The Importance of Recognizing the "Whole Human" in The Workplace

Jessica Wan is an executive coach and host of the podcast The Ampersand Manifesto.? She has spent more than twenty years as a marketing leader for organizations like Apple, Smule, and Magoosh.? Simultaneously, she has enjoyed a successful career as a classically-trained singer.??

As a high achiever in two unrelated fields, Jessica has a unique perspective on how to cultivate different aspects of the self and balance competing ambitions.? Check out our conversation around her journey, the Ampersand Manifesto, and what human-first leadership means to her.

What is your current role, and what motivates you to do the work you do each day?

I work as an executive and leadership coach. I think the most motivating thing to me, in the work I do with clients, is that I get to be a part of and witness transformation. Some of this is at a very deep level. Being able to help people find clarity, help people navigate change, help people present themselves to others in a way that feels authentic - all of that is very exciting to me.

With coaching, it’s not just about the client. There are network effects. Once you have helped a leader see some of these things and learn from them, that impacts the teams they are managing and working with. It affects their circle of friends and family, too. In both work and life, that type of work on yourself is not just about an individual.? It's about their whole community

What’s a life experience that has shaped your own mindset and thinking on work, and the workplace?

Jessica: My mother passed away when I was twenty-five. For most of my childhood, she did not work outside of the home. When I was in high school, she started as a hostess at a Chinese restaurant. Around this time, she had a law degree from undergrad in Taiwan. But she became a mom, and when you became a mom in 1981 and you’re an immigrant, you’d stay in the home.?

So she’s a hostess at this Chinese restaurant, and she met a woman who was eating at the restaurant who was the manager of a jewelry store.? That woman was so impressed with my mother that she hired her. My mother ended up working at jewelry stores until she passed away. Worked her way up until she was the top seller in all of Ohio. It was an amazing achievement for someone who had never worked in retail, but she had a talent for it.?

What stands out to me are the relationships she developed. It came naturally for her. What she was good at were the relationships. And my work as a coach has helped me see the importance of relationships - real relationships are the core to any business.

What is one challenge in the workplace today that you want to solve to create a better future of work, and why?

Jessica: There is still a lack of recognition for the whole human, and the many facets of an employee. A major underestimation of the value of loyalty. Folks looking for mission-driven work, who are dedicated and loyal, sometimes find that the company or organization does not match that loyalty in their treatment of humans. Fire drills and emergencies have permeated through this culture. We’re not firefighters and doctors, yet it persists. There is constant stress and anxiety. It’s been so binary, and that has to change.

Why did you start your podcast The Ampersand Manifesto, and what is it all about?

Jessica: I started it because these stories need to be told, and I didn’t know anyone else who is telling them. I have been straddling two worlds for my whole life. In undergrad I majored in product design and music. I went from engineering classes to opera seminars.? And after I graduated, I never stopped being a double major. I had a singing career and marketing career.

On paper, it has been what people have defined as success. For a long time, I didn’t know people like me. I knew people who used to be musicians, teaching music as the money making part, going for performing as the main thing. Over twenty years, I collected a group of people in my circle who started businesses while also doing creative pursuits.?

I have learned so much from Ampersands.? It’s been so amazing to connect with them. The surprising thing is that I am getting positive feedback from people who don’t identify as Ampersand but are getting so much out of these interviews. If this person can do this, concurrently be an architect but sing in the LA chamber crowd - if he can do it…?

It’s normalizing having a dual career. Everyone has multiple roles they can perform.

What would need to be true in order to have more people adopt the Ampersand mindset and approach to their life and career??

Jessica: You need to value the humanities and be unapologetic about it. In the years since I was in college, there has been a change in why people go. There’s been a move toward the technical side. When someone says, “I’m double majoring in computer science and public policy” - my heart jumps at that.?

I really believe our purpose on earth is to help each other and understand other people. History, music, art or drama or philosophy… That's the way to understand people. It is foundational for any business job you can get.?

In your own view, what does it mean to be a human-first leader?

To me, it means focusing on the people problems as much - or even more -? than you traditionally would on the strategic priorities or financial outcomes. You have to make sure that people are always on top of your mind. No matter how small you are or what stage you are at, you’re thinking about the people stuff.?

What are some manifestations of this? As a startup founder, thinking about DEIB before you have any hires or raise any money. That is going to guide who you are working with and what your product is. That is really human-first. It’s not just ‘how am I gonna be financially successful’, or ‘how am I going to make this company grow’. You can’t truly impact customers if your employees are having a terrible experience. It does not align.? You have to value people as whole human beings in every part of the work you do and take on.

Who is a leader you admire who is creating a better workplace for their people, and what do they do or model that we can all learn from them?

Jessica: Lexi Grant is a phenomenal leader who is designing her company, They Got Acquired, to be both sustainable for her team as well as have a meaningful impact on the end user. Which in this case is founders whose companies get acquired. She models this in her own leadership style. (Case in point, this post.) I’m inspired by her courage, humility, and generosity. We need more leaders like her!

TLDR: Connect with Jessica on LinkedIn, and check out her podcast, The Ampersand Manifesto,

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