Teresa White, President of Aflac U.S., is responsible for driving seamless strategy and execution across Aflac’s U.S. operations, including oversight and support of the company’s extensive insurance distribution network of individual agents and brokers across the country. In her role, she focuses on specific growth enablers, including improving and expanding distribution, focusing on product innovation, owning Aflac’s customer experience and strengthening the low cost model and has aligned sales and marketing operations in support of Aflac’s core strategy.
My first real job right out of college was as a site manager for a card services company. I had a background in computer information systems, which was a new and unfamiliar field. Trying to explain computers back then was very difficult. Many businesses had just stopped utilizing punch cards and mainframe computing with dumb terminals. Desktop computing was in its infancy. I recall my first personal computer terminal was an IBM 8088. I promise you, that’s a long way from the technology today featuring IBM Watson, but I learned a lot from being a “pioneer coder,” especially in terms of office communication.
The funny thing is most of the pivotal lessons from my first job had nothing to do with computer systems and more to do with translating what I know for colleagues.
1. Have a point of view
Sometimes people outside of my department would look at me as if I were speaking another language (which, to be fair, I often was), so I quickly learned to seek their language and understand their point of view. Once I understood them, then I could help them to understand my perspective. I had to be confident in my decisions, logic and rationale, even if others had differing opinions. No one was going to trust me if my words didn’t express that I believed in my own recommendations.
Speak your mind in a poised manner and people will see the value in your perspective. They may not always fully agree, but they will respect your decisions or recommendations.
2. Collect your “gold stars”
Each time I received kudos or thank-you notes for my work, I would keep them and put them in a folder. Then, when I was having a tough day or feeling unmotivated, I would open the folder to remind myself of my accomplishments, big or small. It’s surprising how a few positive words can change your outlook – and not to mention, when it comes time for you to ask for a promotion, you’ll have great examples to back up your rationale.
3. Have a solution
In the beginning of my career, I was constantly going to my supervisors for help and wasn’t getting the responses I wanted. Finally, one of them sat me down and said, “I want to help you, but you have to help yourself first.”
When you go to a supervisor for help, don’t go empty-handed. Identify how you might approach the problem first, and then ask for feedback. This shows that you have invested your own thought and effort to find a solution and that you’re looking for guidance, not just an easy out.
4. Everyone communicates differently
One of the hardest lessons I had to learn was how to communicate with different types of people. You may not be liked by everyone on the first meeting, but if you pay attention to how others respond to you, you’ll learn their preferred communication style. Do they want everything quick and to the point or are they more likely to strike up small talk? Do they prefer in-person meetings or request updates and information by email? Once you align your work communication styles, you can begin to develop efficient and productive work relationships with your colleagues.
5. Enthusiasm goes a long way
No one expects you to know everything, but if you show that you care about doing things right, people will invest the time to teach you. Pay attention to details. Take notes. Ask questions. These behaviors demonstrate engagement and interest. They are also a form of active listening that shows respect for the person investing their time in you.
