I remember, the first time it struck me is I was an econ major at Stanford as an undergrad, and it struck me how few women were econ majors back in the '70s. And then in business school how few women... And even then, I thought, 'Gosh, this is really unfortunate.'
Unless you stay focused on innovation, you can be disintermediated.
It's been invigorating being back on the West Coast, being at Alphabet, because there is so much innovation. And the big challenge is, how do you think about resource allocation and priorities when you have so many great options? But wearing jeans instead of suits and popping into driverless cars has also been a lot of fun.
I stayed at Morgan Stanley for 27 years because it was fun. I kept learning.
If you're just focused on work, my view is that you'll never get enough back from any organization, no matter how fantastic the role is, and you have to have a full life so that you really get enriched in a lot of different ways, and that can be family and kids. It can be, for others, sports.
One of the biggest problems women have is they work really hard and put their heads down and assume hard work gets noticed. And hard work for the wrong boss does not get noticed. Hard work for the wrong boss results in one thing - that boss looks terrific, and you get stuck.
Women are still not reaching the most senior levels of corporations. This is not the shortcoming of women. We're talented and smart.
I have seen too many people in my career think that there is some natural progression to life, with certain career milestones preceding whatever you may want in your personal life. Unfortunately, life doesn't know it is supposed to follow a schedule.
I have not been a believer of point guidance. It really limits your flexibility to do what you want. It leads to behavior that is not supportive of long-term shareholder value.
I view investors as our partners and stakeholders in the company. They are trying to build financial models. What I try to focus on is helping them understand how we think.
There are no good options in the midst of a crisis.
When I started, there very few women at the managing director level and very few who had families, which is something that was important to me. So it's not like when I looked up I could say, 'Well, that's who I want to be.'
We think machine learning, as it relates to healthcare and life sciences, is extraordinary.
If you continue to plow ahead in something that is OK, you will miss the opportunity to do something that is great.
The most important thing is culture.
When I started, there were very few women at the managing director level and very few who had families, which is something that was important to me. So it's not like, when I looked up, I could say, 'Well, that's who I want to be.'
Competition is one click away. Innovation happens everywhere... you better have a culture asking for a voice.
I'm delighted to be returning to my California roots and joining Google.
