Q&A with Lynn Salekin
March 28, 2024
Beyhan Zor (MBA for TELUS ’23) interviews Lynn Salekin (MBA for TELUS ’17) in part two of this four-part series celebrating women grads of the MBA for TELUS now in senior leadership roles. Salekin is VP finance shared services and Zor is manager, products & services at TELUS.
The award-winning MBA for TELUS is a custom MBA in Strategic Leadership developed by the Gustavson School of Business for telecommunications client TELUS. Students are TELUS team members who are nominated to UVic by TELUS.
Beyhan Zor: Hi Lynn, thanks so much for taking the time to have this conversation! Let’s dive right in. Are there specific moments or decisions that stand out in your career journey that helped you to become a Vice President at TELUS?
Lynn Salekin: I started at TELUS more than 25 years ago. I worked in a call center right after university. It was such an amazing experience to be at the frontline and learn about some of our foundational systems. I took a Bachelor of Commerce in university specializing in Management of Information Systems. So, it was interesting to apply those skills at work. At that time there was an opportunity on the Sales Incentive Management team, which as you know is one of the advantages we have at TELUS: the ability to move between departments. That role opened the doors for where I am now, Finance Shared Services.
As I was going through school they always said, change your job every two to three years and try different industries. However, what was great for me is that as I grew within the organization, TELUS changed in parallel. We went from a true telecom (what we would all know as Wireline) to a wireless company expanding across Canada to having TELUS Health, TELUS International, TELUS Agriculture and more. As TELUS grew and expanded, I was lucky to be in Corporate Affairs and Finance because I had the opportunity to engage with all those business units.
When I started my TELUS MBA program, I was managing very streamlined projects within the Finance team. It was very timely that the MBA provided me a lot more visibility into other areas at TELUS and it enhanced my connections within the company. It got me curious to try new things as I was hearing all these other individuals in my MBA cohort explaining what they were doing. So, for me, my MBA actually led to a major decision about my career trajectory. At that time, it encouraged me to take on a special project and accept an exciting secondment opportunity. It was the second year of my MBA when I decided not to go back to my former role and keep making progress and expanding the opportunities within my secondment role.
BZ: I’m curious about your decision to not go back to your former role. Did the MBA and the support you have there from your cohort play a part in making this decision?
LS: Yes, absolutely. That was a very scary decision for me because it was the first time I was really stepping away from my comfort zone and taking an opportunity to expand my experience in Corporate Affairs and Finance. I moved through a bunch of different lateral opportunities. I had the chance to work on acquisitions which were very focused on TELUS Health as well as some of our power purchase agreements. I had the opportunity to provide Finance Business Partner support and work on things that I would not have had the opportunity to do in my previous role, which included supporting the TELUS International IPO.
BZ: In your opinion, how has the increased presence of female leadership within TELUS and the broader telecom sector influenced the overall workplace dynamics and culture?
LS: I was reflecting on America Ferrera’s recent award in the Critics Choice for her contributions to more authentic portrayals of women. I really love what she said, that it couldn't be more meaningful to her because she grew up as a first generation Honduran American Girl in love with TV. She said, ‘Of course I could feel myself in characters who were strong and complex but those characters rarely if ever looked like me. I yearn to see people like myself on screen as full humans.’ I 100% relate to that at TELUS and even prior to TELUS, when I think back to the start of my educational journey taking an undergraduate degree in information systems. I was one of few women in that program.
So, my hope is that as we see more diversified leadership in TELUS and everywhere, people can see themselves in those places, like America said. Jill Schnarr is a great example of that for us at the executive leadership team level.
Recently, I’ve noticed we are moving away from leading to coaching our teams. For myself specifically, I tend to place a high value on social connections. I don't believe my team can accomplish much at TELUS on our own given the fact that we are a shared services group.
BZ: How do you think your team would describe your leadership philosophy?
LS: My leadership philosophy is being extremely transparent. In an organization where we are faced with numerous challenges I think it's important to have a sense of ownership and a bias towards action. It's also very important to be compassionate. I do think that there should always be time for a short social catch up, similar to our mini chat at the start of this interview. Everyone is extremely busy, but there should always be time to strengthen those relationships. That's the only way you'll have those people available when you need to make a phone call for help. I do prioritize fun with my team because we are all spending a ton of time together, sometimes more time together than with our family and friends. And so there needs to be some room for things to be a little silly. I think that helps us relieve pressure and makes us far more comfortable to acknowledge that we might have made a mistake. As Darren [Entwistle, TELUS CEO] says, ‘let's fail fast’.
