Amy Cappellanti-Wolf — Agility, Advocacy, and Advancement
The Person:
Amy Cappellanti-Wolf finished her MBA and began her career at Frito Lay, where she spent years on the factory floor of a manufacturing plant learning the ins and outs of the company. She found her way through a multitude of roles and cities as her career progressed, staying true to her philosophy of refusing to ignore new opportunities regardless of location or a clear route to advancement. She broadened her leadership and communication abilities at Disney, and after many unique and diverse experiences ended up as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Symantec, the world’s largest cybersecurity software company.
Mindset Advice:
Stay agile — At any point in your career, it is incredibly beneficial to constantly be open to and willing to change. Even when it comes to problem solving, it’s impossible to be sure that one solution will work again, even if it is in a similar situation. In this scenario, the ability to adapt and switch to a new perspective will lead to much more success.
“In technology, nothing is intuitive. You have to go in and get your hands in it to figure out how it works.”
Curiosity is key — You don’t know all the answers. While this may be obvious to a current college student facing the professional world for the first time, it still applies throughout an entire career of experience. Always approach something new with questions and a willingness to learn rather than a previously established stance, and the results will be far more positive and broaden your overall experience.
“Always be in a state of inquiry.”
Advocate for yourself — This is a highly positive skill as long as it is done right. If you are really serious about something and have a proven track record of experience, there is nothing wrong with expressing your readiness to take on more responsibility or to acknowledge your accomplishments. By backing up your statements you stay away from entitlement and truly become a self-advocate, which can streamline advancement.
Career Advice:
Be open to all opportunities — It is very easy to get attached to things in a career, whether it is a certain location or the need to always move vertically and not horizontally in a company. However, by simply being open to other opportunities and not limiting your horizons, it is possible to develop a truer breadth of knowledge. This breadth is highly important in reaching the top of any field, and especially in executive roles.
“Sometimes I took the jobs that weren’t as glamorous, that not everybody raised their hands for. But those were the experiences that grew me more.”
Build relationships early — Teachers, professors, guidance counselors, internships. Connections can come from so many places, but making sure to build those connections early and deeply leads to the most rewarding relationships for both parties. In the future, these are the people that will open doors to new opportunities and will always be a resource to guide your professional career.
A Focus on Diversity:
Symantec, with Amy at the head of HR, is actively seeking a diversity of experiences for their company. Symantec views diversity as an outcome of the internal environment, and thus focuses on making their company one where everybody feels confident and respected coming into work. By fostering this as well as making sure their interview process remains unbiased, the diversity of experiences they are looking for should be attained simply as a byproduct of positive company culture and practices.
Opportunities:
Until now, cybersecurity has mainly been a male-dominated industry that requires years of training to enter. However, they hope to curate that ability faster, and bring in talent directly from college campuses as the industry grows and becomes even more necessary. This new graduating generation has had devices in their hands since childhood, and that foundational familiarity is very appealing to these companies, resulting in a variety of opportunities for new graduates.
