Marta Newhart, an alum from the University of Washington has several achievements including being the highest ranking Latino when she left Boeing where she had been for 20 years. She was recruited by Covidien, a major medical device manufacturing as their VP of Communications and Public Affairs. She then left that post to join a team of former Boeing Executives as the Chief Marketing and Communications Office including and Investor Relations of Suntricity.
During an hour talk with current students, Marta shared many useful insights. Rather than pack them all into one blog post I am splitting them between blog posts. This is the second in the series. Enjoy.
The ah-ha moment
Sometimes it takes an event to occur for us to jump start change. The event can be blatant or subtle. For Marta that ah-ha moment occurred one day at the age of 13 while shoveling cow manure in a farm located in Tumwater, WA. That ah-ha moment is marked by the feeling that the situation you are currently in is not the one you want to spend the rest of your life in. Working your way out of such a scenario may be difficult and require you to invest lots of time. But it can be done.
Process vs Solutions
Every environment comes with its own assortment of responsibilities and expectations. Marta pointed out that in academia the focus is on process—making sure you conduct validity tests on an instrument, developing a hypothesis before collecting data, etc. Process is also important in a corporations, but the real emphasis is on solutions. They don’t care how you achieved it, as long as it is ethical and legal. Conversely in academia, we are taught the process, and are graded on how we came up with the solution. Developing solutions brings Marta a sense of excitement, addresses consumer needs and will profit the company.
When it’s time to go, it’s time to go!
Change is can be difficult. Especially, if like Marta, you are leaving a company that you have been with for 20 years. When asked about why she left she said, “I got that call”. The call she was referring to was from longtime colleagues calling to invite her to join them in a start-up. Joining a start-up is nothing like joining an established company. Among other things, at the onset start-ups tend to be less stable than established company. The other thought that went through Marta’s head was, “If I’m ever going to do that now is the time”. It helped that the people who were calling her were well respected colleagues that were solving a problem that Marta felt was important…making solar energy affordable to the masses.
Figuring out whether or not it is time for you to leave. It is an individual decision and it takes a lot of courage. Courage that will propel you forward, it may also helpful to have mechanisms in place to support your transition. This includes a supportive and insightful family, friends and an expendable income.
Well, that is it for now. I look forward to sharing more about the things I learned in the coming weeks.