Peter Linn, MBA 8995 — This is How I Work

I’m Peter Linn, and this is How I Work.

Location: Rochester, MN

Current Gig: Financial Analyst at IBM, MBA student at University of Minnesota-Duluth

One Word That Describes How I Work: Focused

What apps/software/tools can’t you live without? Why?

Microsoft Excel — about 90% of the work I do is done in Excel, it is the best tool I have used so far for financial data analysis. Another one is Google Docs/Sheets/Slides. Those are invaluable for working with groups as well as having those files accessible from anywhere. Other than those I don’t use a whole lot of apps, I like to keep things as simple as possible.

What’s your best time-saving shortcut/life hack?

My best life hack is heading out for some physical activity when I get stuck with a problem I am trying to solve. Heading out for an hour or so seems to clear my head and make room for solutions that had been eluding me previously.

What everyday thing are you better at than everyone else? What’s your secret?

I don’t know that I do this better than everyone else, but one of the things I am good at is making sure that I minimize the time spent doing activities that don’t in some way contribute towards meeting my goals. I do this by taking a moment to think about how the respective activity I am doing contributes towards meeting those goals, and if I can’t come up with a good answer I move on to something else that does.

What do you listen to while you work?

On days that I don’t spend on the phone I will usually listen to either a custom hard rock station on Pandora or podcasts from Runner’s World. Both tend to keep me motivated, especially when I am doing very routine tasks.

What are you currently reading?

Running Man, an autobiography by accomplished adventure racer Charlie Engle. It is very inspirational, as should be expected from someone who can run a 135-mile race across Death Valley in the middle of July or cross the Sahara desert on foot.

Are you more of introvert or an extrovert?

I have always been more of an introvert than an extrovert, although in recent years I have started to slide a little farther towards extrovert on the scale. I am much more comfortable thinking rather than speaking and still prefer working independently, but have come to enjoy the group dynamic as well as I’ve progressed through my career.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

A friend of mine once told me that if I was looking for more than what I was currently experiencing, it was time to start looking beyond what I was comfortable with expanding my horizons a bit. Taking this advice was one of the best things I’ve ever done.

Where do you find inspiration and new ideas?

Most of my inspiration and new ideas come from listening to, reading about, and observing the actions of others who are successful in my areas of interest.

What kind of leader are you?

I like to think that I lead by example. This helps set expectations and gives the other team members something concrete to evaluate their performance against.

Is there anything else you’d like to add that might be interesting to readers?

One of the things that has best served me in my career is being very responsive to others when they reach out to me with a problem or a question. I’ve found that a little work up front helping them with their problem pays dividends when it is me looking for solutions, and that this is one of the most effective ways to build relationships with others.