The One and Only

I have walked into many rooms being the one and only. Sometimes it’s intimidating, other times, it’s lonely and uncomfortable. Have I thought about quitting? Many times! but I didn’t because I know I earned that seat and I have unique value to contribute. Instead of leaving, I became an integral part of those rooms. And I opened doors for others.

Being the only woman in a tech room can be tough, but we are equally talented. We may solve problems differently and in innovative ways. Our experiences matter. Take up space. Own it.

Every time you're present, you make room for others. You're changing the future. You're making a difference.

STAY

CONTRIBUTE

BRING OTHERS ALONG

What room have you walked into as the one and only?

What makes a great leader

There are so many traits making a great leader. Let's talk about a crucial element of leadership: TRUST

Trust is fragile. It takes tremendously time and effort to build, yet it can be shattered in an instant.

Trust is mutual, if you don't trust your team, your team won't trust you.

Trust is that your team members can share about their struggles honestly, and trusting that you will not use their vulnerabilities to work against them.

Trust is you, as a leader, advocate and protect your team members' benefits, especial during the critical moments.

Throughout my career, I prioritize to earn and keep my team's trust. Let me share an example.

During one year's performance review cycle, I told my manager that one of my skip level team members was ready for a promotion. The leader disagreed, but I persisted. I listed the achievements and impacts of that person, and insisted that we put the person into the promotion candidates pool and let the process decide whether they are qualified. The promotion process was stringent, consisting of formal nomination form of multiple pages, multiple interviews with different leaders, a candidate handler, mentors/sponsors, a scorecard from the interviewers. In the end, a committee of senior leaders made the final decision. My team member was the top #1 candidate among the list.

Through this process, I earned unwavering trust from that team member. Had I not "fight" for them, their career trajectory could be very different.

Remember, I took a career risk to "fight" for them because it was the right thing for do.

What are your ways to build trust with your team members?

I don’t know

When leaders say "I don't know", they are considered being vulnerable, honest, and authentic. They earn more respect.

When junior professionals or people in marginalized groups say "I don't know". They are considered incapable, incompetent, and lack of initiative. They trustworthiness can be impacted.

Is this fair? Absolutely not.

"I don't know" should be a neutral statement. It simply acknowledges a gap in knowledge. Leaders' "I don't know" doesn't need to be glorified, and the same statement from others doesn't need to be used against them.

Is your workplace safe for everyone to say "I don't know"?

Great leaders are great sales persons

There are many types of great leaders, one of those types is that they are great sales persons.

They don't sell you the product, they sell you the vision.

They don't sell you building a ship, they sell you the ocean and the horizon.

They don't sell you orders, they sell you ownership.

They don't sell you a paycheck, they sell you a future.

What else do they sell?

I can’t help but cry

I was preparing for a storytelling competition.

One step of that competition is to submit a video recording.

I rehearsed and recorded my story 30 times.

Something is missing.

Finally, I asked my husband, standing behind my camera.

I started to talk to him instead of the camera.

Several times, my eyes were watering.

My voice was choked up.

That’s what was missing.

The Human elements, the emotions, the connections.

The heartache, the tears.

Become a better human in the age of AI.

That’s irreplaceable.

The AI-Resilient Leader

Many professionals ask me,

“What skills should I be focusing on to stay relevant right now?”

My answer,

“Walk with 2 legs.

One leg is your technical skills,

the other?

Your human skills!”

A recent graph by the McKinsey Global Institute , featured in their report "Agents, robots, and us: How AI reshapes work and skills in Europe", perfectly illustrates the answer.

The 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅 maps out which skills have the highest exposure to automation versus those that remain deeply human and resilient.

Technical skills such as SQL, accounting, invoicing, and software development are among the highest on the exposure scale.

But if you look at the lower-left corner, the zone with the least exposure to automation, you see a cluster of capabilities:

✅ Resilience

✅ Empathy

✅ Influencing skills

✅ Leadership

These are exactly the core pillars I focus on when coaching executives and rising leaders.

AI can write code, analyze a spreadsheet, and automate quality control.

But AI cannot build a high-performing team.

It cannot navigate complex organizational constructs with empathy.

It cannot build the deep resilience required to lead a company through a pivotal change.

The future belongs to leaders who intentionally develop their human capital.

If you want to build an AI-resilient career, stop focusing solely on technical optimization.

Start investing in your leadership presence, your emotional intelligence, and your ability to influence without authority.

Confidence + Humility

We all have heard “no” - promotion, raise, job interview.

We get conditioned by the repetition of "no."

Over time, we internalize the idea that we aren't quite ready for the big seat.

In order to achieve our full potential, we have to unlearn that conditioning deliberately.

The ultimate mindset shift boils down to three words: 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵.

Believing you are enough does not mean complacency.

Great leadership requires balancing two truths simultaneously:

1️⃣ 𝗜𝗻𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵: We are already fully capable of leading the team, building the product, and contributing to the company's success.

2️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵: We must always continue to learn, develop, and stretch ourselves.

You do not need to wait until you are "perfect" to lead.

You are enough to start today.

❓What one conditioning you had to unlearn in your career?

The secret of overnight success

I won 2nd place in a storytelling competition hosted by NSA Ohio.

What’s the secret of my seemingly overnight success?

• I practiced in front of the camera.

• I practiced in front of my family.

• I practiced in front of my coach.

• I practiced while working out.

• I practiced while taking a walk.

• I practiced while driving.

• I practiced while showering.

• I practiced the last thing before bed.

• I practiced the first thing after waking up.

• I practiced loudly.

• I practiced silently.

• I practiced just part of it.

• I practiced the whole piece.

• I practiced after incorporating some feedback.

• I practiced after not incorporating some feedback.

I practiced and practiced until it became a part of me.

This is the secret of my overnight success.

The Best Is Yet to Come

When we believe that the best is yet to come, we are more hopeful and optimistic in times of reinvention, darkness, and setbacks.

As a result, we will be more likely to take action.

• I was a little girl living in a small village, but later attended a top engineering university.

• I struggled with engineering drawing classes in college, but later I was offered free admission to graduate school.

• Nobody understood me when I first moved to the US, but now, I am a professional speaker.

• I started as an entry-level engineer, but then became an executive at Fortune 200 companies, leading global teams.

My current version of  “the best is yet to come” is to impact 1 million women in tech by speaking to and coaching people worldwide.

I will also write a book.

What’s your version of “the best is yet to come”?

Great leaders share projects

Our team was building a new product on Cloud.

We had to do performance testing to ensure the system could handle the concurrent load.

As their leader, I stepped in and co-designed the workflow and scenarios to mimic the real case scenarios due to the tight timeline.

As a result, we discovered and fixed potential issues before production deployment.

When the product was launched, it worked seamlessly.

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Good leaders delegate.

Great leaders go further; they share projects.

They don't just assign tasks and wait for the deadline.

They actively engage.

They check in regularly to offer support.

They offer their network for expertise.

They roll up their sleeves when necessary.

They celebrate the wins and share the setbacks.

What's your real-life example of great leaders sharing projects?