By Zhang Tongtong, Master of Science in Accounting (Data & Analytics) (MSA), 2018 August Intake
In today’s world, there exists a gap for women to thrive in their career despite their abilities to perform at work. While more women are now educated and on their paths to attaining top leadership positions, they are also playing an important role in supporting their families. It is constantly an uphill task for women to strike a balance between their personal lives and careers.
In January, I attended an inspiring talk about how to chart your path as a woman leader by Ms. Lee Xueling, Case Team Leader, Bain & Company. Here are what I have learnt:
Charting Priorities with Design Thinking
Design thinking is critical to thriving in life and work. Begin with the end in mind – the first step is to think about your personal priorities and set your goals. After which, chart your path by taking actions to achieve your goals. Thirdly, assemble your crew or make meaningful connections at work to help you in your journey. At last, navigate with intent and re-plot your path if necessary, until you have reached your goals. I realised design thinking is a powerful and convenient tool that we can apply when making personal major decisions.
Overcoming Challenges with Confidence
Based on her research, Xueling shared with us that women and men are equally inspired and confident right after graduation. However, after five years, women would face a decrease in confidence and they may feel that they would not succeed in their roles. The reasons for this are fewer opportunities for women in the workplace, lack of role models and lack of interest and excitement at work and in life. No doubt there will be many obstacles that will get in your way, but as long as you have the confidence to overcome them, you will have the strength and courage to thrive at work and in life.
Be Open to Change
Many people view success as a destination. As a result, they are often too stressed about making choices and overcoming difficulties. However, what actually makes the difference is the journey towards your goals – it has to be enjoyable. Be open to re-navigating your directions. You may not find what you want at first, but if you make the change, you may see light at the end of the tunnel.
Communicating Your Priorities
Besides sharing the how-tos, Xueling also gave us useful tips to thrive in our future workplace.
Balancing work and life – We should figure out about our priorities and be willing to trade-off other things that are not as important.
Managing your boss – It is important to know what our future boss is looking for. Be honest and open to him/her about your career goals.
Communicating your thoughts - Don’t be afraid to ask questions and there is no need to apologise for everything.
About My Goals...
From my own perspective, I have been hesitating about my future career orientation for a long time. I majored in business administration and minored in law during my undergraduate studies. Currently, I am furthering my studies in SMU’s MSA programme that combines accounting knowledge with data analytics. I will have many choices after graduation and I am not sure which route would fit me better.
Taking a leaf from Xueling’s sharing session, I have decided to figure out my priorities first, and choose the job that I am most interested in. At the same time, I will keep my options open and be prepared to adjust my goal or switch to another industry if the job does not work out as expected. I have been too afraid of giving up what I already had and start from the beginning again. Now, I can see the value of my experiences and choices made in the past, and I will always remember to have the resolute and courage to make new choices at any time.
There are many women in the accounting field, and the topic about women leadership is very relatable to all of us. For the men, it will be very helpful to understand women and their challenges faced at work, especially their dilemma of managing work and home. I hope that in the future, women leaders can be more empowered to thrive both at work and at home.
The Women in Leadership Series - Charting the Course is brought to our students by Master of Professional Accounting and Master of Science in Accounting (Data & Analytics). Many of our female students will be in leadership positions in future and we hope to equip them with information to chart the course and get to the top.
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