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Carra Simmons
VP, Learning & Development,
State Farm

More From Carra

On women supporting other women
“I think as women, we don’t publicly show our enthusiasm enough for other women’s successes. Years ago, I noticed, along with two other girlfriends, that women were the first to criticize female coworkers who would get an opportunity for a promotion. We decided to make a pact that we were going to be very vocal about being happy for one another. So we set out to be intentional about spreading our enthusiasm through emails and just by talking about how great it was when something good happened for one of our colleagues.”

On competition in the workplace
“It’s natural to feel a bit jealous when someone else gets selected for a project or a promotion opportunity, but it’s not a competition. There are always other things that will come along. So be patient, do your best, work on developing yourself, and don’t be so focused on someone else’s career path that you lose sight of what you’re working to accomplish in your own role.”

On teamwork
“As a major sports fan I watch all kinds of teams. I’m a big fan of college basketball and Coach K from Duke, in particular. I greatly respect his leadership style, because it’s not about one person; it really is about the team. You need to care about one another, and as the leader of the team you need to care about your players. I would hate to work a job where my boss saw me as a number or somebody that could be traded. To me it’s all about the camaraderie, the energy of the group, and what we can produce collectively, versus working individually. That’s pretty incredible to me.”

Be honest.
“One of the things that has served me incredibly well over my career is my ability to be upfront and honest—but in a tactful way. As I take over a new position, I don’t come in with a hidden agenda or assuming that I know the team’s procedures. There’s complete transparency to my method. I may not always deliver news that people want to hear, but they can always believe me. It comes down to that trust factor—you never want your team thinking, ‘okay what isn’t she telling us?!”

Don’t avoid the tough conversations.
“To develop your team, you’ve got to be willing to have the uncomfortable conversations, as well as the favorable ones. If you’re not honest, you’ll never be able to help people improve. But you can’t out of the blue just pull someone over to discuss a difficult topic without having built up a rapport or trust ahead of time. If you’re only ever meeting with them when there’s bad news, it’s never going to be easy to deliver.”

Champion the successes.
“Try to give others exposure during the good times. I personally believe that’s part of my role. It’s never about throwing somebody under the bus, and it’s not about trying to make myself look good. When there’s praise to be given, the team gets it and when things turn down a bad road, I step up and I take the hit. What I do is not necessarily my work, it’s the teams work. So they should get the credit. It’s amazing what that philosophy does for your credibility as a leader.”

Schedule time for development.
“I hear a lot of people talking about doing it. They’ll say, ‘Yeah, I love to develop people or I believe in developing my staff’, but what it comes down to is actually walking the talk. We’re all very, very busy, so you really have to plan for it—put it in your calendar as a regular appointment and make sure it gets done on a continuing basis.”