SHOCEO^® Reading for Success: 7 (Seven) Minutes.

For this edition of the She’s Her Own CEO^® Interview Series, we are excited to introduce you to Dana Bolden!

Dana Bolden serves as the Chief Communications Officer for Corteva Agriscience™ where he leads the employee, executive and functional communications, external communications and media relations, regional communications, corporate brand and advertising, platform communications and digital and social communications.

For more than a year, he served as the interim leader for External Affairs and Sustainability at Corteva Agriscience™, leading the company’s public policy and government affairs strategies, and launching the company’s first-ever sustainability goals. He also shaped Corteva’s early philanthropy, product stewardship and global regulatory activities.

Launched as a stand-alone company in 2019, Corteva offers a complete portfolio of products and technologies, and a robust pipeline of germplasm, traits and crop protection. The combined heritage and complementary capabilities of DuPont Crop Protection, Pioneer and Dow AgroSciences makes Corteva Agriscience stronger, more competitive, and better equipped to deliver growth and value.

Dana joined Corteva from The Coca-Cola Company where he held various leadership roles for most his career. He brings extensive experience in designing and implementing training programs for all levels of leadership.

Dana earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Washington & Lee University.  He currently serves on the Board of Trustees for his alma mater and chairs the Trusteeship Committee. He also serves on the College of Charleston’s Communications Advisory Council and lectures at his alma mater, CofC and several universities. Dana achieved his APR certification from the Public Relations Society of America, a 2017 graduate of the Presidential Leadership Scholars program and member of the Arthur Page Society.

He has a passion for raising funds for first-generation scholarships, connecting people with board service and spending time outdoors. He and his wife Leslie have two children.

 

Kathryn Brooks, She’s Her Own CEO^®: Hi Dana, thank you for joining me today! What are the specific educational and career experiences that have made you into the success that you are today?

Dana Bolden: Always forcing myself to get into the center of experiences in which I am comfortable has been the biggest contributing factor in getting where I am today. My high school experience was an all-Black, public experience in the heart of Atlanta, so when it came time to attend university, I made the conscious decision to attend an all-White, private school experience in rural Virginia.

Always stepping outside of my comfort zone forced me to learn on the fly and look for the drivers behind the surface experiences. As an outsider, you ask questions on topics others take for granted, you never allow yourself to blend into your surroundings. You are always THINKING about what is next instead of simply going through the motions.

That approach has served me well.

 

Kathryn Brooks, She’s Her Own CEO^®: On ShesHerOwnCEO.com, we often talk about how one can best Lead, Provide, and Create™. Each of us, in our respective world, has opportunities to Lead Ourselves, to Provide for Others, and Create for the Larger World.

Please share with me your favorite example of how you Lead, Provide, and Create™ in your professional and/or personal world!

Dana Bolden: Not to oversimplify, but I try to Lead by example, Provide resources and guidance to my teams, and Create opportunities for others to stretch their skills. While it is a simple mantra, how it manifests itself is a little more complicated.

When you find yourself in a leadership role, your teams often look to you for instruction or counsel.  When coming in to a new role, I take on as much as physically possible for the simple purpose of showing my teams that I can do their roles. There comes a time in the process, though, where you to step away and let them perform their functions. It is a fine line that I have learned to walk over time, but when your teams know that you can do their jobs there is an increased trust and healthy competition that pushes them to surpass your abilities and creates a very healthy, high-performing dynamic. That is Leading by example.

As a leader, you have three main responsibilities: defining the challenges to address, providing the resources to address those challenges and ensuring you have the right people to tackle the challenges (and they work well together). Beyond that, if you’ve hired the right people, your job is to simply keep people on task and make the right calls to Provide resources and guidance.

Lastly, you must Create opportunities for your team members to shine. I think it was Rosalynn Carter who said, “A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” This is a both a great summary of how you create opportunities but also connect back to my earlier point about living outside of your comfort zone.

 

Kathryn Brooks, She’s Her Own CEO^®: Being the CEO of your world can take many forms (for example, volunteering in your community, holding a formal corporate position, engaging in creative pursuits, or being a family member).

In your opinion, what is the best way to achieve success and to become the boss of your world?

Dana Bolden: I think the best way to achieve success is first define what your passions are in life and then find ways to apply them for the benefit of others. My passion is around education, so I always look for opportunities to promote and fund first-generation educational opportunities. I was the first in my family to attend college, so I fund a scholarship at my alma mater but also fund them at schools where I have taught and where my wife attended. Giving your students the opportunity to expand their educational and social experience impacts generations of people. That knowledge gained changes the trajectory of generations.

 

 

 

Kathryn Brooks, She’s Her Own CEO^®: Any additional advice you can share with motivated professionals?

Dana Bolden: The quote that I try to live by is, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.”  That quote has been attributed to quite a few people, but it remains true. Talent will get you to a point.  Hard work can take you places you’ve never dreamed.

 

Kathryn Brooks, She’s Her Own CEO®: Thank you for sharing your insights, Dana!

Looking for even more #CEO inspiration?  Check out my other #CEO interviews and be sure you’re subscribed below.

Kathryn