{"id":110222,"date":"2017-10-05T13:45:01","date_gmt":"2017-10-05T17:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=110222"},"modified":"2018-07-27T15:06:51","modified_gmt":"2018-07-27T19:06:51","slug":"to-be-an-effective-leader-be-prepared-speak-up-and-aim-big-bates-panelists-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2017\/10\/05\/to-be-an-effective-leader-be-prepared-speak-up-and-aim-big-bates-panelists-say\/","title":{"rendered":"To be an effective leader, be prepared, speak up, and aim big, Bates panelists say"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a junior employee at Microsoft, Lisa Utzschneider \u201990 quickly realized she needed to find her voice if she wanted to be a leader.<\/p>\n

She carefully prepared for meetings and made sure she spoke early and often. She took jobs that others avoided; some of the jobs, such as meeting and greeting top executives, put her in the sight of those executives. They soon knew her by name and listened to her ideas.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake the job no one wants, tune out the skeptics, and turn it into a success,\u201d she told a room of Bates alumni, parents, and friends, many of them alumnae in their 20s, in Boston on Sept. 28.<\/p>\n

Utzschneider, who held leadership positions at Microsoft and Amazon before becoming chief revenue officer of Yahoo, spoke as part of a panel titled \u201cWomen in Leadership,\u201d hosted by the Boston Bates Business Network.<\/a><\/p>\n

\""Something<\/a>

“Something I\u2019ve really developed over time, especially when there is so much going on internally and externally, is to show up calm and consistent every day,” Lisa Utzschneider ’90 said. (Paige Brown ’96 for Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

The panel, which explored how women can become effective leaders, was moderated by Jennifer Guckel Porter \u201988<\/a>, former trustee and current managing partner at The Boda Group. Utzschneider, who is now a Bates trustee, was joined by Peggy Koenig P\u201917 and Katie Burke \u201903.<\/p>\n

It was through speaking up that Burke, now the chief people officer at Hubspot<\/a>, a software development firm for marketing and sales, realized she could become a leader.<\/p>\n

Early in her career, Burke worked for a political communications firm. A potential client, she told the Bates gathering, believed that everyone in a meeting should add value to the gathering. At one meeting, which included the firm\u2019s founders, the client pointed at Burke and said, \u201cI want to hear from her.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she spoke \u2014 \u201cI think I blacked out for a second\u201d \u2014 she realized she had added the value the potential client sought. The company got his business, and her bosses encouraged her to do more.<\/p>\n

\"BBBN_Womens_Leadership_0092\"<\/a>

Jennifer Guckel Porter ’88 moderated the panel, which focused on how women can become effective leaders. (Paige Brown ’96 for Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThey said, \u2018We are so proud of you,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great lesson on both sides. I found my authentic voice inadvertently, and I also got great sponsorship and leadership from people who believed in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burke learned the value of preparation and curiosity. As she started and moved up at Hubspot, first in media and analyst relations and then in recruitment and employee experience, she said she read widely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learn something every day that I didn\u2019t know,\u201d Burke said. \u201cI pick up old-school paperback books.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BBBN_Womens_Leadership_0087\"<\/a>

\u201cI\u2019m a big believer in crazy big ideas,” said Katie Burke ’03, \u201cthe power of loneliness and courage and being the person raising your hand, saying, \u2018I have a really good idea, and I don\u2019t actually care if anyone else thinks I can do it.\u2019\u201d (Paige Brown ’96 for Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

Asked about her strength as a leader, Koenig, co-CEO and managing partner at Abry<\/a>, a private equity firm, said she values helping others find their own voices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe title CEO means people think you\u2019re a really scary person, so they don\u2019t want to approach you,\u201d she said. \u201cI work really hard at becoming approachable so that I can help make people around me the best that they can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The best advice she ever received, Koenig said, was that everyone was always watching the CEO.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou lead by example, and that means how you act and behave and treat people is really what people are going to key in on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Utzschneider, who started out as a junior employee at Microsoft, said her strength is leading with transparency and empathy. Those qualities became ever more important while she was at Yahoo.<\/p>\n

\"BBBN_Womens_Leadership_0078\"<\/a>

\u201cYou lead by example, and that means how you act and behave and treat people is really what people are going to key in on,\u201d Peggy Koenig P’17 said. (Paige Brown\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

She joined the company during a tumultuous time, which ended when Yahoo was acquired by Verizon (Utzschneider left the company after its acquisition). Being a leader there, she said, reminded her of sailing, one of her hobbies. When the boat is on the water and a storm brews, everyone on the boat looks at the captain.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re calm, they\u2019re calm,\u201d she said. \u201cSomething I\u2019ve really developed over time, especially when there is so much going on internally and externally, is to show up calm and consistent every day,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s something I\u2019m very proud of with my team at Yahoo, because I weathered that storm with them, and we got through to the acquisition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Utzschneider said people often ask her for advice and mentorship. Advice-seekers, she said, should do their research, ask specific questions, and come to her with ideas and innovations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more prescriptive the person is \u2014 [telling me] specifically what they need, versus a vague, \u2018Hey let\u2019s have coffee, and I\u2019ll learn about your 20-year career\u2019 \u2014 the more I am able to contribute and give back and do it in a way where it\u2019s constructive and it\u2019s not a waste of my time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Bates<\/a>

Bates alumni, parents, and friends, many of them young alumnae in their 20s, packed a room in Boston’s Revere Hotel for the panel on women in leadership on Sept. 28 (Paige Brown\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

Burke agreed that being prepared before calling upon someone for advice is paramount \u2014 but the idea of finding a mentor, one person to guide you through your career, is not. Instead, she said, junior employees should seek sponsors, a more activist concept she defined as people who can answer specific questions and create opportunities.<\/p>\n

Employees should also see everyone as a source of knowledge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to hire people at Hubspot who are not just interested in something but have demonstrated their interests by actually doing something about it,\u201d said Burke.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cInstead of waiting for the \u2018second coming\u2019 of the person who can teach you everything that you need to know, assume that everyone you meet knows something you don\u2019t,\u201d she said. \u201cIt makes your life more interesting and stops you from waiting for these big \u2018aha!\u2019 moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

The best way to catch a sponsor\u2019s attention, move up in a company, or get a job in the first place, Burke said, is to show evidence of your interests. For example, if you want to go into marketing or content creation, write for the student newspaper or publish your content online.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to hire people at Hubspot who are not just interested in something but have demonstrated their interests by actually doing something about it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

And, Burke said, go above and beyond. The best advice she ever received, from a baseball historian, was that aiming for a grand slam sometimes involves striking out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big believer in crazy big ideas,\u201d she said, \u201cthat power of loneliness and courage and being the person raising your hand, saying, \u2018I have a really good idea, and I don\u2019t actually care if anyone else thinks I can do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During a panel discussion in Boston, Lisa Utzschneider ’90, Katie Burke ’03, and Peggy Koenig P’17 explored how women can become effective leaders. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1005,"featured_media":110223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-batesnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1005"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110222"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117380,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110222\/revisions\/117380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}