95. Listening to the Voices That Matter (from a C-suite Latina)

What Rules!?: A career podcast for women of color

Fortune 30 C-level executive Maria Lensing tells us about the many rules—both corporate and cultural—she’s broken to advance her career. This Latina powerhouse from Peru has been a leader at Walgreens, McKesson and AT&T, and is now the Global CIO & CTO at Sorenson Communications.

In this super candid and honest conversation celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, we chat with Maria about the realities of being a multicultural woman in corporate America. Maria points out all the voices around us—the ones we should listen to and how to work through all the other noise. “The biggest element of success is what your mind thinks and the influences that you let in,” says Maria.

Passionate about advancing women in the workplace, Maria shares the #1 thing she’s learned from her corporate climb, how she’s bucked the traditional family and the three questions she asks herself when making big career moves.

Theme: Changing Course Without Hesitation

Episode Highlights:

• Don’t let others define what success looks like for you
• How to make big career decisions
• Defining failure
• Breaking cultural rules
• What leaders can do to advance multicultural women

Maria’s Bio:

Maria Lensing is the Global Chief Information Officer & Chief Technology Officer at Sorenson Communications. Prior, she was the Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance. Before that, Maria was the CTO at McKesson. And prior to McKesson, Maria spent 11 years at AT&T in both technical and business leadership roles. She was VP of Healthcare Solutions and she was also Chief of Staff for the Chief Executive Officer of AT&T Business.

Maria has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Science in Engineering Management from Christian Brothers University (CBU). She completed her Executive Education at Harvard Business School. She is also an independent director at Sorenson Communications and a board director for the Hispanic IT Executive Council (HITEC).

Maria is passionate about STEM opportunities for youth, women in leadership and promoting minority inclusion in the executive ranks. She has received a lot of recognition, including the 2023 Top 100 Latinas by Latino Leaders Magazine and HITEC 100 Leaders for 2022, 2021 and 2020.

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Learn more at www.whatrulespodcast.com.