Voice of Experience: Patricia Elizondo, Senior Vice President, Eastern Operations, Xerox Corporation

 As part of its ongoing Voices of Experience series, contributing writer Andrea Newell spoke with Patricia Elizondo, an executive woman with Fortune 500 company  Xerox Corporation, about her work philosophy, career path and advice for women climbing the corporate ladder.

“Luck is where hard work meets preparation and opportunity,” says Patricia Elizondo, Senior Vice President of Xerox Corporation. Her career certainly proves this axiom. One of six children, Patricia was raised by practical parents who believed in education and urged their children to enter a field of study where there were good opportunities for employment and develop solid business skills. “I have been able to type 60 words per minute since the 6th grade,” Elizondo says. “My father always wanted me to have something to fall back on.”

Elizondo studied Finance at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. She started her career in banking during a summer job at the Indiana University Credit Union, where she learned about the consumer side of banking, then moved on to retail banking at American Fletcher Bank after graduation. “That experience gave me a great sense of the value of servicing customers. If you treat customers with respect, meet their requirements and exceed their expectations—you can grow relationships that are extremely valuable to the company you work for,” says Elizondo. “Although times have changed and now we do most of our business over email or on the phone—I think there is absolutely no substitute for a face-to-face relationship.” In addition to customer service skills, her early days in banking taught her about operations excellence and transparency, along with control systems and audits. It was this collection of skills and experience that led to Xerox recruiting her out of banking.

“A critical lesson I learned right away at Xerox was the importance of adapting to the different needs of your company.” After Elizondo was recruited as a field auditor, Xerox eliminated that initiative within 12 months. She changed gears, moved into the credit department and learned about another part of the business. From there it was onward and upward – a series of promotions and moves into various departments and positions within Xerox. “The fact that my job went away opened up a whole new path for me at Xerox. It is so important to develop tremendous agility in the world of business because nothing stays the same for very long—and that’s probably a good thing.”

Constant learning is passion that Elizondo tirelessly promotes in both her professional and philanthropic endeavors. In addition to speaking at several tech conferences, she serves on the board of The Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and has been invited to serve on the board of The Multinational Development of Women in Technology (MDWIT), two organizations dedicated to improving the participation of women on technology fields. “We aim to get girls involved in the right subjects in middle school and high school, so when they go to college they have a sufficient background to focus on science or tech. Technology has, and continues to have, an enormous impact on our world. It will determine the direction of so many facets of our lives in the future that I think we need the balanced perspectives of equal numbers of men and women.”

Elizondo also serves on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Labor Workforce Preparedness Committee, which is tasked to determine what our country needs to do to help our workforce be competitive in the world market and prepare U.S. workers for the future. “I believe we all need to concentrate on math and science more, but we need to multiply that effort for women. Our scores are dismal [compared to the rest of the world] and we have a lot of work to do.”

Elizondo focuses on talent management at all levels within Xerox. “Being prepared is a critical component of success. Understanding how your employees and clients see the world is an important part of understanding how to serve them,” she says. “I expect everyone to have a game plan on how to keep growing and stay at the top of their subject matter expertise. I focus on their goals—that is a big part of leading an organization. Education, training and preparedness are going to make the difference. It is hard work, but the rewards are enormous–at Xerox and in this country. Leading globally is a result of education,” says Elizondo.

Despite her steady advancement and many professional accolades, her proudest accomplishment is a personal one. “Nothing moves me more or makes me more proud than when other adults tell me good things about my son. Those are my proudest moments.  When I think of my professional accomplishments, I think of snapshots—the small moments when I know that I have helped improve the life of one employee. Once I spoke to an audience about the importance of health. Some months later, several members of the audience approached me, told me they cried during my speech and had since lost weight. I am proud when I receive a note from an employee that has been promoted telling me I had an impact on their career and success. You make a difference one employee at a time. In a company of 60,000, at the end of the day—it’s one at a time.”