Yes, occasionally asking for a play date turns up as an emergency, but I quickly learned that type of call is a call out to connect. A text, or an email is fine, but “the call” is the red flag. My job, the work I do, the people I work with is what I dreamed it would be. The striking difference is the push pull between the job I actually get paid for and the job where the lifetime development of a human is at stake.

Every day, I feel that I am sprinting a marathon and there is always someone nipping at my heals to try to pass me. Do you know who that person is behind me? Me. Every day I try to better myself. I try to tear down my assumptions. Identify gaps in my execution. To be better than the person I was in the mirror the night before.

Just this morning my son told me that he was frustrated by a person who continues to show off how “amazing” at rowing he is. I asked my son (not for the first time) to look in the mirror and to know the only person he is in competition with is himself. The only person he has to be better at rowing than is the person he looks at each day. He is not the best rower in the group, but the fruits of his labor are paying off as each day he betters his performance and becomes a more powerful member of the team.

The message is — As the person who is in competition with others, you risk mediocracy because you limit your results against the abilities of someone else.

What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?

Give your team something to believe in. A prize to rally around. My daughter’s soccer team ran an entire season with no subs. No bench. Zero. Hot weather. Freezing cold. Rain. Injuries. They showed up. Each brought their best for that game and they played. They lost often but showed up to practice and games with the same zeal. The swan song was the Memorial Day 3-day tournament. They were so conditioned, that while other teams lost steam by playing game after game, my daughter’s team of underdogs won the entire tournament. I learned this early on in my career when our team launched Regus in the Americas. (1) Establish the prize. (2) Let each person know the critical importance of his/her unique role in achieving that prize. (3) Establish key performance indicators and ways to measure success. (4) Guide optimization. (5) Lead by example. Show your team that you believe; that you’re willing to do your part to capture the “prize”. Never give up.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

One person at a time. The only way I know how to make the world a better place is to display true empowerment, encouragement, and support of individuals — in action. I make human connections and I do my best to make each count. I try to identify areas that people feel are special about themselves. Areas the individual may not even truly be aware of. I endeavor to nurture and grow those traits, so each individual achieves his / her best. I’ve done this throughout my career. When individuals feel good about themselves, when they feel supported and included, the natural inclination is to progress that feeling. It truly works.

Someone once asked my direct report what it was like to work on my team and he said, “If you have the opportunity to work on Andrea’s team, you’ll work harder than you ever have in your life, you’ll learn more than you ever have, you’ll be empowered, nurtured and appreciated.” The satisfaction comes when I see the transformation in the individual and when that individual passes the mentoring forward.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

When you make a mistake. Keep going! I was the lead in the 8th grade play. I forgot the words to my song, so I simply stopped singing, said sh*t and walked off the stage. I wanted to be perfect, and when I wasn’t, I needed everyone listening to know that I knew that I was not perfect! I learned later in my career that if you just keep going, with your head up high, shoulders back, and a smile, that “mistakes” are often not even noticed by the audience (whoever they are).
Never be afraid of “the numbers”. Embrace them. Numbers are you friend. Establish “the prize”. Map out the plan to achieve the prize. Put measurements in place to determine the key elements of the plan are working. The numbers guide the way to tell you what to double down on, optimize and indeed abandon.
Just Launch! If you engage with me, you’ll know that one of my favorite sayings is, “Entrepreneurs build the plane as they fly”. We simply don’t have the luxury to “wait” until the product, service, the initiative is perfect. So often “showing up” is 95% of the win. I’ve seen founders, creative directors, coordinators, fail because they were too riddled with fear to release a deliverable and press go. Fear of what? Fear that the deliverable was not yet “perfect”. Fear that the proposal, flyer, product, pricing, website, speech, banner ad, you name it — could not be released because it’s wasn’t “ready yet”. Fear of failure. That means we must launch with confidence knowing that if we have the right systems in place, the numbers, the feedback, and our gut will guide us through continuous improvement and lead to success.
Assume the Sale: My mother loves to tell me stories about the early stages of dating my father. About three weeks into their courting, my father, an attorney, took my mother to a business function. There she was, a young schoolteacher (valedictorian of her HS class) engaging with her new man in an unfamiliar setting. And, to top it off some other woman in a ravishing outfit was flirting with her date! She was a fish out of water and feeling uneasy. Rather than falling prey to her insecurities she assumed the role of the person she wanted to be — the wife of her new man, and a partner in their success. She reminded me of this story when I was determined to get a Marketing Director role in my late 20s. She told me to dress the part of the leader I wanted to be — right down to carrying a briefcase (no laptop bags then) even if I had nothing to hold in it. Assume the sale.
You can’t learn if your lips are flapping: I sat next to a CEO of a financial services company on a flight to Miami. He shared with me some words of wisdom, “Andrea, my parents always told me, you can’t learn if you’re flapping your lips.” To be clear, he wasn’t telling me to stop talking (I don’t think he was anyway), he was sharing his philosophy, one he feels people should but don’t subscribe to. At that moment, I had a flashback to my first job out of college at GramaVision Records, where the GM told me underneath her breath to shut up while I was in the middle of a negotiation. She later let me know that if I had listened, I would have heard that I had already won the prospect over. She knew because she was listening. Listening is part of the magic. Active listening, leaning forward, engaging, participating while listening is the key.

A commitment to be a part of the solution. We have all seen it time and time again. There are throngs of people out there who are ready, willing and able to tear down ideas. Telling someone why they are wrong is so easy. However, it solves nothing. Being a part of the solution by identifying, exposing and bringing to life the opportunity is where the magic can be found. If we all committed to building upon ideas, offering alternatives to ideas rather that tearing apart ideas, the world would truly be a better place. This doesn’t require technology, or investment of money. This only required commitment, and investment in progressing thought.

Can you please give us your favorite” Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

The life lesson quote is from my mother. I was going through a challenging time and she said, “Andrea, raise your tolerance for discomfort.”. And it was that simple. When I think it’s too much or I can’t handle something I think about those five simple words. Those words drive me and compel me to figure out how to prevail.

Alex Morgan, #13 of the NWSL. Her accomplishments are many. Her physical and mental strength are palpable. She is an inspiration to my daughter who is 12, a high honors student and lover of soccer. She is determined to follow in Alex’s footsteps and attend Berkeley.

Andrea Pirrotti-Dranchak of Office Evolution: “Just Launch! Entrepreneurs build the plane as they f was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Susan Bowen of Aptum Technologies: “The CEO title will always walk through the metaphoric door…

Susan Bowen of Aptum Technologies: “The CEO title will always walk through the metaphoric door ahead of you, but it’s important to remember who you are; That’s the CEO that people will respect”

The CEO title will always walk through the metaphoric door ahead of you, but it’s important to remember who you are. That’s the CEO that people will respect. There will always be somebody who believes that because you are CEO, you should dress and act a certain way. When I was first promoted to president of Aptum, I was told my new office would be in the “power corner” next to the CFO. I quickly realized it was the office that had the least amount of footfall and that people couldn’t tell if I was there or not. I quickly found an alternative space that was on the route between the main desk area and the coffee machine. I keep the door open and say hello, smile or wave to everyone who walks by and I purposefully spend the most amount of my time out and about with everyone.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Susan Bowen, CEO of Aptum Technologies.

