American Airlines, Inc.

Transcription

1 Patricia Delgadillo Managing Director Patricia Delgadillo joined the corporate insurance and risk management organization in 2005 as the managing director. During her 10-year career with American Airlines, she has worked in a variety of positions in finance and planning. As managing director, Ms. Delgadillo develops companywide strategies to assess the company s risk exposures and determine appropriate levels of insurance coverage and asset protection. She also oversees American s inhouse claims handling, and she and her team supports other departments in contract negotiations on insurance matters. Prior to joining American Airlines, Ms. Delgadillo worked in the real estate industry. She earned her BA from Occidental College and MBA from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. Ms. Delgadillo lives in Dallas and dedicates her spare time to volunteer activities and involvement with area arts organizations. In 2005, she completed the Leadership Arts Institute training offered by North Texas Business for Culture and the Arts. She serves on the board and chairs the development committee of the Fine Arts Chamber Players, a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to enriching the lives of families and children through music and education. In the past, Ms. Delgadillo chaired American s On My Own Time employee art show and a local Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. Q&A with Patricia Delgadillo What are some steps that you took to get to the position that you are in now? I ve been with American for 10 years. I ve had a variety of positions, mostly within finance and planning, and I currently report to the vice president of corporate development and treasurer, who in turn reports to the chief financial officer. I lead a team of 18 people in developing companywide strategies to assess the company s risk exposures, determine appropriate risk transfer mechanisms, implement desired levels of insurance, and also protect our assets. A large part of my staff handles claims which are made against us or claims that we make because we suffer a loss, for example a fire or wind or loss at one of our airport facilities. To be honest, if you had asked me 10 years ago if I thought I would be in my current role, I probably would have replied in the negative. My career has been very organic, and I ve taken various opportunities because they appealed to me, not just because of what the next step might be. That said, in order to prepare for my current assignment, and to some extent with all of the jobs I ve had with American, I ve always tried to learn as much as I can about each organization. I also made the decision to go back to school to get a master s degree because my undergraduate degree is in art history. Even though I had a very mathematical and analytical bent, I decided I wanted to be in the finance area, and I knew I needed to go back and add to my financial toolkit. So that was probably the first step. However, since coming to American, I ve always enjoyed the finance and planning areas and treasury in particular. After my last assignment in treasury, I knew I wanted to return, and I am lucky to now be in my current role. I m currently thinking about my next step, what s the step after that, and how should I go about getting there. Once I have a general idea, I will try to learn as much as I can about available opportunities and try to be open to change. 36

2 What made you decide to switch from an art career to a career in finance? When I graduated from high school, I wanted to be a chemical engineer, so I went to a school where I had the opportunity to get two degrees, one from my school, which was Occidental College, a liberal arts school in California, and another from Cal Tech. I wanted to have a very good grounding in liberal arts, but also pursue my interest in chemical engineering. When I got to college and actually started taking chemistry classes, I decided that I didn t like chemistry as much as I thought I did. In my narrow view, I think I saw myself a little too social, and couldn t see myself working in a lab for the rest of my life. At that point, I decided I wanted to be a lawyer instead, so I decided to take some art history classes, to learn to write and research, and further develop those skills. However, I kept taking many of the math classes that were required for the engineering degree, even though I ultimately decided to major in art history. I knew that I had a good grounding in math and analysis, and I was drawn to that for my next career step. When I graduated from college, I worked for a time as a real estate appraiser, which in fact confirmed to me that I enjoyed and excelled in the financial/analytical area, and that s what propelled me to go back to get my MBA. What are some things that you learned on the job and not in the classroom? The most important thing I learned on the job is the importance of treating everyone with respect and value. That s something that we all should know but that it has come home to me over my career. And I don t just mean treating my boss with respect and my peers, but also the folks that work for me, the folks who work for them, the staff who clear our offices and the security guards at the front desk. Not only is it the right thing to do, but you never know where folks are going to end up, and you may be reporting to them in the future. It s also important to help foster and create a work