Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Anne Trobaugh of ‘My Best Friend At Work’ On The 5 Leadership Lessons She Learned From Her Experience
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Mentors Make sure you have a good mentor at your place of work. Mentors can help you find new roles, give insights into projects or initiatives that have the most visibility, and say your name and advocate for you when you are not in the room. I have a free handout on my website that walks through the process I use for finding a mentor (with email templates for reaching out to them).
As a part of my series about “Lessons From Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech,” I had the pleasure of interviewing Anne Trobaugh.
Anne is a Mechanical Engineer and MBA who is obsessively passionate about women empowerment in STEM because she knows how hard it is to be the only female in the room. During her 20 years in Corporate America, she’s held various roles from Test Cell Engineer, Combustion and Performance Senior Engineer, Six Sigma Black, Chief Engineer, Chief of Staff to the VP of Quality and Deputy Director of Global Quality, to name a few. Anne mentors many STEM women at work, but to further her reach, she founded My Best Friend at Work to be an advisor & a coach, a friend & a supporter, a cheerleader & an unwavering advocate. Anne helps women in STEM feel confident, handle situations at work like a pro and advance to their full potential.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Thanks so much for talking with me; I am honored to share some of my stories.
I come from a long line of Engineering archetypes: my grandfather, great-uncle, father, uncles (on both sides of my family), aunt, cousins, and brother were all in the area of Engineering or Technical-focused leadership positions. So honestly, I believe it is in my DNA!
Beyond family, my story is a classic one of loving math and physics while being very analytical in my thought process. I am also a very organized person — my mom remembers coming into my bedroom when I was in 4th grade and seeing post-it notes adorning my full-length mirror. It was my way of keeping organized with my schedule and to-dos at age 10. To this day, I still love post-it notes!
With my family history and my love of STEM-related subjects, I was destined to be an Engineer.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began at your company?
In my Corporate role, there are exciting things that happen every day! For running My Best Friend At Work, it’s been fascinating to learn how to use social media to make an impact. I have all this advice and these learnings from my 20 years of work that I want to use to help others, specifically women in STEM. That passion is the easy part. The hard part is getting heard. The best thing I have done for both my business and my Corporate role most recently is to take a course with Patrice Polzer, Sabina Hitchen and Joelle Garguilo focused on video, storytelling, and pitching yourself. I took the course to benefit my entrepreneurial endeavors, but the number of parallels the course had to my full-time Corporate job was terrific. In Corporate, we need to tell stories to motivate people. Being confident on camera is becoming more beneficial because of video conferencing. The idea of pitching yourself is a mindset change for increasing your confidence. All these skills learned from the course helped me with personal business and in my Corporate job.
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?
So many things are a bit cringeworthy when I look back now! I remember one mistake vividly. As an intern, I got an email from someone letting me know that I misspelled my alma mater on my resume! I wanted to crawl into a hole. Lesson learned: double-check your work!
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
The best part about My Best Friend At Work is that it’s 100% my passion and is fun for me. I can relate to many experiences and help others trying to advance in their careers. At times people need advice or input on what things to consider in certain situations. At other times I am more of a cheerleader to encourage and keep people excited and headed in the right direction. I’m only trying to stand out to ensure people can benefit from what I share. Women in STEM need to all support each other, and that’s why I am here.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I’ve recently been part of the Big Resignation. I made the tough decision that it was time to leave my employer, and I have since searched for and secured a new opportunity. I am sharing all of what I went through with my audience. Things like how to know it’s time to leave your current role, how to find a new job, how to work through the offer part of a new job, and so much more.
Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Are you currently satisfied with the status quo regarding women in STEM? What specific changes do you think are needed to change the status quo?
Absolutely not. Speaking specifically to engineering, according to a recent study by the Society of Women Engineers, only 13% of engineers in the workforce are women. Over 30% of women leave the engineering profession at some point in their careers. There has been much work on increasing the pipeline of females entering STEM, but we can do so much more to keep them at work.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women in STEM or Tech that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts? What would you suggest to address this?
