Mary Anne Gale - Sharing Insight Along the Way

​"... career satisfaction and success were inseparable from the rest of my life."

Copied with permission from the Preface to the book Running for Office, Getting yourself elected to the career you really want by Mary Anne Gale with Shelley Cowan

Continued from Making Tough Choices

Throughout my thirty-five years at P&G, I shared the insights and experiences I gathered as my career progressed. I mentored, advised, and befriended thousands of my P&G colleagues, helping them determine what roles to go after, how to go after them, and what to do when things weren't working. During my years in China, I began to share my views with people in global corporations, government agencies, and academic institutions throughout Asia.

In explaining how I managed to build the career I wanted for myself, I always stressed that career satisfaction and success were inseparable from the rest of my life. This was true from my earliest moves: from Washington back to Lansing, to northern Michigan, and then to a dual location marriage. IT was true throughout my career. 

Even though I knew that I wanted a challenging career, I also knew that I wanted to build a life with my husband and a family that was as strong as the family that raised me.

And there was something else that I always knew: that I was in charge of creating my success. I knew that no one would do it for me.

These two principles - that I was in charge of my career and that my career was inseparable from my life - became the foundation of the lessons I shared. It was only over time, as people asked me for precise instructions on how I got the promotions and assignments I wanted, that I realized that principles were not enough. 

I began to look for a metaphor that worked: managing a successful career is like participating in a political campaign. You have to solicit the support and trust - the votes - of the people  who make the decisions. And the only way to do this is to create honest and genuine relationships with the voters.


Learn how Mary Anne managed a very successful career while raising three children:

• Mary Anne Gale on Balance
• Mary Anne Gale on Making Tough Choices
• Mary Anne Gale on Trust ​

​Mary Anne Gale is President of Careerscape, held VP roles at Proctor & Gamble, and is co-author of the book Running for Office, Getting yourself elected to the career you really want by Mary Anne Gale with Shelley Cowan. A graduate of Michigan State University, she has been recognized as one of their Distinguished Alumni.

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