Piloting GGX Leadership: At Her Best
In fall 2017, Bay Area Girl Geek Dinners ran a survey and found women in tech are very interested in leadership development — a crucial lever for getting more women to the top positions at companies and organizations. Last weekend, we piloted a one-day workshop, facilitated by At Her Best founder Minji Wong, who brings 12 years of experience leading L&D at companies including Facebook, WalmartLabs & eBay, to the Girl Geek X Leadership pilot. Unlike most workshops that get you going in the right direction, participants left with a clear and deep understanding of their values & concise vision statement (32 words to be exact)— a clear guide to the future in mere hours!
Her agenda for the day began with community introductions — we hosted participants from the girl geek community including: a product manager, a senior software engineer, a non-profit HR, an early-stage startup COO, a serial entrepreneur, & a growth-stage company executive. Our unique community & connections for accelerated group learning is extraordinary!
Thanks to Minji’s leadership & guidance, participants were prompted for values & vision statements in worksheets, then reviewed the importance of strategic mindsets & negotiating for results — with some practice & group learning. Negotiation practice led to valuable feedback & opportunities for improvements in participants’ communication styles. Minji stressed accountability & rising to the occasion, coaching participants to identify gaps. She frames tricky work situations with professional ease & asks the right questions to help participants overcome entrenched habits, & sets them on the road to a north star.
We brainstormed as a group ways to demonstrate competencies in a workplace to show our best selves, proactively & strategically. Minji also coached participants on making the most of speed networking. There’s only so much you can do in one day, and we are excited to continue developing Girl Geek Leadership experiences in 2018.
Minji’s expertise & facilitation provided the safe space & professional guidance. As a former HR leader who participated in reviews identifying/promotion high-potentials & high-performers at Fortune 100 companies, Minji provided valuable insight on how we as technical women are perceived in the workplace across different “markets” (eg. manager, team members, promotion review panel, peers).
Everything takes practice over time (consistency) and we will continue to host more Girl Geek Leadership experiences in 2018. Please sign up at the link if you are interested in joining us then, we will be in touch!
