Dee Dee Lear

President, Women in Channels; vice president, product management, Arrow Electronics Inc.

For Dee Dee Lear, career success is being in the right place at the right time and answering the door when opportunity knocks. “Your career—the journey and the destination—is in your hands,” she says.

Lear lives her philosophy. Her dream was to be a doctor or an attorney but she “ended up in IT by personal circumstance,” she says. Just out of high school, Lear began working as a receptionist for a solution provider while attending college. The company, a rapidly growing IBM reseller, gave Lear an opportunity to move into management quickly. Her career flourished at the company during her 11-year tenure.

But Lear wasn’t born knowing how to successfully navigate the business world. Thanks to a phenomenal mentor, she learned the ropes. “My mentor taught me so much about the workplace,” Lear says. “She was the most influential person in my career. With her encouragement and guidance, I knew I could do whatever I wanted to do.”

After she’d been in management for a while, she moved into sales. “That was a big risk for me,” says Lear, who early on learned to embrace risk as she set goals and expectations for herself. She moved to a company acquired by Arrow Electronics Inc., where she’s continued to build her career in IT channels for the past 10 years.

Lear lives and teaches her outlook on work and life. “When you’re thrust in the spotlight for a company—not necessarily the CEO role, but a strategic or critical position for a company—your choice and opportunity is to fail or succeed. My advice is to push your own boundaries, do your very best, and you will be recognized and rewarded. However, always know your critics and your supporters,” she says.

Lear has a lot of empathy with the young women graduating from college now, and her experience gives her wisdom about the world these women are facing. “They have an untainted view and they don’t see the glass ceiling,” she says. “It’s the ‘me generation.’ This generation doesn’t let the outside world determine who they’ll be and they aren’t intimidated. They’ve seen women as CEOs of large, worldwide Fortune 100 companies and women running for the highest political offices in their countries. That’s an experience I never had as a young woman. It’s been amazing to watch our society become accepting of diversity,” Lear says.

That gives her hope that as, “the generations evolve, the differences between men and women won’t be inhibitors in the business world, but our differences will be our best tools to success.” Still, it’s up to individuals to direct their own lives and careers. “Opportunities exist for everyone, regardless of gender, race or religion. It’s a personal responsibility and choice to take advantage of the possibilities.”

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