ARTICLE
The room was slowly filling up as Santa Cruz community leaders were chatting over coffee and continental breakfast at the Scotts Valley Hilton early Wednesday morning. I came to the podium to introduce the program and the value of the yearlong Leadership Series as an opportunity to listen, learn and communicate with leaders in our community and region. I gave a special shout out to Cabrillo College for being our sponsor of this event and a big thank you to Matt Wetstein, President of Cabrillo College, for introducing our speakers and the panelists. It was so good to hear him talk about the significant benefit the college plays in our community. The bookend keynote speakers, Marlene Tromp, UCSC Campus Provost and Shellye Archambeau, former CEO of Metric Stream delivered knockout speeches about their personal stories and the rise to the top of their chosen profession. With the changing world we have before us today, the yearning for leadership is at an all-time high. There is a void in the soundbites that are echoing throughout social media circles, on Facebook pages and Twitter postings. This is our defining moment to step above the fray and have an intellectual conversation of what it means to be a leader. What drives someone to be the very best they can be because it is right for the community, the region, state and our nation. The Series provides our attendees a chance to listen, learn and sit back to hear amazing leaders reflect on their past, the challenges and rewards and the steps each one took during their career path. For those who could not be with us Wednesday, you missed a wonderful display of storytelling from six leaders. They brought the attendees to the edge of their seats intrigued about how these leaders take action, work hard and stay focused while uncertainty surrounds them every step of the way. Here is a summary of what you missed: Marlene Tromp’s personal story was one met with failure at a young age that she carried with her for years — because her six grade teacher doubted her ability to comprehend word problems. She thought she was cheating rather than outperforming the “Sixth Grade Math God” as Marlene described her competitor. Humbled by the experience, she turned away from math because of fear. She told the audience, “If any one tells you Leadership is easy — don’t pay attention to their words. Every leader can share their brutal path to success.” Don’t listen to others who say you failed to match up to their expectations. Her personal story is believing in your capacity and developing skills that can adapt to change. Her fear of calculus made it difficult for her to take it seriously until she put her mind and energy into ‘figuring it out.’ Calculus is hard but she mastered the subject to the point where she could mentor others — telling them work hard, ask for help: you can’t do it alone. When others make assumptions about you — don’t give in. Make your path, make your mark and follow your passions. And don’t quit or give up on yourself — seek out an associate or friend to guide you along. When someone calls out that your dreams will never come true, don’t give up - dream bigger and see where it takes you. As Marlene closed her morning remarks, she was asked a question from the audience. What book are your reading now? Marlene paused and stated, a better question is what book am I writing now? It brought the room to silence as she described the research from the 19th Century Victorian history and applying it to a 21st Century world. What a thrilling story to hear her paint the picture of finding this information in the national archives that has never been seen before about a mystery murder that was never solved. Through her research she uncovered a closed file that was never opened which provided significant evidence about the killer. Marlene, in an energetic tone explained — “How cool is that, to uncover an unsolved mystery clue’ and now I get to tell that story 100 plus years later.” We learned what it means to be a mentor and according to Shellye Archambeau. “I stopped asking business associates if they wanted to be my mentor, she adopted them.” I just called and asked questions seeking advice. Then I would take that advice and put it to work to make the case. Soon she noted that the ‘mentor’ felt empowered that her/his advice helped advance Shellye’s career when she called back to thank them. Shellye’s advice, we all need a mentor and if one mentor is good for you, then two mentors is even better but why not put your mentor plan on steroids — and have a dozen or more. The more mentors you have the more knowledge and information you gain. Shellye shared her path to the CEO office of a Silicon Valley Tech Company. This African American woman’s story began when her family moved to a Los Angeles suburb during the 1960s. She walked down Balboa Boulevard to school every day. A young tall African American girl received lots of unwelcome comments every day which left the young student having no confidence. She wanted to be considered in a special program at school and she was certain she would excel. Shellye described the humbling experience when she was denied entry into that program. One experience changed her trajectory — she learned to ride a horse which gave her confidence that if she could command a horse she could set her sights higher. At that point in her life she knew two things: she wanted to own her own business and become a CEO. Shellye took the hard path for an African American woman and headed off to Wharton Business School. Throughout her career path from Wharton to positions at IBM, Blockbuster.com, Loud-Cloud, Saplet and eventually to the CEO of MetricStream she always did her research. She knew that technology was a growing industry so she found the hardest jobs and applied for them. She did research by taking the hardest jobs that pushed her to learn faster and gain respect quicker. Through all the highs and lows of a successful ride to the CEO office, she shared important lessons about her path. A leader is action not a position in line — take a risk and demonstrate courage. Tell people what you want and ask for it. Set Goals and pathways to reach them. Create relationships and leverage them. Be a convener and finally give back. And remember to say Thank you to those who have offered advice and counsel.