With over 20 years’ experience in the technology industry, Susan understands the importance of transformational leadership to stay at the forefront of customer needs and expectations.

Throughout her career, Susan has earned a reputation as a trusted advisor and leading voice in the technology industry. Creating partnerships around technology helps businesses adapt to change, spur innovation, and create value. She would say, “That’s when things truly happen”.

While her passion for technology has helped guide her, Susan’s strong focus on sustaining revenue growth and driving operational efficiency has helped create an organization devoted to enabling its customers to run their businesses.

Spurred on by her experience as one of the only women in her Computer Science classes in the early 90’s, Susan is a passionate advocate for the advancement of diversity and inclusion. During her time in the UK, Susan was a Founder & Chair of the Skills and Diversity Council for techUK, a founding Director for The Tech Talent Charter, and in 2017 was named among the top 50 Most Influential Women in UK IT by Computer Weekly magazine.

Prior to taking on global leadership at Aptum (formerly Cogeco Peer 1), Susan was Vice President and General Manager of Cogeco Peer 1, EMEA, where she spearheaded strategic direction. Susan has also held the role of Chief of Staff UK & Ireland at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) following her tenure of over 16 years at HP UK Ltd.

I was born and raised in South Wales, UK, in a hardworking family.

Growing up, my father was a police officer, my mother was a bookkeeper, and my older sister became a science teacher. From a very early age, we were taught the value of hard work and curiosity about all things science, technology, engineering and math.

Encouraged by my father, my sister and I loved all kinds of gadgets and enjoyed working on our family car, learning to fit a new muffler, change a flat tire, and check oil all before being taught to drive, giving us the confidence to remain calm in case we broke down on the side of the road.

I picked up an interest in gaming around the age of 10, copying code from magazines for games like Frogger on the BBC computer, and enjoying Munch Man and Pac-Man games. My all-time favorite, which I still own to this day, is the 1983 original Nintendo Donkey Kong on a split screen.

I was always curious, and my natural creative leadership skills and logical problem-solving aptitude began to emerge. It was inevitable that I would pursue a career in the technology industry.

My technical journey began at Digital Equipment Corporation who hired me as an intern, followed by a System Engineer role at Electronic Data System (EDS) before taking a role at Hewlett Packard. During my 16 years at Hewlett Packard, I worked in nearly every business unit and was continually seeking new, innovative ways to develop myself and the company. This constant effort, alongside a series of non-executive board positions, led me to take a leap of faith — accepting a newly created role at Cogeco Communications (a Canadian Telco), culminating in my current position as CEO.

I was promoted to President of Cogeco Peer 1 in September 2018. Shortly after, I led the divestiture to spin off the business into a standalone global company with private equity owners, Digital Colony, ultimately rebranding the company as Aptum Technologies in August 2019. Now, I am CEO of Aptum and have thoroughly enjoyed the adventure this position has taken me on, despite the challenges that come with the role.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

If I were to describe it in only a few words: public, private, two spins, the upside down and a pandemic.

Being a CEO demands continual evolution and learning how to do better, resulting in my ultimate takeaway: this is a continuous journey.

These past couple of years have taught me that being an adaptable leader with poise, clarity and focus enables you to maintain balance. Since being appointed CEO and President, I have led the organization through two spin-offs; the first was to exit Cogeco and transition from Public to Private, the second was to divest off one of our business units to help focus the rest of the organization.

As CEO, I’ve been able to pivot the organizational structure from a regional model to a global approach. During this time, I’ve also had to play offense and tackle the COVID-19 pandemic head-on with a five-year strategic plan. It is safe to say that it has certainly been a busy two years.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

One of my early meetings in this role was at the start of our divestiture activity, whereby we were deep in due diligence work with our new owner. The meeting took place over the weekend, and I planned to drop into one of our Toronto offices while my family went to a local play area. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of assuming my pass to the shared building access would work and nobody from security was around.

I ended up conducting the meeting from my car, which I strategically parked close to the office to benefit from WIFI connections. The only issue was that a group of local car racers were using the parking lot, and you can only imagine the scene. Pimped up cars with high energy, loud bass music, wheel spins… and, then there I was, sitting in the car with my laptop, two phones, no power, trying to concentrate on providing a best-in-class presentation for our potential new owners.

I learned that even with the best of planning, you can still find yourself in an unexpected situation, needing to find a different way to make it work. I also learned that instead of focusing on what is in front of you, concentrate on what you are trying to solve, the objective, and ultimately the outcome. I guess if our new owners read this article they are now finding out about it as they would never have known on the call. I kept it together, remained focused, and stuck to the plan, poised and calm.

It’s a cliché, but if I had to name one person, it would be my father. He and my family are huge influences in my confidence and always provided support, while also showing compassion and recognizing that life throws many curve balls.

My father passed away from medical complications when I was in my 20’s; he was only 55. It completely changed my outlook and made me realize that working hard is good, but enjoying the journey, learning, laughing (a lot!) and taking time for self-care is equally important. And, most important of all is putting family first.

We are a close family, filled with strong, independent women. My grandmother is 93 and still living on her own, and my mother, sister and aunt had inspiring 30+ year careers in retail management.

Many others have encouraged me along the way, trusting in me and opening doors that I could have never anticipated. I am a huge advocate of reverse mentoring. Many people who have come to me as a mentee ended up being my mentor too. It truly is a humbling and rewarding experience.

Also, let’s be honest, there were others who didn’t support me or were naysayers along my journey. They only further encouraged me to give them a reason to prove them wrong!

Today, my husband is my biggest supporter. Six years ago, he was open to leaving his career of 23-years in the motor industry to support our son and me, partially because my job demanded a lot of travel.

Because of his selflessness, we were able to travel the world together as a family, rather than me constantly being away on business trips. This experience has been enormous fun and has challenged the notion that being extremely involved in business means you’ll be away from your family. For reference, our son went to San Francisco, Milan, France, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore all before he was 2 years old.

I am grateful for their eagerness to go on new adventures, learning to adapt and explore together along the way. We are currently living in Canada, with our son just finishing up first grade. The first half of his school year was spent in the classroom, and the second half was spent with my husband as headteacher and me as deputy headteacher. Those were the hardest jobs either of us have ever had.

As a busy leader, what do you do to prepare your mind and body before a stressful or high stakes meeting, talk, or decision? Can you share a story or some examples?

For me, prepping for a high-stakes situation involves ensuring I am well rested. Being a parent of a young child, you can imagine how difficult that can be. I’ve certainly learned how to adapt through parenthood, though.

I’m also mindful of what I eat, paying particular attention to the key nutrients my body needs. Juices are a favorite of mine, and often I will go on a 3-day juice cleanse. As I get older, I am also mindful of limiting my alcohol intake, particularly when traveling.

Taking walks to break up my day has been key, and I’ve incorporated a lot of decaf tea into my diet. The process of stepping away from work, making the tea and going for a walk helps center me, clear my head, and helps me avoid the mid-day brain drain. I also find it beneficial to walk around the entire office and in different directions while visiting new coffee spots. The small adventures help me get a feel for the office and general vibe, which has been difficult to incorporate into my current daily routine because of the pandemic.

