Episode 149: Be The Author Of Your Own Story with IBM’s Elizebeth Varghese

Apr 28, 2021

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Have you ever proceeded down a career path even though you didn’t feel it was right for you? Perhaps it was due to family expectations to go into a certain profession or the pressure to stick with it because you’ve already invested so much time. Expectations of who we’re supposed to be or what we’re supposed to do can often lead us down the wrong path. Regardless of the reasons, one thing is certain – your success gets accelerated when you are aligned to your purpose and passion.

Meet Elizebeth Varghese, Global Leader for Talent & HR Transformation Strategy at IBM. Elizebeth shares her story of gaining perspective from her failures while heading down the wrong career path, and how those failures helped her find her true purpose, define the ways in which she wanted to contribute to the world, and set her on the path to being the author of her own story.

Elizebeth is a Business Leader and Board Director who partners with C-level leaders to enable powerful business outcomes. Elizebeth furthers People & Technology strategies with solutions in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, Blockchain and robotics - for organizations that operate around the world, and in Space. She is recognized as a global Top 100 Influencer, for her continuing work as a futurist and thought leader. Elizebeth brings creativity, and a thoughtful, collaborative approach to inspire, uncover the best thinking and exceed business results.

In this episode, Elizebeth shares insights into taking risks to advance your career, thriving in the future of work, and the most valuable skill for success in the digital age.

Visit https://www.iambeyondbarriers.com where you will find show notes and links to all the resources in this episode, including the best way to get in touch with Elizebeth. Highlights:

[03:05] Elizebeth’s story

[05:45] Gaining perspective from failure

[10:59] Having gratitude for what you have

[13:46] Overcoming fears

[19:16] Advice on taking risks to advance your career

[23:19] How to thrive in the future of work

[27:17] The most valuable skill to develop

[29:57] Advice on overcoming barriers

[33:47] Owning your voice and your viewpoints

[36:57] Balancing work and home life

[42:06] Final words of advice from Elizebeth

Quotes:

“It is important to be the author of your own potential and your own capability.” – Elizebeth Varghese

“We would be much better as a global community if we could link arms and ensure that more people have access to what they need.” – Elizebeth Varghese

“It's very important to keep close to your purpose because there'll be many days when you doubt yourself, and other people will doubt you. But if you know who you are and what you're here for and what you want to leave with, it makes a big difference.” – Elizebeth Varghese

“The ability to unlearn and accept new input and accept new requirements is going to be the most important life skill.” – Elizebeth Varghese

About Elizebeth Varghese:

Elizebeth has business and operational experience and achieved significant growth in all her P&L roles. She has a track record of exceeding growth targets by developing new services, margin management, attracting and growing leading talent, transforming the internal and external brand and inspiring the team to achieve exceptional results and exceed growth targets consistently. She has also worked with CEOs and leaders from various industries and organizational life cycle to successfully inspire transformation and strong business results by sharing clear vision, identifying and motivating talent and developing sound operational foundations.

As a Partner at IBM, she leads Talent and HR Reinvention Strategy client services. She also leads markets and big deals for Cloud transformations across six, high priority, businesses - HR consulting, HR outsourcing, AI & Emerging Tech, Workday, SuccessFactors, and Oracle HCM services. Elizebeth is a member of IBM’s Team on Good Technology. She is also the integrated services community leader for IBM’s Space Exploration Services.

Elizebeth is on the Council of Advisors for the SETI Institute, which works with NASA and other space agencies to explore, understand and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe and the evolution of intelligence. She is a Finance Committee member, and active Board member at South Asian Youth Action, a non-profit providing after-school programming, education and college support.

Currently located in New York, she has lived and worked around the world, and brings extensive experience in executing business strategy through human capital initiatives. She has over twenty years of consulting experience in HR optimization, talent management, and organization effectiveness. She also coaches Boards and business leaders to enhance effectiveness and manage their teams.

Before that, Elizebeth was at Ernst & Young (EY) where she was a business leader and Partner in various roles including leader of the Americas (North America, South America and Israel) practice for HR Performance Improvement and Americas market leader for Talent Management.

Elizebeth was also a Senior Vice President at Aon-Hewitt and led the Talent Solutions practice (Assessment, Test Development & Technology Platforms, Leadership Development, Executive Coaching, HR Transformation, Call Center Performance, Engagement). She has also been a Principal at Hewitt Associates and led the North American Corporate Transformation consulting team.

Elizebeth has MBAs from both, the Columbia Business School, New York and the London Business School, UK. She also has a Masters in Personnel Management from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and a Bachelors in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Mumbai, India.

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizebethvarghese/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElizebethVarghe

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizebeth.varghese/