Page 192 - The Way to the Top

Irina SIMMONS

President and Treasurer of EMC Corporation

Surprise lessons in one’s career can occur anywhere. Mine happened
during a weeklong leadership development program with a number of my
peers at EMC Corporation. I had joined EMC as Assistant Treasurer two

years earlier, in 1995, with a responsibility for establishing and growing
the Treasury function. I knew I had joined an exciting organization. In the
mid-1990s, EMC had emerged as one of the hottest, most innovative
companies in the information technology industry. In fact, in 1995, EMC’s

sales grew 39 percent to nearly $2 billion and it overtook IBM as the
mainframe storage market leader—a market EMC had zero share in just
five years earlier. The following year saw another record in both market
and financial performance.

All of this growth and expansion brought new challenges to the
Treasury function. I had many new ideas I wanted to implement, and I was
determined to prove to everyone that I had the smarts, judgment, and
experience to be the company’s Treasurer, a position then held by my boss,
who was also the Chief Financial Officer.

My relationship with the CFO was a bit combative at first. I was trying
so hard to be viewed as the authority on treasury matters that our
interactions were often argumentative. I felt that my strengths went
unrecognized and that I was not progressing toward my goal. This made

me angry and defensive.

After sitting in the leadership development program for two days,
listening to all the behavior styles and tactics that I thought I was already
following so well but were not getting me where I needed to be, I pulled
aside the instructor to discuss my personal dilemma.