Given the coronavirus outbreak, my family has rooted itself in a calming strategy. During the early morning hours, my son and I will get up and take our dog out for an hour-long walk. This new routine has provided him an outlet to release some of his high-energy when preparing to be at home for the rest of the day. A small task we created initially to get moving has also provided some of my favorite conversations with him, completely disengaging my mind from all things work-related, preparing me for the workday ahead. I also think there is a certain kind of inspiration that comes from listening to the innocent thoughts of a child, oftentimes providing an inspiration that I would not have been able to source on my own.

The focus for an important and intense meeting comes down to envisioning what you want to gain from the meeting, while simultaneously anticipating what the other attendees are seeking. Sometimes these two goals do not align but preparing for a baseline outcome is crucial. Indeed, if it is not agreeable, you are left with a few more moves. It’s a bit like playing chess.

Finally, I cannot emphasize the importance of downtime enough. I enjoy putting photo books together to bring out my creative side, while being able to relive memories. I also toss on my latest favorite series on Apple TV or Netflix. I focus on maintaining a good work-life balance.

There is an unconscious bias in all of us, stemming from our history and experiences. We owe it to ourselves and our society to critically self-reflect on how we each behave, really honing in on how we acknowledge the issues at hand, and how we can make strides toward becoming more open and comfortable with understanding and discussing the issues.

At Aptum, our customers and users are diverse, so it’s important that as a company reflect the world we live in.

Having taken Aptum on a transformational journey this past year, I am delighted that our executive leadership team is now 42 percent female, and we have a mix of backgrounds and cultures with 50 percent of our recent manager promotions and hires being female.

However, becoming a truly diverse and inclusive organization is an ongoing commitment and as a global company, we are committed to maintaining open communication about our diversity and inclusion goals, opportunities, and challenges. I will say that I am not a fan of quotas to drive inclusion. For me, it will always be about getting the best available talent.

A diverse executive team and workplace is vital because the diversity of thought leads to increased innovative problem solving and ultimately business growth.

As a business leader, can you please share a few steps we must take to truly create an inclusive, representative, and equitable society? Kindly share a story or example for each.

We have always polled our employees during engagement surveys to share their thoughts on Aptum being a diverse and inclusive organization. That said, we had never really had the conversation openly beyond gender. So on Black Tuesday, I took the time to write to all of our employees and have subsequently addressed diversity in our employee communication to share our intent and focus as a company to ensure inclusion is at the forefront of business operation decisions.

I favor discussions on the value and opportunity that inclusion creates, be it about talent or creativity or just viewing the world through a different lens instead of applying KPIs or metrics on diversity. Although, tracking and reporting hold us to a measurable standard, it is more important to focus on the meaningful outcome of acting as one inclusive global community.

There are two primary functions that I have that are different from others in the team:

Overall responsibility for engaging with our Shareholders / Owners and the Board. This means I wear two hats. A hat for our Owners and achieving shareholder value, and a hat for our Leadership team and running of the company operation. The primary aim is to align these or have a short, near and long-term commitment.
Holding the organization to account. Helping to ensure we remain focused and aligned to our plan and realizing when the plan needs to adapt. Strategic direction needs to be balanced with the tactical, operational steps and the market demands. It will also be about achieving plan (ideally better than the projected budget!).

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive. Can you explain what you mean?

I have experienced two myths that probably need to be addressed; one is that an executive is not pushing down on the organization how something should be done. An executive aims to understand the what and enable and empower the how of the company. If individuals feel they are being told how (as opposed to being coached or developed to achieving the how), we have a real challenge.

The CEO is not always responsible but will and should always take responsibility. it is important to listen, to inspect what you expect and remain consistent. Different CEOs will play to their strengths. For example, I am a transformation CEO, very hands-on, involved in the details. Equally as important is being able to step out of the detail and focus on strategic direction. Some CEOs are more technical, and others are more strategic and less involved in the day to day. The appointment of a CEO will depend very much on what the company prioritizes and needs. The best CEOs are adaptable to what is needed at a given moment. I aspire to be that CEO.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

It is the unconscious bias in all of us that leads us to see and hear things differently.

For many years (and it still happens today), if a female responds to a question directly and then passes the matter back to the individual to ask them for additional thoughts, they may be considered “too direct” or threatening.” If a female CEO is vocal, then they may be viewed as “emotional” or “aggressive.”

I saw a great initiative recently, which showcased how unconscious bias can lead to how female leaders are considered and described. For example, a female is viewed as “pushy” as opposed to being persuasive, or abrasive instead of assertive. Let’s face it, women leaders are often referred to as “bossy” instead of the Boss.

There are also social standings and conversations that have a natural unconscious bias. During a recent meeting with a potential supplier in the UK, for example, the conversation quickly shifted to football (soccer). As the CEO of the supplier company went around the table asking everyone’s favorite football club team, he quickly skipped over me and went to the next (male) person in the room. In case you’re wondering, I do have a favorite. We are proud season ticket supporters of the Southampton Football Club for more than 20 years.

What is the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?

The most striking difference was how much an organization tries to keep things off your desk.

I have never viewed the application of strict hierarchy as a positive institutional asset. While I am also not suggesting a company needs to make decisions by committee, I strongly believe that the best leaders and CEOs are the ones who are generous with their time, ask questions and are curious and seen at all levels in the organization.

Sometimes, the CEO can help solve a problem because they can see all aspects of the company and help make decisions quickly by weighing the balance or impact of the decision. Therefore, transparency up through the organization is as vital as it is coming down. I work hard to create a reachable and open personal style.

Meg Whitman, former CEO at Hewlett Packard and eBay, is a prime example of the approachable CEO. I learned a lot from her and welcomed her transparency and open communication style. In the 16 years I was with HP, I experienced a number of CEOs and took notice of those who didn’t take time to connect with the organization, and the struggles faced as a consequence.

In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful executive and what type of person should avoid aspiring to be an executive? Can you explain what you mean?

Key traits for any leader are adaptability, positive attitude, collaboration, grit, compassion and commitment.

The role of an executive is not easy. There are many uncertainties, and there is often a lot of pressure. It is important to walk into an executive role with your eyes open. You will more than likely be judged from all angles and need to be prepared to listen and determine the relevance of this judgment on company success.

What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?

Be yourself. Do not try to be anyone else.

Over the years, I have noticed the times when I was being held back or told I was disruptive. One time, I even started to dress like everyone around me, wearing tailored black and grey suits to camouflage myself into the rest of the workforce, which was mostly men. It is only now when I look back that I realize that I was always intended to be in a leadership role where you can stimulate creative thinking and lead this mindset forward. I now work to stay connected with other female leaders and give my time to support them.

Stay true to your values and your talent will shine through and expect that often you will look at things from a different angle to your male counterparts, which should be celebrated not criticized.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I advocate for girls and women to see STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) as exciting and a career to strive for. I volunteer and donate to initiatives such as Speakers for Schools, Tech Talent Charter, along with Black Girls Code and Code First Girls.