The room was slowly filling up as Santa Cruz community leaders were chatting over coffee and continental breakfast at the Scotts Valley Hilton early Wednesday morning. I came to the podium to introduce the program and the value of the yearlong Leadership Series as an opportunity to listen, learn and communicate with leaders in our community and region.
I gave a special shout out to Cabrillo College for being our sponsor of this event and a big thank you to Matt Wetstein, President of Cabrillo College, for introducing our speakers and the panelists. It was so good to hear him talk about the significant benefit the college plays in our community.
The bookend keynote speakers, Marlene Tromp, UCSC Campus Provost and Shellye Archambeau, former CEO of Metric Stream delivered knockout speeches about their personal stories and the rise to the top of their chosen profession.
With the changing world we have before us today, the yearning for leadership is at an all-time high. There is a void in the soundbites that are echoing throughout social media circles, on Facebook pages and Twitter postings.
This is our defining moment to step above the fray and have an intellectual conversation of what it means to be a leader. What drives someone to be the very best they can be because it is right for the community, the region, state and our nation.
The Series provides our attendees a chance to listen, learn and sit back to hear amazing leaders reflect on their past, the challenges and rewards and the steps each one took during their career path.
For those who could not be with us Wednesday, you missed a wonderful display of storytelling from six leaders. They brought the attendees to the edge of their seats intrigued about how these leaders take action, work hard and stay focused while uncertainty surrounds them every step of the way.
Here is a summary of what you missed:
Marlene Tromp’s personal story was one met with failure at a young age that she carried with her for years — because her six grade teacher doubted her ability to comprehend word problems. She thought she was cheating rather than outperforming the “Sixth Grade Math God” as Marlene described her competitor. Humbled by the experience, she turned away from math because of fear.
She told the audience, “If any one tells you Leadership is easy — don’t pay attention to their words. Every leader can share their brutal path to success.” Don’t listen to others who say you failed to match up to their expectations. Her personal story is believing in your capacity and developing skills that can adapt to change. Her fear of calculus made it difficult for her to take it seriously until she put her mind and energy into ‘figuring it out.’ Calculus is hard but she mastered the subject to the point where she could mentor others — telling them work hard, ask for help: you can’t do it alone. When others make assumptions about you — don’t give in. Make your path, make your mark and follow your passions. And don’t quit or give up on yourself — seek out an associate or friend to guide you along. When someone calls out that your dreams will never come true, don’t give up - dream bigger and see where it takes you. As Marlene closed her morning remarks, she was asked a question from the audience. What book are your reading now? Marlene paused and stated, a better question is what book am I writing now? It brought the room to silence as she described the research from the 19th Century Victorian history and applying it to a 21st Century world. What a thrilling story to hear her paint the picture of finding this information in the national archives that has never been seen before about a mystery murder that was never solved. Through her research she uncovered a closed file that was never opened which provided significant evidence about the killer. Marlene, in an energetic tone explained — “How cool is that, to uncover an unsolved mystery clue’ and now I get to tell that story 100 plus years later.”
