Rosa Burns, Telecommunications and Utility Executive Sales Leader
Rosa is a proven Sales leader with 20 years of experience. She’s the former Chief Revenue Officer at Clearfield and has held various executive sales roles in a range of telecommunications and utility companies such as 3M and Nokia. In addition to deep sales expertise, Rosa has extensive experience in leading global teams through inclusive collaboration while delivering exceptional customer focus and service. She is passionate about helping others elevate their authentic self at work while taking their career to the next level.
Rosa was recently selected to be part of the Leadership Austin Essential Class 42, a group selected for their community involvement, service, and commitment to Greater Austin.
Q: Why do you choose to spend your time mentoring others?
A: For me mentoring is very important for your growth, allowing you to get feedback in a very safe way. Sometimes when you are struggling or even stuck, it is tough to hear feedback because you're worried about someone's intention or personal politics. Mentoring is a way to get honest feedback, encouragement, and connection points that make you feel like you're okay and receiving feedback in a way that you can listen to because you know that this person is there to help you. You know there's no ulterior motive, so you listen and use the feedback from a person you trust.
Q: What do you personally gain from mentoring?
A: In mentoring, I always get more than I give. I remember asking one of my first mentors, why do you spend time with me when you have all these calls and meetings, yet, you choose to lunch with me? My mentor shared with me that when you mentor somebody, you gain a lot because it teaches you to be a better coach.
One of my biggest goals is to be a better coach and communicator for my team and coworkers. When you coach, you help your people grow, creating a successful team from the bottom up. This type of support can create long-lasting inspiration and retention. Being a coach is not easy. It requires you to listen and to let the other person come up with their ideas. For someone who's in a leadership position and is used to being the boss, it's so much easier and faster to tell people what to do than to teach them how to get there independently. Coaching and mentoring take time and dedication and sharpen my skills to be a better leader.
Q: To what do you attribute your success?
A: My success has come from mentoring. I've had great mentors at crucial moments in my life - moments when I struggled, when I couldn't listen to feedback, felt very alone in my situation. And as a woman, sometimes it isn't easy to relate to other people. You want to appear in control, not too emotional, not too loud, not too aggressive, not be too much of this, so you end up boxing yourself in this little corner. In those moments, when I felt cornered, I would reach out to mentors. Their feedback would resonate with me and allow me time and space to develop my solutions.
“Without telling me what to do, my mentors have helped me figure out what I needed to do and gave me clarity on my next step, which has been the key to my success.”
It was a bit painful at times because it's hard to realize what went wrong and not blame everybody else but you. The honest feedback helped me reflect, change some of my ways, pivot, and sharpen my listening. Without telling me what to do, my mentors have helped me figure out what I needed to do and gave me clarity on my next step, which has been the key to my success.
Q: What does good mentoring look like to you?
A: Good mentoring is about listening – listening without anything in your head, creating solutions, or preparing what to say – serving as a whiteboard to your mentee. Listening and being curious helps that person dig deep. Sometimes what appears to be very superficial can be a symptom of something deeper inside.
Listening is not easy. It's a skill that has to be practiced and refined over time. If you're a problem solver like me, I'm always creating solutions in my head, pivoting, and finding a solution. In sales, when a customer talks, it can be hard to listen to their need because you want to prepare yourself with a response to pushback. I learned that if you listen and don't defend anything, or think about comebacks, it works better.
It doesn't matter if you are the chief technology officer or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. If you're not able to truly listen and guide your mentee, you're not a good mentor. Having a successful career is not enough to be a good mentor.
Q: What advice would you give to someone interested in mentoring?
A: It's important to be vulnerable with your story and to share your struggles. It helps to build trust and makes you relatable. And always keep asking your mentee questions. I learned to ask, "What else?" If they're quiet, keep asking, "What else?". It's amazing how it'll get people talking and then get to the answer. The moment when they get it is such a great feeling for the mentee and the mentor.
Q: How has mentoring impacted your own journey?
A: Mentoring is fun, rewarding, and reinforces why I enjoy being a leader. I've had a blast with my mentee, which is just like me, ten years ago. I smile when she tells me about an issue, and it reminds me that I was there once, and I felt the same way. It's rewarding when I repeat back to her how she feels, and she says, "Yes, that's how I feel."
It tells her that she's not alone in the journey. And it reminds me why I want to be a leader, why it's worth the effort. Being a leader is much work – you're managing results while also treating people with respect and growing. I've had moments in my career where it would have been much easier being an individual contributor. I realized that being a team leader or building and scaling teams has given me so much more than financial rewards. It convinced me that I want to be a leader. Even though it can be challenging, I still want to do it because I know how it can change people's lives.
Q: Why do you choose to mentor with Ceresa?
A: When I heard about what Ceresa was doing, I wanted to be a part of it, to help others going through the same struggles that I faced. We struggle not because of our capacity to learn or do the job, but in relating to one another, particularly women. It's so important to have empathy for other women and to be helping one another.
Mentoring with Ceresa has been a blast. My mentee and I are supposed to meet for 1 hour, once a month, but we talk every two weeks, and we always say 30 minutes, and then it turns into an hour. We learn from each other and relate very well. Nothing that she tells me will shock me, and she feels comfortable with that. I always tell her that nothing will surprise me because I've either done it or been there or suffered through it. This opportunity has been fantastic for me and reminds me that I want to continue in a leadership role. Thank you.
Mentorship: integral to the Ceresa whole-person approach
At Ceresa, mentorship is an integral part of our leadership development process. The mentor-mentee relationship is a key component in providing the structure, and at the same time fluidity, necessary to facilitate pointed leadership and career growth for both the participant and the mentor.