environment where people feel respected and appreciated. I know that I spend most of my waking hours in my office and at work, and it s important to me to be in a positive work environment where people feel trusted and cherished, a place where they want to be, too. How can people learn that skill? There s no getting around it; you have to dedicate energy and time to it, and that s something that we re all short on. I know that sometimes, when I have 16 different things and the phone is ringing and I have to get a report done, someone may come into my office who just needs to talk. It may not be something at the top of my priority list, but if it s important to them, then it s important to spend that extra time. Choosing to make that investment in that person, knowing that I might have to stay a little later or that I might have to take work home to get what I need to get done is important in my view. I don t know if it s a skill as much as reorganizing priorities. Do you think there is a glass ceiling in your industry? If so, how can minorities avoid hitting that glass ceiling? It would be fair to say that if you look at not only the airline industry, but also finance in general, you see a dearth of minorities and females at the top. A part of it is structural; for women in particular, it s difficult to make the moves necessary when they are in their 20s and 30s to be in similar positions as their male peers. There are other demands on their time which are just as important, like family and children. And then for minorities in particular, you have to look at it from the angle of opportunity. I know for me and my family, it was difficult to make the investment in college the opportunity cost of not getting a job straight out of school to help support the family. And so once you get to a large company, there s a smaller pool of candidates, of both minorities and women, for top spots. There s a lot of demand because a lot of companies are trying to hire these same bright and diverse people. It s difficult to compete with that, particularly for the airline industry which is so cost-competitive by its nature. Over time, what helps is to foster diversity as people move up through the ranks. I don t think there is a glass ceiling per se, that is, I don t think that someone says, OK you cannot move up any further in this company. But I do think that it s up to all of us to foster diversity so there s a larger abundance of minorities and diverse folks in the candidate pool as people move Visit the Vault Diversity Channel for diversity program profiles of 100s of top employers, insider advice from executives about workplace diversity and more. Go to 37

3 up the company. I ve seen it firsthand; we have a great amount of diversity in the starting ranks, but then as you move up through the organization, you see less and less diversity. How can we avoid hitting that glass ceiling? I think it involves making the investment to improve our skill sets. As I mentioned, I went back to school because I knew that I wanted to do something other than what I was doing, so I made the investment to learn that which I didn t already know. It s also important to always give your job 100 percent of your efforts in order to excel. I think another important aspect, and I m going to characterize these as the hokey things that everyone talks about but that are clearly important: mentoring and networking. This is not just with folks who look or have the same background that you do, but with folks who don t, because again, as you look up the ranks, those are the people who for whatever reason are in key positions. In a nutshell, it s working hard, mentoring, networking, getting to know people in key positions throughout your organization, the kind of people who can ultimately be in a position to help foster your career advancement through the organization. What is the most rewarding aspect of your career? What would you most like to change? The rewarding part to me was easy. It s the people I work with, the talented professionals on my team in particular, people that I admire and respect. And people on whom I can rely and trust. I ve often said to them, Even if I give 100 percent of my energies to our work, that s only going to total 100 percent. But collectively, among the 18 of us, we can get 1,800 percent with our combined efforts if not more. The other rewarding thing is that I truly can say that I learn something new every day. I ve been with American and in the airline industry for 10 years come June. However, I ve had six different roles in the company since then, and I ve never been bored. This is due partly to the challenges in the airline industry, but also because I m lucky enough to get new challenges and do something new every few years. I guess I m still a little bit like that college kid who can t make up her mind science, math, law, art history, etc. Learning new things constantly is something I really value about my career. Regarding a change, I would like to see more diversity in our upper ranks. I think that that is changing, but I think that it s going to take a little more time. The past few years have been very difficult for the airline industry. How do you handle difficult and challenging situations? Part of the attraction to airline industry is just that, that things are challenging and that things are going to be in constant flux. I think it probably attracts people like me who also like change, who have a built-in appreciation for