Myname: Maggie Leon
Mycompany: Pegasystems
Mytitle: Director of Technical Curriculum Enablement
Mylocation: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Bestbusiness advice I ever received: I attended a workshopfacilitated by Janine Driver. Janine is CEO of the Body Language Institute.During the session she talked about authenticity and being your one true self.She challenged the group to think about this and make a conscience effort not to present the representativeversion of ourselves, but instead our true selves at every interactionwith spouses, children, parents, friends, co-workers, etc.
I really did think about that. At the time I was goingby my legal name at work: Maria. But my family and friends have always calledme Maggie, and I was Maggie everywhere except at work. The Maria versionof me was quieter, always professional, and a super rule-follower.The Maggie version of me was funny, opinionated, and creative. I decidedsometime after that session that I didn’t want a split personality anymore.
I attempted to be more of my true self at work. To behonest, it is not possible to do it all of the time. For example, I still actone way with my husband and another way with my son. (I mean let’s be real … I amalways going to be my son’s mama!) Through that effort, though, Irealized that I was conforming to the environment and holding back parts ofmyself that could have added value to the workplace … had I shared them. I donot do that anymore.
Mostdaring personal career move: I had been at a job for 10years. I loved my team and felt valued by the company. However, I was extremelybored with my job. Yes, I was good at it, and I was successful, butit took very little brain effort for me to do the work. A job opportunitycame along that I knew would challenge me. However, after I reviewed thejob description I almost talked myself out of applying for it. The new positionwas more senior and had a broader scope of responsibility. There were parts ofthe job description for which I had no experience. But there were definitelyareas that I knew I could do.
There was enough interest in my resume for the company’ssourcer to move me on to the recruiter. After talking to the recruiter, there wasenough interest to have me talk to the hiring manager. The more Italked to people and learned about the job, the more I wanted the job and themore I believed I could do it.
I also made an effort to be my true self. I told themmy name was Maria but that I preferred to be called Maggie. I also shared moreof my personal life with them. For example, during the interview process Iwas asked to do a presentation on any topic of my choosing. I chose to presenton elements of a song. During the interview I sang for the interview team. Ithink that was the first time any of them had heard a candidate sing during aninterview. Needless to say, I got the job, and it has been a great decision.
WhatI’m most proud of: In addition to my corporate gig, I am asinger/songwriter. Making the Grammy ballot in 2013 was pretty special for me.I was on the ballot in three categories: R&B Performance, TraditionalR&B Performance, and R&B Song. I did not win, but being on the ballotwas amazing.
Currentworkplace challenge: The speed at which technologyis changing is my biggest challenge. The demand forcurriculum that is current is tough when the current state doesn’t last formore than three to four months.
Somethingpeople don’t know about me: People who meet me now in life meet a successful corporate professional.I am outspoken, determined, passionate, and extremely social. But growingup I was very shy. We spoke Spanish at home, so I didn’t really learn tospeak English until kindergarten. We moved around a lot as well, so I neverreally got to make friends. It wasn’t until I got to college that I started tocome out of my shell. When I started performing in musicals and with a choir,the confusion of some family members and friends was real. They had neverheard me sing!
