#69: Sarah Roberts — On Networks, LinkedIn, and Authentic Leadership

After graduating from West Point, Sarah Roberts served for five years in the Army. In those five years, Roberts served in Germany where she collaborated with both military and civilian professionals to handle garrison finance. Then, in 2009, she deployed to Iraq for 15 months. There, she helped establish three autonomous Iraqi finance offices while also working with the Iraqi government to improve its banking system.

When Roberts left the Army in 2010, she charged hard into the civilian workforce, much as she had while in uniform. Her unique skillset and accomplishments led her to stints at Amazon, Nordstrom, Team Red, White, & Blue, and Microsoft.

At each stop, Roberts’s work highlighted the important and lasting contributions that Veterans can make in the civilian workforce. She also advocated for her fellow Veterans, leading each of her employers to make better hiring connections with Veterans.

At Amazon, Roberts helped create Veteran-based employment programs and marketing strategies that promoted Amazon as a preferred employer for military transition. During her time with Microsoft, she focused on establishing and improving an internal networking program for Veterans. And at Nordstrom and Team Red, White, & Blue, she championed employment and expanded accessibility opportunities for Veterans.

She is now the head of Military and Veteran Programs for LinkedIn. In this position, she educates and encourages Veterans on using LinkedIn to expand their connections on the site.

On this episode, we covered a lot of ground. We discuss what life was like at West Point as a female cadet, what she learned most from West Point, how she landed her current job at LinkedIn, how she gained over 100,000 followers on LinkedIn, how her view of leadership has changed, some wonderful examples of leadership she witnessed at Microsoft, and much more. During the episode, Sarah also coaches me on my LinkedIn profile!