I believe the more we can encourage females at a young age to see STEM as stimulating and impactful, the greater our society will be.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

Whatever you do, somebody will not be aligned with your approach. Try not to get distracted by this. For example, I’ve received personal critiques or comments on my leadership style from individuals in the past. And, while I evaluate what this might mean for me and how I could improve, I strive to not get fixated on the negative. Instead, I shift my focus to the overall team and how I can better support them.
You are not going to transform an organization if you do not face the systemic problems within — understand them, highlight them, work to tackle them. In every organization, there will be people who can’t see beyond what they have always done or known. Sometimes it is necessary to call the problem out and bring it to the forefront. In my experience, once teams can see the problem from a different lens, they can typically buy-in to find new ways of working. It is about taking the time to facilitate the discussion and highlight the issue that needs to be solved.
Have courage. For every person aligned with you, there will be somebody who doesn’t and you will need to have courage to provide the clear direction that everybody will be seeking from you.
Stay the course of what you are trying to achieve. In the role of CEO, you can see the bigger picture of organizational health and future goals to achieve. Courage is needed to help people go on the journey when they can’t see the wood for the trees.
Be generous with your time, even if it’s just saying hello as you walk around. Your company will only be as great as your people and the heart and soul that they pour into it — so put your heart and soul into them. For me, this means dropping individual notes to team members at all levels, hosting site-based conversations, sending a happy birthday note to employees, and more. Be available on collaboration channels, even external ones such as LinkedIn. Taking time to network across the industry and in other industries helps you remain fresh and informed. At the same time, you are supporting and enabling others.
The CEO title will always walk through the metaphoric door ahead of you, but it’s important to remember who you are. That’s the CEO that people will respect. There will always be somebody who believes that because you are CEO, you should dress and act a certain way. When I was first promoted to president of Aptum, I was told my new office would be in the “power corner” next to the CFO. I quickly realized it was the office that had the least amount of footfall and that people couldn’t tell if I was there or not. I quickly found an alternative space that was on the route between the main desk area and the coffee machine. I keep the door open and say hello, smile or wave to everyone who walks by and I purposefully spend the most amount of my time out and about with everyone.

If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I would like to help people recognize what good mental health looks like and the steps they can take to achieve it.

The reality is that while we are all focused on fighting SARS and COVID-19, there’s been another pandemic running rampant for years when it comes to mental health. And, while it is encouraging to see mental health talked about more freely, I know the pain and the impact of suicide, and recognize that there is a multitude of silent sufferers in the world who do not have access to resources to seek help.

With that in mind, I would endeavor to create an app that utilizes AI and medical knowledge and expertise to read our behaviors and provide support for those individuals who do not know how to do so, letting people know that it will be ok.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Life is a series of choices, not regrets.” My Nana said this to me many times as a teenager, and I continue to hold it close. It’s relevant in everything we do. We make choices every day; some are incidental, while others are impactful. The key is to remember that we had the opportunity to do or not do something. We can’t live with regrets. Instead, we should recognize that we made a choice and that we have the opportunity to make a different one next time.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them!

Can I be cheeky and ask for a dynamic couple? If so, I’ll take Mr. and Mrs. Obama, please. I would love to learn from their generosity and graciousness in what they have achieved both individually and in their support for each other. It is commendable and inspiring. For me, it is not about the political landscape of their contribution, but more about their leadership style, approach, as well as family focus and societal innovation. I think we could all do with bringing out the Obama in us.

Susan Bowen of Aptum Technologies: “The CEO title will always walk through the metaphoric door… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Lindy Benton of Vyne: Why I Would I Like To Inspire a Movement Around Investing More in Education

Education is the root of change. I would inspire a movement around investing more in education, giving children opportunities to see the potential for what they can achieve and providing a clear path to getting there. Through initiatives like corporate education, companies can sponsor schools and executives have opportunities to teach so students can observe for themselves the professionals who are paving the way for their future success.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Lindy Benton the CEO and President of Vyne, a provider of healthcare communications, electronic attachment and health information exchange solutions to the hospital, dental practice, and payer markets. Lindy’s 30-year career also includes roles at Digital Equipment Corporation, The Sage Group and Cerner Corporation. She has been recognized as one of the “Most Powerful Women in Healthcare IT” by Health Data Management and as a “Woman to watch in healthcare IT” by Becker’s Hospital Review. Lindy holds a Master of Science degree from Florida State University, was named one of the university’s distinguished alumni in business and industry and serves on the university alumni association’s national board of directors.

I started out as a special education teacher in Pasco County, FL. I helped build a program, the first of its kind in the state of Florida, that supported more than 100 disabled children in successfully transitioning to public school. In teaching, I found a key component to the students’ success was the availability of technology to help them communicate in the classroom. I enrolled in a Ph.D. program in Statistics and Computer Science and learned how to apply desktop computers in this effort. This later transitioned to a role with Digital Equipment Corporation, where I guided engineers in developing new desktop devices to help children like those I taught.

After leading Digital Equipment Corporation’s southeast healthcare division, I continued to focus on advancing healthcare technology in roles at Cerner, The Sage Group, MEA|NEA, and now Vyne. In my 15 years serving in various leadership positions at Cerner, I hired and trained high-performing sales teams and oversaw clinical and technical teams responsible for designing and delivering IT solutions to clients worldwide. Leadership opportunities at Cerner later opened the door to an executive role with The Sage Group where I was Chief Operating Officer of their healthcare division.

Since 2011, I have been CEO of Vyne, a recognized leader in secure health information exchange and electronic healthcare communication management. We design and deliver solutions that capture and transform manual, paper-driven processes to automated workflows that improve performance, efficiencies, and outcomes for both dental and medical teams.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

A story that shaped the way I approach my career occurred in a previous role and centered on a conversation I had with a young woman at my company. I attended a presentation she gave and later went to congratulate her on a job well done. Her response was what opened my eyes to the significance of my role and its impact. She said, “I’m watching everything you do, the good and the bad, and learning from it.” Until then, I had not considered my example as one that other women would follow. But the truth is that women need women ahead of them in leadership positions so they can observe, ask questions, and follow in their footsteps. This realization made me a better leader and put me more in tune with my actions. It taught me to think before I act, realizing others around me may be watching and learning. It was a turning point in my commitment to support and mentor other women in pursuing their unique paths to achieving their goals.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

To me, mistakes are part of the growth process and often accompany new endeavors. One of my most memorable blunders occurred in my transition from teaching special education to my start in healthcare IT. I was attending a conference to learn how desktop computers could be used to support non-verbal children in my classroom. As I was leaving a session, I (literally) bumped into Ken Olsen, who was founder and CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation. I wasn’t familiar with his multi-billion-dollar computer company at that time, but over the course of our conversation, we discussed concepts I knew could revolutionize learning for my students and others like them. It lit a spark that would set the course for my career. A week later, I received a call and learned that Ken had recommended me for a position with his company. Being paid by the hour on a teaching salary, I didn’t know the first thing about a conducting a business interview or negotiating an offer. But I bought a new red suit, went for the interview and found myself being offered a regional sales position for the company’s new business centers. At the end of the interview, the hiring manager wrote the number “32” on a piece of paper and slid it across the desk. I sat doing the math in my head, trying to determine the annual salary at $32 an hour. Taking my silence as a negotiation tactic, the manager scratched out the number, changed it to 38 and slid it back over. Receiving the same response, he raised it to 45, stood and said it was all he could do. I accepted the offer and later went to clarify my annual salary based on what I thought was an hourly rate. I was quickly corrected that the company didn’t pay by the hour but was congratulated on my skill as a tough negotiator. My reply was that I was actually just really bad at math! This is a funny story but a good example of the lessons we learn as we take new steps in our careers, transition between industries, and travel into unchartered territory. We learn more about ourselves and about others than we ever thought possible.

