Leap Academy with Ilana Golan - Client Spotlight: The Leap to C-Suite - What does it take?

Episode Date: August 11, 2023

Yuying Chen-Wynn leaped from VP in a startup to CPO of a public company in 4 months!!What does it really take to get to C-Suite?Dabbling and trying solo doesn't work. What does? In this episode, Ilana chats with Yuying about the limitations of trying to reach success on your own and taking career advice that doesn't support your personal goals.  If you are wondering how some executives zoom up the ladder and most stay stuck, then this episode is for you.  Watch This Episode on YouTube - https://youtu.be/JkI-ZCpOJ9k Watch the FREE training that catapulted Yuyings success:https://training.leapacademy.com/register Need some guidance ASAP? Grab a FREE career coaching session with our team:https://www.leapacademy.com/apply About Ilana Golan & Leap Academy:Website - https://www.leapacademy.com/Follow Ilana on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilanagolan/YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@ilanagolan-leap-academy

I had tried a whole bunch of other things. I had been told I should get an executive coach. I should get some executive resume services. I should go look for some speaking opportunities. And so I was dabbling and just trying on my own, but I still hadn't found a direction somewhere that I really wanted to be something I really wanted to do. When I found you and then the thing about the LEAP program was I could see immediately, number one, there was a structure to get me to and the focus on where I want to be.

Ewing, I am so, so, so excited to have you on board. I'm excited to talk to you. What you've done is nothing shy of incredible. And you will hear today someone who has leaped from a VP in a 600 employee company to a CPO, like chief product officer in a 4,000 employee company in what, four months? From when I started to take action to when I actually landed the role, to my great surprise, it was about three to four months. From when I started to take action to when I actually landed the role, to my great surprise, it was about three to four months. I probably started thinking about it earlier, probably another three months before that. First of all, tell us how does it feel? Like, how does it feel now? Like you're in a new role. You're like in fight of this fire hose of information. You have

such a big executive level role. So walk us through this a little bit. So it's still a little surreal at times. It's like, you know, when you have that big goal and you work for it, you plan for it and suddenly you're there before you expect it. You kind of are like, wait, now what? So I am like a month in, but two of those weeks are holidays. So my days are still half and half between just kind of moving through the storm of information and making sense of the new role versus like, oh my God, I'm here.

All of my plans from before I'm here. Now what? what's next? And you've arrived, like you don't need to prove yourself and you've arrived and you deserve this and they're lucky to have you. And we talked about it, right? So walk us through a little bit this journey. So, you know, first of all, what made you join us and what are some of the things that helped you along the journey? So I will say like, um, probably three months before I joined, um, I started to what I call raise my head up from all the head down working and, uh, looking around because I knew I was starting to max out where I

was. But the thing was, I didn't know what I wanted or what I was looking for next or what was possible, even what all the options are. As I told you, I think when I first met you, I had tried a whole bunch of other things. I had been told I should get an executive coach. I should get some executive resume services. I should go look for some speaking opportunities. And so I was dabbling and just trying on my own, but I still hadn't found a direction somewhere that I really wanted to be something I really wanted to do. When I found you and then the thing about the LEAP program was I could see immediately, number one, there was a structure to get me to and the focus on where I want to be and not just, you know, tell us about your accomplishments and

we'll make it look nicer. Right. So that was very specifically what I was looking for. I asked for coaching before I never quite got that. And I could see it from the program, how it's structured and with, you know, accountability partners, people you talk to, because you need to be socially accountable before you kind of move through it. structure I was looking for to get that clarity around what I wanted. I always know how to get what I want after I know what I want. I think most of us arrive that way with that competency. Right. And this is what I want to say, though, about you, Ewing, because just like in life, everywhere you go, you do it at the A++++ player level. Seriously. And you got in, you, I mean, you religiously walk to every single step and I could see it. And you could see like from the little posts on LinkedIn to that. I mean, you could see the way you network like you are amazing. And I do want to say that because that means that this is exactly how you operate also as a leader, also as an executive, because that's who you are. So it was very visible. So I want to say that all the things I was told to do, I suck at,

