Carrie Clark
Like many women in the oil and gas industry, the further Carrie Clark has advanced in her career, the more often she has tended to be the only woman in the room. She has responded to gender-related challenges by assuming a responsibility to advocate for and give a voice to others.
“Through some of my experiences as a woman in the oil and gas industry, I internalized very early on that I have a duty and responsibility as a leader to ask a lot of questions and really try to understand different backgrounds and perspectives,” Clark said. “I’ve closed a lot of pay gaps and helped move company cultures in positive directions. I’ve been vulnerable, honest and real with people, and I’ve been blessed by genuinely connecting with people, truly getting to know people, sharing success with people, supporting people, and receiving their support.”
She realizes she may not be able to do everything for everyone but is grateful to have been in positions for the past 15 years to achieve business strategy success and development of people and corporate culture.
“Accepting that incremental success isn’t the same thing as failure helps me stay motivated, positive, and passionate about leadership,” she said. “There’s a balance of striving for continuous improvement and challenging myself and my teams to be the best we can, while knowing that perfection can’t be the goal.”
Clark’s father, an independent oil and gas operator and investor in the Texas Panhandle, inspired her to join the oil and gas industry.
“Some of my most significant and earliest childhood memories are of my dad loading up ‘his girls’ (me and my two older sisters) in the back of his pickup to visit well locations,” she said. “The oil and gas industry was such a big part of our childhoods. By the time I was 15, I already had a plan to get an undergraduate degree in petroleum land management so I could be a landman, and then go to law school and work in the oil and gas business.”
She followed that plan, earning her degree from Texas Tech, then attending law school at the University of Houston while working as a landman for Shell. Her career track included serving on executive teams for five companies and eventually led to her appointment to the Brigham Minerals board of directors, a career milestone she considers an honor and an education.
“The experience of sitting ‘on the other side of the table’ and working with such a great group of people to help provide guidance to senior leadership on board-level matters gave me insight and perspective that has made me a better executive in my current full-time position,” Clark said. She withdrew from the board to avoid a conflict of interest when she joined Black Stone Minerals.
In her 26-year career, she has developed a set of tenets to approach gender-related challenges:
- Don’t take or make things personal;
- Face challenges respectfully, directly, and honestly;
- Focus on problem-solving, professionalism, healthy communication and the work that needs to be done;
- Continuously check yourself—operate with self-awareness, be honest about the situation, stay true to your core values and stay open-minded;
- Personal challenges in the workplace are minimized when the focus is on what’s best for the company, taking time to clearly articulate the challenge and stating it clearly for yourself and others, maintaining professionalism and respect, and collaborating among teams.
Her advice to young professionals follows those tenets on a broader scale.
“Try to figure out where you want to be in your career five, ten or, even better, fifteen years from now,” Clark said. “If you’re fortunate enough to have an answer to that, think about what you should be doing now to prepare for that role and start asking questions and expressing interest by telling your colleagues and managers now.”
Colleagues might find that strange or unusual at the very start of a career but eventually, perceptions and a willingness to lend support will change based upon stated goals and ambitions.
Another asset is confidence, Clark said. It changes everything, but it might take practice to express it effectively. “It’s OK to fake it ’til you make it, but don’t exchange anything for authenticity and integrity.”
Finally, “Never forget that the best answer you can often give is: ‘I don’t know, but I will find out.’
“There’s a lot of power in honesty.”