At Smith+Nephew, we’re blessed with incredible female leaders who, over the past few months, have been willing to share their life’s lessons to our Women’s Network in the speaker series, ‘Finding Your Superpower.’
Our most recent talk covered tenacity: a determination and persistence that empowers you to stare down fear, listen to your gut and make decisions that truly align with who you are. It means navigating life’s forks in the road with confidence and refusing to give up, no matter the circumstances.
Adriana Davies, Vice President of Compliance and Data Privacy in the US, gave an incredible talk about how this superpower has touched so many areas of her life: from marriage and motherhood to career choices and leadership. Tenacity has empowered Adriana to embrace mentorship from managers, who encouraged her early on in her career to believe in the brilliance of her ideas. This ‘board of directors’, as she calls them, are people she still calls on for advice to this day. She says, “If you ever feel on your own walking into a room, focus on your village: all the people who have believed in you, loved you, and worked with you. Use it to presence yourself.”
In particular, Adriana spoke candidly about the sense of powerlessness she felt when a close family member was diagnosed with a chronic illness. She explained: “When a family member is a patient, it’s the most vulnerable feeling you can imagine. You are in the hands of doctors and medical professionals. The notion that they might not prescribe the best drug or use the best medical device, based on some sort of commercial interaction or engagement, really bothered me. The experience sharpened my view of the role of Compliance. My profession became personal.”
Most of us find big decisions daunting, but Adriana advises that drawing from tenacity can help you to “trust that the dots will connect in future”. Afterall, every decision is an opportunity for growth.
We’re grateful to Adriana for sharing how her superpower has steered her through both her personal and professional life.