Female Tech Exec

In our 100th episode, get a short-cut to the 10 most popular episodes on the Female Tech Exec podcast, so you can quickly catch up with the hottest topics!

Nir Eyal is the author of two bestselling books, “Hooked: How to build Habit-forming Products” and “Indistractable: How to Control Your attention and Choose your life”. Nir and I met in 2014 and I was a guest contributor to his blog www.nirandfar.com, writing about addictive online auctions: [Auction Addiction: This Online Industry’s Dirty Secrets](https://www.nirandfar.com/online-auctions/). 

In our conversation with Nir, we explore:

* Why humans did not evolve to be happy all the time
* What is more important than happiness in making your life productive and fulfilling, and how to cultivate that quality
* The dangers of “overtraining” when embarking on new goals and what to do instead to not fall off the bandwagon
* Why external motivators don’t work in sticking to your goals as well as evolving your identity and how to do that

Check out these resources mentioned by Nir:

“Indistractable” book: http://geni.us/Indistractable
“Indistractable” bonus content is here: http://nirandfar.com/indistractable
“Indistractable” summary article: https://www.nirandfar.com/skill-of-the-future/
Distraction guide here: https://www.nirandfar.com/distractions/
Habits vs routines article here: https://www.nirandfar.com/habits/
Why schedules are better than to-do lists: https://www.nirandfar.com/todo-vs-schedule-builder/
Time boxing article: https://www.nirandfar.com/timeboxing
Values article: https://www.nirandfar.com/common-values/
Habit tracker - https://www.nirandfar.com/habit-tracker/

Also, the schedule maker tool Nir mentioned is here: https://nirandfar.com/schedule-maker/

In this episode, I walk you through the importance of writing your own playbook, as a Product Manager and as a team leader, even if you're just starting out and think you don't have anything important to share.  One of the biggest mistakes professional women do in their careers is fail to write down and understand the mechanics behind the failures and successes, not only in the projects they drive personally, but in the companies and products around them.

I learned the critical importance of writing a playbook in my first product role at Zynga where we turned every experiment into a recipe that could be replicated predictably. The playbook you write and document as you're learning from your experiences will provide you with the tools that you need to demonstrate as you interview for your next position.  

Tune in to learn:
- How to use any work experience to write your playbook
- How to start writing your management playbook as a new manager
- How to use failures or even experiences you weren't responsible for directly in your playbook

In my experience working with lots of ambitious hard-working women in tech, there is one skill that stands head and shoulders above everything else when it comes to being successful at any tech company. And that's the ability to build trust.

Hands down every time I hear a horror story from work, it's about lack of trust.  Similarly, anytime someone is getting supported and promoted quickly, there's usually at least one solid relationship built on trust.  

Tune into this episode to learn:

• How trust is like a bridge - the stronger it is, the more truth and vulnerability it can support. Just like a bridge, it requires intention, time and investment to build it.
• How to build trust starting today, even though you may have hit bumps on the road with some relationships at work.
• How to deal with a challenging group dynamic.
• How to be vulnerable with the right people and not overshare with the wrong people.

In this episode, I talk to Mengmeng Chen, Sr Director of Product at F5 and a member of our CareerClimb community and Executive Development Program, at the end of her 23 day brutal quarantine in China, where she was visiting family.  

We talk about:

• Straddling two different cultures, 
• The future of tech in China and the role of the new generation in driving the tech sector in China and the US.
• The perils and advantages of being a rapidly rising star in your career
• Building trust, cultivating patience, turning challenges into opportunities and constantly stretching yourself into unfamiliar territory.  

