10 years

Today marks 10 years of my career at GE. I’ve lived in 5 cities in 3 countries, worked through at least 7 re-organizations, worked in over 40 countries, switched roles 10 x (!), all with some of the highest highs and lowest lows I could imagine - and a lot of just hard work on some of the best teams in the world in between. There were times when I never thought I would make it past 1, or 5, or 9 years. What I discovered in my personal career journey over the past decade was a team and an environment that never stopped throwing new challenges at me to learn, grow and come closer to the leader I am capable of becoming.

Of the many lessons I’ve been grateful to learn over these years, below are my top 10:

1. Leave my bias at the door.
2. Competitors make us better.
3. Integrity is at the basis of our values.
4. Service is my mission – people are “it.”
5. Failure happens.
6. Change is exciting… for some.
7. Always be the cheerleader for colleagues, even (& especially) when they decide to be alumni.
8. Learning to be a better leader made me a better person in life, too.
9. Pay it forward.
10. A company of this size is a platform.

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1.    Leave my bias at the door.

The Energy sector is about diversity, not dominance. Depending on what part of the world we live in, we may have a bias on who the winners will be in this great energy transition. I grew up in a green-washed environment in Northern California where anything fossil was bad and anything “green” was good. This company showed me that the beauty of the energy sector is in its diversity. My first job was selling engines for low BTU methane from landfills. I spent 6 months working on advanced coal technology. Having worked across almost every part of the energy value chain (even demand management), I have learned energy is truly a mix and is the fuel for people’s lives.

2.    Competitors make us better.

As an extremely competitive person and former athlete, I love to win. But winning means a lot more when you win against a worthy competitor. One of my favorite commercial deals I won on a public bid, we competed a more expensive capital expediture (capex), higher value solution vs. our very strong competitor. We won, even when they contested the result in a public hearing. We were simply better – more innovative, more creative and closer to the customer’s value, and that was in large part because of our competitor who did not let us rest on the “easy” solution. We had to get better and our customer, our company and our team all saw better results.

3.    Integrity is at the basis of our values.

When I did have the opportunity to leave for a competitor, one of the main reasons I stayed was GE’s unending commitment to integrity. As one of my personal core values, I never want to work for a place where anything but the highest standard is accepted. When I have worked with leaders that don’t meet this standard, they do not last long because this part of the culture is so strong. In questionable commercial situations, I always knew the company had my back to make the right decision.

4.    Service is my mission – people are “it.”

My first accelerator program assignment in Manufacturing Operations revealed to me what my true mission had always been and continues to be – serving the people – my team, our customers and the bigger ecosystem that depends on us – with my work to support their most meaningful and rewarding work and achieve results beyond their wildest dreams. When I worked for myself, I was often dissatisfied. When I worked for others, I found my deepest joy.

5.    Failure happens.

Over the last 10 years, I fell down and got up again… a lot. Sometimes it was very visible to all - unconsciously offending an operator on the shop floor with a casual comment and immediately losing his trust being a particularly memorable one - but most of the time it was just me beating myself up. Early in my career, mistakes would cause me so much stress and anxiety that I would slow down to ensure everything was perfect. Then I realized – it’s ok to make the occasional mistake so long as you learn and get better. It freed me from a small box of perfection to a bigger world of possibility.

6.    Change is exciting… for some.

As a highly change agile person, I love taking on change and figuring out how to make the most of a new opportunity. Change for me means new areas for us to explore, releasing ourselves from the constraints of the past. For others, however, change is incredibly stressful and draining. Initially, I grew frustrated with those “not on board.” With the massive changes over the past 10 years, I’ve learned that leaving others in the dust when change happens sub-optimizes the outcome - we have to take everyone on the journey to be successful as team. Everyone must take part and see the vision & the results in the change.

7.    Always be the cheerleader for colleagues, even (& especially) when they decide to be alumni.

It can be hard to watch colleagues come and go from the company we all devote so much of our lives to (especially when we have been a mentor/sponsor/coach/employee for them). Still, our company alumni are such an amazing group of people and our friendships and relationships last for many years after they take on new challenges outside the company. Many of my favorite leaders to work with over the years are no longer with us, but we forever tied in what we accomplished together.

8.    Learning to be a better leader made me a better person in life, too.

When I reflect on the leadership journey I’ve been on, it’s less like building a structure with blocks and more like carving away marble to find the true form within and refining from there. Learning to be our truest, most authentic and vulnerable selves makes us better not only in the workplace, but also with our friends and families. From a young age, we are often taught to conform and be exactly like everyone else to be successful. For me, I had to learn that I did not have all the answers not matter how hard I prepared and I had to listen, learn and integrate what the many amazing experts and learned around me had to impart. This humility changed me as a person. would not have found the personal joy I feel now in my life had I not discovered how to keep learning to be my best at work.

9.    Pay it forward.

Getting accelerated leadership experience, on-the-job and in training, is only given to a small population in the company. All this investment really only paid back when I shared it with others. Whether sharing best practices on how I managed my experience on-program, showing a trick I learned on improve a shared tool or gave feedback where I saw an opportunity to improve, I was both a learner and a teacher. When I attended the Manager Development Course (MDC), a seminal training in a growing leader’s career, I brought back some of the more impactful tools and implemented them with my team, immediately. The company isn’t just investing in you – it’s investing in the culture you’re going to create as a leader.

10. A company of this size is a platform – a blank canvas to paint the career of our dreams.

When we’re lucky, we find not just a job or a career - we find our mission or even better, our calling. When I dared greatly – taking career-risky roles, pushed myself beyond what I thought I was capable of – I made broad and bright strokes on the canvas of my career and my life that marked me forever. My mind and my heart became more open and I faced my fears of failing head on… What’s beautiful about this place is I know leaders who have spent 30+ years in the same location, same business, same function, thriving and loving it, and equally others like me who have moved around different challenges and love it… The key is to own it and make it your own.

Thank you for a wonderful 10 years! So energized for what lays in the next decade ahead.

Please note: the views expressed in this article are of the author's personal perspective only. Your comments and feedback are welcome!