Earning credibility and respect as a young leader can be challenging. My first 3 years leading Data Science & AI at Mediaan Conclusion were quite a learning journey. These are the key principles I have discovered along the way that I stick to:
1. 🧭 Know Your Strengths and Limitations: It’s not about having all the answers, but knowing who to ask. Stand by your values and opinions if you really believe in them, but be ready to listen to feedback, ask for help and learn.
2. 💡 Be Honest about what you don’t know: Smart people will figure it out anyways and they will be more likely to trust you on things you do know.
3. 🌈 Be Bold and Authentic: Standup for your ideas, especially if they are different than others. Diverse voices are needed to make real change and innovation happen. If you stay respectful and stick to your own values, people will respect you for it, even if they don’t agree.
4. 🏆 Focus on helping your team members to be successful, not on your own success. If your team is successful, you are as well and respect will follow.
5. 🤝 Recognize others’ talents. Voice them, use them and learn from them. You can’t be good at everything (yet), so this is a win-win.
6. 🌿Take care of yourself: set clear boundaries and make time to recharge and spend time on things that bring you joy in life. If you want it or not, as a leader you set the example. So be an example you want others to follow.
7. 🤣 Don’t take yourself too seriously. Laughing at yourself makes you human and makes it easier for others to open up. Also, I like laughing.
📚 For those steering tech teams, I highly recommend:
“The Making of a Manager” by Julie Zhuo
“The Manager’s Path” by Camille Fournier
Got any recommendations or tips for young leaders? Share them below! #LeadershipDevelopment #YoungProfessionals #TechLeadership #WomenInAI 🚀
📷 DALL-E prompt: “Illustration of a confident young blond woman who is wearing a colorful casual sweater, black jeans and sneakers and hair in ponytail and presenting to a group of 10 old business people wearing suits who sit at a conference room table. view from a distance”