I'm like really bad at networking or making introductions. Like all those things. I'm like, oh my God, I'm horrible. I can't, I don't know what to say. Right. But I've always been the just try it. So I do competitive ballroom. And one of the things my coaches had said is he said, the great thing about you is when I give you a piece of coaching advice, you just try it first. You don't question why you don't look at it upside down and criticize it. You just try it. If it works, you keep going. If it doesn't, then you come back. So I think even though I was like a lot of things that I was terrified at, you know, making that first post just terrifying. I sat there with that button, right? Terrifying network. Like the first one, when you reach out, like, please, someone give me a recommendation. You're terrified. And I'm sure my sentence was not even complete bad grammar. Um, but I had the other one where I just follow through and see if

there's results. And look at the results. I mean, the results spoke for themselves. I mean, your post. My post. And as I said, I was literally, I felt like here's the recipe. I was watching a lot on the video. And also goes, okay, you should post these things that are personal and ideally inspirational. I'm like, okay. And I literally like pause the video. What can I write? What's relevant?

I was not comfortable writing by myself very comfortable because my mother inspires me so much like perfect I know exactly what I'm comfortable with and what Ilana said to do so out it goes amazing and that got what some know. 77,000 views when I checked it a month ago. How many? 37,000 views? 77. Wow. Do you get how many hearts this touched?

A lot of people that had just been very quiet connections I've known over the years, um, reached out to me and people reposted because, and,, but just it strikes different chords with different people. And it was just so unexpected. Those numbers. Amazing. That's incredible. And I just want you to feel what that power is, like our ability to impact, to influence, to touch people's hearts. And you did it. And and on top of that, you stay in the back of minds of people and people are seeing you in suddenly like a slightly different way. Right. And what, like, so how did that build your confidence to go and, you know,

interview to a CPO of a 4,000 employee company. Like, how did that happen? So two things. I think knowing what you want and what you care about makes the nervousness go away. So I was interviewing positions I was interested in, in industries where I cared about making an impact. I had a point of view going in, right? So that made all the other things go away. I have not worked in higher ed. This is not an industry I have any experience in, but I care a lot about education. I love AI and data. So I brought those things with me.

And they are looking for a very specific point of view, regardless of your background. So that kind of made that nervousness of, oh, I never actually worked in specific industry, just go away. Because I had something to say. I had something I wanted to try with them. Right. And I want to tap into that because a lot of people are looking to see if they check all the boxes of, you know, the industry, the skills,

all of that. And the truth is, especially in these roles of executives, right, it's more about your confidence and everybody else confident that you're going to be great at what you do, right? It's more about the confidence in execution, the confidence that you can do that, that you have a really, you know, significant point of view. So, and you are able to create that without wobbly, right? That, oh my goodness, I haven't done that. What are some of the tools that you felt helped you for that um so clarity was key I I agree um are there other things that you felt were kind of like helpful for you um so we went through this I think it was it was a your step four um in terms of the brag bank um so like if you work with different executive resume writers,

we'll put you through something similar, but what's different is, um, with you, we map it to kind of our values of what's important and how to create that story using, um, kind of evidence that's relevant. Right. So it's that through line. And that's the most helpful thing. What changed as I go into interviews now is I have a very clear story. It's not just here's a list of things I've done, but here's who I am, what I care about, and here's all the experience I have that can benefit you, right? So it's a different story than I say, okay, I've managed large teams, you know, I've done products for international markets versus not. It's kind of like, okay, it's not very interesting, but when it becomes focused on, for me, it's very much education. I believe education is fundamentally

going to change. How, what direction? I have a personal point of view based on the following experience. I think it has to shift to hybrid. I think in-person has to remain and degree programs have to change. But then what you're talking about as your experiences focuses towards what you want to accomplish for them. And if they agree kind of with your vision or ideas and want to explore that, then that's what you're talking about is what can we do together moving forward? Because the past is the past. There's lots of conditions you can argue with anybody, oh, that's not going to work for us, Or that was a one-off or what have you. But everybody's looking for what's possible for the future with you.

