119: Self-Defined Career Success with Doug Milliken

Overview

How do we sustain a successful career over time? When we define ambition and success on our own terms, based on what’s important to us internally vs. an external yardstick, we can end up with a life and career that are fulfilling and sustainable. 

My guest today has embodied this approach in his long and successful corporate career and now in a new endeavor after retiring from his corporate role.

In this episode, Doug Milliken shares his career journey and how he shaped his roles to align with what he loved to do, what he was good at, and what his organization valued from him. We also talk about how he shaped his team’s culture to create psychological safety and honor people’s gifts, resulting in increased engagement and higher performance, and how he’s now carrying that experience forward into his latest ambition, a new business venture focused on helping companies build powerful cultures.

More About Our Guest

Doug Milliken is co-founder and partner of Creamer & Milliken, a boutique consultancy that helps organizations enhance their culture for better engagement and performance. Their expertise is helping to embed the behavior changes needed to deliver on an organization's strategic ambitions. Prior to Creamer & Milliken Doug spent 35 years at The Clorox Company where he was VP of Marketing Transformation. His role was to build and transform the company's marketing capabilities, which included leading company-wide culture transformation.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

  • How Doug’s career was shaped by getting clear on his internal definition of success

  • Defining success in a career based on personal values and passions

  • Creating a successful and innovative team culture through growth mindset, vulnerability, and open communication

  • Three questions to ask yourself to check in on what’s working and not within your job role

  • Importance of belonging in the workplace and its impact on collaboration and performance

  • The three criteria that are shaping Doug’s late career ambitions

Learn more about Doug Milliken:

Thanks for Listening!

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