I also encourage my team to ask “why” a lot. I don't want everyone just to do it because Lynn said or because Darren said. We should all feel empowered to ask why and make sure that we recognize how what we’re doing ties into the organizational goals, and how it aligns with our own values. Also, that we're comfortable with that choice and how we're moving forward.
BZ: I totally agree prioritizing fun doesn't mean a distraction from work. It helps the team to be more comfortable being vulnerable with each other which would allow innovation and a fail fast mentality. What other aspects of the work get you motivated to come to work everyday?
LS: What gets me excited to come to work are the relationships I've made. I am fortunate enough that I have social meetups with my peers, spending time with amazing powerful women we work with everyday. The fact that I can create those relationships that go beyond work is what gets me motivated.
Additionally, I am so excited for my team. What gets me going every day is to see them develop and accomplish amazing things, especially when I get to watch them grow, move on and do phenomenal things – that's why I'm here.
BZ: What are some of the specific elements of the MBA program that had an impact on your career outside of what we already discussed? Did anything surprise you during your MBA?
LS: When I think through what had the most significant impact on my career development, it was 100% the people. I feel like I continue to learn from them even today, six years after completing our MBA.I stayed in touch with some of the UVic staff and faculty who still share their insights with me when I need support on a specific topic or need to look at a problem through a different lens. I still pull up various textbooks or assignments to remind myself of the methodologies.
What's surprising for me is when I think about what motivated me to pursue an MBA in the first place, I initially thought it was just another step in my academic journey and a step forward to support my career goals. I actually considered an MBA quite a few years before this TELUS opportunity presented itself, and my interest was very much career focused. I knew it would be a complement from a management perspective. But I didn't expect to learn so much about our organization and all of the untapped opportunities that other organizations have uncovered and how those could translate to TELUS.
However, if there’s one thing that I’d like everyone to take away is the relationships you gain from the MBA and the importance of fostering them even once you completed the MBA. It’s amazing how often I still connect with my MBA group to get help with my day to day and I cannot imagine a world without them.
BZ: I can relate to that! Courses such as strategy, design thinking, and marketing helped broaden our vision and how we can bring some of these concepts and learnings to our day to day at TELUS.
LS: It's funny you mention design thinking, that’s one of the books in the top drawer to my right here that I go back to and look for ideas constantly.
With my team, we pick a case study once a year to go through together. I find it very powerful to discuss the approach to a problem without any biases for action. It gets us closer as a team and helps us understand each other’s way of thinking.
BZ: Did you look at other MBA opportunities outside of the TELUS MBA program? What made you pick this program?
LS: Yes, so I had actually applied to another one prior to this one - around 10 years before - where TELUS would have funded part of it. It was interesting because it was a 100% career focused decision. Then I realized it wasn’t the right time for me. Also, talking to my colleagues at the time who were doing their MBA outside of TELUS, made me realize that yes, they made some really great networks with individuals outside of TELUS. But, I fundamentally think they missed an opportunity to gain that ability to get work done during your day to day because you've got these individuals within your organization who can assist you and provide a safe space where you can always reach out.
BZ: Have you had mentors as part of your journey? What impact did they have on you?
LS: My view is that everyone needs support. Although there are informal mentors who are extremely helpful, I strongly recommend having a formalized mentor. For me a formalized mentor relationship is both parties commit to key engagements and expectations. I have lots of informal mentors that have helped me on almost a daily basis to manage different problems that I'm facing. But my formal mentors help me more in the long term to accomplish my long-term goals such as my personal development and career related goals.
BZ: Are there any messages or advice that you'd like to share with all the aspiring female leaders out there and especially current or aspiring MBA students?
LS: For me this goes two ways: 1) including others and 2) including yourself. I'm not an extrovert by nature. I really focus on ensuring everyone feels welcome and has a voice when I have the opportunity. I also try to put myself in new situations. Meeting new people is worth the effort as it opens doors to great experiences and opportunities. I wouldn't be where I am today if I didn't take the opportunity to include myself so that would be my number one advice to anyone out there.