Mengmeng’s sense of adventure and unapologetic go-for-it attitude are infectious, so prepare to be seriously inspired and challenged to reframe your thinking about what it takes to succeed in your career (hint: you don’t need anyone’s permission to go for it)

In this episode, I take you back to my climbing adventure on Mount Shasta, transporting you to an icy hill up in the clouds, close to the summit, aptly named Misery Hill.    That's the place where 50% of the climbers who make it to that point on the mountain give up and turn back.  We face many Misery Hills in our career - whether it's a last minute setback on your product launch, a reorg just before your raise, getting passed over for a promotion you thought was in the bag, not getting the offer you want after 24 rounds of interviewing, or having a partner or co-founder quit on you - it really sucks.

And it's super easy to give up at that point or take whatever you're given and not ask / negotiate for what you deserve.  And fully half of people in your shoes WILL quit at that point if the statistics are consistent with what we're seeing on Mount Shasta climbs.

Tune in to learn how to not give up and push yourself in that last 5% stretch.  The payoffs are huge - raises, promotions, career opportunities, better satisfaction and of course, the feeling of accomplishment at reaching the summit!

In this episode, I address something I've observed recently in our CareerClimb community - women who haven't worked with a coach before are sometimes intimidated and at a loss of "how to use" their executive coach.   That's normal, we've all been there with our first coach.  It's like we're gingerly driving a powerful car but we're afraid to go out of the parking lot and drive it on the street. 

My very first executive coach is a coach on our platform today and I still joke with her that I put her on a pedestal and was very deferential to her when we first started working together.  

This podcast episode is an attempt to provide a "user manual" of sorts to your executive coach if you're so lucky to have one.  Learn:

1) How to uplevel yourself faster with the help of your elite coach
2) What to ask and what not to ask of your coach
3) What to prepare for your coaching session

So that by the end of the episode, you're empowered to pick up some speed in that Ferrari of yours!

Today I speak with Nalina Murthy, a technical Product Manager and a member of our CareerClimb Community, who has shown great resilience and perseverance in building her tech career in the US.  She has managed to gain over a decade of experience in retail, banking, data centers and social media platforms, despite facing immigration-related challenges, taking a break to have her child and experiencing a set of conscious and unconscious biases from her colleagues. 

Tune in to learn:

• How Nalina refused to cover up her 4 year gap on her resume.
• How her experience as a South Asian female in tech had additional layers of challenge when working with South Asian male colleagues and homogeneous teams.
• How Nalina refused to give up even after a drawn-out immigration process that took her out of work. 

Connect with Nalina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nalina-murthy/

In this episode I share a common mistake that I’ve seen many women make including myself.  In fact, it even got me fired once - I share the story in the episode.  There’s a big misconception that a certain behavior most professional women adopt will get you noticed and promoted, but that’s a HUGE trap that is waiting to swallow you.

In this episode, I walk you through:

1) The costs to your career and wallet of falling into the promotion misconception trap
2) How to avoid being a “low light plant” in your office, ignored and kept away from sunlight and opportunities
3) Four key strategies of positioning yourself for promotion the smart way.

Ready to start implementing these and other key strategies to start climbing your career today? Sign up for the next free VP Challenge - open to all mid-career women in Product-related tech fields - Product Managers, Product Marketers, Program Managers, Business Analysts, Designers, etc. Register at www.productvpchallenge.com.

In this episode, I discuss the KEY factor in making your career dreams and goals come true in the New Year and beyond. Without this ingredient, your career goals are likely to join the graveyard of failed New Year's resolutions - data shows that over 90% of them get scrapped by February. Don't let this be you!

Tune in to find out:

• What separates mid-career professional women who successfully get raises, promotions and more senior opportunities from the ones who remain stuck in their careers
• The most important key to your goals' success and 3 strategies of getting this key if you don't have it yet
• How to stop blaming yourself if your goals haven't happened in the past and how to turn them around, so you can hit them out of the park in the New Year!

Want to dive deeper into not only figuring out your career vision and goals for the New Year, but actually making sure you hit them?  Then don't miss our New Year's special "Hitting Your Career Vision and Goals in 2022" edition of our famed free Product VP Challenge (for any female in Product or related fields, from PM to Sr Director).  We start January 15th!  Register here: www.productvpchallenge.com