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. Proudly Pasifika, Sina is clear on the legacy she wants to leave and wants us all to think about ours. She strongly backs herself: when told working part-time would be career-limiting, she went straight out and enrolled in an MBA.
💡 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 realisation? Whether or not other people believed in her was immaterial to her outcomes. This became her foundation for rejecting unhelpful advice and judgment, and getting 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 (spoiler: it isn’t titles or status symbols!).
💡 Being the ‘only one’ in the room: When working with people she doesn’t relate to, Sina draws on curiosity – focusing on finding what they have in common. If she struggles to connect, she goes deep – and watches relationships turn around. Her invitation: assume less and ask more.
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"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. "
