Boeing CIO Susan Doniz leads with curiosity and empathy

“We dwell in a world stuffed with change,” says Doniz, and that requires technologists to be agile, curious, and life-long learners. “It’s a must to be very adaptable, and pivot in a short time.”

Change isn’t a “one act present,” Doniz provides, emphasizing that these within the IT business should stay dedicated to life-long studying, as a result of “you need to always be studying new issues.”

“I’m always reskilling myself and upskilling myself,” she says, “studying about new applied sciences, working with friends, going to conferences, seeing what folks have on the market, and being impressed by different companies and what they’ve finished.”

That dedication to life-long studying is an ethos that must be inspired and supported by means of the whole group, Doniz says, which suggests having the precise sources in place to help and encourage the pure curiosity of staff.

“We have to present the means the place they’ll make investments, and I’ve by no means seen an organization that means that you can make investments a lot in studying — you may examine something and Boeing will help you on it,” she says.

That additionally means giving staff alternatives to realize new experiences on the job by placing engaged and motivated staff into attain roles, which helps develop their expertise and confidence, whereas serving to the group hold tempo with know-how and expertise demand.

“I’m positive you may’t discover anyone that has two years of generative AI expertise as a result of there’s not lots of people which have that. So we’ve got to lean ahead,” Doniz says. “For individuals who have proven that they’re curious, and might ship, and might be taught, then we be sure that we’re giving them new alternatives. And I feel that’s so vital, to take probabilities and to offer folks alternatives to point out what they’ll do in new areas of know-how, as a result of that’s the way you be taught — by means of doing.”

Keys for achievement

For Doniz, the keys to inspiring a workforce is to genuinely care in regards to the particular person satisfaction and happiness of every worker, and to be invested within the group’s total success as properly. 

“I actually need folks to achieve success and so placing folks in the midst of every little thing and understanding what motivates them, and being genuinely curious and genuinely caring, which typically means giving them the arduous messages, however in a approach that’s caring, I feel is what helps me join but in addition to achieve success with my groups as properly,” she says.

Rising up, Doniz by no means thought-about a profession in know-how and is aware of that there are lots of individuals who really feel they “don’t have the abilities or grew up in a spot the place they didn’t have the sources to be taught” about know-how. However she believes that know-how is greater than “being interested by how a pc works”; it’s “actually about folks.” “I might simply encourage extra folks to contemplate careers in know-how, as a result of you may’t be a superb technologist with out being very focused on each course of from finance, to advertising and marketing, to manufacturing, and I really feel like I’ve been in a position to nearly do each single profession as a result of I help know-how. And I won’t have considered that as a woman rising up.”