Event Highlights
My Objectives – why did I attend this event?
Key Insights – what did I learn? Let me start by saying the day was packed full of great insights. I paired down my list to highlight my key lessons. 4 Pillars for professional success Sejal Patel shared the four pillars that have brought her professional success as part of her Keynote address.
Keep learning - To win in your profession Maira Benjamin shared great insights on the importance of continuous learning and staying current on developments in your field. To show how important learning is, Sima Patel said: "Gain knowledge to overcome your challenges" and shared her story on how she learned about an area to cross barriers she faced. Power of building your network Meral Arik presented three great points about Networks
Women lift-up women We need to change the narrative of women pulling down other women. The speakers had a theme they mentioned women who helped them on their journey. We were encouraged us to encourage women around us and share our knowledge to support other’s growth. We need a support system In various sessions throughout the day, the speakers inspired us to build a support system of your friends, mentors, and sponsors. You do not have to travel on your journey alone. You will win more with a great community. A good support system will:
My Next Steps - What am I going to do?
Final Thoughts
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What a way to spend my Thursday evening learning from great women at the 'Femigrants of Silicon Valley'- Forum of Female Immigrant Leaders event in San Francisco on March 22, 2018
Event Highlights
My Objectives – why did I attend this event?
Key Insights – what did I learn? Believe in yourself even when others do not believe in you Beate Chelette, a fellow German immigrant, shared her life experience in the keynote. She shared stories of how people doubted her dating back to her years in middle school. How many times have people doubted you and your skills? You will be successful if you persist and continue to believe in yourself even through difficult times, peoples doubt and even self-doubt. Personally, telling me, I cannot do something motivates me to do it and succeed. Don't let others discourage you and kill your dreams. Be bold and take on opportunities "Say hell yes to every opportunity that comes to you" was a phrase that Elena Krasnoperova shared that resonated with me. After listening to Shonda Rhimes TED talk My year of saying yes, I challenged myself to say yes to more things and put myself out there. So, hearing Elena share her insights on saying yes was confirming the journey I am on. I am committed to put myself out there and say yes to things I will typically say no to because I am scared. Trait to succeed - Be organized and visualize your plan Kwanua Robinson's advice on the significant role being organized plays in being successful was very timely. Being organized and having a plan has helped me progress in my own life. Having a plan should become the norm for everything you do in your personal, professional and business life. You will begin to see the outcomes you desire. Entrepreneurs: Test your ideas first Elena Krasnoperova shared great advice on testing your product with real users before you go all in. In the process of developing your product, it is critical to test with real users. Before you make any significant investment in your product, you want to know that you have a user group. General Advice: The panelists and speakers shared some great advice that I would like to share with you.
My Next Steps - What am I going to do?
Final Thoughts
Having professional sponsors is crucial for your career advancement. At recent events that I attended, the essential role sponsors play in our career advancement has been discussed and promoted. My motivation for writing on how to find sponsors increased following the feedback I received after I shared my insights from WIL Conference 2018 in a recent blog post.
In this post, I will share some valuable information and tips I found during my research on who a sponsor is, benefits of having sponsors and effective ways to find sponsors. This post is very personal as I recently did not get a promotion I deserved and worked hard for because I did not have sponsors that supported me during the process. I am taking the opportunity to act and find my sponsors. Starting point - We women need sponsors to be successful in our careers. Let's start by looking at some facts:
Who is a sponsor? There are many definitions of sponsors and the roles they play. These are some that resonated with me:
What is the difference between a mentor and a sponsor? Sponsors and mentors are a very crucial part of our professional journey. It is key to understand that they serve different purposes. The following points outline some differences between mentors and sponsors:
How can sponsors support you? Here are some ways sponsors can provide value and support you on your professional journey. Increase your advancement opportunities Advancement and progress in our careers keeps us motivated and happy. Good sponsors help you advance by speaking out for you when it matters the most. During my research, I found some statistics that support the point that women with sponsors are more likely to advance in their careers: (Source: Don’t Just Mentor Her, Sponsor Her).