a dynamic changing industry where things are largely out of your control be it weather, fuel prices, macroeconomic issues, etc. That being said, clearly we have been challenged, particularly over the past few years. My mantra to my team is that we just have to do the best that we can on the things we can control. And that we also have to have some fun. My goal each day is to have a little bit of fun when I come into the office. There are things that I know that aren t going to be enjoyable, but I constantly remind myself and my folks that if we stop having fun, than we should all probably just go home. I definitely try to keep things upbeat, even in trying times. What impact has your career had on your personal and family life? Do you have any special techniques, methods and philosophies that help you maintain a work/life balance and be a successful professional? First and foremost I had to move to join American. I grew up in Los Angeles, and moved to Texas by myself to pursue this opportunity. While Dallas-Fort Worth is home now, my family is out on the West Coast. As a Latina, family is very important, and I have to make time to visit them and see them as often as I can. I m not married [and I don t] have kids, so I probably don t have many of the same challenges that other people have in terms of trying to balance children with other demands. I do have other things besides work which are important in my life. I love the arts and culture. I try to go to the symphony, the opera and museums often. Volunteerism is also very important to me. I serve on a board of a local nonprofit, and I m probably going to join another board soon. Both of these are nonprofits organizations dedicated to the arts. I do this because it s important to me. 38

4 Who is/was the most inspiring person to you in your career path? My current boss has been inspiring to me for a number of different reasons. She too was a career-changer, as she switched from being a lawyer to the business side. To me, it resonated because I had moved between science and the arts, law and analytics. She definitely inspired me, and I admire the fact that she s a hard worker, she s dedicated and she s thought of highly. But more informally, and certainly outside of a corporate career path, the person most inspirational to me was my maternal grandmother. She died a few years ago at the age of 83. She was left a widow at the age of 28 with four young children and chose to never remarry. Even though she was completely illiterate, she always supported herself and her children with hard work and perseverance. She was an entrepreneur, on a very small scale, who made a living buying and selling household items throughout her life. She understood the value of hard work, and she was also very independent and proud at being able to provide for herself. Even though she didn t know how to read or write, she was one of the most poised and elegant people I knew. She treated everyone with value and respect, and anyone who knew her felt her joy and positive energy. That to me is as inspiring as her work ethic and her ability to overcome adversity. My grandmother definitely taught me the value of hard work. Also, even though she may not have been able to write or read a contract, she wasn t afraid to ask a pointed question for further clarification. When she didn t understand, she would politely say, I m sorry, I don t understand, could you explain it to me once again? And the other thing she taught me was the importance of being independent, because she never had to rely on her brothers or her family to support her, which is what would have been more typical of her time. That s something that s very important to me, being independent, being able to stand on my own, but also not being afraid to ask for help when needed. What advice do you have for a young person considering a career in your company/industry? If you re going to be in the airline industry, you have to be ready for change, you have to be adaptable, because things will change on you. Don t be set in your ways, things are bound to change. That s the one constant in this industry change so the ability to be flexible and adapt is very key. The next thing is that you always want and need to do a good job, regardless of what the project is. Even if it s not very exciting, or not what you thought or had in mind, you always want to do a quality job and deliver a quality product. People have long memories, and you don t want to be remembered for sloppy results. But at the same time, you have to understand that you can never rest on your laurels. Just because you did a good job yesterday doesn t mean you re done for the week. You need to constantly be adding value in order to sell yourself and your abilities. What is it that you re going to be able to do today, tomorrow, next month for your company s bottomline? The other advice I would give is to actively seek new projects and new ways to show off your talents. I can t tell you the number of people who I ve had as colleagues who say Well, you know, my job is done so I m going home. You always want to be viewed as someone who adds value to the organization, so actively seek projects, and go above and beyond expectations. And the last thing is to remember that your reputation is very important. Your reputation is something you will carry with you for the rest of your career. So you should remember and be cognizant of what your work is leading others to say about you. People do remember. Have