That person is Ken Olsen, who founded Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and grew it to become the world’s second-largest computer company. Ken was down to earth, collaborative, and passionate about providing solutions to make a difference in people’s lives. Meeting Ken changed the course of my life and career. After joining DEC, I worked there for 13 years with many growth opportunities along the way. In addition to my role in the sales division, I worked directly with Ken on the design and release of a solution to help non-verbal children communicate in the classroom. He was the person who understood my vision and helped it come to fruition.

Whatever the activity — running, cycling or the gym — I find exercise to be essential to clearing my mind and relieving stress. Even (and especially) when things are busy, I always carve out time to get my head straight. I usually do a hard workout with both cardio and weights. If I need to make a big decision or solve a problem, I often find that by the end of the workout I have an answer and can take a clear path forward.

Our industry represents a blend of many backgrounds, religions, cultures, and demographics. If our leaders represented just one segment, our decisions would reflect only the priorities and perspectives of that group. This would hold us back and be a disservice to the healthcare clients we serve. To me, the best ideas come from weighing differing perspectives and coming to decisions that benefit everyone. This concept applies to every business process in our company from human resources to finance to product development.

As a business leader, can you please share a few steps we must take to truly create an inclusive, representative, and equitable society? Kindly share a story or example for each.

Vyne’s company tagline is connecting disconnected data. When it comes to connecting the disconnected, I see it being much bigger than just data. It’s also about people. My job as a leader is to stand against any concept, idea, or initiative that would cause division and segregation in my business or community. I make sure my leadership team is reflective of the individuals and communities we serve. We make it a priority to consider our customers’ preferences and means of access to our technology and take that into account when designing our solutions. Our technology isn’t one size fits all but allows for customization based on the unique circumstances of each health system.

As CEO, I see it as my responsibility to generate the greatest possible value for my company’s shareholders, employees, and customers. I focus on driving the company forward while introducing the least amount of risk to these groups. That means being unafraid to make hard decisions and giving others the opportunity to do the same. Sometimes we’ll get it right and sometimes we won’t, but in either case, we move forward without fear. Failure is often the fastest way to learn; if you don’t fail you aren’t moving forward. We have wonderful clients who provide valuable feedback about our technology and how it supports their processes. This input helps us make better decisions and guides our strategic direction.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive. Can you explain what you mean?

One myth is the idea that CEOs have all the answers. CEOs don’t always have the answers, but they do have to be good listeners and make good decisions. We all take different paths to getting here and face unique challenges along the way. But once you are at this level, your job is to ask the right questions, weigh the facts available to you, make smart decisions, and lead.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

That question is difficult to answer because I haven’t had the experience of coming up through the ranks as a man. But I would say one challenge for me was not having many women ahead of me in my career to look up to and emulate. In many ways, I carved my own path without much opportunity for guidance from women who held the positions I hoped to obtain. I’m optimistic about this changing for women now, and I’ve made it my mission to be part of that change.

What is the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?

It is the challenge of striking a balance between achieving a return for shareholders, investors, and customers on the one hand, and making decisions that impact the lives and families of my employees on the other. Decisions impact one group or the other and can sometimes have hard consequences for those involved. It is a weighty responsibility that I take very seriously.

Flexibility is key. Executives need flexibility with their schedules and the ability to pivot quickly in response to changing scenarios. Other traits important to success are being decisive, being a good listener, and having a strong support network.

What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?

Don’t try to be someone else. Be your own person and stand up for yourself and your actions. Step up to the challenge, not away from it. Have your team’s back and allow them to forge their own path. Take responsibility for the decisions you make and own the outcome, successful or not. Find ways to explore your failures and use them to teach others. This support builds trust. earns respect, and makes you a better leader.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I do this by making sure that anyone I know with a desire to advance professionally gains access to opportunities to progress in their careers. I’m proactive in mentoring and connecting growing professionals to the networking, education, and professional development opportunities they need to succeed. I have built these relationships throughout my career — at my company, at Florida State University where I serve on the alumni board, on various committees, and in my community. Many of the professionals I have mentored have gone on to launch and run successful companies of their own.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

You can be yourself and don’t have to imitate anyone else to succeed.
People want the truth and honesty, even when it’s not what they want to hear.
Your actions should always match your words if you’re going to be the kind of leader people trust.
A diverse executive team is critical to making good business decisions.
The recipe for success when forming a new executive team is finding the right mix of current leadership, internal promotions, and outside talent.

Education is the root of change. I would inspire a movement around investing more in education, giving children opportunities to see the potential for what they can achieve and providing a clear path to getting there. Through initiatives like corporate education, companies can sponsor schools and executives have opportunities to teach so students can observe for themselves the professionals who are paving the way for their future success.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Jim Collins wrote, “Whether you prevail or fail, endure or die, depends more on what you do to yourself than what the world does to you.” So much of our success in business and in life depends on how we choose to respond to the circumstances in which we find ourselves. A leader finds a way. If there is a brick wall in your path, find a way to get past it. You can tear it down or climb over it, but don’t let it stop you. In my 30 years in business, I have used the “impossibilities” of my career as drivers for my efforts and success and have had the privilege of uplifting and guiding others on the same journey. Together, we take what could be seen as weaknesses and turn them into opportunities to grow in strength.

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Jane Goodall, and Dolly Parton are all on my list. The common thread among these individuals is the will to overcome significant obstacles in pursuit of one’s dream. Their circumstances and challenges are unique, as are the arenas in which they have achieved success. Politics, science, and music are very different industries; the similarity is the endurance these leaders have displayed through it all. Instead of using circumstances as an excuse, or quitting in the face of criticism or failure, they have prevailed and endured.

Lindy Benton of Vyne: Why I Would I Like To Inspire a Movement Around Investing More in Education was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dr. Kimberly Smith of ViiV Healthcare: “I strongly believe the world would be a better place if we…

Dr. Kimberly Smith of ViiV Healthcare: “I strongly believe the world would be a better place if we had more women of color in leadership”

I think it is important to take the time to know your team. In taking an interest in them from every level, you truly understand their impact and their value. It doesn’t go unnoticed in my experience, and it helps build their own understanding of their importance within their team. Fostering a sense of belonging is crucial to the success of any company.

As a part of our series about strong women leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kimberly Smith, MD, MPH, Head of R&D for ViiV Healthcare.

Dr. Kimberly Smith is physician and researcher dedicated to ending the HIV epidemic and has made it her life’s work to answer the unmet needs of those living with HIV. She began her career at the start of the HIV crisis as a clinician at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and has focused on the gender and racial disparities that are endemic in the HIV community. Today, as the Head of R&D for ViiV Healthcare, a company solely focused on HIV, Dr. Smith leads the research and development of innovative new medicines for the treatment and prevention of HIV and is driven by the mission of leaving no person living with HIV behind

From a young age, I was overcome with curiosity and was always fascinated with how things worked. I’ll admit, I was a bit of a nerd growing up. In middle school, I led our six-person “Equations Team,” where we would compete in math games with schools around the U.S. We actually ended up winning both the state and national championships!

