Sarah Willock
VP of Technology
Coca-Cola Canada
As the Vice President of Technology at Coke Canada, Sarah spearheads the Technology team that is responsible for the entire suite of technology. In her broad role, Sarah oversees pivotal domains such as Development & Integration, Automation, Infrastructure, Data & Reporting, as well as Network and Security. Embedding emerging technology within the overall company strategy and encouraging her team to embrace a learn-fast mentality, she has helped companies use technology as a competitive advantage.
In her spare time, she loves the outdoors and she keeps that love for nature and plants going inside her house with over 40 house-plants. She said, “Yes, I am one of those types of people. Taking care of them helps me relieve any stress that I may have accrued over a busy day.”
Learn more about the Toronto CIO community here.
Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
Passion fuels perseverance, serving as the driving force behind my journey to overcome challenges and push boundaries throughout my technology career. Since a young age, I've harbored a deep-seated desire to work in technology, crafting solutions that enrich the lives of customers and companies alike. Today, I take pride in the impactful contributions my teams and I make on a daily basis. Maintaining an insatiable appetite for knowledge has been pivotal in staying ahead of the curve in this ever-evolving industry. Passion infuses my work with profound purpose and fulfillment, elevating it beyond a mere job and transforming it into a lifelong career marked by continual exploration and growth.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
Trust is the cornerstone of effective leadership, essential for fostering collaboration, transparency, and loyalty within teams. For me, trust is not just a principle but a guiding beacon, instilling confidence and empowerment among team members, ultimately leading to greater cohesion and success. By prioritizing trust, I cultivate an environment where individuals feel valued and respected, enabling them to thrive and contribute their best work.
What is the greatest challenge CIOs face today, and how are you addressing it?
Staying at the forefront of technology undoubtedly requires investment, but the cost pales in comparison to the potential consequences of falling behind in today's rapidly evolving landscape. To address this challenge, I work with fellow leaders to ensure we prioritize strategic allocation of resources towards analytics, continuous technology advancement, and transformation with purpose. By viewing technology expenditure as an investment rather than an expense, businesses can maintain a competitive edge, leveraging innovation to drive growth and secure their position in the market.
What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CIO?
For someone just stepping into a leadership role, I believe the key to success lies in fostering strong relationships built on trust and communication, both within the organization and externally. Technology is often a supporting department, so it will be important to form strong relationships with other leaders so you know their goals and can support them effectively.
Lead with trust, empathy, and a clear vision. A clear vision will help ensure the whole team knows where they are headed, trust will help ensure the team feels comfortable trying new things, and empathy will help ensure the team knows that challenges will be encountered and that together they will overcome them.
How do you measure success as a leader?
It is very hard to measure, but I believe the following should be examined the closest:
- Employee satisfaction and engagement is one of the key indicators of a successful leader. A leader that focuses energy on their team including growing employees will tend to have greater results on those surveys, especially in the area of overall employee satisfaction and retention.
- As a leader, it is your responsibility to deliver success on your company goals. If you and your team meet the objectives and targets, then this is a great indication you are doing a good job as a leader. Successful completion also showcases the leader is a good communicator, because the objectives/targets were well known and executed against.
- A leader that works actively to promote a good organizational culture is very important. Culture is very hard to maintain in the hybrid-home/office working environment, but a good leader helps identify ways to maintain a great culture and takes steps to bring teams together. Leaders that promote culture often have a lasting impact and help inspire future leaders.
What is the value of being a member of the Evanta community?
This community is a great way of bringing together strong leaders to discuss triumphs and trials that we are all experiencing. We exchange insights, seek advice and simply tap into the collective expertise of fellow leaders.
Evanta Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.
by CIOs, for CIOs
Join the conversation with peers in your local CIO community.