you ever been mentored, or mentored others? How can someone find a mentor within their company/industry? I most definitely have taken advantage of mentoring, both taking advantage of someone being a mentor to me, but also doing the same to others. In terms of me going out and finding a mentor, my style on that end is a lot looser. I don t have just one mentor. Instead, I take advantage of various individuals I know, to sit down with them and talk about their career, how they got to be there, and what advice they can give me. It doesn t have to be something that s totally formal. Even at a cocktail party, I m one to ask a perfect stranger what she does, to tell me how she got to be where she is, what advice she can give others, etc. I could name five or six people who I regularly connect with to talk things through, particularly when I am grappling with a significant issue. But I also have a more informal system in which I connect with someone new to me at least once a Visit the Vault Diversity Channel for diversity program profiles of 100s of top employers, insider advice from executives about workplace diversity and more. Go to 39

5 quarter. I don t have one mentor who has watched me through my entire career. That just hasn t been my style. I think it s important to get various perspectives, to bounce ideas off of different folks who may or may not have the same experience that I ve had, and who can give me a new view to help me think things through. In terms of mentoring others, I think it s essential. I feel strongly that I will be an even greater success in my own career if I help others succeed. I guess you can put it down to taking advantage of good karma. It probably drives some of my friends and mentees crazy, but I m constantly talking about their careers, opportunities I see for others in the company. I ask them whether they ve consider this or that for their next career opportunity, have you looked at this other opening, I think you d be a great fit for this, why don t you go talk to this person, etc. I m always trying to make connections and introductions for others, because I think it s important to be a conduit. I frankly measure my success by the success of others that I help, both my colleagues, my friends, but also my team. I see my job as making my boss a success, and in turn helping my direct reports succeed. Ultimately, this should help make our entire company succeed. So I guess it falls into my philosophy. If I think about the top three folks who I would consider mentors but not official mentors, one is my current boss. I ve known her for over six years. I ve only worked directly for her for the last two years. However, when I met her six years ago, I had already identified her as someone who inspired me and who I admired. I saw in her a lot of qualities and skills that I respected and wanted to emulate. At that point, I informally met with her a few times, and when we had companywide events I always tried to chat with her. I asked her about her career progression and what she did, how her career evolved, and what she saw as important qualities in her success. So in this case, I identified someone I had access to, who I had gotten to know informally, and I just made it a point to reach out to her as much as possible to try to learn from her. What I would suggest to others is to keep your eyes open; don t cross someone off your list just because they re not a highranking individual yet; and just keep trying to communicate with them. Your mentor doesn t have to be the CEO of your company to make a difference to you, but I think if you look for qualities that you admire and want to emulate, you can find someone to foster that relationship. You mentioned you were on several boards. How does one get involved in that? Well, specifically for me, it s been through American. American fosters community involvement and, through that, the opportunity for its employees to develop professionally. Specifically, American is a member of a local organization in North Texas whose mission is to get employees of its member companies trained to be on boards. I was nominated to participate in a series of classes where I learned about the local art scene, arts organizations in the area, and the political and economic support for them in North Texas. This same organization then fosters relationships with various organizations to place people like me on boards. However, even if you don t have access to such a wonderful organization, you can still get involved in a board. The key is to find an organization you like and then get involved. If you re an opera lover, you can contact your local opera volunteers committee and ask what opportunities they may have for board service. You may not immediately be placed on a board, but could be in some advisory capacity in the short term. The first step is getting involved. If you were not in your current position, what would your dream career be? That s a tough one, as I love what I do and look forward to coming into work every day. However, I ve also wanted to be an archaeologist. Realistically, I think the cool part of being an archeologist would likely only represent about 1 percent of what the job really entails, while the other 99 percent would be really hard and entail dealing with the dangers of the jungle, being in dark cave with unknown bugs and insects, or working in a hot and dusty desert would be worthwhile for that one percent. I guess deep-down, I m an optimist! 40