Reflecting on my personal experience:
- I was asked by a male colleague what my husband’s favorite meal was.
- I was left out of countless happy hours.
- I had a solution to an engineering problem blatantly stolen by a man and passed off as his own.
- I was singled out in a meeting that ran a few minutes past 5 PM to be asked if I needed to leave to get my children.
These seemingly minor incidents or actions, called microaggressions, happen daily to women in STEM. It becomes a death by a thousand cuts situation that contributes to many women leaving engineering or the workforce.
My suggestion: empathy! Try to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. Is the question you are about to ask something you would want to be asked to you? Is the comment you are about to make something you would wish to have printed in the headlines of a newspaper? Also think about how someone else will feel or react to your question or comment. Think first, then speak.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a woman in STEM or Tech. Can you explain what you mean?
Women in STEM are often seen as super competitive or ambitious to a fault. Don’t be threatened, but understand that many of us are overcoming microaggressions, false judgments and other unconscious biases at play against us at all times.
What are your “5 Leadership Lessons I Learned From My Experience as a Woman in STEM or Tech” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Dig deep on self-reflection — Do much self-reflection to understand what you are good at, what you like, and what you want concerning your job. My favorite assessments to help with this interpersonal look related to work are Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and StrengthsFinder 2.0 from Gallup. The more you know about yourself, the better you can position yourself in the correct role and love what you do. In many of my personal assessments, competition is a prominent theme. I then must reflect on when competition is helpful: in times of crisis or when I am against a deadline. It might not be as beneficial in specific conflict resolutions. Being aware of this upfront is very helpful.
- Get visible — One of the most significant ways to succeed is getting the proper visibility. Becoming more visible at work can help accelerate your career success. Are you aware of the most visible projects or initiatives within your company? Are you aware of how you can get involved in those? Are you doing your best in your day job on those critical projects while also working on things outside your direct line management’s jurisdiction?
Here’s how I have made myself visible at work:
-I joined a Women’s Affinity Group — sometimes called employee resource groups in other companies. After a few sessions, there was a need for a committee leader. I volunteered without hesitation.
-I asked around to see who oversaw my company’s campus recruiting team. I then volunteered to go to their career fair. After a few times attending, they asked me to lead it. Yes, please!
-My boss needed a volunteer to be a team member on a 6Sigma project led outside of my group. I raised my hand first.
In each case, I got visibility to folks outside of my direct line of command. I learned things like meeting facilitation, communication with a broad team, and arranging more significant events. These skills are valuable and add to your toolset. They have served me to this day. - Communicate in the right way — Especially when leading projects, it’s all about communication. Any time you take on a project, think of these things:
-Make sure everyone is kept informed. How you do that and how frequently will depend on the audience and urgency.
-Communicate effectively. Keep it simple and straightforward.
-Personalize the message. I usually keep a larger slide deck handy but personalize the information for every audience interaction
-Learning what type of communication is necessary and following through with it takes time. When I was leading a big C-suite-involved project, I scheduled time each Friday to write a summary of the week and discuss the next steps/objectives for the following week. Based on the urgency and importance of the project, it demanded I keep a broad list of stakeholders well informed. I also focused on being simple and straightforward with the correct amount of detail. I sent this summary as an email each week and scheduled monthly presentations to update various stakeholders, thinking about the types of elements they would want to know. - Stop using diminishing language. The language that unintentionally erodes others’ confidence in you is called diminishing language. Learn to stop using diminishing language consciously:
Instead of: It was nothing, no big deal, no worries
Say: You are welcome; Thank you, I am proud of the work.
Instead of:
Just: I just wanted; I’d just like, or using “just” as a descriptor: I have just a few slides; I need just a minute.