Assists you in navigating the complexity of your organization and industry Our professional journey is very complex. Imagine how much further you can go if you have someone within your company that helps you navigate complexity. Especially as women of color, we should get all the support we need. Research from the Center for Talent Innovation shows that the vast majority of women (85 percent) and multicultural professionals (81 percent) need navigational help. (Source: Big Idea 2014: Find a Sponsor Who Believes In Your Potential). Get all the support you can get on your journey. What do I need to do to find effective sponsors? As with everything we desire, we need to act to get the outcomes we want. The tips below serve as a starting point to get you started on your journey. Prepare yourself To make yourself desirable for a sponsor there are some things you can start learning to do and practicing. It is essential for you to know what you bring to the table.
Search for sponsors When search for a sponsor it is essential for them to be a fit and can support you in the ways you need them to. There are many ways to begin your search for sponsors as outlined below:
Build your relationship with your sponsors Building your relationship with your sponsors is essential. You would want to meet with your sponsors regularly. I would recommend at least every quarter. As with every relationship find the right frequency that works best for you and your sponsors. Offer your sponsors something Sponsors will need to invest some time with you, make it valuable for them. Think of ways you can give back to your sponsor for example:
Final Thoughts
Great resources For your self-study, I am sharing links to all the articles referenced in this post:
I am very excited to kick-off my "Event Summary" series. As part of this series of blog posts, I will review events, conferences, round tables that I attend. This year, I decided to follow my advice and attend more events and grow my network. Additionally, to increase the value, I get from visiting these events I will document and share my lessons and key insights from the events as well as my next steps I am committed to taking. Please join me on this great adventure.
Event Highlights On Saturday, March 17th I attended the Women in Leadership (WIL) conference hosted by the Haas School of Business, Berkeley.
My Objectives – why did I attend this event? Going to the conference I had three objectives for attending this event were:
Key Insights – what did I learn? I took so many notes during the sessions and captured great insights. In my quest to focus, I will be sharing the top five lessons that stuck with me. Value the skills you have In her Progress keynote, Larissa Roesch shared a lot of great insights. The largest one that stuck with me was this question: "What else can I do with the skills I already have?" In recent conversations with a lady close to me, we were discussing how much skills we have gathered and don't value. I believe that the value I bring today is a combination of the skills I have. We need to change our perspective on the skills we have and stop feeling like we are not enough. Start telling yourself - "I can do a lot with skills that I have." We need "sponsors" in our professional life "People with sponsors are 23% more like to move up in their career than those without, yet women and far less likely to have Sponsors". Source: WIL 2018 Handout Over the course of the day, various speakers emphasized the importance and value of having a Sponsor for our professional advancement. I learned the great difference between having a "sponsor" vs. "mentor." I did some research and found this definition - “A sponsor is someone in a position of power who uses his or her influence to advocate on your behalf” – Source: Forbes Article. I looked at my own professional life and noticed that I do not have a sponsor that speaks up for me at places that matter like promotion conversations. There a massive gap for Women of color in leadership - We have a lot to do "Women of color are underrepresented in the cooperate pipeline. 8%- Senior Manager/Director, 6% - Vice President, 4% - Senior Vice President, 3% in the C-Suite" (Source: McKinsey Women in the Workplace 2017 ). At the event Chloe Johnson, a McKinsey consultant shared the latest findings from the Women in the Workplace 2017 Study. Only 3% - this is not acceptable. The conversation is mostly around what other's around women in leadership positions can do to raise this number. We (Women of color in leadership positions) have a significant role in increasing the 3%. I am personally committed to identifying the steps I can personally take to be part of the group that raises that number. I am hopeful because the study also says, "And yet: despite facing more pitfalls to advancement, women of color have higher ambitions to be a top executive than white women." (Source: McKinsey Women in the Workplace 2017) On being and becoming a woman in leadership Eve Chaurand shared the following key points on our role and responsibilities as women in leadership:
Connecting dots build our life story Over the course of the day, the Steve Jobs quote “You cannot connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” was mentioned a lot. Larissa Roesch drove this point home for me when she told her story with the help of some key "dots" in her life that formed who she is today. This one spoke to me personally. I have always struggled with telling my story because it felt a little disjointed and complex. From the way Larissa told her story I started identifying key experiences or dots in my life that make me the woman I am today. I did not always understand how they all fit together while I was going through them and some still don't make sense. However, now looking back I am beginning to connect some of my dots. Watch this space for MC's story: Connecting some dots. My Next Steps: What am I going to do? To increase the value of this event for me, I have identified the following action items:
Final Thoughts
Call to Action
"A goal without a plan is just a wish." -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry How much have you achieved in 2018 so far? How are you tracking towards your goals?
