In honor of March being Women’s History month and March 8 being International Women’s Day, we wanted to ask the women of Circa their advice for other women in the workforce, what their perspectives are on being a woman in a leadership position, and what we can do to empower other women in the workplace.
Heather is Circa’s Chief Sales Officer and a passionate driver of change with superior capabilities in assessing and building sales teams and identifying partnership and product opportunities to position the company for sustained growth. She has a deep advocacy for people, guiding individuals and teams to be their best selves.
She has deep leadership experience in software and technology solution sales at companies large and small. Prior to joining Circa in 2019, Heather was VP of Commercial Operations at Covetrus. Here she was part of a team working to spin-off the global Henry Schein Veterinary businesses, merge with Vets First Choice and launch in Feb. 2019 the IPO of Covetrus on Nasdaq. Prior, Heather led Henry Schein Veterinary Solutions, North American sales and marketing, facilitating integration of five acquisitions to create a customer first experience to facilitate growth, and pivot the dental technology and medical software divisions from shrinking to growth market turnarounds.
There are several benefits to having women in leadership, some include…
My favorite part about being a leader is helping my team members reach their full potential so we can reach our full potential as a team, and tackling hard things to make them happen.
“Work to become an ideal team player, humble, hungry, & smart – it is a powerful combination.”
Heather also recommends that women who are early in their careers should create strong personal discipline and boundaries that will serve them throughout their careers. In addition, she also emphasizes the importance of believing in yourself and raising your hand for work that will help lead you to the next level of skill and advancement in your career.
For those interested in learning more about how to become the ideal team player she recommends reading “The Ideal Team Player” by Patrick Lencioni.
Regularly assessing – in meetings, in get togethers, etc. and observing the room in each interaction as well to see whose voice is being heard and whose isn’t. I try to learn my team members communication preferences so that we can provide what they need to be comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas.
By trying new things and taking hard assignments – Doing this builds your skills, builds confidence, and enables you to be visible.
By taking ownership of mistakes and fixing them – You learn by fixing so you know what to avoid in the future, but it is also good to remember we all make mistakes and will always be human so the best way to handle mistakes is to own it and fix it.
Yes, and still do from time to time. Here are a few things I do to overcome it:
This March we encourage other companies to take the time to acknowledge and celebrate women in the workplace and reflect on how best to support them with their future success.
If you need help with ideas for how to properly celebrate and recognize these important holidays, then Circa’s Advancing Belonging and Inclusion (ABI) can provide communication, content, and more that will help you be proactive and develop a DEI strategy.
