The Journey to Becoming an Effective Executive Leader | Susan Gunn

Before You Take Your Next Step is a fresh conversation on personal and professional development. We are excited to be your place to get practical advice from a diverse group of leaders who are each in different stages of their career journey. Our guest today is Susan Gunn, an exceptional organizational leader with over 25 years of experience, and someone I have the pleasure of working with and learning from. Susan shares the strategic decisions she made in her career, advice for overcoming a career plateau, embracing your swagger, eases our networking jitters and the importance of a mentor. She is a true and genuine leader in all senses of the word, and manages with the intention of being authentic and helpful. 

 

Takeaways:

[0:52] This podcast is for anyone interested in leadership at any stage of their career. Leadership is a topic we never get tired of talking about, and there is always room for improvement. 

[1:52] We welcome our guest Susan Gunn. She originally thought she may be a doctor, but then got an internship at Seagram’s and found she loved working in HR. 

[5:49] She started working Canada and after several moves in the United States, spent some time working in England. After that, she was relocated to New York and then Philadelphia where she lives currently. 

[13:36] Even at a senior level, Susan still needed some feedback and support with her next career move. The feedback from the coach and the results from her assessment tests helped her get a fresh vision on the next steps within her personal and professional development. 

[22:42] Susan found working with the Amazon Leadership Principles a great inspiration for her already detail oriented and customer service based leadership style. 

[27:16] We talk about how leadership has evolved, and the important skills of open mindedness, accepting feedback and a commitment to diversity is of utmost importance in the culture today. 

[32:25] In her leadership role Susan seeks to deliver to the overall strategy of the company yet also focus on the bottom line. 

[35:45] Susan breaks down the difference between Executive leadership and Junior leadership. Executives focus more on the big picture and solutions to activate strategies, where junior and mid- level leadership plays more into tactical moves and execution. 

[36:28] Some of Susan’s advice on moving up to the executive world: network within the company, make sure your work is relevant to the company and ask for feedback on how you can broaden your development.

[41:13] It’s never too late to build a network.  Be sure you are sincere and authentic, not over commitment and always follow through with your word. 

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Amazon Leadership Principles

Wall Street Journal

BYTYNS Blog 

 

Quotes:

• “I was very lucky to work for great leaders who saw my potential and tapped me on the shoulder to do bigger roles before I was even ready for them.” 
• “I really believe that good work begets great opportunities.” 
• “My goal is to delight our customers, whomever they are. My managerial style is detail oriented but not micromanaging.” 
• “Don’t be afraid to ask for help, but also don’t be afraid to give.”