60 seconds with: Aisling Keegan, Vice-President and Commercial General Manager, Dell EMC Ireland

Q. What was your first job?

After I finished my Master’s in international business from UCD, I moved to New York where I spent the first five years of my career. In fact, I handed in my thesis in on a Friday morning and flew to New York Friday afternoon! My first job over there was as Manager of Consumer Business with Waterfront Realty Group.

Q. What would you regard as your greatest achievement to date?

My biggest success to date has been the integration of the Dell and EMC teams together as one in Ireland. By forging a shared vision of the future and common purpose to accelerate digital transformation, all our team members have been empowered to deliver for businesses and organisations across Ireland.

Q. In three words or less, how do you define success?

Envision, invest, transform.

Q. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

I had an external mentor many years ago who taught me a lot of lessons. One of his expressions was: “You’ve got to crack a few eggs to make a good omelette”. The lesson for me was that as a leader sometimes you have to make tough decisions at various points in your career that don’t come easy, but if your intent is right these decisions usually end up being the right ones in the long run.

Q. How do you motivate yourself and your staff?

My family help to keep me motivated. I’ve two gorgeous young boys and a great husband who inspire me to be a better mother, wife and leader.

At work, I like to think I take an innovative management approach. I trust my team and the decisions they make. I feel as long as my intent is good and I have their best interests at heart, it goes a long way to building inspired and motivated employees.