We learned what it means to be a mentor and according to Shellye Archambeau. “I stopped asking business associates if they wanted to be my mentor, she adopted them.” I just called and asked questions seeking advice. Then I would take that advice and put it to work to make the case. Soon she noted that the ‘mentor’ felt empowered that her/his advice helped advance Shellye’s career when she called back to thank them. Shellye’s advice, we all need a mentor and if one mentor is good for you, then two mentors is even better but why not put your mentor plan on steroids — and have a dozen or more. The more mentors you have the more knowledge and information you gain.
Shellye shared her path to the CEO office of a Silicon Valley Tech Company. This African American woman’s story began when her family moved to a Los Angeles suburb during the 1960s. She walked down Balboa Boulevard to school every day. A young tall African American girl received lots of unwelcome comments every day which left the young student having no confidence. She wanted to be considered in a special program at school and she was certain she would excel. Shellye described the humbling experience when she was denied entry into that program.
One experience changed her trajectory — she learned to ride a horse which gave her confidence that if she could command a horse she could set her sights higher. At that point in her life she knew two things: she wanted to own her own business and become a CEO. Shellye took the hard path for an African American woman and headed off to Wharton Business School. Throughout her career path from Wharton to positions at IBM, Blockbuster.com, Loud-Cloud, Saplet and eventually to the CEO of MetricStream she always did her research. She knew that technology was a growing industry so she found the hardest jobs and applied for them. She did research by taking the hardest jobs that pushed her to learn faster and gain respect quicker. Through all the highs and lows of a successful ride to the CEO office, she shared important lessons about her path. A leader is action not a position in line — take a risk and demonstrate courage. Tell people what you want and ask for it. Set Goals and pathways to reach them. Create relationships and leverage them. Be a convener and finally give back. And remember to say Thank you to those who have offered advice and counsel.
These two amazing women shared their personal stories about different paths to become leaders in their industries.
If you want to hear about amazing leaders please join us at our next Leadership Forum on June 21, 2018. You can register here: Leadership Forum III
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Keynote Speakers’ Bios are here:
Marlene Tromp - UCSC Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor: Marlene Tromp is responsible for managing the daily operations of UC Santa Cruz. She works closely with Chancellor George Blumenthal and is the administration's primary liaison with the Academic Senate. Tromp's priorities include engaging faculty in the creation of a vibrant academic and research vision, bringing an entrepreneurial spirit to the creation of new sources of revenue, providing focused leadership to support student academic needs, and growing the commitment to serving first-generation college students and a diverse student population. Tromp joined UC Santa Cruz in 2017 after serving as vice provost for Arizona State University’s West Campus and dean of ASU’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Florida, M.A. in English from the University of Wyoming, and B.A. in English from Creighton University in Nebraska.
Shellye Archambeau, the Former CEO of MetricStream: MetricStream, a Silicon Valley-based, governance, risk, compliance and quality Software Company that enables corporations to improve their business operations through better risk management across the enterprise, Shellye built the company into a global market leader with over 1,200 employees serving customers around the world. MetricStream has been recognized for growth and innovation over the years and was named in the top 10 of the “Deloitte Technology Fast 50” and named a global leader in GRC by leading independent analyst firms for the last 9 years.
Shellye has over 25 years of experience in technology leading organizations focused on business to business as well as business to consumer. She is a recognized expert in marketing and co-authored, Marketing That Works: How Entrepreneurial Marketing Can Add Sustainable Profits to Any Sized Company. She has held EVP of Sales and Chief Marketing Officer roles for two public companies and as President of Blockbuster.com, launched the entertainment retailer’s first online presence. She was named the second most influential African American in IT by Business Insider in 2013. In 2015, she was ranked one of the “100 Most Influential Business Leaders in America” by Newsmax and that same year received the NCWIT Symons Innovator Award from The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT). She currently serves on the boards of Verizon and Nordstrom.