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16 Years with Dell Technologies: Gabriela Reflects on Her Inspiring Career Journey
Gabriela D. | Sr. Manager Inside Sales | Brazil
Originally Published: January 2, 2023
Gabriela joined Dell Technologies 16 years ago and today she is a Senior Sales Manager at Dell Technologies Brazil. She shares with us the experience she gained during her career journey at Dell, and what she learned in her many different leadership positions. She also shares the development programs she participated in, what motivates her, and how she finds balance in her life. Discover her inspirational journey below:
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What are you most proud of during your time at Dell Technologies?
Definitely the career I built and how I’ve grown to become a strong professional. I joined Dell during college, and I just recently completed 16 years with the company in a Senior Manager position.
In addition to my career and who I have become, I am proud of my contributions that helped take Dell to new heights. I have followed the growth of the company, especially here in Brazil, and I am proud to be a part of this team.
Have you participated in any development programs? Tell us about it.
Yes, I participated in leadership development programs. During my transition from a salesperson to a leadership position, I participated in different programs such as leadership and coaching development. Additionally, I participated in SMB University, a program for Sales talent that was taught by Dell professionals.
After these, I participated in mentoring programs where I have been both a mentee and mentor. Now, I am participating in one of Dell Technologies external mentorship consulting programs.
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Is there anything that you've learned that has helped you advance your career?
There were many lessons I’ve learned and most of them dealt with people. I have grown as a leader and I know when I took my first leadership position 12 years ago, I was a different type of professional than I am now. Throughout my career, I’ve learned to develop people and how to extract the best qualities from your team members. I learned a lot about leading people and inspiring them to do their best work for Dell Technologies.
Another learning experience was pushing and challenging myself. I decided to transition from a people manager to a field position as an Account Executive. This was new to me because I needed to re-develop many negotiation skills and be prepared to interact with our clients. With these opportunities at Dell, I’ve learned how to develop myself as a professional leader and not be afraid of changes.
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What makes you excited about your organization/position?
Having a purpose and challenges. Every day when I wake up, I have a purpose for why I'm here and what I'm going to do to help the team achieve better results and close deals.
Also, I'm motivated about having challenges and every day being different from the last one. Even after 12 years in a leadership position, every day still gives me butterflies. Having challenges that seem impossible to solve motivates me to think and collaborate with my team so that we always win.
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How do you ensure balance in your day-to-day work at Dell Technologies?
With my team being fully remote, I need to be organized and disciplined to follow my schedule. I do a few things to maintain a great balance; I organize my meetings within my schedule, take necessary breaks, set out time to have lunch with my son and pick him up from school, and if necessary, I’ll leave some tasks to do at night. Dell’s environment makes me comfortable taking breaks during the day to prioritize family time and waiting to complete tasks later. I always organize my schedule and put all my important meetings and tasks on my calendar to create the balance that I need.
In my time outside of work, I love being active and remote work has made it much easier. Before, I had to exercise either very early or at the end of the day. Remote work allowed me to catch up on activities due to its flexibility. I also have the opportunity to participate in global challenges that Dell proposes.
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Do you have any recommendations for people who are looking to grow their careers?
I joined Dell when I was 20 years old and I became a leader very young, at just 24 I was already a sales Manager. I would say that they must have an idea of where they want to go, what their strengths and areas of opportunity are, and what steps they must take that will progress them towards that final goal.
That first step may be the longest to take. It’s important to understand where you want your career to take you and the skills necessary to achieve this and outline those steps. Remember, you don't have to be anxious or want to rush the process. Trust me, I know how anxious we can get because I've been there. However, it's crucial to think about the plan of where you're going for your first step to be effective.
Another piece of advice is to not be afraid of challenges. As I said before, I became a manager at a very young age and worked with senior leaders and more experienced people. Through these opportunities, I learned to never be ashamed to ask questions and introduce different ideas.
To learn more about jobs at Dell, visit jobs.dell.com.
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