To that point, STEM subjects were always “my thing,” particularly biology and math. I took organic chemistry in high school and even ended up tutoring my peers in college. It didn’t feel like there were many roadblocks in my career path, primarily because I was dedicated and passionate about my work and had a deep, robust understanding of the material.

Medicine was the perfect extension for my ongoing focus on understanding how things worked coupled with helping other people. I was the first person in my immediate family who went into the field of medicine and everyone was very supportive of my decision and encouraged me throughout my education — which is not always the case for women in STEM. I had a strong support network that reinforced the idea that there were no limits to what I could achieve, and I believe that mindset propelled me through college and helped me obtain my medical degree.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

It’s certainly difficult to pin-point just one interesting story at ViiV Healthcare since starting! If I were to choose, it would be an event that happened recently. We have a new medicine that is in clinical trials for the prevention of HIV and it was found to be superior to the current daily standard of care in populations that are at high risk for acquiring HIV. This study is going to have such a great impact — it has the potential to change how we approach HIV prevention and I am fortunate to be involved.

One of the most exciting parts of the trial was that it was stopped — two years earlier than anticipated — because our medicine proved to be extremely effective, and a study stop is rare. The data analysis was happening in the midst of the COVID pandemic, which really tested our ability to communicate with the study sites. This study ties into some of the most important work happening at ViiV Healthcare to deliver prevention options to transgender women and men who have sex with men.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The learning curve when you first start practicing medicine is massive. I can remember one instance, in the first month as a physician where I admitted an older patient from a nursing home who happened to be blind. This patient was the sweetest woman and we ended up having a lovely conversation where we bonded over the fact her and my mother shared the same name. After I took her history, I noted which medicines and tests the nurses should be giving her. A day later, the nurse and I went to explain the tests I had ordered. As the nurse was discussing the tests that needed to be administered, our patient suddenly felt very strongly against these tests. Without realizing I was there, she began speaking very candidly how she felt about me and used some very colorful language. I remember her saying how she didn’t “care what Dr. Smith and her mammy ordered for me.” I was so taken aback — not only was she cursing me out, but she had brought my mom into it as well — I’ll never forget that!

There are so many people that encouraged me along the way; I absolutely agree that no one is able to succeed without the help of others. I can think of a dozen teachers that continually reinforced the idea that if I worked towards my goals, nothing could stand in my way. This was reflected in the opportunities I had to work with women in leadership positions who had made space for themselves in predominately male-dominated fields. Their experiences encouraged me to maintain my motivation, I was always so impressed by their ability to succeed.

If I had to choose one person to thank for my success, it would have to be John Pottage, the former chief scientific medical officer for ViiV Healthcare. John and I met while at Rush University Medical Center, where he was my attending physician. We developed a great friendship, particularly because we saw the world in a similar way. At the clinic, John would stop at nothing to ensure our patients were able to access and afford care, going so far as to give them money out of his own pocket so they could cover costs — I soon became the same way.

John was the first person to approach me about moving from academia to a position at ViiV Healthcare. I had never imagined that I would make the transition from practicing medicine to the pharmaceutical industry and was only open to considering the opportunity because of my strong relationship with John. I trusted him and knew his heart. When he said he was “all about patients,” I knew it was not just a line, he truly cared for them and ensured that everything he did was in the best interest of those he was treating. Ultimately, I knew that if this was a company that John had helped create, I could trust that I was joining an organization that was driven by and dedicated to the voice of the HIV community.

Relieving stress as a busy leader is certainly important, so I look for activities that allow my mind a break and transport me somewhere else. It’s why I love to garden and play golf. When you’re gardening, it’s easy to get lost in the hands-on tasks in front of you while you’re in the midst of beautiful nature. When you’re on the golf course, there is nothing else to focus on or worry about besides chasing that silly little ball around.

In preparation for a big talk or meeting, I always play the scenario out in my head. I talk through every point and detail; what it’s going to be like, questions to anticipate, potential scenes. I focus in on certain points I want to make and how to best relay that piece of information in a digestible way for all audiences, packaging so that it will be hard to forget. Placing particular emphasis on certain messages and working through how I can get that point across is something I take great care in reviewing.

I still get nervous all the time — but you have to take it in stride — everyone gets nervous!

We live in an incredibly diverse world. Our company, ViiV Healthcare, serves a particularly diverse community of individuals who are living with HIV or are at risk for acquiring HIV. Our mission is to serve this diverse community and ensure no one living with HIV is left behind. In order to live up to that mission, it’s essential to listen to and foster diverse perspectives at all levels so everyone understands the company’s mission and the community we serve. Executive level diversity is then particularly crucial because the individuals in those roles set the tone for how the entire organization delivers on its mission.

Every decision we make at ViiV Healthcare is influenced by those directly affected by HIV. Annually, we host a Youth and Community Summit that is entirely focused on listening to all of the diverse voices of the HIV community. I’ve known many of the activists who attend the summit from my time as a physician before I began working for ViiV Healthcare. They know my heart and they know that I am there for them. A few years ago, I gave a presentation during the summit that discussed health disparities among people living with HIV, which brought to the surface painful and emotional memories of friends and patients I had lost over the years. After my talk, attendees came up to me to exchange similar personal stories about their lives and the friends they had lost. We’re bonded by this connection, which allows us to know and understand who we are working for and it informs our decisions at a deeper level.

There is a momentous awakening taking place in the US, it is the perfect storm. As a national community, we are finally beginning to understand the lived experiences of African Americans, the prejudice and brutality faced every day.

I’ve never seen a reaction to the Black Lives Matter movement of this caliber from the corporate world. Now, corporations are outliers if they haven’t acted, which differs greatly from past social movements. ViiV Healthcare does a fantastic job of promoting and ensuring diversity in the workplace, and the current landscape is an opportunity for continued discussion on how we can be a leader for industry and society-at-large. There are challenges we face as a global company, and ViiV Healthcare and our majority shareholder GSK will continue working towards finding solutions for these challenges.

As a business leader, can you please share a few steps we must take to truly create an inclusive, representative, and equitable society? Kindly share a story or example for each.

That’s no small feat, but you can first start by listening to the voice of the communities we serve. The Black Lives Matter movement is a perfect example; we have been raising awareness as long as I can remember, yet people have historically chosen to not pay attention. When you reflect for a moment, taking the opportunity to listen, engage and understand, it becomes obvious why the inclusion of diverse perspectives is necessary to a company’s functionality. Can you imagine an executive suite without any people of color, determining how to address this crucial moment, when no one in the room has experienced the effects of systemic prejudice? If we are going to be responsive to the world and how it is changing, we must be aware of how individuals are impacted by the social structures of this world.

As an executive, there is a responsibility to not only run things from an operational standpoint but ensure that people remain motivated and inspired. It is so important for employees to recognize what they do matters and that you are appreciative of what they do. I make an effort to know everyone on our R&D team, to understand their position and to give credit where it is due. Not only do I highlight those who are leaders within our organization, but also those who help keep “the trains running on time.” The biggest responsibility in my opinion is to maintain that internal motivation, because it’s what ultimately powers everything else we deliver.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive. Can you explain what you mean?