Say: Eliminate the word “just” from all written and verbal communications Instead of: I think, I feel, I believe
Say: I’m confident, In my experience, I’m convinced, I expect
-When you eliminate diminishing language and minimizing words from your vocabulary, people will see you as more confident. As an added benefit, when I became more aware of this and stopped using this type of language, I was more confident in myself. I made a massive difference in how I thought of myself by changing a few words in my vocabulary. - Mentors Make sure you have a good mentor at your place of work. Mentors can help you find new roles, give insights into projects or initiatives that have the most visibility, and say your name and advocate for you when you are not in the room. I have a free handout on my website that walks through the process I use for finding a mentor (with email templates for reaching out to them).
What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?
The most fun I have had leading a team while also getting the most personal fulfillment is working with my team on development topics at least monthly. Often personal development becomes team development. With assessments like MBTI and StrengthsFinder 2.0, there are significant aspects of learning about yourself and seeing how that connects to the entire team. I find this type of personal development and connection with a team great team building and a good learning opportunity.
What advice would you give to other women leaders about the best way to manage a large team?
With a large team, communication is crucial. It’s imperative to have all employee meetings at least quarterly to discuss company results, how they impact the team, and strategy and overall direction discussions. Best practices include more frequent communications, meeting at least monthly. A blog, an in-person or remote town hall, or skip-level meetings are all great ways to set direction and allow the team to ask questions. The key is visibility and communication with your entire team to make people feel connected, heard, and sure of their leadership direction.
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?
I have thrived with support and mentoring along the way. I have a massive support system at home. My mom and dad both worked outside of the house; my dad retired as a Vice President in Engineering after a very successful 40-year career. My husband, brother, brother-in-law, and sisters-in-law all work in Corporate America in jobs of great responsibility. They help me think through things when I need some assistance. My Aunts and Uncles are cheerleaders for my career, and I even discuss work-related topics with my cousins at times.
In addition to a fantastic family, one of the most beneficial career relationships has been my best friend at work, hence the naming of My Best Friend At Work! We provide each other advice, support, and a sounding board for everything: from what to wear on a multi-country trip to preparing for a presentation to our company’s Board Of Directors. I wanted everyone to have access to the support and peer mentorship that I have had with my best friend at work.
I have also loved my mentoring relationships with over 50 mentees, including technical women. I learn as much from them as they do from me.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Such a tough one. Running My Best Friend At Work has added some goodness to the world. It makes my day when I hear from someone about a topic that I have covered on social media that has helped them, or the DM me with a specific question, and I can help. Giving back to others based on my experience is what I am passionate about and what I will continue to do every day.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I love seeing more career content making its way to mainstream social media. The more we can all share our experiences, the more we can learn!
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My motto is: “If not me, then who?”. It is such a part of my life story that a previous team member had it engraved on a Yeti for me! The most significant example of me living this is when I showed up at the men’s golf informational meeting on my second day of college. I love my alma mater Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, ranked #1 in undergraduate engineering programs by US News and World Report for 21 consecutive years. In the first year of recognition, I heard the announcement from the university President in our Union while eating breakfast. It was fun to be part of the recognition. The school was all-male until 1995, and when I joined as a Freshman in 1999, there were 80 total women in my class across all engineering disciplines. As a division 3 school, sports were not a massive focus for the school, and there was no women’s golf team. I had played golf in high school, enjoyed it, was decent, and thought, “I can play in college.” With some friends encouraging me, I showed up and sat at the table of all men during that first golf meeting to discuss tryouts for the team. The coach held me after that meeting to tell me that the team would be playing from the back tees (so I would have to hit longer than I would if playing against other females). My point back to him was that women and men could play golf from anywhere on the golf course. Fast forward 22 years, the women’s golf team at Rose-Hulman #1 in the HCAC conference, and I would not be able to make the team I founded that many years ago!
We are very blessed that very prominent leaders 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 🙂
Nikole Hannah-Jones. I recently watched Black History, Black Freedom and Black Love on Master Class with Nikole and learned so much. I want to dive deeper into everything she shared and hear more of her stories.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Thanks for speaking with me!
Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Anne Trobaugh of ‘My Best Friend At Work’ On The 5 Leadership… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.