EDI and Steve Jobs

I'm in this program called EDI, which stands for Executive Development Institute. It's essentially a leadership program for minorities in leadership positions, and I am absolutely amazed how much it's made me think differently. I was nominated to go through the program last year, and that in itself was an honor since it's a $3500 program, and the bank paid for it. (wow, the bank paid for it!) I actually started the program in March of this year with a two-day kick-off in a really awesome hotel called the Cedarbrook Lodge. I met some amazing people from companies like Boeing, Weyerhauser, State Farm, REI, etc and truly had a great time. We did a lot of ice-breaker exercises, and had a couple of really great speakers. One of the speakers spoke to us about how our values growing up as asians/hispanics have hindered us from wanting to be leaders, or pushed us to be leaders. In my case, I feel that my parents really pushed me to be the best in everything...you know, the typical asian parents' lectures. I grew up telling myself that I would not/could not fail, so career-wise, I don't feel I ever did. Act as if it were impossible to fail - that's how it was. It's interesting to see the other spectrum of people that grew up with parents like mine though, the side where you were afraid to reach for what you want because you had to respect your elders, respect those that are in higher positions than yours. I'm all about respect, but I guess I never let position stop me from getting to where I wanted to go. Now, I'm very respectful to my boss and his boss, but I'm not afraid to speak up when I feel wronged. I think that comes from my dad's side of the family. ;)
Anyway, EDI met every month for the rest of the year. We also split up into smaller groups to do a community project, so we really got to know each other well. My group's job was to help a hospice care facility market into the Korean market in WA. We had to make hospice care easy to understand, find where the Koreans were living in WA, and come up with a strategy to integrate this company into that market. Not really the most interesting thing in the world, but the people in my group were great and it was fun to get together. During our monthly sessions, we learned about the different kinds of personalities people have (controller, persuader, analyzer, stabilizer) and how to deal with them as leaders. I found out that I'm a Persuader/Stabilizer essentially meaning that I'm a big people pleaser. I like to have people like me, and I will find a way to do it! :) We had sessions on how to deal with conflict and how to have really difficult conversations with your employees, and also heard from some really inspiring mentors. Unfortunately, while EDI was such an inspirational, motivating program, I think it just made me hate my job more. It's made me really take a step back and look at how much potential I have and the differences I could make. Does my job align with my ethics and values? No. Is it what I always saw myself doing? No. Does it make me happy? No. So what am I still doing here?

I graduate from EDI on November 3rd and I'm really grateful I was nominated for the program. Again, I've met some amazing people that I know I'll keep in touch with for a long, long time. Oh and guess what! I'm the class speaker. :) It's like highschool all over again. Hahaha. Oh geez. The circle of life.


A great quote from Steve Jobs that I will always take to heart:

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

Steve Jobs

Love,

Melonhead