But after more than 30 years leading law departments in Fortune 500 tech companies, she realized that much of her success came from selling herself. And if there was one bit of wisdom she could impart on her younger self, it would be that “it’s all about relationships.”
Huber said women have the tendency to just be heads-down and focused on getting their work done, perhaps even more so than men. “There will definitely be times when you do need to do that, but bear in mind that probably 80% of your opportunities, or maybe more, are your relationships with people, and how people see you and how you’re helping others.”
Huber shared this advice in an onstage interview Wednesday with Corporate Counsel Editor-in-Chief Heather Nevitt at ALM Global’s Women, Influence & Power in Law conference in Chicago.
“I wish I had thought about this earlier in my career, but people don’t care so much about your credentials—like where you went to school, or what certifications you have. Yes, that may be important to get in the door. But you are really selling yourself all the time. You’re selling yourself, you’re selling your work, your team, you’re persuading.”
Women should also get out of their own way when making that sale, Huber said.
“I know you’re probably thinking, ‘Oh, I don’t want to brag.’ But in a way that is natural, authentic to the situation in yourself. Let other people know what you’re doing and how it will help them or how it will help the success of the org,” she said.
“You probably see men doing this all the time, and it’s just natural. Whereas sometimes maybe we might think, ‘Oh, I don’t want to toot my own horn.’ You can still be a humble person and help others, but also find your way to meet them.”
Huber retired in March after nine years as chief legal officer at eBay. Throughout her career she’s demonstrated a knack for finding opportunity amid upheaval. As one example, she Hewlett-Packard spinoff Agilent Technologies in 2009 after about a decade at HP.
“It was a hard decision to make,” Huber said. “But I decided to go to Agilent because it gave me greater opportunities to help form a global leadership team, to be a part of an IPO and a spinoff, and to just have a bigger impact than I might have been able to do had I stayed at HP.”
She got the chance to do it all over again in 2015 when she joined eBay. It was a time of tremendous disruption, Huber said. The company had just weathered a proxy battle with activist investor Carl Icahn, had decided to spin off PayPal, and turned over their entire leadership team.
“What’s hard is with change like that, you might need to totally reestablish your relationships,” Huber said. “You probably have a different boss, you have different colleagues, maybe different subject matter work. But even though lawyers are known for not necessarily liking change, I would encourage you, if there’s an opportunity, to really seize that—especially depending upon where you are in your career—you can really provide an opportunity for growth.”
She urged the audience not to stress too much about every single career move and whether it’s the right one. “Think about your career as more of a lattice or a web, and about how you might move diagonally or even horizontally to be able to get more experience and grow your skills. That can often lead to advancement and development. But try to get out of the mindset of thinking, ‘Oh, I have to go to that next title up.'”
Scoring that promotion can be difficult, Huber cautioned, especially as you move up the ladder and start seeking out the general counsel role.
“It can be a challenge as you get higher. Sometimes people know you, which is great. But it can also not be great,” she said, because people who have worked with you for years might see you in a certain way, and form the impression that you don’t have qualities that they need.
“Really think about, ‘How do I need to show up differently so that my colleagues with whom I’ve worked maybe for years, who see me in this role, can see me much more broadly,” Huber said.
As someone who has spent decades cultivating professional relationships, Huber said it’s easy to get bogged down in the work you have on your plate now, forgetting about the most important relationships you should be building.
“Try to put yourself in that person’s shoes and recognize that even the the most senior person who you think is the boss of everybody actually has for his own worries. And what is it that you can be doing to help that person?”
It’s also important not to assume you know what they need. “Make sure you’re asking questions,” Huber said. “I’m sure that we’ve all been in situations where you think you know what you should be doing, but you ask some questions, you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m really glad I asked that, because it’s totally different.'”
Another secret to success is knowing what to let go of. Huber recalled being at her first in-house job when she had her two kids. She was petrified over how her colleagues might react. I am happy to say that I don’t think it affected my career,” she said. “And my family always came first. I still tell people that one of my kids calls, even if I’m in a meeting, I pick up the phone because I never know what’s you know what might be happening.”
But she also recognized that she couldn’t be everywhere at once and had to make choices.
“I don’t really cook. My husband loves to cook, and he does all the grocery shopping and the cooking. And I gave that up, even though I can cook. And I never went volunteering at my kids’ schools, and learned not to, not to even try to compete with those moms who made like gorgeous, beautiful platters of home baked or homemade whatever.”
Huber said these choices have been about protecting her mental wellbeing and sanity, but also about focusing her energy on things she wants to do, and where she can bring the greatest impact and value.
“And I’ll tell you that little kids do not care if you spend two days making cupcakes or you bought them from Kroger,” Nevitt added. “They just like cupcakes. So buy your cupcakes from Kroger.”