Power Suits

Innovating at Big Blue

Lauren States

Katrina Brown Hunt

W hen Lauren States was a student at Wharton in the 1970s, she was dazzled by the idea of living in Manhattan after graduation. But the Connecticut-raised teenager only wanted to work one place: IBM.

“Back then, IBM was really one of the only big names in tech,” States says. “I wanted to work for IBM more than anything.” Nearly 30 years later, the love affair continues for States, who is now the vice president of IBM’s Client Value Initiative. States, 51, spoke with Diversity Woman about her new role, the culture of Big Blue, and how she hopes to apply her tech prowess outside of IBM’s orbit.

Diversity Woman: What is the Client Value Initiative all about?

Lauren States: One element of IBM’s business strategy is to help our clients innovate in today’s intensely competitive global market. The Client Value Initiative helps IBM identify best practices, new technologies, and creative ideas to help clients innovate using IBM’s broad portfolio of products and services. Our challenge is to access the vast knowledge across our company so that we can share it with our clients.

DW: That no doubt involves corralling a lot of people. What’s your management philosophy?

LS: You have to have a strong command of the business that you’re in, but it’s also important to have a collaborative style. You have to listen, synthesize, refine your thinking, then present things back to people so they can see their work in it and accept it. But strong collaborator skills don’t stand on their own, so that’s why you have to provide clear direction and vision to your team. You can’t just be collaborative without leadership and still expect results.

DW: Did you always want to be an executive?

LS: My father was the first black executive at Aetna, so I was preconditioned to work in a corporate culture. My mother was a school nurse in our town for 22 years. They both set a standard—my sister is a physician and my brother is an accountant for C-SPAN. In our household, there was an expectation that we were going to focus on our education.

DW: How did you veer into technology, then?

LS: My first class at Wharton was an APL programming course—kind of like Latin as a programming language, and not used in most business applications. But I fell in love with programming and problem solving.

“You have to provide clear direction and vision to your team. You can't just be collaborative without leadership.”

LS: IBM has a tremendous commitment to recruiting a diverse workforce because we think it reflects our client base—and there have been great networks available to help with employee development in ways that everybody needs.

For example, my daughter is applying to college, and I have a lot of colleagues with college-age children, so they’ve been through the application process. The ability to interact with people who have the same kinds of issues you have, in a safe and trusting environment, is so important. In my career, I’ve continually discovered that the person I’ve become is better than the person I was before.

What two books are on your bedside table?

One is This Is How We Do It by Carol Evans. I love her remark that she has built a life that she loves living. That’s how I feel—and upon reflection, I now know I have been doing this every day of my life, making choices—some easy, some hard, to get to this life I love living.

Another is The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. I read this book after my first trip to India and it helped me be more effective in my interactions with clients and colleagues in emerging countries. I also like Kate Spade’s Style. I enjoy fashion—I love her advice on accessorizing!