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Matt Kolesar is the Chief Environmental Scientist at ExxonMobil. In that role, he leads global advocacy and issue management of methane and flaring, as well as managing corporate sustainability focus areas for water, land and habitat, and operational waste. As Chief Environmental Scientist, he provides advanced expert technical leadership consultation and advice to senior leaders on sustainability topics central to business decisions and priorities. Throughout his 24-year career with ExxonMobil, Matt has held a variety of leadership positions at ExxonMobil in the Upstream, Downstream and Chemicals businesses. Matt has B.S. in Chemical Engineering from The University of Akron, Ohio, and is an avid runner.
Having Matt as a guest on our Podcast was such an interesting opportunity as we held insightful conversations as relates career.
Here are some highlights from this Episode! To get the full experience kindly tune in 📻🎧
✅ 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐎𝐢𝐥 & 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬.
Matt shared that as a young graduate looking for career opportunities, putting yourself out there is necessary if you want to achieve anything terrific in your life, whether it's getting that promotion or a great job opportunity. Being an Average Athlete and an Average Engineer, didn’t stop Matt from advocating for himself during his early career days. Matt shared that he ensured his professional network are aware of his skills and areas he can add value to an organization.
When you put yourself out there, people are going to be able to find you and learn about your capabilities.😃👷♂️📚
✅ 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫.
Matt shared that employees are often hardwired to want to do things on their own and be independent-minded. Asking for help often makes them feel uneasy because it requires surrendering control to someone else. They don't want to be ashamed of their situation, or come across as incompetent or weak.
According to Matt, One of the nice things in business is that we actually have a system called delegation, if you have a team of people, you can delegate to them, and that's an acceptable way of asking for help.This requires having really wide-open lines of communication.
✅ 𝐔𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐁𝐢𝐚𝐬: 𝐀 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐌 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝.
Although it’s not conscious or intentional, our brain has naturally picked up on the pattern of seeing and hearing about more men in STEM, so when you think “STEM” you think “men”.
According to Matt, some implicit biases that go unchecked or unchallenged can perpetuate harmful stereotypes that ultimately play a role in our social systems, contributing to problems like the systemic under-representation of women and other minorities in STEM.
Going forward, we all need to be mindful of the ways we may label or stereotype activities and identities to avoid negatively influencing children’s interests or discouraging their participation. Also, Matt shared that promoting Women in STEM’s achievements on social media is a useful way to break the gender bias thereby providing mentors for younger girls in STEM professions.
✅ 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠.
Time blocking can promote a healthy work-life integration. When you set aside time to work, that means you are also setting aside time for your personal life.
Matt shared that with calendar blocking, you create dedicated time for everything on your professional and personal to-do list; instead of trying to find time in the day to get things done, you’re creating time to get things done—which can help you prioritize the things that are most important to you, both at work and at home.
Calendar blocking and communicating your priorities to your colleagues can help set good boundaries. Matt’s relationship with his daughter was a good example on the effective use of calendar blocking to achieve work-life balance.
We can keep going on and on about just HOW amazing his story is, but we will let you tune in and find out for yourself😄
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