L2S E12: Heather Polinsky on her path from Public Servant to C-Suite

<p>Heather Polinsky is an environmental consulting professional with over 20 years of experience. She started her career working as a civilian project manager for the US Army Environmental Command. She found herself in consulting not too long later, and has had a wonderful career trajectory that's taken her from Project Management, through Program Management, Client Development, and now a leader of leaders in Operations. In this episode of the Lead to Soar Podcast, Heather reflects on some of the ways mentors have helped her most, the best career advice she's ever received, and how she has developed The Missing 33% (business strategic and financial acumen) throughout her career. Heather was recently appointed as the Chief Operating Officer of Arcadis North America, which has a staff of ~6,000 professionals.</p> <p>Learn more about Arcadis by visiting Arcadis.com</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Notable Quotes from Heather Polinsky:</strong></p> <p class="_04xlpA direction-ltr align-start para-style-body"> <span class="JsGRdQ"><em>On advice for professionals growing in leadership</em>:</span> <span class="JsGRdQ">"Really make sure that you're willing to</span> <span class="JsGRdQ">ask questions</span><span class="JsGRdQ">, and the second part is -</span> <span class="JsGRdQ">trust your team</span><span class= "JsGRdQ">... We're all at the table because of something we offer that's unique... and if you've built a good team, it's designed that way.</span> <span class="JsGRdQ">So use it!"</span></p> <p class="_04xlpA direction-ltr align-start para-style-body"> <span class="JsGRdQ">"You have to understand what your picture looks like<span class="JsGRdQ white-space-prewrap"> </span>and be happy with your picture. Don't spend your days comparing yourself to other people, other families, other pictures. Because they might not be the same, but it's OK..."</span></p> <p class="_04xlpA direction-ltr align-start para-style-body"> <span class="JsGRdQ">"My message is: go for it now. If you think in a year you'll be ready, you're probab