For your patience as we work through that. I'm happy to be there. I know we only have a couple of minutes. My name is Fern Johnson.I'm here to talk to you about early career pivots and what that means for you in your career and how do you effectively not let it stop you from where you wanna be. So so we'll move forward. When it comes to navigating the crossroads and when it comes to thinking about making career transitions, I can tell you from my own experience, every major career leave has started with a level of uncertainty, but then it kind of usually worked out. But the reason that that is is we have to go through a level of discomfort. You know, oftentimes, early in my career, I was tapped on the shoulder to take on a new role and a new opportunity, and I didn't know why.

I'll give you a couple of examples. Early in my career, first pivot I took, I was took a role a 100% on the road and we call those roadies, implementing lands across America. I was young. I was green behind the ears, but I was ready for adventure. Two years later, they pulled us all off the road and I pivoted to be back in the office to do a new role as a system administrator supporting HP systems. I knew nothing about it. Those are some of my early pivots. I have more to share. But what I'll tell you is while I'm in the pivot, it's uncomfortable. When I look backwards, all of those pivots were building blocks into building up a really kind of phenomenal career. So I wanna continue to take you through this conversation.

And the next piece is, you know, there were some myths that I was told and you might have been told. And one is that just pick a lane, and you could have a career of just in one lane. But right now, it's about the ability to maneuver lanes. That's how we have to operate now. You know, as I speak to a lot of folks early in their career, I try to remind them that the road to success is not a straight road. It will be curvy. And to be honest, as a leader, as executive, I'd rather have people who've had in their journeys some bump bumps, some ups and downs, and twists and pivots, both the successes and the failures.

You know why? It builds grit, it builds resilience, and it also builds muscle. So so important for us to know that you don't just have to stay in one lane and that career progression is not necessarily a straight road ahead. So let's talk about the contrast between those two. You know, technology is changing so, so rapidly. And the old career model really doesn't fit anymore. So we think about this old career model, but we also think about what's happening now. I'll tell you the real important piece is what's happening for the future because AI is here. There's a great read that I wanna offer to you guys. It's a book called Leaders Make the Future, and it's the third edition.

It's by the Institute for the Future, and it's the two authors are Bob Johansson and Gabe Sorrentes. They share a future forward view on business and the new skills that are needed to humanize leadership in this whole gen AI world. They call it AI augmented leadership. And so when you think about can't go back to the old career model. The current view is changing. Tomorrow's reality is we've gotta be adaptable. We've gotta be resilient. We've gotta be this massive master orchestrator. We have to be not only able to work cross functionally, but cross industry. I think you should pick this book up and read it. It's a great read. It stretches our understanding around leadership, especially in the AI context. So when we think about these pivots, just know that the career model is changing and we should be changing with it. Alright. So I thought you know what?

Let me just take it through the pivots I made. And I will tell you these pivots really compounded my value, and it still compounds my value now in the work that I'm doing. So this graph actually I hadn't developed this when I was at PepsiCo, became a VP, and people wanted to know about my career trajectory. And I own this. I stayed at one organization for thirty three years. I wouldn't recommend that today. I had about 17 roles. I traveled the world. I've hit over 30 countries. I only have one more continent left to go, and that's Antarctica. So while I own this, I just I'm not happy with the fact that it took me thirty years to get to a CTO vice president.

So, but the pivots to get there were kinda free. So let me take you to the first pivot, and this was kind of early in my career. All of those mid early career right out of college roles I was doing. I lived in New York at the time. And then I started to make a pivot, and that was the big move, and I moved to Texas. And so around about the mid two thousands, the IT world for PepsiCo was centered in Plano Plano, Texas. And the move really helped my career. It made sense for my career to move, and it really aided in the roles I was able to get and the exposure. So the next pivot, this is kinda what I'll call the stalls or the laterals that felt like stalls. I always talk about, you know, love the laterals.

Love the laterals. I had multiple director roles. I had multiple senior director roles. And let me tell you, I pivoted when I felt like I was an autopilot and complacent. I would recommend you pivot if you get complacent. You should pivot if the culture is not right for you. Pivot if you see the business changing and you need to stay relevant and don't become obsolete. Pivots are not bad, and they should serve you, and they should serve your career. But I will tell you, as I made these different moves, they were they were all building blocks, and they compounded and readied me for a vice president capacity at a PepsiCo. So pivots are not bad. I think you've gotta to make sure that you're making strategic pivots, and and they can really work for you. Alright.

