007: Doina Harris | Embracing & Accepting Failure, Sponsor vs. Mentor, & Giving and Receiving Feedback

Career Corner

Doina Harris is the Chief Product Officer at Simon Data. She’s served as a strategic and transformative leader in technology and advertising with experience scaling operations and executing cross-functional transformations.

She has lived and worked in the United States and Europe for companies such as Salomon Smith Barney, McKinsey, Google, and AppNexus. She’s originally from Romania and received her bachelor’s and MBA from Harvard University.

Doina has two beautiful children and enjoys playing bridge and painting in her spare time.

In my conversation with Doina, we discuss:

· How Simon Data has managed to stay connected during COVID-19 and how she’s personally adapted her leadership style.

· How she uses The Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize her time.

· The benefits of conducting a worst-case scenario exercise.

· Her early days growing up in communist Romania and the impact her Grandfather had on her life.

· How she learned to embrace and accept failure without letting it define her.

· Why she transitioned from an industry she thought she’d always be in (finance) to technology

· How she and her husband support each other’s careers while prioritizing parenting.

· The difference between a sponsor and a mentor.

· Giving and receiving feedback.

· Why you should treat your career as a value investor vs. a hedge fund manager.

Doina is truly an amazing person and has had a huge impact on me personally. Enjoy this interesting and insightful conversation!

Helpful links:

• Doina's LinkedIn page
• The Eisenhower Matrix
• Tim Ferriss' fear-setting exercise: https://tim.blog/2017/05/15/fear-setting/

Thank you for listening. You can reach out to me on Twitter @jonathanmars