As she entered university, Danielle had a clear education and career path – to obtain a Ph.D in Educational Psychology and conduct research and teach at the university level. However, two years into her Psychology degree, she discovered that practical application of psychology rather than academic research in labs, was more appealing. Through further exploration of careers that aligned with her skills and her new interest in organizational psychology, she put herself on a career path in HR. She has now spent over 20 years in HR, working in a wide variety of industries, from insurance and financial services to agribusiness and food production, before she changed direction again and joined the medical device industry with Smith+Nephew.
Agility is a skill that Danielle has built over the years. She explains, “I live by lists. I have a calendar that I can’t live without and goals that I want to accomplish. You would think all of this goes against being agile, but I’ve learned the value of agility over and over again in my life and my career.”
She shared three tips for building agility in ourselves:
- Stay curious, not defensive: Danielle recommends viewing change as a chance to learn. For example, by accepting career moves or project opportunities that may not have been on her original career plan, she developed critical skills that make her a better HR leader and business partner today.
- Say yes to things before you feel fully ready: Danielle’s learned a lot of her most useful professional skills from stepping into big roles, including those she wasn’t sure she felt ready for. LinkedIn’s gender insights report shows women are 14% less likely to apply for a job after viewing it compared to men but are 16% more likely than men to get hired to jobs they apply to . This shows that women put themselves forward only when they feel extremely qualified and avoid stretch opportunities. Danielle’s personal experience is that you don’t have to check all the boxes to go for an opportunity, and that you should look for transferrable skills that can help you be successful in the next right role.
- Hold plans lightly: Despite her love of lists (“thank goodness for OneNote!”), Danielle has learned that prioritizing progress over perfection helps her to keep an adaptable mindset.
We loved Danielle’s talk and look forward to hearing more from our leaders in our Superpowers series.
Burn wound management Burn wounds are a global public health problem and a leading cause of morbidity, including prolonged hospitalisation, disfigurement and disability – often accompanied by stigma and social rejection.1 Our aim is to help mitigate the complications associated with burn wounds.
Pressure injury prevention Trusted to reduce the incidence of pressure injuries when used as part of a comprehensive prevention program, compared to standard care alone.1-3
Partial-thickness rotator cuff tears Partial-thickness tears can have a lasting impact on pain and shoulder function. When used in isolated bioinductive repair, the REGENETEN◊ Bioinductive Implant leads to tendon healing without the need for sutured repair;1-4 offering patients a faster recovery and return to activity than sutured repairs.4,5
Chondral and osteochondral knee repair Treat knee cartilage lesions and osteochondral defects in a single-stage procedure, even in the presence of mild to moderate osteoarthritis (Kellgren-Lawrence 0-3),1,2 with the porous, biocompatible CARTIHEAL◊ AGILI-C◊ Cartilage Repair Implant; shown to be clinically superior to the current surgical standard of care in level 1 clinical data.*1,2