Life Imitates Work

You have worn so many hats throughout your career, including executive roles at AT&T and Fidelity. But you were also part of the first class of women admitted to Johns Hopkins University. And I'm wondering what made you seek that out and how did that experience influence your development as a leader?

Well, you have to keep in mind that I was 18 years old when I made that decision. And there weren't many women that even worked, let alone had executive positions. So I made the decision like an 18-year-old would, which was that my boyfriend went there. But I will say the romance didn't last very long at all. And there I was with a class of 50 women and 1900 men. And it was unusual for me to be in a classroom with a single woman. I majored in quantitative sciences. And so I was, you know, in geeky classrooms with all men.

How did it shape your development as a leader in terms of, did you have to adjust your own style to be in a room full of men at all times?

So something I learned along the way that is if you try to be somebody at work and then a different person when you come home from work, your life isn't going to be particularly happy. So, I just brought my authentic self to work. I didn't feel minimized because I was used to this environment. I realized that very often I had to work harder and feel smarter to be able to progress because I don't think people really expected women to take full-time positions and work on a career ladder back then. But I'm just very intellectually curious. And so I didn't necessarily join corporate America to climb up a career ladder. I just wanted to keep my brain engaged, work on complicated problems with very interesting people. And over the years I've learned about leadership, but I basically walked into the situation just wanting to learn and wanting to be with the team of collegial people. And that's kind of guided me throughout my career.