Expert interview with Sina Cotter Tait, Chartered Professional Engineer, PhD, and board director.
Sina Cotter Tait is a Chartered Professional Engineer, PhD, and board director who has built a values-driven career in infrastructure. She’s the kind of person who, when told working part-time would be career-limiting, enrolled in an MBA (as you do).
Proudly Pasifika, Sina has a genuine clarity on the legacy she wants to leave and shared how we can develop ours. She covered:
💡 Find your ‘core of steel’: At 19, an engineering student and new mum, Sina found herself sitting in a social services office, reduced to a set of demographic statistics. Her defiant realisation? Whether or not other people believed in her was immaterial to her outcomes. This became the foundation for how she could reject others’ unhelpful advice and judgment, and get on with it.
💡 The obituary exercise: During her MBA, Sina was asked to write her own obituary. Starting from the end and reverse-engineering back helped her get really clear on what success meant to her. Then, she moved toward work that aligned with it (it wasn’t titles or things!).
💡 Being the ‘only one’ in the room: Sina’s approach to working with very different people comes down to curiosity about what you have in common (not what divides you). She went deep with people she struggled to connect with – and was surprised by the relationships that turned around as a result. Her invitation: assume less and ask more.
Powrsuit replaces exclusive, time-intensive professional development with small actions that work around real life. Join now to access this, and over 70 more bite-sized lessons, along with peer coaching, a private network and plenty of other member benefits.
"Brilliant interview Sina - Faafetai lava (Thank you in Samoan).She brought the following to life in her talanoa (talk) bold, authentic and inspiring. I can relate to the gold nuggets of learning you gain through struggle, pressure and failure - this is where the magic happens. Feeling supercharged to write my obituary.😊"
"I did a few things today that felt out of my comfort zone but hearing Sina talk really alleviated that fear of failure! Another great session. "
