The salesforce.com Woman of the Month campaign turns the spotlight on the amazing women who help make salesforce.com the World’s Most Innovative Company and one of the best places to work. Honorees are nominated by fellow employees and selected by dedicated members of FemmeForce, the Salesforce Women's Network, to ensure a variety of roles and regions are honored. 

Say hello to Shawna Wolverton, Senior Director of Platform Product Management at salesforce.com. Shawna juggles her nonstop career (she’s been with the company over ten years!), motherhood (her 7-year-old daughter plays soccer and the drums) and even fits in the occasional flying trapeze class (jump off a 25-foot platform? No big deal).

We had the opportunity to sit down with salesforce.com’s February Woman of the Month and pick her brain about career growth, management, and women in the workplace. Here, Shawna’s best of the best.

1. What was your best career decision?

When I joined salesforce.com, it was still a young company, and there were quite a few people who were counting us out. It turned out to be a risk that has paid off tremendously. I’ve now spent half of my career here, and almost every day I feel like I’m learning and growing.

2. What are your best words of wisdom for someone just starting out?  

Don’t ever assume you don’t qualify for that new role, or that you shouldn’t expect that raise or promotion in reward for outstanding work. Also, it’s never too early to find mentors and advisors.

3. What’s your best advice for someone who wants to get ahead?

Just start doing the job you want. If there is job or role you want, ask the people in that role how you can help. Even better, just start doing the tasks that you see need to be done. Trust me, it’ll pay off!

4. What is your best guidance for someone considering a move to management?

Think about why you want to be a people manager. If it’s just the next rung on your career ladder and not something you’re passionate about, then perhaps find another way to get ahead. As a manager, you get a lot of credit for the work of the people on your team; to be a good manager, you need the confidence to turn the spotlight off of yourself and onto the team.

5. Share your best tip for being productive at work.

Book time for yourself on your calendar to get work done. If you don’t book your time, it’s highly likely that someone else will.

6. What’s the best rallying cry for women in the workplace?

Talk to each other! Help each other set career plans and network to achieve them. There is a place for organized women’s groups in every organization, but there should also be more informal, ad hoc collaboration between women. We have so much to learn from each other.

Want to hear more from Shawna? Follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn. And stay tuned for more career tips and tools for success from our next salesforce.com Woman of the Month, coming your way in March.

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