Building Successful Careers

When you stop learning, you start dying. Pat Zimmerman

We either leisurely or are forced to make decisions or choices each day. Each decision or choice points to a different path, defines our future and influences people around us, subtlety or profoundly. Using programming language, life presents us with sets after sets of “if else" statements. We could very well come from the same place in our lives (i.e. classmates from the same school). Each outcome of the “if else” sets us apart. Over a long period of time , we become vastly different people. Therefore, some of us become restless when it is time to make decisions, others are afraid of the consequences of their choices. Recently, I had an enlightening conversation with Dan Pritchett, EBay Fellow and CTO of Rearden Commerce. He was the first person ever who clearly separated decisions and choices for me. He said, “Choices are made based on pure facts, based on adequate supportive information; it is a purely analytical result. Decisions are made based on partial facts, partia...

My long lost friend May called me out of the blue yesterday. Three minutes into the conversation, we talked about life. Life is made up of events. Although individual events seem accidental, woven together they form relationships and experiences which impact how you feel about yourself. In that sense, nothing is accidental. Everything intertwines impacting your future life, ultimately creating your present and future life experiences. May joked that there are two types of people in the world. One type creates stories and the other listens to stories. Story creators are full of surprises and new initiatives, their life experience is exciting. Listeners get excited just observing them, wanting to be included in these stories. At lunch time, I was five minutes early and while waiting for my friend I noticed a table with four ladies talking and laughing. What a happy table! I could not help notice that one lady was radiant with happiness and excitement. That made her so beautiful and...

Many people would say I am a process junky because of my extensive experience at IBM DB2, and many years of practicing sophisticated software development processes to build large scale mission critical enterprise software. The perception from people who don’t know me well is their perfect reality. Indeed, Elizabeth is a process junky on paper from afar. People who know me well see a different Elizabeth, who has a passion for innovation. Research, innovation and creativity inspire me, and fuel me through many “boring” days and activities. Without innovation, one would never paint the most moving scenes and objects; one could never build killer apps. Without innovation, the iPhone would never reach our palms. Well, can we build an iPhone without any process? Despite the many birth defects the iPhone IV born with, it went through very strict processes to achieve such consistency, friendly user interface and it is a piece of art. When I go to an empty parking lot, I can zigzag whateve...

Many people complain about having no time for work or life. I suggest they keep a daily log of what they do with their time. Each person is unique in spending their time on different things, but they share one common theme. The more positive person has more time and control over his life. When you are truly in charge of your time, your mind is full of positive images and energy. No time is spent on negative thoughts, churning and idling, no sleepless nights. Organizations share the same theme, negative activities waste time and negatively affect productivity and morale. That's why a negative leader can destroy the organization. A positive, result-oriented leader can drive the organization; unleash untapped positive energy channeling positive force in the right direction. Be positive, get rid of internal mental friction, oil the gears in your mind and make your mind more efficient. You will be in control your time, your life and work.

Stress is caused by problems and issues. The best way to release stress is to write down your problems and issues, focus all your thinking and energy to discover the solution. Elizabeth Xu

Rocking climbing was my son’s top choice to celebrate his 11th birthday; he was going to challenge himself as well as his friends. His younger brother was not sure whether he should join the group. One hour before the party my friend called and asked if her 7 year old could join the rock climbing party. My younger son heard our conversation; he decided to join the troop. Climbing the 20 foot wall was an easy task for my older son. He conquered every single wall the instructor suggested. But it was a hard task for other 11 year old boys. One of them quit after he reached 5 feet, two of them quit after 10 feet. “It was too hard, it is too high, I am afraid of heights” the boys told others when they finally touched the floor. My younger son followed in his older brother’s footsteps, his legs were trembling, he struggled, rested and struggled again. With his family cheering him on, he finally reached the top. Then he struggled even harder to get down. He would not let go and slid...

Many leaders are proud of their ability to attend to details and put their team members in action. It certainly is a great leadership trait. I also witness many leaders who put high pressure on their team every minute asking for meaningless details. Their goal is not about moving toward a strategic direction, but control. By directing their teams to do unnecessary tasks, they satisfy a personal craving to control every single detail. They remind me of a microwave oven. A microwave oven generates heat by spinning water molecules back and forth but it doesn't move them anywhere. Be an inspiring leader, not a microwave oven kills individual creativity and passion. Be a goal, result oriented leader, not a heat generating microwave oven.

My two boys started skiing at 4 years old since their parents love the sport. When my older son turned four, we were so excited and took him with us to the mountains. We put him in ski class with tears. One hour later, my husband decided to check on our son. To his surprise, he found my four year old was on the lift all by himself. How dangerous! My husband took him out of class immediately. I asked him if he wanted to ski with Mommy instead of going back to the class. The four year old loved the idea. We put him on the lift with us and jumped off the lift with him. At the top of the hill, I put him in-between my skis, we laughed all the way to the bottom of the hill. He enjoyed it so much, swooping down the slopes while still under the protection of his mother. I lifted him up when we ran into bumps or when we had a sharp turn or a stop. I enjoyed teaching him to ski and still remember how little he was 6 years ago. The second day, I tied a strap around his waist and held him from the...

I have talked to many friends who have lost their jobs in the recent economic downswing. Losing your job is sad in this shaky job market and I am amazed to discover what my friends are doing during their downtime. Here is a list of how some of them are putting their time to good use: 1) Start a dream business, or provide advice to others on how to start a business 2) Volunteer in their children’s activities, become a coach 3) Volunteer in non-profit organizations, help others 4) Network with a positive attitude 5) Write books and articles 6) Explore long term goals and passions, put a plan together and start to execute the plan 7) Exercise intensively 8) Offer free services to companies that eventually turned into their clients 9) Send resumes selectively and follow up diligently. By filling your life with some of the above activities, there is little time to be depressed. Accept the layoff and use your free time positively. A friend recently shared his layoff experience with me. He lo...

Many would say, what kind of stupid question! 2009 has been the designated dooming year without any possible hope. Is it true? 2009 is a pure 24k golden year if your eyes are focused on opportunities. It is full of opportunities over-shadowed by bad news. Their are opportunities in under-valued equities, IP's and new business needs in your own company as well as in your clients' companies. The coming three to nine months are a golden time to re-position yourself, from equity positions to skill sets, and to network with your clients. Feel their pain. Use your new services and repackaged products to help them ease the pain, to position their business in a more profitable arena. If you use most of your time just to stress out and complain, the sky will fall on you and you will be doomed in 2009. If you use most of your time to strategize, plan and execute your new plan, you will come out as a winner at the end of 2009 and claim the glittering prize of a golden year 2009.

Lots of people make them and then break them within a couple of months of the new year. Make this the year you are going to do something positive for yourself. Take charge of your life and your career. Don’t sit around and feel sorry for yourself because everyone has more control of your life than you do. Take the bull by the horns (take charge.) What things can you change about your life that would make you happier? Remember only you can change yourself…and even you cannot change others. Sit down and make a list…a short list of doable things you want to change. Be specific. For example: I will read one self-help book by February 15. I will add at least one new person to my personal network each month. I will read Elizabeth and Pat’s blog: leadershipmentorgroup.blogspot.com once a week and respond at least once every two months. Then take the time to follow-up on yourself. Success breeds success. When you start to see results, you will add other doable resolutions to your...

When you forward interesting articles to your friends or colleagues, instead of FYI, add a sentence to let others know your opinions.