LinkedIn WomenConnect: Making the Extraordinary Ordinary

The post below is based on a talk I gave on November 19, 2020, at LinkedIn’s 19th WomenConnect event, which was themed “Leading Compassionately Through Business Unusual Times.” Over the years, our in-person WomenConnect events have been an invaluable resource for our Women In Tech community to meet and hear from so many inspiring individuals, and it’s my hope that our virtual attendees also felt that same sense of community and support. A huge kudos to the teams involved in taking it virtual! 

Life is made up of many defining moments, but we often don’t recognize their significance at the time. 2020, on the other hand, has been full of watershed moments that felt instantly consequential. When faced with tough challenges, like the ones that this year has brought, I find it helpful to reflect on lessons I’ve learned from the quieter, but no less significant, moments in my life. These learnings have helped guide me in my decision making as I confront new obstacles. 

In particular, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on some of the moments that have helped define my career. By sharing these anecdotes, I hope that others might learn some helpful lessons or be inspired in their own journeys.

#HaveConviction

It’s safe to say that my family is a big part of the reason why I became an engineer. I grew up in a family of engineers; engineering was a way of life for us. Training began early and my becoming an engineer was inevitable. When it came time for college, I was initially considering either medicine or engineering. Many family members strongly encouraged me to go into medicine, justifying their positions with the fact that I was a girl, and therefore “more suited” to medicine. But the more the world tried to convince me otherwise, the stronger my conviction to follow my passion for engineering grew. That passion and sense of purpose have helped fuel me through many challenging times, so I’m thankful that I had to harden my resolve early in life and follow my own sense of what’s best for me.

#EncourageSpunk

My first interview experience was at a job fair for Sun Microsystems. I was excited about the opportunity, and neither a two-hour commute to the fair site nor an hour spent waiting in line could dampen my enthusiasm. But when I finally made it, the interviewer gave me only a brief glance and limited conversation before preparing to place my resume in the discard pile. I could see my chance for an interview slipping away, so my spunk took over and prompted me to say “Please, just ask me one technical question!” I explained to him that I had driven two hours to make it to the job fair and had arranged childcare for my infant daughter to remain at home, so he should at least ask me one technical question before passing on me. That caught his attention, and he passed me on to a woman manager at the company, saying “I think you’ll like this one.” My moment of spunk paid off: she hired me, and the rest is history!

#TakeIntelligentRisks

Throughout my career, I had a relatively straightforward career path. I knew many would consider my trajectory ideal, but deep down, I recognized that I had become too comfortable and stopped learning. Transformation on a personal level starts with believing that you can become the person you want to be. Sometimes, it involves taking a step back because you’re confident that if you take the right risks, you will land where you’re meant to be. This is when I met Mohak Shroff and Maria Zhang, who invited me to help the team launch a new hiring solution at LinkedIn. The scope and role were smaller than what I had previously, but I knew the possibilities were infinite. I was scared—the risk of falling behind and working to regain lost ground seems higher as a woman in tech—but I knew in my heart that what I would gain from the experience would be more valuable. Two years later, I’m honored to play an integral role in the LinkedIn Talent Solutions team.

#FindYourBalance

When it comes to women with careers and families, there is an assumption that if you have one, the other must have been compromised at some point. To be honest, however, my perspective has always been, “Why can’t I have both?” I have two wonderful children and a loving, supportive husband—our home may not be the cleanest if you drop by without notice, but we are a unit that is hyper-focused on what we believe is important for us as a family. As someone in a tech management role, I want to encourage other women who want to achieve a similar balance, and show that it is possible. I was once asked by my 6-year-old son why I had to work when it seemed like we had enough to meet our needs. It was at that moment that I realized I had never taken the time to explain to him why it was important to me to do my job and that having a career is about more than just making ends meet. My career plays a key part in defining who I am and what makes me happy.  If we’re going to reshape this narrative that women can have both, it starts with us: So, to all the mothers out there, please have this conversation with your child so they can build this into their narratives.

#PersistToPersevere

I have been in the industry for over twenty years and have seen bias in all forms. I was once told in an interview that working from home was not an alternative for child care. I have walked into meetings where it was automatically assumed that my male colleagues were the decision-makers. Roles and promotions did not come easy. But if you persist, you will achieve and when you do, you will create the path for another. This is both the burden and privilege that women leaders in tech carry on our shoulders. But I’m in no way advocating for keeping our heads down or “going along to get along.” It is extremely important to recognize bias and protest it, while also trying not to let it consume you or wear you down completely. Because systemic bias continues to persist in our systems and structures, we must approach it systemically—breaking it down one chip at a time.

My role model is and has always been my mother. She is an engineer herself, graduated in the sixties. She worked for India’s defense organization; she was a rocket scientist!. As a teenager, I was in awe of what she was achieving, but today, I’m most inspired by her extraordinary journey. She followed her passion for engineering at a time that was less accepting of women pursuing a career in this field. I’ve been fortunate to benefit from the legacy of my mother and her generation, and the roads they paved for women in tech. I’ve always thought of her story as extraordinary, and in comparison, my own story being relatively ordinary. However, I’ve come to realize this is a good thing. It should be ordinary for women to succeed at the same rates as their male peers, and it should be ordinary to see more women in tech leadership. There’s still work to be done, so I want to encourage everyone to continue to recognize your own “little moments” of learning so together we can build a more equitable and welcoming workplace.