Movin' on up (!)
This week, I was named the Digital Strategy & IX lead for my business unit, the Communications Sector for IBM GBS North America (whew, that was a lot of IBM-y terms). Essentially what this means is that I will be leading our customer experience transformation and digital transformation business within the Communications Sector, which serves Energy and Utilities, Media and Entertainment, and Telecommunications companies.
I am thrilled. and excited. and proud. really proud.
For me, this marks the attainment of a major career goal - I love what I do and the clients who I work with, but more importantly, I really love the team who I work with and I could not be more excited to lead such an awesome, vibrant team.
When I started at IBM, I worked with the leaders of the legacy "service lines" that DS&IX has transformed into, helping them with their cadence, revenue forecasting, and staffing processes; I really admired both of the people who served in that role and determined that it was my goal to lead a service line -- and be a people-oriented leader like them. In fact, as we have had reorganizations and rebrandings of the service line (S&C>S&T>BA&S>S&A>Digital>DS&IX), and new leaders to come with it I really have been tremendously lucky to work for and with some pretty incredible leaders throughout my career.
I've spent a lot of time the past two weeks thinking about how I want to shape this role, and to me, it is really about further crystallizing many of the things that the leaders before me have put in place. We are a people business - so our people and our team should be number one; this means we have to think about how to further develop their skills -- as well as make sure that we are operating as a team collectively. In terms of my personal goals, one thing I have noticed about each of the leaders that have served in this role (Jim, Malinda, Vijay, Shannon, in particular), is that they are incredibly good at responding to their team. There is almost never a time where I would reach out to them and I didn't hear back almost immediately. This made me feel incredibly cared for; and, to be honest, I think is something that is not always my top strength, especially when I get busy, so will be a focus for me.
On a personal level, this role is thrilling though definitely a big step for me. I definitely wasn't expecting it right now in my career - and so I continue into the land of the "sort of charted" (I almost wrote uncharted, but that's not fair, there aren't TONS but there are women - and moms! - who have done this and continue to do this). There isn't a cut and dried path of how you manage this type of role with a baby at home. But, that means that I get to shape for myself and my family what works.
One of the things that I have been incredibly grateful for since having Charlie is how well I have been supported by my senior leadership team in terms of figuring out a modified travel schedule and work day schedule to be able to do the things I want to do as a mom while also staying in a consulting role. But, I will be honest that my first thought and question when hearing about this role was -- how will this affect my travel schedule and time with Charlie?
One interview that I read that has always really resonated with me was IBM's CEO's interview where she shared a story about almost not taking a job because she didn't feel ready and saying "growth and comfort do not co-exist," and "What it taught me was you have to be very confident even though you’re so self-critical inside about what it is you may or may not know. And that, to me, leads to taking risks. Because I think it’s easy for people to say, “Take a risk, take a risk.” But I think it goes a little layer deeper."
For me, in this instance, it is not really about not feeling ready for the job professionally, but worrying that it may take a toll on me (and especially my family) personally. For example, there will certainly be some more inflexible travel requirements than I currently have -- but as I have learned over the past year, that is really up to me to manage. It is worth it to take the risk, but I need to stay in touch with my own personal goals and priorities and communicate what is or is not working for me.
When I was pregnant with Charlie, one of our senior leaders in the business told me to think about some "non-negotiables" as it relates to parenting. Her priorities included a maximum number of nights away and being able to be involved in and present at (no email, calls, etc.) her kids sporting events. Obviously these non-negotiables change depending on your life circumstances, role, and age of your children, but for me, right now, one of the things that I love the most is picking Charlie up from daycare at a decent time (4:30 - 5:15), and being with her until she goes to bed at 7. So, one of the things that I have really prioritized, is that when I am home, I block my calendar off to do that as much as I can. This is not hard and fast, some days Johnny picks her up (he normally drops her off in the morning, but again, not hard and fast depending on both of our days), some days I have to do calls in the car or while I'm feeding her dinner, or after she goes to bed, etc. So, with the additional travel, I know for myself, that I need to even further prioritize that special time with Charlie and Johnny while I am home.
I was talking to someone who works for me yesterday about goals and prioritization of those goals helping shape how you structure your time. For me, in the pyramid of goals, my family is #1. I have other goals around being a leader, developing an amazing team, growing my business. It's important to remember that these goals can be very complementary; but reminding yourself of your north star is important as you structure your time, adjust your schedule, and prioritize your worries.
