On Tuesday, May 23rd, AWESOME’s CEO, Michelle Dilley, joined DISCOVER, a cross-industry organization that focuses on the leadership, development, and advancement of people of color in a global supply chain organization, for a career chat virtual event. During this conversation, Michelle shared stories about her career journey, talked about lessons learned, and gave career development advice.
Here are some amazing highlights from this incredible interview:
- I look forward to exploring and learning new things. That’s how my career morphed into what it is today. From every job that I’ve taken and every company that I’ve worked for, it has always been with the intention of growing my knowledge and experiences broader and broader throughout the supply chain and different industries.
- We’ve built a cohort called our ScholarCONNECT program, where past scholars join in on events for their professional development and networking. As a result of expanding the scholarship program, we focus on getting 50% of women of color into the cohort. We are actively broadening what universities we work with. We’re looking for more diversity as an opportunity to help support students early in their careers.
- We really aim to highlight diversity with our speakers. We have so many amazing subject matter experts that are supply chain executives. We try to give them a platform where their voice can be heard, and we can showcase how amazing these diverse women are through our programming.
- Be fearless. It’s okay to make mistakes and to learn from those mistakes. I’ve learned more from my mistakes than my successes. Double-check your work, but don’t do it when you’re tired. And lastly, ask for things that are really important to you… be courageous and do the hard work, and know that you deserve to be where you are.
- When you see a job description and look at the criteria, really challenge yourself to think about, while I haven’t done it, can I learn it? And am I willing to learn it? Do I have the capability and the willingness to do it? If you do, then go for it. Don’t be afraid of the fact that you don’t check all the boxes, that’s okay. Have confidence in yourself, in your capabilities, and passion.
- It’s okay to ask questions, ask for clarity, and ask for support. Particularly early on in your career or when you’re starting a new role. It’s not a sign of weakness or that you don’t know things, it’s actually a sign of maturity that you can recognize others can help you. The power of the entire team really does help move things along. People are willing and absolutely want to help you be successful.