HBR Presents.

I'm Yario Wilkins and this is Coaching Real Leaders, part of the HBR Presents Network.

I'm a longtime executive coach who works with highly successful

leaders who've hit a bump in the road. My job is to help them get over that bump by clarifying

their goals and figuring out a way to reach them so that hopefully they can lead with a little

more ease. I typically work with clients over the course of several months, but on this show, we have a one-time coaching meeting focusing on a specific leadership challenge they're facing.

Today's guest who will call Catherine to protect her confidentiality is someone who has risen quickly in her career.

I was the first one for my family to graduate college. And when I was in college, I had several high-profile

internships in government. And when I got into the real world, I realized I needed to find work that aligned with my skill set.

And so I joined, it's a very large firm, and I started out in a role that didn't exist.

And every single one of my roles at my current company has never existed before.

Catherine is ambitious, and she's jumped at opportunities when they have come up.

I joined the Office of the Global Chairman and CEO. In that role, I had tremendous opportunities.

I even went to Davos. So I I had tremendous opportunities. I even went to Davos.

So I've had tremendous experience.

And when I was looking for the next steps in my career,

there were some roadblocks in trying to move myself forward. I was the youngest on the team.

I was the most junior on the team.

I created an automation solution to do part of my role.

And so I used a bot to move myself forward.

And when I did so, I thought this could be a good way for me to learn more of the

business side of the company. So that's what I did. I'm now a formal leader on the team. I am the

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