Deanna L. Wright

I think being grounded is one thing. Regardless of the jobs I've had, the titles that I've had, I remain grounded. As a leader, I like to develop others - that's what I definitely get excited about. I truly enjoy getting to know who they are, not just the job, but what's important to them, and oftentimes it goes back to family. Being able to help someone, put them in a position to assist them in their future goals is what drives me. I may have someone on my team today, but I may know their future aspirations is outside of my scope, outside of my area. So how can I help with that? How do I give you exposure? How do I give you projects that will help you expand your skills so then in the next two years, you can go after that other job? Not being a selfless leader - I think that's what I love. I'm very much a giver. That's what excites me. I love to see others feel good, and that, in turn, makes me feel good.

The one thing that kind of stuck with me is, never lose your voice. I know sometimes, again, as I mentioned earlier in career, you're in a room for a reason, they've invited you for a reason, but sometimes you feel like your idea or your thought may not be one that's going to be considered, but always make sure you find your voice. You're there for a reason, and you're there to contribute to the conversation and add value. That's something that I try to make sure that I share with younger leaders and folks on my team - no idea is a bad idea, let's brainstorm together. That's something that's very key that stuck with me. Regardless of the room that I'm in, whether I'm leading it or I'm a contributor, being confident in your thought, and that your idea, your voice should be heard.

Be bold. Be bold with your ideas, be bold with your voice, as I mentioned earlier. Be bold in pursuing things that maybe others haven't even thought of. Don't be afraid to maybe create something where you see a gap in opportunity that could be definitely something that could be leveraged for that organization. Create your own path. I would definitely say, be bold in all that you do, and confident.

I would say right now, AI. Right now, everyone is AI-focused, so how do we, one, get educated and figure out how we leverage that technology in a useful way. I think sometimes we over-index on new things, a shiny object. Not everything is meant to be driven by artificial intelligence. We still need humans to be able to feel and have empathy. I don't think that's something that can be applied to every scenario. But absolutely, coming from technology, there are ways we can use it where it can definitely benefit, make things faster, where we can actually spend time, the human capital time, on things where we really need that. I think that's a challenge that I see, that we need to kind of overcome in the short time. That's a big buzzword. That's what everyone wants everyone to really drive. We gotta figure out what are the right opportunities and scenarios where we should apply it - it's not a one-size-fits-all.

For me, I would say definitely integrity. I try to always make sure I lead by example. If I'm asking someone to do something, it's not something that I wouldn't do myself or that I'm not already doing myself. So I think integrity is key. With that comes trust - being able to be someone that folks can trust. I would say those are my two key things - integrity and trust, which somewhat go hand in hand. And then, I would say family. Everything that I do is really grounded in being able to provide for my family, make my family proud. That's my number one.