When you graduate from a top academic institution like Georgetown, earning a bachelor’s degree in marketing while starting on the university’s volleyball team for four years, you have to learn the one thing they don’t teach you in a classroom: how to set boundaries so you can get everything done. Sarah Madden Armstrong learned her lesson well — very well.
Her impressive career includes 20 years at The Coca-Cola Company, where she led Worldwide Agency Operations across 200 countries and was recognized as one of Advertising Age’s “Women to Watch.” She was also a partner at McKinsey & Co and advised marketing leaders around the world, all while pursuing philanthropic work with the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation and Trinity Table Soup Kitchen.
Today, she is Google’s vice president of global marketing operations and applies the same careful balance to all aspects of her life. “I always ask myself several questions: Am I learning? Am I contributing? Am I challenged? Do I enjoy who I work with? Do I get to travel? Can I balance life in the way I want to?” explained Sarah, currently at work on a book about the art of juggling work and life.
In order to create a positive work-life balance, which includes plenty of “Grace time” with her daughter Grace, she learned how to set boundaries — but with one proviso. “Boundaries aren’t of any value if you don’t share them,” she noted. “People can’t honor boundaries they don’t know about.”
So Sarah is very clear about her boundaries, and when the time comes to push back and say no, she can’t do something, the push back doesn’t surprise or insult the requester. In the podcast, Sarah shares a host of similar insights into leading oneself and leading others. These include:
“Our New York team put together care packages for kids living in foster care,” Sarah said. “And the satisfaction of working together to brighten the days of children in foster care really built camaraderie to the point that it changed the dynamic of our team in so many ways.”
"Don is one of the best storytellers I’ve ever met. I’ve known him for a long time and every time we talk I walk away wiser and more inspired. He is the best in the business at teaching you a skill – storytelling – that will last you a lifetime.”
“The ability for athletes to get hired is carried on through you because you are putting out the message that lessons learned from sports are important in life. It is embedded in this podcast, what you’re doing is significant.”
We speak the same language. I am inspired by the stories you tell, the people you have met, and the things you’ve done. Those of us that are competitors like to follow others that have been down that journey, so it is always fun talking to you!”
“Many of the leaders I have worked with were excellent athletes, and I think there is a direct correlation. You’re one of the few people that really has pursued this study, Don. Keep up the great work. What you are doing really makes a difference.”
“Don, you have mastered the skill of interviewing and asking great questions. That is a great skill all leaders need in order to understand their team members’ thought processes.”
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