Maria Colgan started her career at Oracle almost 25 years ago. In that time she has navigated more than six technical roles, most recently taking on the influential role of distinguished product manager for Oracle Database. Her illustrious career has spanned continents, taking her from Oracle Dublin all the way to the San Francisco Bay. To what does she owe her success? Maria’s answer is both humble and simple: good mentors.
Product management in a nutshell
First off, let’s dive into what it means to be a distinguished product manager. Maria describes her role as being the layer that sits between the Development team and the outside world, whether that’s marketing, sales, partners, or customers.
“Part of my job is to evangelize the new features and capabilities to our customers and gather our customer’s feedback and bring it back todevelopment to get incorporated into the next release,” she explains.”I also work with other parts of our organization to help define the strategy and positioning for our products and features. So, you could say I’m a jack of all trades. But that variety of tasks is one of the reasons I love my job, because no two days are ever the same.”
Career mobility brings growth
This versatility and adaptability has defined Maria’s career. “I’ve been fortunate to continue finding new challenges and roles within the company every couple of years to keep life interesting, she agrees. It’s one of the best advantages of being part of such a large company. The job I do today is far removed from the college grad developer I started as. Oracle has always given me both the opportunity to try new things and a safety net of going back to a role I know if it didn’t work out.”
Mentorship has played a pivotal role in enabling Maria to navigate new terrain. “I’ve been extremely fortunate to have had colleagues take an interest in me and offer me a helping hand when I’ve needed it. My mentoring has taken lots of different forms over the years—everything from technical help, emotional support and wine when needed, as well as invaluable advice on how to negotiate corporate politics.”
Her first taste of mentorship
Maria thinks that some of her most important mentors may be unaware of the huge impact they’ve had on her development. “I’m so grateful to the people who have mentored me at one point or other, even if neither of us realized it at the time,” she admits.
One such mentor was a woman named Janet Dillon, a technical lead on Maria’s very first team at Oracle Ireland. “With endless patience, Janet turned a clueless college grad into a functioning corporate citizen,” she shares. “She spent hours explaining the complex macros that make up the Oracle Database code, and helping me fix the copious compilation errors I encountered porting Oracle Database 7.3.4 to the OS2 platform. Without the confidence Janet instilled in me early on in my career, I would not have been brave enough to put my hand up when the opportunity arose to join the Database Benchmark and Performance team.
Everybody loves cake
Switching from developing to using the Oracle Database was game-changing for Maria. With benchmarking and performance tuning, she had found something that she truly loved to do. “Although I was passionate about it, I still needed a lot of guidance on winning competitive benchmarks and navigating the wider development organization, so I knew who to speak to when something went wrong,” she says.
That person was Cecilia Grant, a senior member of the benchmarking team at the time. “Celia showed me how to get the best performance out of the database and, more importantly, how to work with the development teams. I still remember her sage advice to always have a simple, reproducible test case, always say thank you, and that chocolates or cake can help your issues jump to the top of the queue.”
There’s no one size fits all when it comes to mentors
Moving to the Performance team also meant crossing the pond and settling Stateside. Maria fondly recalls the emotional support she received from her colleague Connie Green at this time. “Connie took me under her wing and introduced me to so many colleagues who have become life-long friends, including my husband,” Maria shares. “Connie’s support and friendship at work and over Friday night curries made it possible for me to transition to a new job, office, and country.”
While benchmarking, Maria spent a lot of time with the Optimizer team, so it’s not surprising that when she decided to move into product management that she instantly gravitated to that area. “The Optimizer team is a close-knit family made up of brilliant but intimidating folks,” Maria admits.
But Maria quickly found her feet as the Optimizer product manager, thanks to the tremendous support from her colleague Allison Lee. “Allison gave me technical assistance, but more importantly, she publicly supported my ideas, such as starting an Optimizer blog back in 2007. Her support meant I wasn’t afraid to speak up in team meetings and provide the user’s perspective on both existing and new functionality. Allison is a perfect example of the fact your mentor doesn’t have to be older or more senior than you to help!”
Mastering the dark art of networking
Equally, mentorship doesn’t—and shouldn’t—just focus on the technical side of things. Penny Avril, the former VP of database product management, taught Maria the power of relationship building.
“Penny not only gave me a helping hand to transition into more leadership roles at Oracle, but she also taught me how to navigate corporate politics,” Maria admits. “Every company has politics regardless of its size, and learning to navigate them is like mastering a dark art. But watching Penny, I learned how to work with many diverse groups across the company, including development, marketing, sales and our executive team. She is a master relationship builder, and I’d like to think a little of her master-builder magic has rubbed off on me.”
The secret to finding the right mentor
So, how does one go about finding a good mentor? Maria thinks that finding the right mentor should be an organic experience, rather than a formal process. You’re looking for someone with experience walking the same path you find yourself on and who you admire,” she instructs. “A lot of what a mentor can give you is someone to emulate. You want to pick someone whose skills you aspire to have. While in meetings with your team or across organizations, pay attention to who impresses you and try to work more closely with them.”
While Maria believes mentorship is beneficial for everyone, she’s adamant that women in particular can reap amazing rewards. “As women, we tend not to seek it out and therefore miss out on the fantastic benefits it can provide,” she suggests. “That’s why I think it’s essential for us to help all our colleagues who come looking for it.”
How to pay it forward
To be a good mentor, Maria says that one of the first things you need to do is listen—not instruct. “Find out what the mentee actually needs or wants help with,” she advises. “Be willing to provide guidance and constructive feedback, rather than just telling the mentee what to do and be ready to help them strengthen their relationships across the organization by offering introductions.”
Given Maria’s reputation as an influential leader, it’s no surprise that she serves as a mentor to several people herself. How did she know when she was ready to be a mentor? “I don’t think anyone truly believes they’re ready to be a mentor,” she confides. “I know I certainly didn’t. But I think we should all be open to helping others because the more successful our people are, the more successful Oracle will be.”
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