A leader at Cyndi Giles’ first job summarized the critical elements of achieving happiness at work: Work with people you enjoy working with, do something that has purpose and keep learning. These tenants remain important to Giles today, and she actively seeks “new adventures” in which she can apply her confidence and skill sets. She also keeps track of skills to develop so she can meticulously search for opportunities that will fill these gaps and introduce her to new people and ideas.

Beginning in 2017, Giles had an opportunity to lead the Wells Fargo Capital Finance lender finance team. While she had worked with asset-based lending teams to serve customers, it was her first opportunity to lead an ABL team directly. She says the experience allowed her to learn a tremendous amount in a very short time and meet an amazing group of people. She also had the opportunity to educate her team and provide insight into other products within the organization.

As an avid supporter of developing talent, Giles says networking and skill-based hiring have been cornerstones of her career. She has remained focused on coaching others to assess talent while
encouraging young talent to be adventurous.

Today, Giles remains level in the face of challenges and hurdles. However, early in her career, she was more “up and down” in response to obstacles and allowed disappointment to last a long time. With the help of a close mentor, she realized that holding onto these disappointments was impacting her ability to get things done. “As I became better at presenting my position in a steadier and educated way, I was finding much more success in moving forward initiatives,” Giles says. “The larger lesson was to receive feedback with grace and formulate a plan to address it.”