On April 12th, our Current Topics class had the privilege of hosting Anne Marie Liska, the Director of Partner Analytics at Zillow. Anne Marie leads a team that evaluates the funnel of data about the home buying journey, such as appointments, offers and closings.
“Variety Is the Spice of Life”
As with most career journeys, Anne Marie’s path to Zillow was not linear. Though her initial plan was to become an economics professor, her interest in predictive modeling influenced the pursuit of analytics roles in various industries, such as trucking, medical devices, education and insurance; including local Fortune-listed companies, American Family Insurance and CUNA Mutual (now TruStage). This wide range of experience can be attributed to her “enjoyment of learning about different industries and learning new things.”
Circles of Reflection
One way that Anne Marie encouraged students to reflect on potential career paths and positions is by creating a Venn diagram, with the three circles being “expertise, things I like to do, and what the world will pay me to do.” Ideally, everyone would find jobs that are in the center of the diagram through trial and error. She acknowledged that students will have more career choices over time but can uncover their passions and interests as they try various career paths.
A Leader and Team Player
Anne Marie emphasized that her experiences with different companies have allowed her to gain insights into ways of effectively completing various tasks and developing unique problem-solving strategies that have helped throughout her career. She communicated that her work at Zillow involves 75% meetings (so her team doesn’t have to!) and is highly consultant-oriented. There is often the question if the work is leading to value: “What is the client trying to understand, and what do they need to tell their boss?” She explained that if her team is unable to utilize and monetize the predictions, they are unusable. Therefore, part of her job is to help her team “quantify” their work.
Mentorship in Action
As a mentor and a manager who “leans on transparency,” she talks through an IDP (individual development plan) with every team member, asking each person to reflect on the role they want next, then guiding them through action plans aligned with the steps necessary to reach that position. Not only does she offer clear support and guidance to help them reach desired positions through project learning, but also provides mentor match-making with other leaders in the organization. All this stems from what Anne Marie calls being a greedy manager, adding: “I want my team to love their work, so I get more from them. There’s a magic in enjoying what you do.”
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