Success Story: A Leadership Role in a New Mission-Driven Field

Sarah’s Talent Meets Meaning: From Driving E-Commerce Growth to Mission Driven Leadership

An Unclear Career Story

Sarah had spent her entire career (to date, 14 years) at one company. In its earliest startup days, she developed well-rounded business acumen by ‘doing.’ She gathered knowledge & skills across several business functions while driving growth and solving complex problems in a fast-paced environment. 

After several years of delivering value and growing into a trusted thought leader in the organization, Sarah found a home in operations and product management. 

She ended up leading large-scale, cross-functional tech/process change initiatives and leading teams of up to 30 people. 

Her experience growing a business from the initial stages to a $3B+ IPO was vast! Still, she didn’t know how to bring it all together into a cohesive narrative.

She desired to move into more purpose-driven work, but in what sector? 

COVID and the 2020 Election had proven there were many places where society could benefit. And how to convince hiring managers that her knowledge would translate to another sector? That's what we sought to answer.

Making Meaning From The (Apparent) Chaos

Over a few weeks, we took stock of her incredible accomplishments and got clear on the skills and strengths she wanted to be known for. 

We discerned healthcare, education & voting rights were the places she wanted to work most. We got crisp on her desire to lead at a medium-sized company using tech to create an impact. It started to become clear what she could offer.

Most medium-sized tech businesses want to scale. At Sarah's former company, she was one of the few invited into the captain’s cabin. How many other senior product leaders could say they’d not only experienced large-scale cross-functional success and say they held some of the secrets & technical knowledge to making scaling happen? Wouldn’t that be an attractive and unique offer?

What had once been a yellow brick road full of twists and turns had opened up to the Emerald city of opportunity, where Sarah could lead her potential audiences.

The Mountaintop (So Far)

When people say they don’t know what they want to do, I have to smile. When asked the right questions and held to account for the answers they give, I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t come up with something pretty well-defined, even if it’s something no one has ever heard of before.

Six months later, after a score of pointed conversations with her network, an exhaustive and detailed spreadsheet of potential companies, and a small clutch of informational interviews, Sarah sailed through the interview process. 

Her purpose drove her to a mid-sized company dedicated to making healthcare plans that are more affordable, easier to access, and kinder to patients. The organization prized her knowledge and brought her on in a leadership role to help guide and scale their rapidly growing team. Sarah created a unique offer and earned the value she deserves.

Curious how you can find your purpose while leveling up your career story and executive presence? Here are a few ways AC Electric can help with that.