We are worth it

More than a month ago, I was trying to sleep after 13 rigourous hours of non-stop examination preparation with my A-team, Emma and Luke for our final mile at IE Brown Executive MBA. One of those moments where the mind just cannot calm down. Bad habit but I turned to Facebook — watched the following YouTube video shared by LeanIn.org: Commencement speech by Natalie Portman at Harvard this year.

It made me questioned why I was embarking on the EMBA to reading ferociously about anything from marine biology, politics to design (mostly non-fiction) — unleashing the inner geek in me. And went on to complete four marathons in Auckland, Berlin, New York City and Singapore over the last six years — totally over-compensating. Indeed the epiphany came from Natalie Portman, “I’m still insecure about my own worthiness”. Of course, my sleep was screwed by then.

Here’s the background, I have been in communications consulting for the last 12 years, commonly known as the “PR and Marketing girl”. In fact, I have rose through the ranks to my last role as a Director and Practice Leader for a global firm in Singapore and have worked and lived in Shanghai and New York City briefly. I soon questioned the meaning and impact of my contribution hence went back to graduate school to explore my options.

After graduation while speaking to many younger people, I realised that our mindset is stuck in the 80s where career success is defined in the most traditional sense — being a lawyer, doctor, oil trader or now, the hip thing to do is to be an entrepreneur. They felt that their career is less meaningful than a vet saving animals. True to that — but it does not make us less purposeful.

In fact, our graduation address speaker, Bettina Karsch, Brown alumni and Director of HR and Property at Vodafone Spain highlighted that innovative companies no longer look at past career experiences as the defining characteristics. Amen to that. Lo and behold — in reality, the typical hiring conventions stay and firms are out to minimise hiring risks — As I look to specialise in Change Management consulting as my next step, there are plenty of opportunities for Communications and Marketing practitioners and indeed, the world is flat.

Our deep experience in Marketing allows us to bring fresh perspective to rethink and design user and consumer experiences (digital adoption and transformation, no less); Our extensive understanding on consumer needs and wants gives us the advantage of helping companies and organisations build go-to-market strategy bearing in mind disruptive businesses; Our critical thinking skills in consulting pushes us to analyse, develop and improve frameworks and processes; Our comprehensive project management experience ensures that there is no compromise in delivery and we work with cross-discipline/market teams all the time; Our functional communications expertise is the core vehicle delivering an effective and successful Change programme.

We will never be an IT expert nor are we trained to be a CFO. We will not pretend to be who we are not. But who is stopping us from asking the right questions, learning more about SAP or ERP systems and understanding balance sheet or annual report? There is no rocket science in the age of Google, only lazy and unmotivated people.

My message to fellow practitioners — and even others who might think they are not taken seriously or under-achieving in their profession:

Be the best in class, always be curious and be purposeful in our delivery. In Mark Manson’s blog entry titled “In Defense of Being Average”, “The people who become truly exceptional at something do so not because they believe they’re exceptional. On the contrary, they become amazing because they are obsessed with improvement.” We are beyond fluff — we can be fun and serious at the same time.

My message to hiring managers:

Beyond their CVs, ask the next candidate the latest book they read and what they have learnt — perhaps why they were even reading that book in the first place. Find out if they care about current affairs and what they think is the most important issue that will change a specific industry you care for… Explore the most relevant project they have executed successfully, including personal ones. Let’s redefine some standards here. We are looking at work-life integration — not just from a time perspective.

Again, I’m not speaking just on behalf of the industry but truly, there are gems in every profession and industry. Don’t label us and if you are touched by Coke’s latest “Remove Label” campaign, this is case in point.

Thank you for reading.