Women’s Bridge To Business Reflection Final

BUS 225
Dr. Will
August 22, 2018

Reflection and Analysis of Women’s Bridge to Business: Three Principles

Repeating themes occurred throughout the modules in the past three weeks. Within those themes, I have separated and identified three core principles that I believe contribute to the Women’s Bridge to Business mission statement and the overall pieces of advice highly vocalized. The power within these principles exits not only in terms of business but also within the larger picture – a worldview of today’s contextual environment. In all, principles, if highlighted and practiced, lead to life skills necessary not only for the present but also for the future.

The first principle, or skill, is the ability to grow and maintain relationships. This is a given – a skill founded on the very roots of society and utilized wildely in various cultures. It is a characteristic of being human. However, there is a range of socialization that certain people are comfortable with. Personally, I am not what you would consider a “sociable” or “extroverted” person. I grew up in a family culture where one keeps to themselves and shows affection more so through actions instead of words. It is a habit that I developed to keep quiet, sometimes out of fear but others based on my own judgement of my comments necessity. Oftentimes, I found myself silent and creating awkwardness in certain situations.

In comparison, American culture favors the higher end of socialization, a characteristic of an extrovert, if you will. The people who possess such skills or act in such way are viewed as superior to an extent. They are the “natural leaders” who exceed in networking and putting themselves out there. It is a difficult skill to acquire if there has not been much practice in the art. In joining Bridge to Business, I hoped to gain more knowledge on networking and public speaking – two topics that I constantly struggle in.

The first Career Development module allowed me to view my own needs as an introvert with much importance. It was a chance to reflect on my own skills – being a good listener, picking up on the details, managing people first according to their needs – and the skills I need to still develop – speaking up in confidence and conveying the leader ambiance. I still struggle plenty with the latter, however I am more aware in fixing my practices. In the Organizational Behavior module, we discussed the value of networking and the benefits of gaining the trust of others to work effectively with each other. Since I am now even more aware of its importance, I hope to build a lasting network going into the next few years and out of college while at the same time displaying my authentic self. In truly understanding and gaining the trust of people, there must be a substantial amount of patience and flexibility. No two people are the same, each holds different experiences and therefore different responses to situations.

The second principle is flexibility in dealing with uncertainty and risk. In Investing, there is a high level of risk involved if the desire is to win big. One must be comfortable enough to deal with uncertainty when making decisions whether they are as big as investing a million dollars or as small as deciding to speak to a stranger. I talked a bit about speaking up and how that is a risk I want to keep making but there is also risk in career and job choice. In both panels, Turner and Alumnae, there were multiple people who drastically changed their careers. At this moment, in my college career, thinking about making such a drastic change is relatively terrifying. As a first-generation college student, it is difficult not to think about my family when making decisions. The career that I choose, the job that I choose, the summer internships that I choose, the grades that I get all reflect back. There will always be uncertainty when in search for the best option.

In high school, one risk that I took was enrolling in an AP Computer Science course. None of my friends wanted to join me, and I knew, much like the industry itself, that it was going to be dominated by guys. I was intimidated being one of the three females in a class of thirty-two, but this decision influenced my current career choice – I won. I put myself in an uncomfortable situation and everything ended well.

Applying to Bridge to Business was also a risk. Most of my Agnes Scott tuition and fees are paid through scholarships, paying even part for a six-credit class was partly demanding both financially and in terms of time. Yet, it is a risk I am glad I made. I truly learned so much within three weeks and met meaningful connections that I now feel empowered and prepared to start the school year – I won again.
A third risk is the future career that I want to attain. I hope to become a software engineer when I am done with my undergrad. Currently I am in a five-year program that will allow me to graduate with two degrees, one from Emory in CS and the other from Agnes Scott in Business Management. Five years is certainly unconventional, I have met people who think it is not worth my time, others are worried about the financial commitment of the extra year. My fears are the same, it is a commitment I must officially make this year. However, not being in control of the outcomes is distressing. Personally, I am someone that likes to know where I am headed before I get there. I like to be prepared.

In performing the simulation in the later Strategic Management module, I learned that there are plenty of tradeoffs needed to be made in order to appeal to the great majority while still having monetary gain. There is no real way to please everyone, so there must be strategy involved and priorities to be made in the context. Similarly, Marketing showed that there is uncertainty in every product produced and no real “right answer.” It is similar when being an entrepreneur and starting a new business. I hope to one day become self-employed in an area that I am passionate about. However, I worry that I will not have much experience in dealing with situations of uncertainty. In the Market Watch game, I did not do a very good job at using all my assets and going all in, I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going – everything was changing within seconds. Overall, the world out there is full of trial and error. I need to learn, in the future, if not ready, then somewhat comfortable being unprepared but able to take actionable decisions. Of course, not all decisions should be made in seconds.
In the end, there must be a balance to everything – of taking risk and the time spent on individualized networks. It all depends on the comfortability and skill of a person. This balance becomes their brand, an ever-changing definition or one’s physical and nonphysical standards.

The last principle is finding balance. I truly enjoyed Stacey River’s PIE presentation. It highlighted important topic not usually discussed in the open. To put it simply, it is a formula to be the best that you can be not only in a work setting but also in personal life. I believe it sums up the goals that each person should have. I would like to apply such formula to my day to day life. First, I would like to improve my performance and the ways in which I work. Before, in high school, I always strived to “work hard” and be on top of my game at all times. This lifestyle, nearing the end of my senior year, led to burn out and emotional distress. It left me in a place of confusion, not knowing how to pick myself back up. With advice to “work smart, not hard” I plan to prioritize the main things in my life, be prepared to let some things go, ask questions, and be ready to learn starting this school year. Second, in conjunction to focusing on my relationship building skills, I would also like to focus on the image that I put out. Looking back, my “quiet” persona at times brings an image that I do not see myself as. It seems that I lack confidence and other main leadership skills. I hope that in working on these will help me established a well-recognized brand, giving me the ability to move up while still being true to myself.

It has sincerely been an honor to be part of Women’s Bridge to Business 2018. The professors and advisors that I met were inspirational and notably wise in their understanding of not only corporate America but also with my dynamic generation. If I could list the main concepts repeated over the three-week course, they would be: relationship building and maintaining, flexibility within uncertainty, and balancing a brand. These concepts outline some of best attributes recommended for a leader to bridge between being successful in the outside world and being successful internally.