It’s been many years since Marta Stylianou attended a global Canon management seminar in Tokyo. It afforded her the opportunity to learn from each business unit at Canon Inc., while enabling her to meet other Canon managers from around the world, learn their stories and absorb cultural enrichment. It left her with an enhanced appreciation and awareness of her role and career.
“From this experience, I realized that no matter what position I hold, the goal is to support my co-workers, and together, meet the overall goals of the company,” Stylianou observed.
That objective was brought into sharp focus in 2020, when the pandemic forced all business solution providers such as Canon U.S.A. to find new and creative ways to help their reseller clients push through the greatest obstacle to business in recent history. Stylianou, the director of training and service marketing for Canon’s Business Information Communications Group (BICG), assumed a lead position in bolstering support for dealers through the Customer Solutions Center.
In the process, Stylianou and her team expanded service training through remote courses that optimized hybrid work environment efficiencies. In all, the team produced more than 700 seminars for Canon U.S.A.-authorized dealers since the March 2020 shutdown. Seven hundred!
“I approach every challenge with optimism and do not rest until a goal is accomplished,” said Stylianou, a 2021 ENX Magazine Difference Maker and a 25-year veteran of Canon U.S.A. “I keep an open mind, remain flexible to other peers’ ideas and focus on aligning my team’s goals to the organization’s business strategy.”
Canon Journey
Stylianou garnered a BS in computer science from St. John’s University. While perusing the school’s career center, she found an entry-level job posting from Canon U.S.A. that entailed providing connectivity support for the OEM’s imaging equipment. It was the thought of working for a venerable company such as Canon U.S.A. that was most compelling to Stylianou, so she traded away software coding in favor of networks and connectivity.
That move proved to be career-defining for Stylianou. She feels fortunate to have worked alongside extraordinary managers and colleagues who have freely shared knowledge and insight, and the ability to collaborate is deeply embedded at Canon U.S.A.
“This mindset has helped to build stronger teams with a resilient desire to go the extra mile to accomplish business goals, while also looking for ways to improve business processes and maximize productivity,” she added.
While Stylianou may not be called upon to deliver 700 more seminars in 2021, the pandemic created opportunities for her to learn and implement critical solutions that will live on through the hybrid work environment. She looks forward to learning new skills as 2021 rolls forward while supporting her team with the implementation of technology designed to increase overall productivity and enhance the customer experience.
To be sure, this is no time to rest on laurels. “There is so much to be done,” she said. “We have so many ideas and projects to implement; I wish we could realize them at the speed of our thoughts. In the next few years, we will continue working on transforming our training offerings to meet the needs of the new hybrid workforce.”
Away from the office, Stylianou and her husband have been married for 25 years and have one child. TV time means taking in a soccer match or a movie. She enjoys traveling, spending quality time with friends and family, along with relaxing at the beach.
