Bring your whole self to any task you’re working on. Educate yourself, question things, and never accept the status quo.

When people think of MasterCard, they often think of us as a credit card company. In fact, we are a technology company, enabling secure payments between consumers, banks and merchants around the world. I’ve proudly spent much of my 13 years with MasterCard working in account management and team leadership, helping our customers understand and effectively leverage our technology. I’ve been successful and grown a lot in these roles, but I’ve also been very comfortable.

A couple of years ago, a leader approached me to see whether I’d be interested in a two-year rotational assignment, leading our IT transformation management effort.

I was blown away. The rotation assignment seemed like a great opportunity to directly impact our business strategy and work closely with senior leaders across the company. But I also had concerns – it was a new area of focus for me, not to mention a brand new role for our organization. Plus, for the first time, I’d have no direct contact with customers and no team to manage.

As I was thinking about whether or not to accept the assignment, I remembered a piece of advice that I always give to people I mentor: “Bring it.” In other words, bring your whole self to any task you’re working on. Educate yourself, question things, and never accept the status quo.

So, I took a leap of faith and accepted the rotation. I read everything I could about IT transformation and consulted with experts inside the company and out. Based on what I learned, I built a comprehensive plan to educate and engage employees by helping them understand how their individual work contributed to the overall success of this initiative. By helping employees see the meaning in their work, I discovered more meaning in my own.

I left the rotation last year a better, smarter, more connected professional than I was when I started. I felt fulfilled knowing I’d furthered the IT Transformation initiative by developing a website, reporting and communication processes, and an award program – all  in partnership with my “priceless” colleagues. But most of all, I felt a renewed confidence in my ability to lean in to a new opportunity.