I’d say the first myth is that you have to be a man to be a CEO or executive. Unfortunately, the reality is that it’s disproportionately men that are CEOs and sit on executive boards and it’s something that needs to change. I believe, and I’m obviously biased, that having more women in powerful positions would lead to making the world a better place. In our company, our CEO is a woman and I report to her and more than 50% of her direct reports are women. I work very closely with Harmony Garges, our chief medical officer, and we rarely run into a situation where we can’t resolve an issue or problem, we don’t have battles over ego that sometimes exist with men.

Another myth about being an executive is that you know everything. One of the things that is really important for people to recognize is that you get into leadership positions but you’re standing on the shoulders of all the people who make things happen. Yes, you oversee it and yes, you have a deep understanding of some aspects of your business but not all aspects. There are deep experts in particular areas that I’m completely dependent on to make the work happen and that make me look good. You don’t have to know everything.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

One of the biggest challenges I feel women executives face is the assumption that you are not as qualified as your male counterparts; that you are just a diversity hire or that you are there to meet a quota. A big challenge for me was adjusting to sometimes being the only woman, and sometimes the only Black woman in the room during board meetings. Luckily, we don’t have that at ViiV Healthcare, in fact, we are a predominantly woman-led organization. However, before joining ViiV Healthcare, I oftentimes was the only Black woman in the room, which meant I found myself being asked to speak on behalf of all women and the entire Black community.

What is the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?

One difference I had to adjust to was no longer having the time to immerse myself in the very micro-level details of our scientific work, which has been incredibly difficult as a lifelong science nerd. Instead, I’ve had to reprioritize my limited time to focus on the more macro-level challenges the company might face from a scientific perspective. I’ve learned to accept the fact that I don’t have the time that I once had to get in the weeds. It was difficult, but I had to get used to it.

It is really important to be able to be focused and in the moment. Every hour, sometimes every half hour, sometimes every 15 minutes, I’m dealing with a different topic. It might be a different medicine in our pipeline, a different challenge, and you have to really zone in on that particular moment. We all spend a lot of time talking about multi-tasking, which to a degree we all do. But I think in order to be a good leader and a good executive you have to be able to focus on that particular moment and be present. When you’re having a conversation with someone, hear them. Really listen. I think that makes a good executive and a good leader. So be present. Literally.

Additionally, you need to understand what motivates your people. What jazzes them. Are they motivated by their ambition? Are they motivated by doing good for the world? Understanding the motivations for an individual helps you to be a good manager, a good partner, a good leader, a good executive. I absolutely got that from many of my previous managers. I think it’s pretty transparent for me, I wear it on my sleeve that my motivation is to deliver for people living with HIV and make the world a better place in any little way that I’m able to do.

What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?

I think it is important to take the time to know your team. In taking an interest in them from every level, you truly understand their impact and their value. It doesn’t go unnoticed in my experience, and it helps build their own understanding of their importance within their team. Fostering a sense of belonging is crucial to the success of any company.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I hope I’ve made the world a better place — I’ve certainly tried. I’ve challenged our industry to do better when it comes to addressing the unmet needs of people living with HIV; their challenges, experiences and the granular things most people wouldn’t even imagine are important. I feel very fortunate to have a microphone providing me with the opportunity to talk about the challenges faced by people living with HIV.

When I made the decision to transition from working directly with patients as a physician to working at ViiV, part of the reason I decided to do so was because it would afford me an even larger platform I could use to make a positive impact on the lives of people living with HIV and those at risk of acquiring HIV. Every day I am grateful to have the opportunity to live my values through the work we do at ViiV Healthcare, providing a voice for those who can’t always speak for themselves.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

When I moved from academia to industry, I heard a lot from a lot of people about how I would be perceived by others. All of a sudden, some people thought my motivation for what I was doing changed when I made the decision to go from being an academic researcher to a researcher in a pharmaceutical company. The reality was I brought all the motivation I had working in academia with me when I moved to ViiV Healthcare. I like to say that I’m a bit of a troublemaker — I have stolen from John Lewis that I like to make “good trouble.” I did that before I went into industry and I continue to do it in industry. That might be one of the things that bothered me the most before I became an executive, that when I made the change from one career to the next, there would be people who questioned my motivation.

Also, anybody who thinks you work less hard in pharma than you do in academic medicine has no idea! I was super busy in my previous career and now it’s on steroids, the amount that is going on, but in return I get to have such a big impact, and that’s exciting.

I strongly believe the world would be a better place if we had more women of color in leadership.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My “Life Lesson Quote” is, among others, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice,” from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It reminds me that that while things don’t change overnight, we shape them to move in the right direction.

An additional “Life Lesson” to live by is relationships matter; it is my own mantra and holds true in any environment. It’s imperative that you continually strive to do the right thing in order to maintain relationships and if we are committed to a partnership, we should treat each other with respect. My relationship with John Pottage, the former chief scientific officer at ViiV Healthcare, is the perfect example of that. It was a relationship built on mutual respect, admiration, and understanding. It was a relationship that gave me the opportunity to ascend to the position I now have as head of R&D for a global pharmaceutical company. That relationship, over the course of 20 years, has impacted the rest of my life.

I would love to sit and have an in-depth conversation with President Obama on his experiences before, during, and after his time in the White House. He gave up so much of his life during his eight years of presidency and having the opportunity to let him speak candidly about his experiences would be educating and insightful to say the least. He’s so good about not airing his grievances, but I know he has a lot to say!

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Dr. Kimberly Smith of ViiV Healthcare: “I strongly believe the world would be a better place if we… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Shannon Burke of CareCredit: Why it’s important to challenge traditional notions of what “success”…

Shannon Burke of CareCredit: Why it’s important to challenge traditional notions of what “success” looks like

I think it’s important to challenge traditional notions of what “success” looks like, for example, dispelling the idea that recognition and money are linked to happiness. Being at the top isn’t easy, and it’s a tremendous obligation when you realize you are responsible for driving an organization that sustains the livelihoods of so many people. It’s a calling to want to be in that type of leadership position — it takes a particular drive and personality type.

I don’t believe it has to be “lonely at the top,” either. You have the power to change that. This applies to all executives, not just those working at the C-suite level. As you climb the ranks in your chosen field, focus on developing a network of support and people you can trust. Good executives build an entire community of partners throughout their careers.

As a part of my series about “Leadership Lessons I Learned As An Accomplished Female C-Suite Executive”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Shannon Burke.

Shannon Burke is an industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry, particularly with technology startups, health insurance, pharmacy and managed care organizations. She joined CareCredit in December 2019 as Senior Vice President and General Manager, Health Systems. As the leader of the company’s Business Development and Strategy teams, she helps lead the development and implementation of strategic and tactical imperatives to expand CareCredit’s offerings to newly acquired and potential health system clients, practitioners and healthcare technology partners.

Prior to joining CareCredit, Shannon served as Vice President of Technology, Health Systems Sales & Customer Relations at Surescripts LLC, where she led the sales organization and managed customers and relationships with more than 300 of the nation’s top health systems and more than 100 major health technology vendors and channel distributors. She has also held leadership roles at companies such as MyHealth Bank and PacifiCare Health Systems.

Shannon earned her BS in Business Management from Cal State Polytech and earned her MBA from the University of Southern Carolina. She reports to CareCredit CEO Beto Casellas.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

It’s funny — at first, I couldn’t think of an example because I think we work hard to forget embarrassing missteps that happened earlier in our professional lives. But I do have a good one.

