Meet the speakers at this year’s Continuity Insights Management Conference, then click here to learn more about the 2023 event.
Carol DeLatte
Exeter Finance
How did your earlier career choices lead you to where you are now?
I was a “mainframe applications dinosaur” for about 15 years, when suddenly the world was talking about the Y2K event and all the necessary preparations for it. That was my first introduction to Disaster Recovery. I found it to be fascinating to the extent that the leader of that team in IT approached me about joining her team. Most contracts we had our clients only requested DR but not BC. When that changed, I was given the challenge to learn BC and apply it. That’s when I attended my first industry conference and switched my focus to “BC, with a side of DR”.
How do you avoid being complacent in your role?
Complacency, like failure, is not an option. I have a passion for Continuous Process Improvements (CPI), so I spend time doing that vs becoming complacent. Other times, I will spend time reading industry books or listening to industry podcasts; these often spark new ideas for CPI – so at that point, I determine how to apply that CPI to my current program or possibly suggest an idea for enterprise-wide application. The company I currently work for has a plethora of topics for self-teaching which strengthen my knowledge base. A lot of these courses expand my knowledge of the company culture as well.
What advice would you give to your younger self at the start of your career?
If I could start over, I would have attended Toastmasters at a much younger age because it was a transformative experience for me both personally and professionally. Its tag line is “Where Leaders Are Made” and it truly lived up to that. It goes way beyond public speaking – the tenets of Toastmasters include the following skills: speaking (to large groups, small groups, and ‘elevator speech’); listening with purpose; evaluating others; organizing meetings and events; and leading others to success. All these skills have made me a stronger, more confident worker/co-worker these past ten years however, it could’ve helped me more 40 years ago!
What impresses you the most when you are considering hiring someone?
I use the 4C’s approach when interviewing/considering a candidate who impresses me:
#1 is Character—you can teach almost anyone anything, but you cannot teach them who they are as a person.
#2 is Competency – although you can teach/train a person, sometimes you need them to possess certain levels of skill(s) coming into the position.
#3 is Chemistry – do you feel like this is a person who would get along well with the team?
#4 is Culture – is important because if the candidate isn’t aligned to the vision and approach to success with the company, they won’t last very long.
To learn more about Carol’s session and to view the full conference agenda, click here.
