|
Degree and Year: MA '91 Company: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Company Web Site: http://www.deloitte.com/ Title: Director of Internal Communications and Creative Services City and State: New York, N.Y.
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is a global professional services organization with 120,000 professionals specializing in auditing, consulting, financial advising and providing tax services to selected clients. Communication teams work across a wide variety of channels to deliver targeted communications to both internal and external audiences. Our expertise in video, graphics, photography and e-communications is applied to a wide range of projects, including the Annual Review, online and conferences videos, Web demos and marketing collateral. Why did you choose to work in a corporate communication environment? I was a TV journalist for 20 years and decided to move into a corporate environment primarily to try something new and work more humane hours. Does working for a global company present special communications challenges for you? Because we are a global organization made up of member firms in nearly 150 countries, we try to connect all those firms and help them do their jobs, rather than direct them. So yes, it's an enormous challenge. A typical day for me might start with a 6 a.m. phone to Beijing and end with a 7 p.m. call to Sydney. Every day I deal with literally dozens of colleagues worldwide. I often have to arrange video and photo shoots overseas. What is your best professional lesson learned at the J-School? I taught at the J-School for four years and was a student for two. As a teacher, the number one thing I learned was that the best predictor for success was the ability of someone to seek out feedback (good and bad), accept it and use it. The critiques we did on a daily basis in the newsroom were invaluable. We talked about what worked, and what could have been better. The students who were not defensive and tried to improve went on to the best careers. (I have been following them now for 15 years.) As a student, Charlie Warner, a former professor, was my best mentor in learning how to manage people. He was all about coaching people - giving them both a vision of excellence, along with specific goals and regular feedback. You can't expect people to magically know what you want. I am still learning from him today. What is your favorite J-School memory? As a teacher, probably running to the control room two minutes before a newscast, knowing that half your stories were still being edited, but somehow knowing you'd get through it. Also, I loved the critiques. It was especially good when we brought in guests because they would usually say the same things we said all the time, but the students always listened a little harder. What would be your best advice to current students? Seek out feedback, and use it. It's not about how good you think you are. You have so much to learn and fortunately you're in an environment where everyone wants to help you get better -- teachers, visitors, fellow students, too. Be a pest to your teachers and get extra attention. I don't mean in terms of whining about a grade, but in honestly finding out what you can do better. The relationships you develop can last decades. Secondly, take classes in things you aren't good in - especially in business - stuff like economics, finance, and the sciences. Stretch yourself. Your GPA is less important than learning. How has having a master's degree helped your career? I know it helped me in learning how to manage people. I went and got my degree after I worked for a decade and was a manager and realized I needed to know a lot more. Throughout my career, a master's degree has never been required for my positions, but it's always been preferred. What are five adjectives that describe you? I believe, for most people, our greatest strengths are also our flaws. So I'll give you the two sides of my key traits:
A journalist - I was writing a neighborhood paper when I was 8 years old. What is something people might not know about you? Teaching at Missouri was the best job I've had in my life. And, I finally got married a couple of years ago. 
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| Revised: 30 January 2008. Copyright © 2008 The Curators of the University of Missouri | Contact the J-School | |
