Maxine Eiland (pronounced island) is a force to be reckoned with. Driven, passionate, and quick on her feet, Maxine knows how to get the job done when it comes to all things digital and web. It was about time we featured her in our “Women in Identity” series. We got to spend a few minutes with Maxine, learning what inspires her and how she defines success. Here are our three questions with SailPoint’s director of digital marketing and web.
What is your biggest strength, and where do you draw inspiration?
My biggest strength, and what has helped shape me to be the leader I am today, is to look at things from other points of view. We often forget that people are human. When someone says something sharp in a meeting, cuts us off at a light, or does something seemingly inconsiderate to us, they are potentially facing a challenge we aren’t aware of. It’s essential to take a step back before we react and truly listen and process the whole situation before we let ourselves get wrapped up in the emotions we may feel right away. Now more than ever.
I draw my inspiration from others that I feel follow a moral compass and put humanity above anything else. It is so easy to focus on the negative in the world, even when the positive is right in front of us. Recently I watched “What a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” about a journalist who gets to know Mr. Rogers on a more personal level. I was reminded of how he came through the screen and made you feel like he was talking just to you. I try to make people feel that way, and be as present as possible with them when they are with me. I’m not perfect at it, but our undivided attention gets lost these days because we’re worried we’re missing the latest meme on Instagram.
What was the most significant career-defining moment for you?
I was working as a barista at a coffee shop inside the Science & Engineering building on UT’s campus. One day my boss told me she wanted to make me the manager of the five coffee carts throughout campus, and I was taken aback, wondering why me, at such a young age, would be in charge of so much. I was just 20 years old!
She saw potential in me; I didn’t realize I had and believed in me when I didn’t. But most of all, she gave me the greatest gift, which was allowing me to see for myself that I could achieve more than the box I had put myself in. I think one of the greatest things we can do as leaders is to take the time to spark a fire in others still working through their career paths and help them see things in themselves they otherwise wouldn’t.
How do you define success?
Professionally speaking, success to me is seeing my employees and mentees blossom over time and become leaders themselves. I look back at some of my team members from years past, and I am so proud of them for all of their achievements and ways they have chosen to give back to others. Sometimes, out of the blue, I will receive a message from one of them with some exciting news or to tell me about a meeting they handled like a rockstar. I am so grateful that after all these years, they want to share these stories with me. On a personal level, most of what I’ve mentioned above helps define my success. If I’m doing all those things right, I’ve done an excellent job that day. Some days aren’t, though, and I give myself a break because we are all human, after all.
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