I love it. And I want also, like, I hope the audience sees how congruent you are with your story. Because it's not about giving you a script. It's really about, you know, giving you enough questions for you to find the right story for you and be so confident and congruent with it that it becomes you. Right? And I feel like that's the big thing because now when you talk about it, you talk about it from passion. You're not talking about it because you're trying to sell anything. And you're not, you know, you're not trying to pass an interview.

You're talking about it because it's important for you and people will see it. So there's no wobble. Yeah. Knowing knows exactly where she's going. And either you want to be on her side or you don't. Right. So my hiring manager actually said that during my interview when we were talking about something because women's leadership development was another one I focused in on. He was like, no, I get it. You know, he's a, you're either, you're forced to be reckoned with, I'm either with you or I need

to get out of your way. He's like, I'm fine with that. He actually said so. I'm like, I was like, you know, I just want you to know this is important to me, you know, support me. And I was like, wait, did I, is there an option for, he doesn't, I kind of pause and he was like, nope, I understand. It's important. And we believe it's important. I will help or I will get out of the way. I love this. I love this, but it's that level of confidence that you're bringing with you. And that's honestly the level of confidence people need to see at that C level, because that they're hiring you for the confidence to deliver. So what would you say, Ewing, for somebody who is trying to figure out like they have no clue what we're talking about,

they don't know me, they don't know leave, they don't know any of that. How did they knock this glass ceiling of a VPC suite? Like, what are some of the things that you would tell them? Number one, one quote I've been, that's been sticking with me lately is that other people judge us, but we have by what we have done in the past, we judge ourselves, our value by what we can do. Right. And for me, a lot of times, and maybe for many from a similar cultural background, you feel like if you ask for a larger position, it's selfish, right? And you kind of like, yeah, I can't do that. That's not, you know, if people recognize me and put me there, that's great, but I can't ask for that because that's selfish. I think

there's a lot of cultural backgrounds of family backgrounds that make us that but when we find that thing that we care about that it's an impact where we can change you know for a group of people for uh a particular cause it's not about me anymore it's not about the individual wanting more. It's about, I want to have a bigger impact because I can benefit so much more at a bigger level. And I think also, I mean, some of the society, you know, to some extent, we're all comfortable, right? None of us are hungry for food, right? I mean, it's really more about unleashing that full potential, about driven people who don't want to settle, about wanting more impact recognition, to have a seat at the table, to feel like we matter. Like it's about other things. The driven professionals don't want to just sit and be

grateful. They want to chase those dreams. So first of all, I love, you know, the sentence that you said, but then it's really about how to get there. And what's the fastest way to get there? Again, you're incredible. I just seeing your journey was just so amazing and inspiring to so many. What would be your kind of last tips, ideas for people who are watching this, you know, they're wobbly, they're trying to figure out, do I need help? Do I not need help? Do I want to go through this alone? Can I even get there? What are some of your thoughts? So number one, definitely don't do it alone. The more you tell people, talk to people, have someone support you, be with you in your journey to whatever goal is you're trying to, the likelihood of success is much, much higher.

Ewing, that's amazing. It's so so so inspiring. I love seeing your journey. I'm so glad to have had the pleasure to work together. I do say that growth is a journey. And when it's done right, it will change your life. And just seeing the way you just bloomed is just crazy. So thank you for helping, for inspiring the kind of the next generation of people who want to get to the C-suite and to those, you know, executive level roles and just wishing you so, so, so much luck and success. Thank you. I can honestly say I wouldn't have been able to do it without you guys.