Innovation in a Reinvented World: 10 Essential Elements to Succeed in the New World of Business

Tara Collison, Ph.D., Senior Manager, Corporate Affairs

Tara Collison learned her true north for getting the job done upon realizing that she didn't need to do it all herself.

A master planner and checklist perfectionist who often ran the show behind the scenes—alone in a room where she thought others just got in the way—she discovered the power of getting things done with people, who became her way to higher performance, more personal balance, and a whole lot more fun in her career.

“A lot of my own barriers have come from thinking that people are judging me. People will think what they're going to think—we can't control it—but we can choose to care or not care. It is something in my control to apologize or correct a situation, but if people think badly of me for some reason, well, it is what it is,” Collison says.

She no longer has the expectation of herself that she must finish everything and do it all perfectly before leaving work for the day, even if others might expect it of her.

“I now accept that it's going to be there the next day and the next day. That's part of the same turning point,” she says. “The more that I'm true to what I want to do, it creates better balance for me, and I'm able to put boundaries between my work and home life.

“I have found that during other points in my career, when I haven't loved what I was doing, I would spend the day checking the boxes but feeling unfulfilled and stressed because I hadn't completed all my work. I would try to squeeze it ...