While I don't have a perfect plan for my new business and team that I am responsible for nor a perfect plan for my family, I am confident that it is up to me to manage, think about, and adjust. No plan is perfect - but I know I can tackle the challenge. And couldn't be more excited to do it.
I am thrilled. and excited. and proud. really proud.
For me, this marks the attainment of a major career goal - I love what I do and the clients who I work with, but more importantly, I really love the team who I work with and I could not be more excited to lead such an awesome, vibrant team.
When I started at IBM, I worked with the leaders of the legacy "service lines" that DS&IX has transformed into, helping them with their cadence, revenue forecasting, and staffing processes; I really admired both of the people who served in that role and determined that it was my goal to lead a service line -- and be a people-oriented leader like them. In fact, as we have had reorganizations and rebrandings of the service line (S&C>S&T>BA&S>S&A>Digital>DS&IX), and new leaders to come with it I really have been tremendously lucky to work for and with some pretty incredible leaders throughout my career.
I've spent a lot of time the past two weeks thinking about how I want to shape this role, and to me, it is really about further crystallizing many of the things that the leaders before me have put in place. We are a people business - so our people and our team should be number one; this means we have to think about how to further develop their skills -- as well as make sure that we are operating as a team collectively. In terms of my personal goals, one thing I have noticed about each of the leaders that have served in this role (Jim, Malinda, Vijay, Shannon, in particular), is that they are incredibly good at responding to their team. There is almost never a time where I would reach out to them and I didn't hear back almost immediately. This made me feel incredibly cared for; and, to be honest, I think is something that is not always my top strength, especially when I get busy, so will be a focus for me.
On a personal level, this role is thrilling though definitely a big step for me. I definitely wasn't expecting it right now in my career - and so I continue into the land of the "sort of charted" (I almost wrote uncharted, but that's not fair, there aren't TONS but there are women - and moms! - who have done this and continue to do this). There isn't a cut and dried path of how you manage this type of role with a baby at home. But, that means that I get to shape for myself and my family what works.
One of the things that I have been incredibly grateful for since having Charlie is how well I have been supported by my senior leadership team in terms of figuring out a modified travel schedule and work day schedule to be able to do the things I want to do as a mom while also staying in a consulting role. But, I will be honest that my first thought and question when hearing about this role was -- how will this affect my travel schedule and time with Charlie?
One interview that I read that has always really resonated with me was IBM's CEO's interview where she shared a story about almost not taking a job because she didn't feel ready and saying "growth and comfort do not co-exist," and "What it taught me was you have to be very confident even though you’re so self-critical inside about what it is you may or may not know. And that, to me, leads to taking risks. Because I think it’s easy for people to say, “Take a risk, take a risk.” But I think it goes a little layer deeper."
For me, in this instance, it is not really about not feeling ready for the job professionally, but worrying that it may take a toll on me (and especially my family) personally. For example, there will certainly be some more inflexible travel requirements than I currently have -- but as I have learned over the past year, that is really up to me to manage. It is worth it to take the risk, but I need to stay in touch with my own personal goals and priorities and communicate what is or is not working for me.
When I was pregnant with Charlie, one of our senior leaders in the business told me to think about some "non-negotiables" as it relates to parenting. Her priorities included a maximum number of nights away and being able to be involved in and present at (no email, calls, etc.) her kids sporting events. Obviously these non-negotiables change depending on your life circumstances, role, and age of your children, but for me, right now, one of the things that I love the most is picking Charlie up from daycare at a decent time (4:30 - 5:15), and being with her until she goes to bed at 7. So, one of the things that I have really prioritized, is that when I am home, I block my calendar off to do that as much as I can. This is not hard and fast, some days Johnny picks her up (he normally drops her off in the morning, but again, not hard and fast depending on both of our days), some days I have to do calls in the car or while I'm feeding her dinner, or after she goes to bed, etc. So, with the additional travel, I know for myself, that I need to even further prioritize that special time with Charlie and Johnny while I am home.
I was talking to someone who works for me yesterday about goals and prioritization of those goals helping shape how you structure your time. For me, in the pyramid of goals, my family is #1. I have other goals around being a leader, developing an amazing team, growing my business. It's important to remember that these goals can be very complementary; but reminding yourself of your north star is important as you structure your time, adjust your schedule, and prioritize your worries.
While I don't have a perfect plan for my new business and team that I am responsible for nor a perfect plan for my family, I am confident that it is up to me to manage, think about, and adjust. No plan is perfect - but I know I can tackle the challenge. And couldn't be more excited to do it.
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