Cynthia Williams is the third generation in her family to work in the auto industry. After joining Ford in 1992, she’s now the company’s Global Director of Sustainability, Homologation and Compliance. The key to rising to a top position in the org? Getting buy-in from leaders at the company. This week, Cynthia told us how she navigated and grew her relationships with company leadership, and got their guidance and support for her career journey.
In this episode, Cynthia shares:
Why the best opportunities come to people who have career flexibility
What to do whenever you get the opportunity to talk to a key leader at your company
Her advice for negotiation
What homologation actually means
Her experience leading a team through a rapidly-changing auto landscape
On Taking Control of Your Leadership Journey
Cynthia: Leadership is a journey. It's not going to happen the way you think it's going to happen. Again, you have to be flexible. And just don't identify positions that you want. Identify key skill sets that you want to learn that can be transferable to any position. And always, in your discussions with your key leaders that you sit down with, always take time to talk about your career journey and how they could help you get to where you need to be.
On Advocating For Yourself at Work
Cynthia: When you advocate for yourself, always highlight the strengths, always highlight what you've brought to the bottom line to help meet the corporate goals, and always try to quantify the impact to the company and the bottom line that you brought. Talk about the things that you have led, not the team. What did you lead? What did you deliver?
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