So let me tell you the next piece. This power in pivoting in your career. You know, first, you learn so much about different businesses and technology. That cross functional expertise and industry experience make you a very fierce leader. It increases your value proposition to organizations. You know, I think about I'm sure you guys have heard of PwC, Accenture, Deloitte, those management consultants. I always was envious of the people who were in the consulting space because they have the ability to get exposure to various businesses and made them very valuable assets to companies. They knew financial services. They knew technology. They knew life sciences. They had small companies. They had startups. They had all this vast experience. So those pivots for them made them valuable assets. You can also see problems very differently.

Your decision making shifts and it transforms, but you could see these patterns that come up when you take these different pivots. And then lastly, you know, as you're working to become more of an executive, you'd have executive presence and communications which give you a lot of confidence, and you stop worrying about the just the silos of the work. But how do you really ensure that you're driving outcomes? But I'll tell you, while you're doing all of that, good lord, you can get exhausted, and it is exhausting. And that's the emotional tax of making pivots. And that's the watch out. You know, amidst let me tell you another example in my career. You know, amidst several CIO leadership changes in my old organization, the leadership style was constantly changing. One leader was a bridge builder. The next was a leader who wanted us to be closely matched and working with the business.

The next leader was bringing the tea back in the technology, ensuring that we were really technically strong. And I'll tell you, if not grounded, if not me being grounded, you could very easily become dizzy and drained, constantly managing the shift, being the impostor, worrying what if I fail? There's no magic remedy, but I offer this and I offer four things here. One, stay grounded. Know who you are and who you're not. And and that's a part of your self awareness journey. Know what fuels you. There's a great book out there. Gosh, this is probably twenty, twenty five years old called Sap versus Zap. It's a great read, but know what saps you, which takes away, and then what zaps you and lights you up. The third is protect your peace.

Don't let anyone change who you are. Protect that peace and keep yourself whole. And then the last piece I offer here is if you haven't developed your own personal board of directors or your trusted circle, you need those folks right away. Because as you're pivoting and you need to bounce ideas off and you're getting tired of these starts and restarts, that personal board of directors or that trusted circle needs to be at the ready to help you. Alright. Let's talk about transferable skills. Because as you're looking at your pivots, you know, it is job opportunities. It is also about what are the skills that really matter? When you pivot and you make these changes, what transferable skills can you move from left to right from the different positions? Are you spending the right time honing those skills for the future?

As our technology continues to evolve, and it will, but our human capability also has to scale and change. And then there's those AI augmented leadership skills I talked about that you guys should should look at look at and getting engaged with. I always talk about concentric circles. And when you're pivoting and when you're thinking about, wow, what's the sweet sauce? Know that the future is going to bring this currency of having business acumen, having human leadership, having technical depth. And when you have that, the key there is that's when your career can really shine. That's the velocity you'll have. A good example I give here is not about being the most technical in the room. There's times you're gonna have to be the most technical in the room.

But as you are building out your career, the key is, can you be that person that connects the technology? You guys have heard about people process technology? Well, people process technology and business outcomes is what's really gonna make you an effective leader. You know, when I think about this, and I have the wand here. I didn't even think about this in my prep. I think about the master orchestrator in all three areas. What comes to mind is the maestro. So this is a global audience. Have you guys ever been to an orchestra? You know, we have a global audience here. New York, Berlin, London, Vienna, Chicago, Amsterdam. Those cities have the most renowned and critically acclaimed orchestras. It's the maestro, that master in the middle, that maneuvers the instruments to make that harmonious sound that produces beautiful music.

I think that's kind of what happens in your career when you make those pivots and you're bringing those different elements. So the question you have to ask yourself is, how am I being the maestro in my career? How am I making that melodious music as I move? How do you bring those different skills, instruments into how you manage and lead effectively? Alright. Check out your local orchestra. No matter where you are in the world, there's one, and they would appreciate your support. Alright. So I don't just leave you with doom and gloom. I wanna give you some practical use on what you should do. Always, always, always be a continual learner. Make sure that when you're making your pivot pip your pivots. Your pivots, they're calculated. They're strategic. We as women don't like to take risks, but it's important that we do. Your network, leverage your network before you need your network.

That's that PBOT. That's that trusted circle I talked about. Let the curiosity that you have fuel where you pivot. If you have an interest in life sciences, if you have an interest in marketing, if you have an interest in large language models and and quantum, let that curiosity drive your pivot. And then treat your career as a portfolio, not just a stepping ladder. Know yourself, but ladies, you are valued. You are valuable. Know your value. I leave you with this. Your next role, it is not going to be what you think it is. Don't stay in the same lane. Your pivots are your superpower. It's how you position the pivot to drive the outcome. Our leaders today are shaping the future of technology, and they're the ones who are willing to evolve with the technology, evolve with AI, know that humans have to still be in the equation.

So continue that journey, continue to pivot. The future is yours, but you have to master not just one lane. You have to master all the lanes. Alright. I did that with technical difficulties. I stayed within time, and thank you so much for listening.