<div class="page half news bird sans page-4947" id="pid_4947"> <article> <header> <div class="container"> <h1>5 Questions with Opal Perry, COO of Allstate</h1> <div class="summary"> <p><img src="/uploads/554a08dc2b217.png">Fresh from winning another award for excellence in Leadership &amp; Management, Allstate Northern Ireland's Chief Operating Officer, Opal Perry takes us through her leadership journey to date.</p><p><br><br></p> </div> </header> <section> <div class="container"> <div class="card"> <h2> 1. How did you decide to pursue the career that you are working in today? </h2> <p>From an early age I was very interested in how things work and in designing and building things so the emerging field of computer technology was a great fit for me and I chose to focus on Computer Engineering for my undergraduate studies. Along the way I found that I really loved working in and leading diverse teams to create and innovate and so throughout my career I have gravitated towards roles that gave me the opportunity to lead and collaborate, its been particularly exciting to do so in a global setting – in my current role I work with talented engineers and other professionals on three continents.<br></p> </div> <div class="card"> <h2> 2. What are the most important decisions that you face daily as a leader in your organisation? </h2> <p>Decisions on how to spend our time and other resources are some of the most critical in terms of driving impact and results. I find this to be true both personally and for the organisation as a whole. There are so many interesting things going on both inside and outside of our company and not enough hours in the day to spend time on them all. By staying mindful of how I spend my time day to day I can better focus and help drive results for our teams and customers. I find the same principle to be true when we are deciding how teams of employees will spend their time and where we will invest in both carrying out the work we have today and in building for the future – striking the right balance between technical tasks, global organisational development and personal growth and learning improves our effectiveness and I believe it makes the work more enjoyable as well. </p> </div> <div class="card"> <h2> 3. Allstate is a global organisation. How is leadership more challenging in a global setting? </h2> <p>I find it very rewarding to serve in a leadership role in our global organisation, we have teams in Northern Ireland, India, and the United States and I am always impressed by the level of talent and the engagement I see from team members in every location. Working with people from different cultures and backgrounds can also help expand our vision and become more creative in solving problems for our customers. It's also true that having teams spread across geographies and time zones introduces additional leadership challenges. The time zone differences alone narrows the window of time we have to collaborate together each workday – leaders need to balance having flexibility in what hours they work to connect with global teams to ensure that they do not stretch themselves and others too far with extra hours and meetings. It becomes even more important to communicate well, share a clear view of what the teams are trying to accomplish, and ensure feedback flows continuously between leaders and team members in all locations. </p> </div> <div class="card"> <h2> 4. What advice would you give a new employee going into a leadership position for the first time? </h2> <p>Be brave. It takes courage to truly lead versus just exerting the authority of your position. Remember that you will make mistakes, just like anyone in any role, but as you learn and improve you will be able to have a significant impact on the people you lead and the organisations that you are part of. </p> </div> <div class="card"> <h2> 5. What resources would you recommend to someone looking to gain insights into becoming a better leader? </h2> <p>First of all I would say don't limit yourself to a narrow set of sources – I believe we can all benefit from studying and learning from a broad and diverse range of leaders and their stories – even if they aren't all your ideal role models. I learn a lot of from reading books and articles and from talking with others about their leadership experiences and perspectives, executive education courses have been a great way for me to meet other leaders from outside my company and industry who are also working to grow as leaders. But probably the most impactful way of gaining insight into becoming a better leader is to examine your own leadership – how are you impacting those you lead? What results are you helping them accomplish? What is working well and what do you need to change to be the leader you aspire to be?</p> </div> </div> </section> </article> </div><!-- /page-->