Most Important Skills For A Strategist At 3M
For a strategist at 3M, the most important skills include "operating in ambiguity" and adapting quickly to new situations, essential for navigating the company's two-year leadership development program and diverse projects. Further, the ability to synthesize complex information into "bite-sized sound bites" and effectively communicate across various teams and organizational levels is crucial for project success.
Communication, Problem-Solving, Teamwork, Adaptability, Leadership
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Bryanna Brown
Strategist
3M
Georgia State University c/o 2015
Washington University in St Louis - Olin Business School, MBA
Film, Media Arts, Visual Arts
Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), Engineering
Business Strategy
Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Pell Grant Recipient, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Transfer Student
Video Highlights
1. Adaptability and quickly getting up to speed on new topics are highly valued.
2. Synthesizing complex ideas into easily digestible information is a crucial skill in consulting.
3. Effective communication across various teams and organizational levels is essential for project success.
Transcript
What skills are most important for a job like yours?
The most important skills for a job like mine are first of all, just being able to operate in ambiguity. The leadership development program is a two-year program, and you come in knowing that you'll work on projects across different business groups.
So being able to say, "I might not fully understand what happens in this business group, but I'm willing to figure out the best way to actually understand," is something that is a highly valued skill. It's just being able to adapt quickly and get up to speed as fast as possible.
Also, being able to take a big idea and synthesize it down into bite-sized sound bites is something that is really great in the consulting field in general. My role leans more toward internal consulting, but it's also a great skill for external consulting as well.
Just being able to give the audience you're presenting to big ideas in small, bite-sized amounts is a great skill to be able to have. And finally, the last skill that is most important is being able to work across teams.
So being able to talk to an application engineer, but also being able to talk to a C-suite level leader who has sponsored the project. You need to be able to speak across teams and also be able to speak across different levels within the organization and still hold your own. This allows you to get the project outcome that you're tasked with actually completing.