If you feel like you haven't achieved a lot - What are you going to do differently to achieve your goals in the next nine months of 2018? Typically, we discuss our goals for the year only at the beginning of the year or at the end retrospectively. I am intentionally writing about this topic in March as a reminder that we need to constantly define and track our goals not only at the start or end of the year but throughout the year. In this post I will be outlining the benefits of a plan, sharing some practical tips keeping your plan alive as well as achieving your goals. Why you need a plan We all need a plan. I talk to a lot of women who feel stuck in their lives and don’t know what they achieved in the last year. I did some soul searching to see what I do today when I feel stuck. My clear answer is that I look at my plan. I have found that when I feel stuck it is mostly because I'm not taking steps towards achieving my goals. As a project manager I might be a little biased – I like plans and I know their benefits. In my private life I have had great success with planning and have had plans in some shape or form since I was sixteen. I have a plan for the following reasons:
5-year, 3-year, 1-year, Quarterly plans There are many opinions out there on the type of plan you should have. My simple advice will be to use whatever plans support you in achieving your goal. The least I will propose is an orientation plan for a year with quarterly components. Personally, I have a multi-year plan that is high-level and serves as orientation for me. I then break down my activities towards my goals into quarters (three months) to help me focus. The benefits of this short-term view are that you get to see progress faster, you can adapt and change goals, you get into the routine of reviews and tracking your progress. Create an orientation Plan It is quite simple to create a plan. I follow the following four steps to create my plan:
Track your progress and achievements It is key to track and check your progress towards your goals and achievements regularly. Getting into this practice is very important for you to be successful and stick to your plan.
Adapting and Changing your plan One thing is certain - Your plan will have to change. It is perfectly ok. For me personally some of the reasons my plans change include - learning more about a route I wanted to take and then seeing it's not right for me, life changes like moving to a new country, my assumptions being wrong. MC's Tip: Get comfortable with a "living" plan. Plan to make changes that need to be made to your plan. Share your plan I am currently learning the beauty of articulating what your plan is and sharing it with your trusted friends and family. It is easy to keep your plan and goals to yourself and kill it with self-doubt. I have experienced great support and encouragement from people around me to achieve the goals I have shared with them. MC's Tip: Build a trusted group of people you share your plan and progress with. Final thoughts
Great resources:
Our experiences on our relocation journeys are different but our experiences are similar! Relocating, living and thriving in a new country is not an easy journey but it is worth it. This post continues the "Her Relocation" series which I started with my blog post My relocation journey: 10 things I wish I knew before I relocated to the US a few weeks ago. I know I am not alone on this journey.
A few months ago, I asked immigrant women mostly in Germany, UK, US and Nigeria: "What are the top three challenges you have faced in your new home country". In this post I will be sharing some experiences and learnings from other women who live in a new home country and are thriving. We will take a deep dive into some of the challenges the women shared and some advice you can apply. A major realization for me through the process, was that our experiences are very similar, and we have a great opportunity to learn from one another. Challenge 1: Feeling lonely Her Experience: "I was completely alone without friends or my family", "There was no one to help specially with my kids", "I struggled with meeting people", "I missed my family and friends" Her Advice:
Challenge 2: Lack of local Food Her Experience: "I could not find food she I accustomed to", "There were no African food stores in my little town" Her Advice:
Challenge 3: Different culture and language Her Experience: "Culture shock"," I didn't speak the language", " People had a different accent, personality, slangs" Her Advice:
Challenge 4: Professional/Career challenges Her Experience: " I struggled to find a job", "I had to start from the beginning professionally", "My university degree was not recognized" Her Advice:
Challenge 5: Financial hardship Her Experience: "I was always broke", "Money went away very quickly", "This was the first time I had to deal with all my bills without my parents" Her Advice:
Challenge 6: Legal and immigration issues Her Experience: " I didn't know where to go with my immigration questions", " I was afraid of my appointments at the Immigration Office" Her Advice:
Challenge 7: Settling into new life Her Experience: Settling In: finding accommodation, understanding daily specificities, opening a bank account - Her Advice:
Challenge 8: Relationship/Marital problems Her Experience: "My husband and I grew apart as were so busy trying to settle down here", "I was in a distance relationship for years and almost broke things off" Her Advice:
Challenge 9: Inferiority Complex Her Experience: " I felt like I was not good enough and everyone in my new country knew more than I did", "They treated me as if I was a 2nd class citizen" Her Advice:
Challenge 10: Personal Growth and Self-development Challenges Her Experience: " While I was growing up, I was taught not to challenge what I was told, when I moved I suddenly was expected to", " There were a lot of things I didn't know about life', " I had to grow up very quickly" Her Advice:
Final Thoughts: Thanks to all the ladies who contributed to this post. I appreciate you sharing your painful experiences so other ladies can learn from you and thrive on their relocation journey. In upcoming "Her Relocation" series blog posts, we will be delving deeper into more practical steps, sharing helpful resources and sharing in-depth stories from to immigrant women who are thriving. Call to action: Please share any additional challenges you faced or are currently facing in the comments section below. Let's share and learn from one another! What can we Immigrant Women do to close the gap? On this International Women's day - I would like to say two things to women living, studying and working in a new home country.
