Building Successful Careers

Joseph and Pat were introducing Dr Elizabeth Xu I was given the 2017 Hall of Fame Award by WITI, it was a great honor, 70 friends, colleagues, mentors and family members celebrated the event with me. My son Joseph and my mentor and mother Pat Zimmerman introduced me.  It was a tearing moment. I like to share my acceptance speech and appreciation with  you: Dr. Elizabeth Xu accepting WITI HOF Award Good evening ladies and gentlemen. It’s my greatest honor to receive the prestigious 2017 Hall of Fame Award. Thanks WITI ! Behind every successful man, there is a women.  It is much harder for a woman to be successful.  For me, it took a global village.  I dedicate this award to my supportive global village, to all of you who have loved,  mentored and supported me throughout my life. I was born and raised in China.  My father was an English professor. He was handsome, artistic and sporty; he was my hero.  My father encouraged me to do what boys

Good habits are like a well-maintained engine. They will keep you going subconsciously without any additional effort.  Turn best practices into habits. This will simplify your life and make you a more predictable and easy to follow the leader.  Good parents help their children cultivate good habits at a young age, good habits such as exercising regularly, eating a good diet, keeping promises and treating other people nicely and with integrity.  Once a practice becomes your habit, it is part of your muscle memory, you automatically do it without thinking. It is hard to forget and ignore, just like it is hard to unlearn how to ride a bike. Skills are your tools. Our ever-changing world calls for new tools and you have to prepare for it.  Investing money and time to learn these new skills and keeping you up-to-date with changing trends are as important as eating food every day.  Skills at different levels are different.  Learning next level skills in advance will help you un

Since I joined BMC in 2014, I have been traveling more than 50% throughout the year, visiting customers, giving talks at conferences and working with my global teams. Most of the dinners were formal, several courses with glasses of wine.  The food was delicious and different each day, I enjoyed traveling and enlighting interactions with our customers and teams. Well,  I gained more than 15 pounds, and I was no longer as nimble and fit. Sadly, one of my classmate at PKU graduate school passed away unexpectedly, and a partner at Zen Water Capital died in the same month earlier this year.  “The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity.”   – Seneca I made my decision to change the way I worked and lived.   Late February, I decided to leave my job at BMC, and my final day at BMC was April 28, 2017.  I wanted to devote my time to write the V2 of myths of the promotion, as well as draft the AI book, working on the two pressing and meaningful projects before I take