Reflection
Creatical Thinking
I was discussing the essential skills required in the age of #AI with a leader.
My mind raced ahead of my words.
"The transferrable skills are super important!"
I said.
"Such as Communication, Emotional Intelligence...Creatical Thinking"
Wait? Creatical Thinking?
That's not a word in the dictionary, at least not yet.
Creative + Critical = Creatical
This is the skill that truly sets leaders apart today.
In a world shaped by AI, we need to think both inventively and analytically.
It's about solving new problems in new ways.
How are you sharpening your Creatical Thinking?
Aimee
Aimee and I didn't know each other.
Aimee became my mentee through a 9-month-long leadership development program at UC Berkeley School of Information
When we first met, we were not sure how well we might work together in a mentor-mentee relationship.
But we both were determined to give the best effort.
I explained to Aimee the difference between a coach and a mentor.
I asked her to choose whether she wanted me to play a coach role or a mentor role.
She chose the coach option.
Aimee is a motivated Data Analyst who has dreams and aspirations.
Aimee is brave to share her stories with me.
Through our work, Aimee realized that she is talented, capable, strategic, and loved.
With her permission, I am sharing what she said about our time together.
“My mentor Hope was so amazing...l was a bit worried when we were matched together as I felt as if we might not have much in common, but the struggles that she faced in her career were not only comparable to mine but I believe would also inspire anyone, regardless of their race, gender identity or background. Her coaching services are invaluable and therapeutic, as she was able to identify some of the roots of my difficulties that were holding me back, and gave me actionable insights on how to address them. I am so incredibly glad to have been matched with her and would recommend her to absolutely anyone and everyone!”
Dear Aimee Williams, you have everything you need to be successful at work, and in life.
I wasn’t always a great leader
Every parent is a leader.
But not every parent is a great leader by default.
I wasn’t always a great parent, even though I tried my best.
I always loved my children.
But the amount of work I had to do beyond working full-time, attending graduate school part-time, and struggling in an unsupportive marriage made me resentful.
I was resentful that my children didn’t appreciate my effort, even though I “sacrificed” so much for them.
I stayed in the marriage for 16 years for them.
When there were conflicts between my children and me, I was devastated. “I have given you everything, how can you not appreciate?!”
But I had to look within.
I had to learn to be a great parent and a great leader.
I had to learn that being vulnerable strategically builds trust.
I had to learn that acceptance without judgment is the bridge.
I had to learn that my path isn’t theirs.
I had to learn that feedback needs to feed forward at the right time and place with their permission.
I had to learn to trust their ability to build their own lives.
I had to be coached by my coaches.
The good news is that today, my children and I love each other unconditionally through mutual effort.
What matters isn’t the past.
What matters is now and the future we are creating.
Stop using these words in your communication
In environments where your confidence and competency are being constantly evaluated, every word you say matters.
Avoid these words.
“Just” - for example, I 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 want to point out.
Adding a “just” undermines others’ impression of your confidence.
“I am sorry” - for example, 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆, I have a question.
Adding a “I am sorry” shows that you don’t think you should ask the question.
“Correct me if I’m wrong”
They will, you don’t need to tell them.
You are giving them hint that you are wrong.
All of these phrases and words diminish your “executive presence” as people often refer to.
What other words would you like to add?
I fell hard
On my knees on the rocks.
I had broken skin.
It was not because I wasn’t careful.
It was not because I wasn’t strong.
It was the wave.
The ocean wave was too strong to resist.
You are burning out.
Not because you want to.
It’s because the wave is pushing you.
It’s because others are doing so.
It’s because AI is trying to replace your job.
But I learned how to work with the waves.
I learned to leverage it instead of letting it wash over me.
You, too, can learn how to ride the waves.
You, too, can level up your leadership for yourself and the people you lead.
The places we travel
The places we travel enrich us.
This week my husband and I are traveling to LA to attend our daughter’s graduation ceremony.
She decided to take some pictures at the “airport landing view point”.
Yes, it is a name available in Maps.
We had so much fun, timing the airplane into our frames.
I was the photographer.
But I also took advantage of the opportunity and snapped a picture for us.
The countless airplanes in the sky lined up to land is a live demo of how technology has changed and will continue to change our lives.
What is an elevator pitch?
Imagine you are in the same elevator with a senior leader, you want to leave a great impression to them. So that when they sit at their office, they could say to themselves “that was a very impressive person! “
What you say to them in that short elevator ride is critical.
I met a person during a network event.
I asked them what they do.
They said “just fixing a bug here and there…” and they were looking for a job.
