Abigail Sharan is a listener. She’s warm and friendly when we meet at Microsoft’s London office in Victoria and has me chatting away, answering her discreet questions, before I even realise it. Interested by nature, it’s also a skill Sharan honed to help get her where she is today - the youngest woman (she’s 35) on Microsoft’s UK executive team of 12.

Sharan had a goal when she joined Microsoft three years ago, as she had with other roles throughout her career. And every time she identifies a new goal, she does one thing – remind herself what she’s good at - whether that’s by undertaking the Myers Briggs personality test or via the book by Marcus Buckingham ‘Now Discover Your Strengths’. She believes this is the key to people moving forward in their careers.

“When I think about my future, the first thing I do is remind myself of my strengths. We’re all born with things we’re naturally good at, and the advice I give people is really get to know what your strengths are and what you’re passionate about because, if you do a job that’s naturally close to your strengths and passions, then you’re going to make a living doing what you love. What more could you ask for?” she laughs.

Which brings us back to listening. Along with this, Sharan’s top strengths include Individualisation (the ability to quickly connect with people and understand them) and relating to people. All core parts of her new role as Customer & Partner Experience Director, which roughly translates into listening to how customers and partners of Microsoft feel about their technology, and then feeding that back into the business to make changes and improve their experiences in the future.

Sitting at the top echelons of one of the world’s most powerful and innovative companies, it’s hard to fathom Sharan’s life being anything other than all-consuming enthusiasm and achievement. In fact, the reality is quite different.

When she began school, she was immediately identified as a ‘smart cookie’. The first to read, then the first to read a whole series of books, she was moved up a year for a ‘challenge’ which she admits now: “I didn’t really understand, I thought I was being punished actually.”

“I was terrified. With such a bad experience at school, I didn’t want to go back to an academic environment, I thought it was the worst thing I could do”

Starting out well, she suddenly hit a stumbling block. She had friends, she enjoyed the classes, and she got the education part, “I was just not into it,” she admits. “I didn’t connect with any of my teachers, I understood what was going on in class, I just didn’t understand why I had to do homework. And, if you don’t do homework, you get bad grades.”

To her parent’s dismay, Sharan’s performance continued to nose dive until she was 18 when she decided to take two years out and travel. It was while living and working in Israel during the second year that the idea of going to university was raised.

“I was terrified. With such a bad experience at school, I didn’t want to go back to that type of environment, I thought it was the worst thing I could do.” Sharan returned to the UK to do a business course, ‘something useful’ she remembers thinking. And it was in that environment that she flourished.

“It was a completely different system where if you wanted to work, you could, and if you didn’t, you didn’t. I started submitting essays and getting good grades. The more positive feedback I got, the more confident I grew and the better I did.” She went on to get a degree and says: “I just felt I could go and do anything, it was a huge turning point.”

She went into a marketing role within financial services and was bitten by the technology bug when asked to set up her company’s local customer service operations. She learnt about what the business needed, what they were trying to deliver to their customers and then made technology decisions based on that. “I found it totally enlightening. Changing the way the businesses and people worked was so exciting. I knew it was my calling.”

“I thought, if you carry on like this, you won’t have a career, your health or your relationship. So I made changes, setting new boundaries, not working at the weekends, establishing realistic goals, and it was so liberating”

She went on to work for a technology company before moving into marketing consultancy where her prime client was Microsoft. After three years, they simply asked ‘why aren’t you working for us?’ and Sharan knew it was her chance. “It was an opportunity to work for this amazing company. Everything that was missing in every other job, it was all here, it really was.”

But it hasn’t been all highs. An achiever by nature, she’d assumed that having worked as a consultant at Microsoft for so long, she would hit the ground running as an employee. It didn’t turn out to be the case. Setting herself unrealistic deadlines, she started drowning in her workload. “I put myself under pressure, working incredibly long hours, travelling a lot, and working on the weekends. I was exhausted and it was putting a strain on my relationship at home.”

After nearly six months, she woke up one day and realised how ridiculous it had become. “I thought, if you carry on like this, you won’t have a career, your health or your relationship. So I made changes, setting new boundaries, not working at the weekends, establishing realistic goals, and it was so liberating.”

That was two and half years ago, and the changes have obviously paid off. Today, Sharan remains as enthusiastic as ever about the technology sector and Microsoft. Professionally, it’s a perfect fit. “I’m using my key strengths around listening and relating, with large to small organisations to understand how they think Microsoft can improve. We hold round tables, focus groups, and surveys which enable us to listen, act, evolve, change and improve,” she explains.

Personally, it’s an environment she feels completely herself, has clear goals and objectives, and the support of people and management around her. But just as important to Sharan is the small role she’s playing in everyone’s lives.

“Some people get their buzz by working for charitable organisations, I’m fulfilling mine through technology and how it improves people’s lives whether that’s by enabling them to work flexibly, more collaboratively or keeping in contact with friends and family more easily. I love that my job is all about people, making a difference and helping to enrichlives at work, at home and on the move,” she concludes.