Imagine Your Possible
On 5 March 2019, a few days before the International Women’s Day, I had the privilege of attending the Cisco Women of Impact 2019 conference on behalf of Creadits. As my first corporate conference and as a recent Sociology graduate, I was pretty excited about the prospect of going to my first event regarding community empowerment.
I expected to feel distant, even detached - after all, this was a women’s event with topics that would be more relatable to women.
I was wrong. This conference isn’t just about empowering women. I learnt much from the perspectives and experiences shared that day.
The theme of the event was “Imagine Your Possible” and indeed, the ideas and insights have opened my eyes to more possibilities. Here are some personal thoughts and takeaways from the first speaker, Miyuki Suzuki, President of APJC, Cisco Systems, broadcasted live from Melbourne.
1. Anything is possible
Would you expect a History major to lead a major global technology company? I wouldn’t. It seems unthinkable, doesn’t it? Suzuki proved the unthinkable possible.
How does one even do that?
I was impressed. Suzuki moved from one role to another, growing from strength to strength, overcoming difficulty after difficulty. With her extensive career experience and leadership, she offered the first lesson on career planning:
“We can’t plan five or ten or fifteen years ahead in current times. Opportunities present themselves.”
Suzuki's story of change, adaptation and growth reminded me of a friend who’s leaving Singapore after spending a decade here to pursue his career. While a great deal of uncertainty lie ahead, a great deal of opportunities wait to be discovered as well.
At this time of my life, in my first year of my career, that was an empowering lesson. In the past year, as I completed my degree, I questioned my future as a Sociology and Psychology major. Where can I go? How will my story unfold?
I’m glad I attended the WOI event - Suzuki’s path is a reminder that anything is possible.
2. My greatest asset is that I’m not the smartest person in the room
“I’m not the smartest person. My greatest asset is that I’m with smart people.”
Each time I start something, I want to be the best. It frustrates me that I progress slowly. That was the case when I joined Toastmasters and when I started in my sales development role with Creadits. Progress at the beginning is achingly slow. It gnaws away at your confidence when you see people growing faster and climbing higher. Suzuki’s words were a timely reminder that there’s always a positive to every situation - when we’re not the best, we can learn from the best. I’m glad that I’m in environments where growth is supported.
3. Don’t sell yourself short
This example drew quite some laughter from the audience.
“When people see the same job descriptions, why is it that men with half the qualification go for it, but women with just one or two lacking points stop themselves from applying?”
While I have no answers to share for the question on gender differences, the learning point is this: Don’t sell yourself short.
Tay Bee Kheng, Managing Director of Cisco Singapore, added later in our local session: “What’s the worst thing that could happen? Just go for it!”
In the best case, we win the job or we succeed in what we do. In the worst, we lose the job or fail at something, but more often than not, we’ll be fine.
Afterthought
At this point in writing my first ever LinkedIn article, it does seem like my musings are commonsensical, even mundane, but hey, as learning point 3 suggests, “just go for it!”
I guess within each of us there are voices. Sometimes the pessimistic voice wins, but time and again, we must push back with the voice of optimism and remember: in whatever we do, let’s not sell ourselves short because anything is possible, and we can always learn from others.
What do you think? What other advice has been helpful in your journey? Would love to hear from you :)
Jun Han