We will be in Managerial Positions What will we do?
We will increase our earnings What will we do?
We will start new businesses What will we do?
We will make social connections What will we do?
We will take advance of opportunities and resources available to us What will we do?
Final Thoughts
Do you know your worth? Thinking back to growing up in Nigeria, I was surrounded by a lot of strong women who worked hard to provide for their families. I learned the importance of working hard and not limiting yourself. However, a key lesson I didn't learn from them was knowing my worth, growing my worth and communicating my worth. It was never considered a good thing to talk about your strengths or about your worth. It was perceived as being boastful or prideful. As I have advanced in my life journey, I have learned that if you don't know your worth, you limit what you can achieve in life.
Let's look at some definitions of worth and value: Worth: "The level at which someone or something deserves to be valued or rated." (Source: Oxford dictionary) or “the importance or usefulness of something or someone" (Source: Cambridge dictionary) Value: "that quality of a thing according to which it is thought of as being more or less desirable, useful, estimable, important, etc.; worth or the degree of worth" or "that which is desirable or worthy of esteem for its own sake; thing or quality having intrinsic worth" (Source: Collin's dictionary). I personally prefer the German word "Wert" as it covers both worth and value. Wert: einer Sache innewohnende Qualität, aufgrund deren sie in einem gewissen Maße begehrenswert ist (Source: Duden) The direct translation will be: " A thing of internal quality, that makes it measurably desirable" Value, worth implies intrinsic excellence or desirability It's key to understand that your value comes from within. It's something you alone have control over. Don't allow or wait for any external forces to define your worth. Growing up, people had a lot to say about me and who they thought I was. I had to learn to search internally and be in tune with myself. I started believing that everything I had contributed to my worth. My ability to talk to strangers was seen by most of the people around me as me being a talkative/disturbing child. Today I know that I have a gift of communication which is a large part of who I am. Know who you are - know your worth You are on this earth for a purpose and have a lot to contribute. You are unique, and you are the only one who can fulfil your purpose. Your feeling of worth needs to come from within. Don't wait for people on the outside to tell you your worth. Soul search and document what you bring to the table. Remember that no one knows you as much as you know yourself. Be vocal about your worth/value In the last five years, I have been on a journey of being more vocal about my value. Especially in my professional life, I found it very hard to articulate my worth or even ask for what I know I'm worth. A while ago I watched a TEDx Talk titled "Know your worth, and then ask for it" by Casey Brown which helped improve in this area. It's ok to know your worth and tell people about it. Seriously if I could give my younger self some advice, I would say "Talk about your value. No one else will do it for you". Start practicing - Speak of your worth There is a $ tag on your value/worth I understand that sometimes it's hard to put a monetary value to your worth. In a professional setting your worth typically has a monetary value. How much are people willing to pay you to add value to the company. Every time I hear conversations around equal pay, I feel that the conversation we should be having is around knowing what you're worth and requesting it. I'm on the discovery journey myself. You are not defined by your relationship marital status or being a mother This is a topic I am very passionate about. There are many ladies out there who see their worth only in being someone's wife or a mother. See yourself as a woman with a lot of worth outside her marital status. It saddens me to see young women who don't think they are worth a lot because they are not married or have kids. I would like to say to you- You are worth a lot as YOU. All others status changes are beautiful additions but not your core worth. Increase your value On your journey, you want to ensure that you grow your value bank. It will take work and you investing in yourself. Think about growing your portfolio - it is an intentional and active exercise. I increase my value bank by honing my craft, learning new skills, taking courses, learning and practicing new things. Final thoughts
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