By Scott Christian
Perspective is an incredible thing. It’s the sort of thing that can take a front row seat at the 2008 Lehman Brothers collapse and transform it into a simple career transition. It’s also the sort of thing that can reveal the unforeseen value of a nonlinear career path. Which might be the biggest takeaway from this month’s One Thousand Ways to Lead podcast episode featuring Gianna DelliCarpini, the Chief People Officer of WeWork and a 2012 graduate of Owen’s MBA program.
“When the screens go from green to blue,” DelliCarpini says of her experience working as an analyst at Lehman Brothers when the 2008 financial crisis hit, “I really started to think about what comes next. And how do I maybe do something a bit different with not just my career but take the next step.” That next step turned out to be the MBA program at the Owen Graduate School of Management. A decision that not only reinvigorated her career but also kicked off a love of country music. (Thank you, Nashville).
Throughout the episode, DelliCarpini sheds light on her experience at Owen and how it helped shape both her career and her approach to business, an approach that eventually led her into the C-suite at WeWork. It was a path full of unexpected turns, but one in which she grew more confident with each passing year. “If I go back to those early career moments, at least for me, a lot of it was about exposure to new and different things,” she says. And, most importantly, it was about connecting with and learning from the people who’d already found success. “I think the opportunity to really set goals for yourself in measurable ways is to make sure you have conversations with leaders, whether that’s in a networking capacity or just across different teams.”
DelliCarpini goes on to chart her career path at WeWork itself—a path that’s nine years and counting—and how eventually landing a role leading a global team was the fulfillment of an ambition she’d had since day one. She also sheds light on her management style, and how she constantly works to maintain the balance between strategy execution and micromanagement. All in all, it’s an incredibly insightful episode for anyone interested in an executive viewpoint behind the curtain of a high-profile global company.
For both current and former students, the most satisfying takeaway might be that DelliCarpini credits her Owen experience with giving her the confidence to take on such a demanding and high-profile leadership role. “The business school experience, it really gives you this confidence that you can weather different storms and try new things,” she says. “It really fueled this next massive chapter.”
Listen to the podcast:
