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Ann Pickard is the newest member of KBR's Board of Directors. She recently headlined an event hosted by Aspire, an employee group with the mission to cultivate women leaders.

Ann retired from Royal Dutch Shell in 2016 with nearly 30 years in the oil and gas industry and has been called the "bravest woman in oil" by Fortune Magazine. In her career, Ann held numerous positions of increasing responsibility during her 16-year tenure with Shell. She last served as Executive Vice President, Arctic and was responsible for Shell's Arctic exploration efforts. Ann has significant business experience throughout South America, Australia, the countries of the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, and Africa.

Ann Pickard speaks to KBR employee group about her career journey and advice for aspiring leaders.

She joined the KBR Board in December 2015. She is a member of the Audit Committee and the Health, Safety, Security, Environment and Social Responsibility Committee. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, San Diego and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

In the interview discussion for the Aspire event, Ann shared about her career journey and professional achievements as well as her advice to aspiring leaders.

What advice would you give a new employee going into a leadership position for the first time?

The number one lesson, and it doesn't matter what country you're in, is you've got to listen. And you've got to listen hard. If you're always talking, how can you listen? I would say that's the number one factor in my overall success, is learning to shut up and listen.

Another thing that I think is really relevant – surround yourself with people that are really different from you. I have been able to surround myself with really smart, diverse people. And when I say diverse, I don't just mean gender – I mean religion, way of thinking, etc. It's harder to get to consensus or make decisions sometimes but you get a lot better input when you do so. So, if you've got the opportunity to surround yourself with people who can challenge you, you'll come out far better.

KBR's Aiesha Maxwell moderates Aspire event with KBR Board of Directors member Ann Pickard.

What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?

I am most proud of the people I developed. About 20 years ago, I realized I'm only as good as the people around me. So how do I enable people to be successful? A lot of my job is to get good people and then be able to set the vision and remove the obstacles. My legacy is the people I brought through, and hopefully they are doing the same thing for others. From an operational point of view there have been a lot of big successes: FID [final investment decision] on the first floating LNG facility (Prelude) which is under construction in Korea, and the last job I had - drilling in Alaska to name a few.

If you could work on solving any problem in the world, what one problem would it be?

My idea of retirement is to work with women and their education. In the U.S. it means keeping them in science, technology and engineering – working with them as young as eight and ten years old. But internationally, if we can get women educated, it's been proven that they rise out of poverty. If they can get educated, they bring their whole families along with them so that's been my passion.

Can you describe your role on KBR's Board of Directors?

I'm very pleased to be on the board. They say you should never go on a board if you're going to be the only female because you won't be listened to but I don't feel that way at KBR. So, I feel very welcomed and very valued.

I think surviving this oil price is tough. A phenomenal percentage of contractors are going belly up so trying to find ways to survive is front of mind for everybody. KBR has always had a split personality with government services (which I know very little about but am trying to learn) which helps support the rest of the business during the down cycle. Our strategy is to figure out how to help the oil and gas side through this cycle and then we've got this other side of the business (Government Services) that is performing well now, so how do we grow it which will help the oil and gas side. It is a strategy that the Board has embraced and Stuart [Bradie] has embraced.

Ann Pickard (center right) with the Aspire board.​

What book are you currently reading?

I'm an avid reader – it's one of the best things about retirement, I get to read so much more. I always have at least one nonfiction going, usually three or four fiction, then what I call an airplane read which is basically just trash. I just started the Silk Road by Peter Frankopan. I also get a random selection of book from a book of the month club so my random book right now is called The Dance. I'm also reading a Bill Bryson travel book because I think he's hilarious to read. I should also mention Managing the Unexpected, it has had a huge impact on me and I've relied upon it throughout my career.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.