{"id":691,"date":"2015-03-09T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2015-03-09T13:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blogs\/?p=691"},"modified":"2017-07-25T09:16:47","modified_gmt":"2017-07-25T13:16:47","slug":"womenexcel-attributes-of-successful-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/womenexcel-attributes-of-successful-people\/","title":{"rendered":"#WomenExcel: Attributes of successful people"},"content":{"rendered":"

As AECOM\u2019s Paula Nelson nears retirement, she reflects on lessons learned and shares her view on the attributes that lead to success.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have been influenced by many extraordinary people in my life and career.\u00a0 When I think of successful people and those I respect, the following attributes come to mind:<\/p>\n

1. Work hard and keep learning<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my early career, I learned that taking assignments to better understand the business is a must.\u00a0 The experience I gained from taking assignments to work in the field on a construction site was invaluable.\u00a0 In the engineering, procurement, construction business, missing this element is a huge skill gap. \u00a0My recommendation to young professionals is to look above you, see the backgrounds of leaders you admire, and understand the path they took to get there.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Respect your colleagues<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is important to be a good team player as well as respect other\u2019s views and the differences on your team as they usually help prevent a blind spot when solving problems. After all, this respect is expected from professionals, and your reputation is built one day at a time and very difficult to repair. Ensure that you always create an open atmosphere, fostering dialogue and ideas as well as avoiding judging, and be an equal-opportunity offender \u2014 meaning when constructive criticism is needed, be straightforward and honest.<\/p>\n

Being one of few women in my profession during my early career, I always tried to fit in. Now, I realize that this was not the best route.\u00a0 I believe everyone is unique.\u00a0 The uniqueness we bring to a team \u2014 whether it is solving complex problems, building a power plant or developing a strategic plan \u2014 ends up producing a better product.\u00a0 As business leaders, we must allow all team participants a voice and equal contribution.\u00a0 No one should feel intimidated to speak up.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Have fun!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have fun and create enthusiasm about what you do each day. We spend most of our waking hours working with our colleagues. People are attracted to positive, high-energy, folks at work and in their private lives. I learned to use humor to diffuse difficult situations and sometimes, to make a point. One time, I was leading a very difficult contract negotiation, and a legal position between the company and our client was at odds. The attorneys tried to convince each side why the position was needed, and all that did was further isolate the two teams. I used an analogy that got everyone laughing and diffused the contention.\u00a0 We ended up solving the issue shortly thereafter.\u00a0 When you enjoy what you do, you will succeed 90 percent of the time!<\/p>\n

\u00a04.\u00a0<\/strong>Give back<\/strong><\/p>\n

Remember to look behind you and help less-experienced colleagues grow; this is your ultimate legacy. As I have been blessed in my life journey, I have made it a point to give back.\u00a0 For example, my husband and I had three college students living with us while working during summers as interns for AECOM.\u00a0 These have been young, talented women whose careers we\u2019ve helped drive.\u00a0 I keep in touch with most of them to this day.\u00a0 We need to help others if we want change and help our firms grow.<\/p>\n

When I started working in AECOM’s legacy URS\u00a0power group, I was the only woman.\u00a0 Today, I am pleased to say, this group is 40 percent women across all stages of their careers.\u00a0 Notwithstanding their gender, they are tops in the business!\u00a0 And as I am close to retiring, I look at this and smile because we have come a long way since 1978 when I started.<\/p>\n

Comment below to share your top four attributes to success! Be sure to use\u00a0the #WomenExcel hashtag when you share this post on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Paula_HS_BW_89x100\"<\/a>Paula Nelson (Paula.Nelson@aecom.com) is vice president of business development in the power business unit of AECOM\u2019s energy, infrastructure and industrial construction group. She has 37 years of experience in engineering, construction, management and business development, and has received a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts and an MBA from the University of Denver.
\nLinkedIn: Paula Nelson<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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As AECOM\u2019s Paula Nelson nears retirement, she reflects on lessons learned and shares her view on the attributes that lead to success. I have been influenced by many extraordinary people in my life and career.\u00a0 When I think of successful people and those I respect, the following attributes come to mind: 1. Work hard and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[109,138],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-insights","tag-womenexcel","tag-impact"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aecom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}