For many, leadership is the top of the career ladder. Taking on responsibility for a team can feel like a natural progression after years of building the experience required to lead. However, reaching the strategic level isn’t the end of a career journey—it’s a whole new start full of exciting challenges. In this video and blog that follows, we catch up with Kim Lynch, executive vice president (EVP) of government defense and intelligence, on how she has built a storied career at the intersection of technology and national security.
Over the past two and a half decades, Kim has established herself as a trusted leader to the intelligence community (IC), the Department of Defense (DoD), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—and her impact at Oracle continues to grow. To commemorate Kim’s first anniversary with us, Christie Book, head of global executive recruitment and a seasoned tech industry veteran, speaks with her about life at Oracle, being a woman in leadership, and lessons she’s learned on her career journey.
A new direction
Continuous pursuit of growth is the hallmark of a strong leader. That’s why, after 24 years of success at her previous company, Kim started a new professional chapter at Oracle last year.
“I stepped out of an area where I had been very comfortable to do something that was a great opportunity to exercise new muscles,” she shares. With Oracle’s long track record of investment in United States national security and defense, Kim’s new role presented fresh ways to make an impact while carrying over the core values on which she’d built her career. She’d seen how Oracle technology could transform the commercial space and was eager to apply that innovation to help secure the country.
A year later, Kim is leveraging her passion and expertise to lead our government defense and intelligence market—and bring the cloud to familiar clients like the DoD and DHS. “We have such a trusted history across the intelligence community,” she says. “We can take that database of how they knew us and turn it into a data platform. We have the best cloud on the market, so that makes it even more fun.” She acknowledges that the position hasn’t come without hurdles, but she welcomes the newness at every turn. “It was an interesting challenge to completely roll out a new product line. Selling cloud is very mission-focused and customer-centric, so being very close to our customers and understanding what they needed to do with their data has been a transformation for us.” She knows firsthand that forward momentum is paramount to a long and successful career—and celebrating the unfamiliar at Oracle has given her just the boost she was looking for. “I’ve grown more in the last year than I had in the decade before.”
Learning from leadership
Even as a skilled leader, Kim never misses a chance to learn from other leaders. She’s had several mentors throughout her career, including one of the most senior women in the intelligence community. “We learned a lot from each other,” she remembers. “I helped her learn business and industry and she helped me learn some of the major programs that were going on across the intelligence community. Not only did she sponsor me, but she gave me that amplification across the national security space.” One of Kim’s favorite parts about working at Oracle is collaborating with executives across the organization and finding ways to apply their insight to her own role. “Even Oracle Red Bull Racing has a lot of analogies for the defense department, where you have a competitive adversary. You have to take sensor data on everything they’re doing and decisions they’re making, so you can anticipate what they’re going to do next and stay ahead of it.”
Prioritizing inclusion
Taking on new challenges means embracing diverse perspectives. That’s why Kim has made it a priority to build a team that includes a variety of backgrounds, experience levels, and specializations. “The most important thing for a leader is to listen to diverse opinions, different perspectives, and then make decisions once they’ve been able to assess different viewpoints.”
Though it’s easy to gravitate toward like-minded people, Kim asserts that leaders should check their own biases to ensure that they are not building teams that simply repeat their own viewpoints or share too many commonalities. “If we are all just reinforcing the same perspective, we will never evolve or grow as a team.”
Opening doors for women
Workplace inclusion also holds personal significance for Kim. Working in technology and national security meant that she was the only woman in the room for the majority of her career. Over the last decade, fortunately, this has begun to change. She recalls a recent meeting with company leaders and senior customers, who all happened to be women. With the tides turning, Kim sees a bright future for women in the industry and is proud to open doors for those who aspire to leadership roles. “Our female leaders have been a great inspiration. To see someone in that role is to let people believe they can take on those responsibilities and really succeed. It’s been a great opportunity to lay out a career path for the next generation in this community.”
Role models
Having women to look up to has been instrumental to Kim’s own path as a leader. Her first inspiration was her mother, a single mom and CEO who showed Kim that it was possible to balance family and leadership. “I was very fortunate to have her as a role model for me. To understand that you can do it all and achieve your goals, and there really shouldn’t be anything limiting you or holding you back.” She admits that it still took her some time to become confident enough to aim for leadership; her initial goal was being recognized and providing value at work. As a perfectionist, she typically focused on her areas of improvement over her strengths—a mindset she had to change before taking the lead. “I needed to really understand the impact I was having and believe in myself to get to that next level,” she explains. “I had to value what I achieved and not just always be looking at what I could be doing better. As I gained confidence in my skills and saw what I could accomplish, I wanted to have the responsibility and impact of leadership.”
Self-belief
Now, Kim is empowering the next generation with the same outlook of self-belief that helped her launch her journey as a leader. Many people, especially women, are hesitant to pursue roles or promotions if they haven’t met every requirement or feel they aren’t an exact match. “I really encourage my team to take a leap and trust that—if they have the most important skill sets for that opportunity—they will be able to adapt and learn the 5% to 10% that they don’t have.” Fear of being imperfect is a common anxiety that can come with increased responsibility, but Kim points out that virtually no one is perfect on day one. People grow into their roles over time. “Don’t ever sell yourself short before you try,” she advises. “Until you try, you don’t know. So many of us step up to 
the challenge, and when you’re put in a leadership position, your natural talents and hard work come to the forefront.”
Embrace the journey
The path to leadership isn’t always straightforward. While it doesn’t hurt to have a plan for leadership, Kim advocates for being flexible and making the most of the unexpected twists and turns along the way. “Every time I took on something I didn’t think was additive to my career, it became the best move I ever made because I either learned something new or got a reputation for being willing to jump in and fix the hard problems.” There are many different paths to each goal, and embracing opportunities as they come is one of the most powerful ways of climbing the leadership ladder.
Kim’s final word of advice for aspiring leaders is also a message to her younger self: enjoy the ride and don’t worry so much. Oftentimes, people jump to the worst-case scenario and preemptively try to fix it. This anticipation can be a great tool to overcome future challenges, but most of the time, things end up working out.
“In the end, you set a plan, set a strategy, work really hard, and achieve it. Enjoy each position and level that you’re in without thinking about what’s next. Enjoy each role for what it is.”
Are you ready to achieve your potential with supportive leaders like Kim? Explore our career opportunities and start growing your impact today.