D’Andrea Dixon landed a good job at Wells Fargo without much effort four years ago. After graduate school, her mentor at the financial institution where she worked personally handed Dixon’s resume to one of Wells Fargo’s senior HR leaders. At almost the same time, a friend sent a similar recommendation. Before long, Dixon was an HR consultant at Wells Fargo.

That’s when something wonderful happened. “I failed!” Dixon announced. Adept in her consultant role, she was asked to manage HR consultants in three loan-center locations. “But I never managed before! I got a lot of work done with my team, but my team members were not happy with my style,” she admitted. She returned to a consulting position.

Many would feel discouraged in these circumstances, but Dixon used her experience to advance instead. Humbly, she threw herself into supporting her new manager – someone who had been her peer. She also accepted feedback voraciously. “I had to learn that I could be a leader from where I was,” she said.

With guidance from her managers, she also took advantage of leadership training opportunities offered at Wells Fargo.

1. She attended a three-day workshop on Women Leading Change for Ethnically Diverse Women, where 22 women from Wells Fargo heard about leadership strategies.
2. She enrolled in the Coaching for Premier Performance course, where she learned the difference between coaching as a leader and managing as a leader.
3. She took a Clifton StrengthsFinder™ course to identify her major strengths. She was not surprised to learn that her foremost strength is “Maximizer.” Now she understands why she approaches the accomplishing of tasks the way she does.
4. She found three mentors eager to coach her. She meets with each of them once a month.

“It’s all about understanding yourself,” Dixon continued enthusiastically. “How you show up is incredibly important. How do others view me? Am I seen as a strong coach? Am I a good communicator? A good collaborator? … I take feedback very seriously.”

Instead of viewing her job “failure” as a defeat, D’Andrea sees it as the best thing that could have happened to her. She is energized by what she has learned, and she’s ready to tackle new responsibilities again. This positive attitude is also helping her personally: As a new first-time mother, she’s applying it all to her challenging new role at home.

Dixon is eager to share her success story with others. Speaking of the many opportunities to grow, learn and change directions at Wells Fargo she said, “I can go anywhere I want. I love it here!”

What about you? Are you exploring career possibilities? Wells Fargo has tools to help you.

Find a listing of Team Member Resource Groups

Find training to enhance your own career or talk to your manager.

Or investigate other career possibilities by visiting the Teamworks Jobs site.