Pushpa Manukonda Enterprise Technology Innovation Manager Deere & Co

The most effective leaders never stop learning. The desire and ability to continuously educate oneself in the midst of a busy professional life is essential to becoming an effective leader, as is the strength of character to pass that learning on to others. The members IRI profiles each month tend to share this common characteristic; this month's member is no different. Pushpa Manukonda is the Enterprise Technology Innovation Strategy Manager at John Deere and her path to becoming a leader in her company demonstrates well the principle of always keeping an open and inquisitive mind.

"I joined John Deere in 1999 as a product modeling coordinator," Pushpa said, as she detailed her initial movement through Deere from product modeling to product delivery and then into customer support systems. "In 2006, I was made supervisor for Engineering. I was appointed senior engineer and engineering integration lead for the XCG-John Deere Joint Venture in China in 2008 and the following year was named product development manager for Backhoe Loader Engineering... [By 2010], I was vice president of Engineering for the Ashok Leyland John Deere Construction Equipment Co. joint venture."

Since 2012, Pushpa has played a lead role in Deere's global technology innovation strategy, helping manage and execute innovation processes and driving the alignment efforts between the innovation centers in the US, China, India, Germany, and Brazil. With a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Andhra University and a post graduate diploma in computer applications from Nehru Yuva Kendra, both in India, Pushpa holds education and mentoring in high acclaim. She remarked that some of her greatest accomplishments in her professional journey include having the opportunity to aid in the development of employees at John Deere, guiding many of them towards John Deere's Fellow program.

With a wealth of experience in many different roles across the engineering spectrum at John Deere, we asked Pushpa what advice she would give young professionals interested in engineering. She said she had a list of principles that she goes by, but remarked with a smile that she is still working on many of them herself. She said, "Be passionate about what you do and be a lifelong learner. Ambiguity is okay; season it with what's happening in similar and adjacent industries. Focus on doing the current job well. Leave a stake in every role you have. Lead, don't manage. Prioritize and collaborate; you can't do it all. Take time to think, don't let your creativity die. Be realistic, but don't let anyone tell you 'you can't do it.' Encourage, support, and develop new and incoming talent. And, give back through mentoring, coaching, and volunteering."