Forward20 Program

Redefine how to lead and feel more empowered in our career

At the beginning of November, the headquarter of my company hosts a women’s leadership training program. We have colleagues from Tokyo, Hong Kong and Taiwan, spending one and a half day together, to redefine how to lead and feel more empowered in our career. It is quite nice we can have this workshop in our busy working days.

Alicia Ferguson, a producer and footballer, shared her experience of facing failure and how she built her influence in a team. Here are my three takeaways:

First,

Rather than to focus on the failure, how you response to it is way more important.

secondly,

Focus on what people CAN do, rather than what they DIDN’T do well.

and the last is

Step out of your comfort zone. Communicating and listening are both important skills. Fear to speak is also kind of the fear of failure.

Alicia Ferguson-Cook

Then, we had a game time. It helps me find out areas of my life that are important to me. You can also do this exercise by your own by answering the following questions:

1. Your friend will come to visit you this Saturday. So you do a lot of preparation: do grocery shopping, clean the house, do the laundry and so on. But in the morning of that day, you get a call. Your friend says she cannot come today. Suddenly, you get two whole day free. What will you do on the weekend? (No kids bothering! No budget limit!)
2. You got a call from your boss. She wants to give you a year gap. And you will receive a compensation which is equal to your annual salary! So, what will you do during this year?
3. Finish the sentences as follows:
   I’m so glad I ______________________ ,
   and I wish that I had _______________ .
4. You have a chance to put one sentence on the digital billboard of New York Time Square. What is the sentence?

After you are done, write a paragraph about yourself and shorten it to make a mission statement.

In the workshop, we need to have a group with two people who you barely know and start write a draft for them. It is quite interesting to see what vocabularies and sentences others will use to describe you based on your answers. I am really appreciate I can have this chance to meet new friends in working area and know myself more. Look forward to the Day-2 training!