I joined Kimberly-Clark as a graduate15 years ago and my ambition at that time was to run the company. It’s a goal Ihave eventually realised, and there is one piece of advice that I got along theway which helped me to get to here.
I shared my ambitions with one of theMDs of Kimberly-Clark SA during that time, Tom Davis, and asked him what I hadto do in order to realise my goal of one day taking on his job. His advice tome was, “Focus on the job at hand. Don’t look beyond your current position –concentrate on delivering now and the future will take care of itself.”
Tom’s advice helped me achieve balancebetween my ambitions and what I needed to do in the short-term. There isnothing more satisfying than delivering results and if you deliver, you will berecognised. If you continue to chase the next thing you lose focus on what youneed to accomplish now. The primary learning is that delivery breedssatisfaction, in both yourself
and the business.
The road I travelled towards eventuallyrunning the company was not the one I expected to follow. I had joined as amarketing graduate who wanted to become marketing director and then MD.Instead, I took on assignments in sales, the supply chain and a posting abroad. I ended up at the same point but the journeywas different. I took Tom’s advice on career pathing – and it turned out to bethe correct course.