Change Management

I’m a person who thrives on change, especially when it’s in the form of a new business venture, an emerging market, or a novel product. I’m the kind who tries bacon gelato and rearranges her furniture unnecessarily. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that, while the massive changes at breakneck pace over the last few weeks have been stressful, they’ve also been invigorating.

On a personal level, one big change is that there’s a whole new person in my family: my beautiful nephew, Oliver. There were also a lot of firsts during my two-week trip in Europe, including new (for me) amazing cities: Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Nice, Monaco, Eze, Cannes and Barcelona.

In addition to graduating from business school, meeting Oliver and heading to Europe, there was also the anticipation of starting as an ECLP.  Since March, all of the Capital ECLPs have been participating in monthly on-boarding conference calls, which were led by ECLPs from the class ahead of us. It gave my incoming class an opportunity to talk candidly with people already in the program about what to expect. Of course, the biggest question was “when do we find out where our first rotation is?”

The list of possible rotations arrived the night before I left for Europe, in early June. I was nervous opening it – What if I read through all 30 of the possible positions and none of them looked appealing? Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. Not every rotation was a fit for my skills and interests, but many of them were. I actually found it hard to narrow my list down to five and even harder to rank them in order of preference, which was nice because I sent in my selections confident that I would be thrilled no matter which one I got.

While I was in Vienna, I received an email saying I had been placed with the Sponsor Finance Group (translation: group that provides financing to private equity firms for leveraged transactions) as a Sponsor Originations Associate (translation: sales). I would be working in Manhattan only a few blocks away from my old office at Warburg Pincus. I was beyond excited!  

But, to be honest, the excitement did wane a little as I began to think about logistics. Having lived in New York City before, I knew all too well how difficult it would be to find an apartment, especially with a July 1 move-in date. I would also have to sell my beloved Jeep, Gilda, since it would cost more to ship and store her than she is worth. She has over 100,000 miles and the requisite dings and scrapes that come with her age. I looked at the calendar: It was June 10 and I wouldn’t be back from Europe until June 22. Then, I planned to spend another week in my hometown, Portland, Oregon. I wouldn’t be back in Austin until June 28. ECLP training started July 6 and my first day in my new rotation was July 19.

Perhaps the laid-back European atmosphere had an impact on me because I decided it was totally doable and simply not worth fretting over. “It will all work out,” I told myself as I sipped Viennese iced coffee and munched on a piece of hazelnut cake.

And the amazing thing is, it did all work out! In less than two days, I found a place in Manhattan that was within my budget and only a five minute walk from the office, Gilda is safely in the hands of CarMax and for a better price than I anticipated. As I sit on the plane heading to Connecticut for training, the relocation company is packing my things in Austin. Sure, there were some bumps in the road and it would be a lie to say I handled Manhattan apartment brokers as gracefully in real life as I did in simulations during my negotiations class. But overall, I am heading to training more settled and focused than I would have thought possible a few weeks ago.

Even during stressful moments, I never doubted my decision to join ECLP. The collegiate nature of the on-boarding conference calls reminded me of my favorite interactions during the interview process and two of my new ECLP colleagues went out of their way to help me with my NYC apartment search. One look at the agenda for training reminded me just how polished and professional the GE brand is, and how much priority the program has among GE’s management – we’re meeting with CEO and Chairman Jeff Immelt. We’re also spending a day doing community service, and there is a special “Build a Bike” activity for the women in ECLP that sounds like it will be empowering and challenging.

While it was hard to leave what has become a familiar and predictable environment in Austin, I couldn’t be more excited for what’s next. My career in change management is just beginning!

Posted by Kathleen

Comments

[Yashuo]

Approximately what percentage of participant;s in GE's ECLP are graduate of HBS or Stanford's GSB?

I think that this would be useful information for candidates - it would provvide us with an indication of whether the "best of the best" were considering ECLP.

[ECLP Blog]

Thanks for reading. I am not positive on the exact percentage per year, but I know we have a number of ECLPs (both current and alumni) from those institutions in our program. However, I must disagree with your definition of "best of the best." GE has always been a meritocracy and, from Jeff Immelt on down, I haven't met a person at GE who cares where someone went to college or grad school. If their work is stellar, they are promoted. If it is not, they are let go, regardless of where their diploma came from. During our recruiting process, we look at a number of factors (in addition to academics), including work experience, potential, and company cultural fit. Academic pedigree alone won't get someone in the door at GE. I hope this helps.

- Kathleen