The Optimistic Outlook

You have your own show, The Optimistic Outlook, so I can see you have an optimistic outlook. I love that. But I’m curious, what was your thought process behind creating your own show? I mean, is there a higher purpose behind it?

Diane, I don’t know if you’ve had this experience that when you focus on something, the opportunities come to you.

Right. Yes, definitely.

And it’s interesting, I’ve long had the goal of, I want to have a positive impact. I want to make a difference. In fact, as I was invited to take this role and I met the corporate team in Siemens USA for the first time, they asked me, “Hey, what do you want to accomplish?” And I said boldly, “I want to change the world.”

I love that.

And believe it or not, Fast Company just named us World Changing Company of the Year.

Congratulations. Wow.

And so what I have around me, I’m fortunate enough to work in a team where there are people who are like-minded. We have a shared vision for, you know, what are the capabilities we have as Siemens and how could that be brought to bear? And so a member of the team actually, Dixon Mercer, who is a key member of our communications team, he had been assigned to work with me on key messages. You know, what are we going to be saying to employees? What are the key messages we have for our government stakeholders, for our fellow business stakeholders, etc?
And the more we talked and then as COVID said in, he was the one who came to me with the idea that we ought to have a podcast. This is a way to reach more people with information about the things that will be beneficial to us all, to know as we drive change. And so it’s given me this opportunity to talk to leaders in so many different sectors. I mean, two of my recent episodes, one was with Scott Kirby of United Airlines, we’re a member of the EcoSkies Alliance, helping him achieve his dream of zero carbon aviation.

Wow.

He’s brought sustainable aviation fuel into the marketplace in a real way, and through this EcoSkies Alliance, we’re driving market demand. And then a second, Stephanie Gidaby Jenkins, a leader in equitable infrastructure. She’s devoted her career to looking at the effects of investment in transportation, for instance, on equality.
And so, take any aspect of this change we’re trying to drive, and you realize there are people working in all facets of our fields and inviting those experts onto the podcast, recognizing that we’re all dealing with hard, hard challenges, but asking them for their optimistic outlook for the future. If we can make happen the things they’re dreaming of, what would the future look like? I’m delighted that the podcast has become an inspiration for me and as well for a lot of listeners who want to understand what happens next.