I didn’t know this person, but I felt the urge to add value to their life, because I don’t know whether I would ever see them again.
I said “are you open to some constructive feedback?”
With their permission, I said “you are underselling your expertise. Why would anyone hire someone who ‘just fix a bug here and there’? What impact are you creating? What customers’ problems did you solve? What happens if you are not there?…”
They immediately agreed that they would rethink how they talk about their work.
Yesterday, they told me (through LinkedIn) that they found a job. And they thanked me for making them think about how to create that elevator pitch.
How good are you with your elevator pitch?
What impact are you creating?
Who stole your confidence?
It is not your fault that you feel nervous.
You were taught to respect the superior.
You were told to listen to your parents and teachers.
You were told they knew more than you.
Your senior leaders determine your pay raise and promotion, or whether you have a job at all.
Of course, you are afraid.
But here is something you can do to be fear-less:
If you are a senior leader, do you want your team to be fearful? NO! If you feel fearful, your senior leaders may not have done a great job of making you feel safe
Remind yourself that everyone knows something you don’t know, and you know something that others don’t know. We are equal human beings.
Go out and share the powerful YOU!
Never let a good crisis go to waste
A crisis will happen, big or small, sooner or later.
If it hasn't happened for you yet, I hope it keeps that way.
A leader's response during a crisis sets the tone for the team and organization.
This week, while I was virtually presenting to hundreds of professionals, I encountered a technology glitch.
The screen sharing automatically stopped a few times.
As someone who is obsessed with "customer experience", this was a "Crisis."
The good news is that there was a contingency plan beforehand.
The IT support took over the screen share, while the moderator and I exchanged a few playful comments.
I quit my presentation application, and I resumed the screen sharing.
Afterwards, the producing team did a debrief and agreed on what needs to be done in the future for dry runs.
I got into the root cause mode as I always had done as a technologist.
I have to identify the root cause so that it won't happen again.
For people who love problem-solving, you know that once you root out the cause of an issue, the solution isn't that far away.
Here is what I learned. I'm sharing it so that you know how to handle this if you happen to encounter a similar issue.
I will have to share the technologies explicitly so that you know under exactly what condition it happens; my intention isn't to call out any technology. As a technologist, I knew that no software is free from defects.
Technology Stack:
MacOS, Zoom App, PowerPoint App, Mentimeter
Exact Scenario:
1. There is Mentimeter embedded in PowerPoint
2. Screen share the PowerPoint App Window in Zoom
3. Stop screen sharing on the slides that contain a Mentimeter page (if stopped sharing in any other slides without Mentimeter, it's fine)
4. When re-sharing, there are multiple PowerPoint windows to choose from, but only one has the file name. In my case, it's the last one.
5. If the correct window wasn't chosen during sharing, the screen share will be interrupted automatically with a message "the shared window has closed".
Please take a look at the screen capture below. There are 3 PowerPoint windows available to choose from, but only the last one is the valid "main" window to continue screen sharing.
My guess is that the additional windows are the integrations between PowerPoint and Mentimeter. I will open a Zoom support ticket to start the inquiry.
Don't let a good crisis go to waste.
Learn something from it.
How a leader handles a crisis will impact the morale of a team.
What do you think the root cause is?
What's your learning from some crises?
How did it impact you when and how a leader handled a crisis?
Experience Capital
Throughout my career, I have consistently sought out opportunities to explore something new.
Sometimes it involves changing industry, such as from aerospace engineering to building construction, from manufacturing to IT, and from IT to professional Coaching and Speaking.
At other times, it's the type of companies I've worked for, ranging from academic to startups, privately owned to publicly traded, non-profit and for-profit, and then entrepreneurship.
Even if I stayed in the same line of business, I explored different roles, including individual contributor as a software engineer, manager, architect, DevOps lead, SRE leader, technology leader, and executive.
Kweilin Ellingrud, Lareina Yee, and Maria del Mar Martinez, three senior partners at McKinsey & Company, refer to this type of experience as "Experience Capital."
In their book, "The Broken Rung: When the Career Ladder Breaks for Women--and How They Can Succeed in Spite of It", they discussed how important Experience Capital is.
They argue that 50% of your lifetime income comes from Experience Capital.
Women lack Experience Capital, especially in their early career stages, which significantly contributes to the Broken Rung and Pay Gap.
I encourage leaders, women, and their allies to read this book so that we can work together to fix the broken rung.
What is Broken Rung?
When the first promotions come around, the slide continues. For every 100 men promoted to manager, only 81 women overall and 77 women of color get promoted.
This is something we all need to work together to fix.