Lori Bilske

I attribute my success at CME to those people who helped me. I've been very, very fortunate to have amazing bosses and managers who didn't hold me back. They let me into conversations and let me express my opinions. They didn't push me down, and if I had an idea of how to do something, they didn't take credit for it. The people that I work with are wonderful, and CME is a place that really fosters leadership growth. So if they see somebody who has that potential, they really hone in on it. I would contribute it to the people that I work with, and I've had many mentors and sponsors who would uplift me and throw my name in a hat when I wasn't in the room. I had no cyber defense knowledge, but yet I was brought in to lead projects, and then I was brought in to lead cybersecurity teams, and then somebody threw my name in the hat to run Lean Portfolio Management, which I have no Agile experience. So without those people, I couldn't have done that.

The best career advice I've ever received is that nothing is too small. If you see something that needs fixed, take ownership. Take ownership of it, fix it, and show the thought and strategic thinking that you could put into things. I feel like that has really helped me throughout my career. Early on, I took on projects and things that other people deemed insignificant, and I was able to drive them to help make leaders' lives easier. Another piece of advice that really helped me is to take advantage of being in the room. I've been very fortunate to be in rooms of very senior leaders that are making decisions, and I'm sitting there as a Senior Director taking notes. I'm okay with this because, yes, I'm a woman sitting here taking notes, but I'm in the room. I get to be here. I'm the youngest, least titled person in the room, but I'm here. I think being appreciative of that and not being like, oh, I don't want to be the one taking notes - it's kind of valuing and appreciating the opportunities you have.

I encourage the women that I mentor and the women on my team to speak up. Don't put yourself down just because you don't think your thought is important enough, or you think it's stupid, or something like that. If you have something to say in a meeting, say it. If you have an idea to put forward, put it forward. As nerve-wracking as that can be, and it creates vulnerability, that is what gets you noticed. People aren't gonna know what you can do unless you say it, and then what you can produce as well. I sit there in meetings, and I know some of these women have great ideas, but they're just too afraid to speak it out loud. So I think that is the advice I give most women that I mentor.

My biggest challenge is bringing different perspectives together on a common goal. We take a look at big company strategy, right? And everybody has an idea of how to get there, but how do I use my influence or my persuasive tactics in order to get people to come together and agree on the direction of travel? That has been probably the most challenging. It's a lot of conversations, it's a lot of facilitation, but I can't just sit there quietly in the room and let people talk. I also have to interject my thinking and steer the conversation, because one of the goals I wanted to do when I moved into this new role, because it's very different from cybersecurity, was I wanted to learn strategy and I wanted to learn the business. It's getting people to say, here's where we want to get to, how do we get there? And then figuring that out.

The value that's really driving me right now is the flexibility that my career provides me as a new mother, and that work-life balance. It's really about making sure that I am present for my family while I still don't lose myself through not contributing to work. It's contributing and feeling worthwhile, while still being able to go to my son's Halloween parade at school. That's really what is driving me right now, and what my base value is - I can make all the money in the world, but if I'm not there at his Christmas concert, what's the point?