Inspiration from Grace Hopper 2019
The world’s largest gathering of women technologists
I had the opportunity to attend the Grace Hopper Celebration in Orlando this Fall, along with another engineering manager, Emily. Thanks to Magnet Forensics for sending us!!
My handwritten notes are a little messy, but I promised a few folks I’d share so I must. (side note — commitments to others is a great way to hold myself accountable. I might let myself down, but not my friends!)
The very first lesson from GHC was months earlier. They opened nominations for a “Senior Leadership Summit”, for women who are in positions of Director and above, or as they said “at the cusp of the C-suite”. I didn’t think I met all of the requirements, and my imposter syndrome was, as always, in the back of my head. BUT — it sounded great and I really wanted to go. So I took a chance, wrote a nice bio about my accomplishments, and nominated myself. And guess what, I got in!
This will definitely encourage me to try for the things I really want, because, what’s the worst that could happen?
The Senior Leadership Summit was my favourite day of the entire conference. Some quotes and takeaways from it below.
“If someone is saying good things about you, don’t say, ‘oh, you’re too kind’ or ‘oh, not me’. Instead, square your shoulders and say, ‘yes, that’s me’. Own your accomplishments.”
“Go do one thing that’s impossible. Then you’ll do everything anyone says you can’t”
As a leader, you need to “see the forest AND the trees”. Know your trademark strength. Always be recruiting.
“Author turned publisher”: if you’re an author, you can write a few books. If you’re a publisher, you get to enable authors to release many books. Being a leader is like being a publisher. It doesn’t mean you can’t be an author sometimes, but being a publisher makes you scalable.
Manage up. In a 1–1 with anyone in the leadership structure above you, bring your agenda. If you don’t, whose agenda do you think you’ll get? It requires you to prepare, do your homework, but you’ll get what you want to get out of it. Would you rather the CEO manages the board, or the board manages the CEO?
“Find your priest”. As in, find one person you can vent to. Highly recommend that this is not your spouse.
An audience member asked one of the leaders how she handled being wrong. She said, “Be wrong visibly, so your team knows they can too.”
Know the market value of someone in your position. You can’t negotiate without this information.
We discussed the imposter syndrome. Walking into rooms and feeling like you don’t belong. We practiced the “power pose” which, admittedly, was not cheesy and rather empowering. We were given the advice to walk into a room with some swagger like we belong because if we were invited, it’s for a reason.
“Have the confidence of a mediocre white man”
“Self actuality despite the self doubt, because the self doubt will always be there”
We talked a lot about authentic leadership. Know your values, they are key for influencing others. Find your purpose. Build a network. Work with other women and support them.
I went to a session about being on a board. That was informative! The lawyer who presented said that in her sessions when she surveys the room, men often cite money as the reason they want to be on a board, whereas women often say impact. Why not both?
Types of boards:
non profit boards
advisory boards
private company boards
public boards
Watch videos of women who make an impact. Serena Williams, Greta Thunberg. Take notes of how they speak, how they pause, body language. Avoid Ted Talk videos, those are highly rehearsed.
Women make up 47% of the entry level workforce, but only 23% of the C-suite. Look at bias to explain that discrepancy.
A few tips from a session on collaboration:
- leverage relationships by helping others and asking for help
- listen without judgement and ask questions
- ensure and value diversity
- encourage others to contribute their ideas
- work with differences
- find yourself a mentor/sponsor
In one session, I was told to imagine a future where I had accomplished all my goals, and lived a happy life. Write about what that looks like for 10 minutes, non-stop. I started writing and a few minutes in, things were starting to get really clear: the fact that what I value the most is time with my children.
With over 25000 women, there was this incredible energy at the keynotes I had never felt before. I spoke to students, inspired a few, got inspired, and connected with some great leaders throughout my sessions. We picked up some swag at the career fair. Girly swag! Inclusive swag! Finally. Usual tech conference swag is not great.
Emily and I shared notes over delicious wine each night, swam in the hotel pool in the warm rain, ate too much sourdough with really good butter, and made action items for each other to bring back to our lives.
I’m taking moonshots with my goals these days — trying for those “impossible” things, so I declared that I would attend GHC again, and it would be when I’m speaking at it.
My favourite quote came during the last keynote at the closing ceremonies, because I agree with it wholeheartedly.
“If you want a better life, give it to someone else” — Dr Vivienne Ming
