Indiana 250: Sharon Barner

A former deputy director with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Sharon Barner says she manages “the train tracks that ensure the train can run” at Cummins, where she’s chief administrative officer. Her responsibilities at the global manufacturer of power-generation systems include communications, marketing, government relations, ethics and compliance, corporate responsibility, security, global risk and ESG strategy. Her office comprises more than 2,000 employees in 26 countries, and she manages a budget of nearly $500 million.

First job

I love kids, and I started babysitting at age 13. In three years, I earned enough money to buy my first car. First, it taught me that in life, you should do a job that you love. … Second, it taught me the value of hard work because taking care of children was not easy. Third, it taught me the value of service and excelling at what you do—as a result, I earned my clients’ trust and my business grew. Finally, it taught me to have children later in life when I had more time to invest and more patience to give them.

Job swap

I would be a singer in a jazz band. I really admire people with creative talent and the hard work that it takes to show up for every performance with the passion it takes to engage the audience in a deeply personal experience.

Favorite thing about being a leader

My leadership style is based on transparency, caring, support and opening the doors of opportunity. I believe that true leaders care about the whole person, not just the professional who shows up to work each day. It is vital to me to support each individual’s goals, including personal and professional. I seek to inspire, empower and motivate the people I lead to deliver excellent results and lead value-centered lives. As I do this, I give back by lifting others as I climb.

Something surprising

I love understanding how things work—both science and political and social constructs. I love innovation. In college, I was a pre-med major heading to medical school when, after taking a political science class, [I] turned to law school instead. As an intellectual property lawyer, I found an area of the law that fueled my passion for understanding how things work.

Toughest challenge

When I graduated from law school, it was not easy as an African American woman to have a career in a law firm. I was frequently the only woman or African American lawyer at the table, at the meeting, on the team. Tenacity was the driving force to fight through that and learn to persevere.

My passion for DE&I, and why it makes teams deliver better results, is built on experience; first in my legal profession, then in government, and now in my corporate career. Along with addressing innovation, globalization, technological disruption and amplified government oversight, I also take pride and work hard to ensure DE&I is kept at the forefront.•