At the beginning of my career, I was working at an insurance company. I was working on large accounts, but I was the most junior person on the team. I had just joined the company and the team when we were in the process of pitching PepsiCo, and I begged to be able to join the meeting. While I wasn’t allowed to contribute to the meeting, my bosses finally relented and agreed to let me come in during the lunch break and listen to the conversation — with the understanding that I was not to eat any of the food.

On the day of the pitch, the entire PepsiCo executive team came to our office. Around lunchtime, as I was waiting for my opportunity to head in, I decided to grab a soda from the vending machine to bring with me. I opened the door and walked in slightly before the break when suddenly everyone froze and stared at me. Without thinking, I had just walked into a Pepsi pitch holding a can of Coca-Cola! Of course, I was immediately shooed out of the room.

At the time, I was mortified, but looking back, I realize it was a valuable lesson in self-awareness. I realized the impact that my actions can have — even small ones — and why it’s important to always show up with purpose. Even in the earliest stages, it’s essential to understand your ability to impact the business.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful toward who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I was incredibly fortunate to find a great mentor in my first boss, Pat. I believe that I had a lot of unrefined talent at that time, but so much of it was still very raw. Pat was an athletic guy — a former football player — and he ended up being one of the best coaches I could have asked for. He identified me as a person who had potential, and he did a great job being patient and working with me to start honing the skills that I had.

You would never guess from his physical persona that Pat was an extreme introvert. I learned many important things about how to lead by watching how he would conduct himself in meetings full of people. He would never contradict or undermine one of his team members in public, opting instead for a behind-the-scenes coaching manner.

He also taught me one of the most important lessons I’ve learned in business: “Past performance indicates future performance.” When you’re evaluating people and are not sure how to make a decision, it’s best to look at what they’ve already shown you they can do.

Pat was very wise. He took me under his wing, and I didn’t understand how his impact would benefit me until later in my career. I don’t think I would have had the opportunities I’ve had without his guidance.

Unfortunately, I never had the chance to thank Pat. That’s why I always try to make an effort to thank leaders now. Good leadership can often be a very thankless job.

Can you articulate to our readers a few reasons why it is so important for a business or organization to have a diverse executive team?

Cultural diversity drives success, delivering the best outcomes in the shortest time frames. It’s also the right, equitable thing to do. Still, if you want to look at it from a purely practical perspective, I believe that diversity truly drives the best opportunities to succeed in business.

Of course, it’s not always easy for people with different backgrounds and worldviews to come together — sometimes, the process will be more challenging. But the outcomes, in my opinion, are always better.

I believe that good leaders seek diversity and challenge themselves to think about it as broadly as possible — culturally, racially, and with regard to different lifestyles. While teams should be reflective of a range of genders and ethnicity, we should also be mindful of including various age groups and personality types. For example, introverts may have a lot to contribute to a project, but can quickly be silenced by a room full of extroverts without a leader who has the skills to make them feel seen and heard.

No company wants to recognize when they might be falling short in certain areas, but putting in the effort to achieve broad diversity is always worth it.

In just a few words can you explain what an executive does that is different from the responsibilities of the other leaders?

I think there are two factors — the first is clarity of vision. Good leaders have the skills to create a vision for people that gives them purpose on a higher level. They’re able to articulate this vision and use it to inspire people, often through storytelling and by creating a compelling narrative. Good leaders know how to tell a story about who we are, where we’re going and why it’s important. This makes other people want to be part of the journey.

The second factor is the ability to practice “service leadership.” I believe that a good executive understands they are here to serve as well as lead. This style is about empowering your team, helping your people develop and perform to the best of their abilities and focusing on achieving authority rather than power.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive. Can you explain what you mean?

I think it’s important to challenge traditional notions of what “success” looks like, for example, dispelling the idea that recognition and money are linked to happiness. Being at the top isn’t easy, and it’s a tremendous obligation when you realize you are responsible for driving an organization that sustains the livelihoods of so many people. It’s a calling to want to be in that type of leadership position — it takes a particular drive and personality type.

I don’t believe it has to be “lonely at the top,” either. You have the power to change that. This applies to all executives, not just those working at the C-suite level. As you climb the ranks in your chosen field, focus on developing a network of support and people you can trust. Good executives build an entire community of partners throughout their careers.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

It’s the classic double-edged sword. Any woman in business can tell you about how men get praised for being assertive while women get criticized for being cranky and bossy — that’s the well-documented edge. But the edge we don’t talk about as much is that sometimes, women are given opportunities we may not feel ready for as part of the quest for diversity, and how much pressure there is for us to perform and be successful.

In my experience, people have taken risks and put me in positions that challenged me to rise to the role, sometimes developing my skill set in real time. There was a lot of pressure on me to do well because there were many people who thought I wouldn’t — that I couldn’t handle it or that I didn’t deserve it.

For me, that’s the other side of the conversation: the challenge of rising up to take on opportunities and how much is at stake.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

I’m an avid collector of words of wisdom, little things I’ve heard throughout my career that have stayed with me and stick in my mind. I can’t take the credit for these — I didn’t make them up — but I use them all the time and can share them with you.

“Tell the truth and tell it fast.” I love this quote because delivering bad news can be challenging. We always want to tell people what they want to hear, especially in business. But the quicker you get out there with the truth, the better off you will be. It gives you the ability to course correct that much faster. Even if people don’t like what you have to say, it will help you build trust and respect.

“Past performance indicates future performance.” I mentioned this one earlier, but it bears repeating. In business, we deal with so many people we haven’t had the opportunity to know personally. If you need to make a decision about what someone is capable of, looking at their past performance is the closest thing you have to a crystal ball.

“Practice an attitude of gratitude.” This one sounds simple, but there are days when it’s incredibly tough to focus on the positive and say, “I’m glad to be here.” Being able to say that out loud is important personally and professionally. If you can’t, you might need to make some changes.

“Own it and fix it.” This is an excellent approach to problem-solving because it’s twofold. Identifying a mistake is the easy part and only half the battle. In business and life, fixing a problem is harder and a lot more valuable. It’s an investment that usually pays off.

“Opinions are like bellybuttons; everyone’s got one.” This one is from my old boss. Throughout all business trainings and personal assessments, we’re encouraged to evaluate our strengths and weaknesses. Feedback from others is valuable, but at some point, you realize that not every opinion you receive will be constructive. You have to learn to be discerning and listen to the feedback that will help you drive forward and create positive change.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the U.S. with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

I would love to sit down with Judy Faulkner, the CEO and founder of the healthcare software company Epic Systems. I consider her the Frank Sinatra of healthcare; she did it her way, through sheer conviction and drive.

As a self-made woman who achieved unbridled success and accomplished it all without the technology we have today, I would love to hear her insights on some of the challenges we’re currently facing. The healthcare industry is navigating truly unprecedented changes amid this pandemic, including a rise in demand for new and improved technologies. Patient needs were already evolving, and now, there’s even more demand for convenient interactions with providers, touch-less care and payments, and financing options to help people who are facing challenges like unemployment. While it feels like there’s never been more at stake, it’s also an incredible time to add value and make a meaningful impact in people’s lives.

Having an opportunity to sit down with Judy and learn more about how she’s approached these critical moments in her career would be fascinating for me.

Shannon Burke of CareCredit: Why it’s important to challenge traditional notions of what “success”… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.