International Women’s Day feature with Dina Otero, Aprimo
As a women-owned business, we are honored to highlight women who are incredible leaders in marketing and communications across a wide variety of industries. Each year on International Women’s Day we share an interview series celebrating these women and sharing their stories.
This interview is with Dina Otero, Director of Demand Generation & Growth at Aprimo.
How do you define your leadership?
Complacency is the enemy and that is how I would define my leadership. I evaluate how things can be improved and openly communicate my vision, and rally people towards that better vision. I lead by example, communicate often and am aware of my own weaknesses and try to ask for help (but I’m human and it doesn’t always happen). Constructively accepting feedback is also critical in how I improve, ensuring I am empathetic and actively listen to others to be a better leader.
How has your leadership changed in the past year?
I’ve learned a lot in my 15 year career and the last year has taught me the most; you can’t control everything and embrace messiness. Between leaving a company I was with for 9 years and starting a new role, moving, and becoming a new mom, messy has become the norm. Embracing it though has changed my leadership style quite a bit. It made me realize that there are many solutions to one problem and I can take broader views of an issue and of the potential outcomes. It also prompts me to have multiple backup plans for every scenario.
Can you share a story that demonstrates a key learning for you in your leadership journey?
As someone who likes to get right to the point, I assumed others were like that too. I learned that my communication was very direct (I thought it was efficient). Through a team-building workshop, I found my communication style needed to be adjusted while remaining effective. This required self-reflection and self-examination but also realized that this was constructive feedback to make me a better, stronger, and more positive leader. It was an eye-opening experience and made me significantly more empathetic. I would recommend all teams to run team building or communication workshops once a year. You’ll be amazed at what you learn from each other.
