The 2022 Women Leaders In Technology: Paula Walworth

Paula specializes in helping companies across a broad range of technology topics, including technology strategy, digital product development, IT effectiveness & cost optimization, acquisitions & divestitures, and infrastructure operations. She has more than 30 years of technology experience working across a variety of industries, including manufacturing, retail, utilities and financial services. Before joining AlixPartners, she had prior consulting as well as operating experience: as a partner at Accenture—focusing on software development, program management, governance and IT strategy—and at Ford Motor Company, where she held a variety of roles including functional chief information officer, global IT audit director, and enterprise program manager. Paula has an MBA from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.

What has been the biggest factor in your success so far?

While it is hard to select one thing, one major key to my success has been the ability to take an ambiguous, often confused & sometimes chaotic situation and drive a positive path forward. The process of quickly diagnosing a situation, crafting a focused approach, and then executing to realize the value is what gets my adrenaline running. I have some foundational beliefs that guide my efforts:

• starting with a can-do attitude will always produce the best results
• the most powerful word to drive value-added change is 'why'
• the 80/20 rule is virtually always in play; don't waste effort on the last 20%
• what we measure will drive behavior so make sure you've picked the right measurement
• a lot of time is wasted when we mistake precision for accuracy
• simple is almost always better than complex and usually much harder to accomplish
• most people try to do the right thing as they understand it; leaders need to help drive understanding
• a good laugh is priceless

The other thing that has been critical is the relationships that I've been able to build over the years. Talented people working together toward a common goal is always going to produce better results than even the best efforts of any one individual. And I've learned over the years how positive, fulfilling, and valuable it is to keep connected with people even when you're no longer working closely together.

What do you enjoy most about your career in the consulting industry?

A good way to begin to answer this may be telling you why I choose consulting fresh out of university. I was getting a technology degree and many of my classmates were looking at entry-level programmer or engineering positions with technology companies. The job descriptions they were reviewing seemed to entail most of their day sitting in front of a computer screen or hovering above a circuit board with unclear advancement prospects. And I was beginning to question whether I had chosen the right degree despite my love of the subject.

Then I went to an on-campus information session for a consulting firm and my passion for the industry was ignited. They were describing exactly what I wanted to do: heavy emphasis on working with people, intensive successive experiences, making a positive difference for our clients, excellent career development opportunities, etc. And that is just what I found to be the reality as I started my career in consulting, eventually making partner at my first firm.

I subsequently left consulting for a period and spent 15 years in operational roles. I made the switch for many reasons including a desire to experience the realities of living with my decisions in a different way than one does in consulting. And now, having returned to consulting (my first love as I sometimes jokingly call it), I believe I am a better consultant for it: being able to more directly relate to my clients and their challenges.

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

I've been blessed that many amazing people have provided invaluable insights over the years. Three bits of advice from early in my career really made a significant impact on me:

• Pace, not position. When you find yourself in a bad situation, don't focus on your 'position'. Instead, focus on the 'pace' you can create to get yourself to a better position. My boss at the time shared this with me when I was running my first project and things had gone south. While it's a very simple concept, it's quite powerful and helped to keep me from feeling overwhelmed. The advice works in so many situations in a professional setting, but also in one's personal life.
• Cultivate trusted advisors. Always have some trusted advisors who you know you can call on for advice & support when you need it. A bit different from mentors (although a given individual may be both), these should be people who are not afraid of giving you their unvarnished opinion – even if they know it might sting just a little, though delivered from a position of caring.
• Act like you belong. If you walk into a room and think/act like you don't belong, everyone will agree with you. This was important advice I got early in my career and is something that, to this day, I share with young professionals. Many of us have some degree of impostor syndrome. If we telegraph our insecurity, it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.