Power of Leadership - Deanna Vandermeer

Alison Clancy

We recently chatted with @Deanna Vandermeer of Mesa County Valley School District 51 and an alumni of the Smartsheet Overachievers. You can read her full Member Spotlight here.

Here's what she had to say about how she utilizes her Power of Leadership and Smartsheet to amplify the work she does.

How do you use Smartsheet at work?

I use Smartsheet to manage ALL of the budgets that I am responsible for managing and maintaining. In addition, I use Smartsheet to create many solutions to help support the many departments I work for. A few examples are Induction New Hire and Mentor Program monitoring, Aligned Professional Learning Course Audits for Finance, Instructional Coaching Logs, the D51 In-District Professional Learning Course Request and Approval process, and more. I utilize both the Core Product and some Premium Apps to accomplish this work.

Describe a time when you utilized your power and Smartsheet to succeed at work?

Smartsheet and the power that it brings to the table has helped by providing me a way to get all of the many solutions that I have in my head to become a reality. This then led to me receiving a promotion this past July from Executive Assistant to our District's new Curriculum Financial Analyst & Administrative Liaison.

Is your power something you intuited or something you learned?

A combination of both!

Has there ever been a time when you needed to flex your power to accomplish something?

This typically occurs when a coworker has shared something with me, and after studying it and working within it, I find it contains too many pain points and too much wasted time is being spent interacting with it as is. So immediately my thoughts turn to, "I can build this solution out in Smartsheet and make it much better, more efficient and more time will be saved!"

Fill in the blank: I feel most in my power when I _______.

I feel most in my power when I am creating solutions that make someone's day go a little smoother, saves them some time and takes away anxiety in their day to day work, thus freeing them up for the more important things (such as focusing with our teachers and students).

What does your power mean to you?

My power makes me feel self-confident in the work I do every day and has helped to keep me focused on the big picture, which for me has always been about supporting those I work for and with. It truly means the world to me if I have managed to make someone's day just a little bit better and less stressful. I love sharing my power with others!