Kirsten Aune

Observer
DISC Type : ci

Director, Strategy and Innovation at General Mills

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Overview

Kirsten Aune is the Director of Strategy and Innovation at General Mills, where she has worked for over 25 years. She is a recognized leader in corporate innovation, having developed an approach that generated over a billion dollars in new product revenue. She holds an MBA from the UMN Carlson School of Management.

She was a finalist for the InnoLead Impact Award for an innovation approach she created and presented an award at the same event in 2024.

Personality Overview

Assertive

Curious

Value Driven

They can sound friendly and charming but can quickly change gears to become inquisitive and probing.  They are generally strong communicators and are not easy to convince. They are likely to ask many questions and look heavily for supporting information.

Topics They Care About

Corporate Innovation
Her team was a finalist for the InnoLead Impact Award, and she frequently speaks at and participates in innovation-focused industry events and roundtables.
New Product Revenue
She led the creation of an innovation framework at General Mills that has directly resulted in over a billion dollars in new product revenue.
Agile Methodologies
Has been a panelist and speaker on topics like leveraging Lean Startup and Sprint approaches to solve innovation and growth challenges in large corporations.

Media Appearances

Kirsten has no verified media appearances

Work History

8-2011
Director, Strategy and Innovation at General Mills
1-2007 - 8-2011
Senior Marketing Manager at General Mills
3-2002 - 1-2007
Marketing Manager at General Mills
Planner / Deveveloper at Marshall Field's

Education

1997 - 1999
MBA from UMN Carlson School of Management
1989 - 1991
BA with Honors from University of Wisconsin-Madison

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 23 Location : Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States Job Level : Mid-senior Designation : Director, Strategy and Innovation at General Mills
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Insights For Selling To Kirsten

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Build rapport, it will come handy to handle hard questions later
  • Share testimonials from known people and give multiple examples of product value
  • Use phrases like ‘clear proof that’, ‘data shows’ etc.

DONT's

  • Don’t try to rush them into a decision, provide all necessary information first
  • Don’t be too objective but make sure to pad your storytelling with data points
  • Don’t rely excessively on your relationship with them to win the deal

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Kirsten is

  • Proven value, strong testimonials are important to them, relationships will have some weightage.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Kirsten

  • They are practical yet friendly, don’t expect a clear no very often.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Kirsten move?

  • They like to analyze well and then make their decisions.
  • Can Kirsten take some risk or not?

  • They evaluate their decisions systematically and are less likely to take risks.

You And Kirsten

Personality Compatibility


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