Leading through Change: Judy Marks Shares Her Experiences

Leading through Change: Judy Marks Shares Her Experiences
Dresser-Rand’s EVP shares how she has been able to lead through an ever-changing market.

If there’s a few things Judy Marks has learned in her 32 years in the oil and gas industry, it’s how to deal with change.

“I believe change is inherently positive – it may be uncomfortable – but it can be inherently positive if you stay grounded,” Marks, executive vice president, global solutions, for Dresser-Rand, a Siemens Business, said to Women’s Energy Network luncheon attendees recently.

A majority of Marks’ years in the industry have been spent in leadership positions, so she’s learned a thing or two. She shared a few tips on how to lead through changes in complex markets.

  • Hold true to your values. “There’s nothing more important than your personal integrity and personal values. You own them, they’re yours and you wear them every day,” she said. “As a leader, you’re responsible for living them, so that others can follow them. That’s the foundation where everything starts. None of us want to work in an environment where there’s no integrity.”
  • Manage your time appropriately. “I work for a global company. I begin every morning at around 5am and call Asia, work my way through Europe and then end in the U.S.,” she said. “My only rule is I don’t go back to Asia at night or I’ll never stop [working].”
  • Learn the ins and outs of your business. “You need to understand what drives your business and what the metrics are,” she said. “Read a lot and ask questions. Never forget your customers.”
  • Disrupt yourself before someone disrupts you. “I think you have to disrupt yourself technically and organizationally,” she said. “When I was running a few divisions, about every four yours, I would totally reorganize for the sake of reorganization. I’d move things around because that makes people think differently and work with different people.”
  • Define your own normal. Marks had to work out of town a lot when her daughter was younger, but that’s a sacrifice she had to make. “It worked for me, my husband and my daughter,” she said. “Define your own normal and don’t let anybody else judge [you]. Nobody is walking the exact same path you are.”
  • Pay it back. “I’m here today because I think that’s my responsibility,” she said. “I want my daughter, who’s a civil engineer, to not have to face some of the things I faced in the past 32 years. I want to make the workplace better for women. I want each and every one of us to make it better for the generation coming after us. I believe that’s our responsibility.”


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