Leadership Questions

Carrie Phillips, Plant Manager Southeast Texas Chemical Complex

2026-06-30

I got to work under Carrie when she was the plant manager at Orange and see her leadership skills in action. She’s very personable and an extremely hard worker. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to pick her brain about leading, especially because her background (environmental engineering) is so different from most everyone I have worked under.

Good morning Carrie,

This summer, I’m trying to interview different leaders about how they think about/show leadership and what lessons I can gleam.

I’d love to set up a call with you and discuss your career/what you’ve learned.

Here’s a list of some questions I’ve thought about but we can go wherever you want

• What’s something you wish you knew early in your career?

• How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Is there a favorite failure you’re willing to share?

• What’s something that’s underestimated by others that you think is important?

• How do you approach and handle difficult conversations with a team member?

• Who do you look to as a great leader (inside or outside of the company)? What about them do you admire/want to imitate? Is there a mentor you really grew under?

• How do you create the environment that people in the room have the courage to speak “truth to power”?

  • Also, how do you approach collecting and interpreting team feedback when some individuals are more vocal than others?

If this time doesn’t work for you, please let me know and I’ll reschedule.

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