This post is part of a series of reflecting on the weekly chapters of my LiA experience in Singapore. 

What went well?

This week, I visited one of UWS’ Girls Empowerment programs on site to see what the girls are taught and how they engage with the workshops. The girls are brought to offices of UWS’ partners, where staff will speak to them about their educational journeys and roles at the company. I sneakily chose not to introduce myself to the fellow participants as a member of the UWS team, nor did I mention I was a student like them. This allowed me to have candid conversations with the students about their struggles in the classroom, the skills they aimed to build through the workshop and what influences brought them to UWS’s program. I shared these insights with the team; while I don’t know if what I learned will be reflected in how they deliver their programs moving forward, I was happy to have been able to conduct this type of “fieldwork”. This was one of the things I hoped to do during my LiA.

The UWS Programmes team affectionately refers to the program participants as “the girls”. I find this phrasing really endearing, and I started to adopt it this week. To me, it shows how much the team cares about the programs they run.

What could have been done differently?

The theme of this week’s struggles, again, were the idea of being “available” and “accessible”. The workflow of our office is very collaborative, but my idea of productivity is associated with headphones and silence. This week I realized that if I wanted to really understand how the office worked and learn about the work that other teams did, I would need to ditch my bubble.

What did I learn about myself when working with others?

This week, I had a really empowering experience where I stood up against a team habit that I didn’t agree with. I’d always feared that in these moments, I would face social retribution. But I didn’t. This experience made me realize that this is how respectful and mature workplaces operate; they respect personal differences. This week, I’ve also started to more clearly see that work culture is built off comradery. Getting along with your team matters just as much as the technical contributions you make, and that investing in your team members is helping make you more productive.

What did I learn about leadership?

This week, I learned that leadership can be about being the quiet observer at the back of the room who knows when they need to make themselves heard. I also learned that I need to assess my sets of privileges and positionality before I speak, as well as assess what I want to get out of a conversation. For example, my love for introspection means I’m quick to respond to personal questions. However, this week I focused on staying quiet and letting other speak first – I haven’t come to Singapore to share more about me, but learn more from others. This allowed me to hear from and connect with people who otherwise may not have spoken up.

I also found that I have a particular tendency to want to hear from everyone, especially the quietest people, when in a group setting. I traced this tendency to being bullied in my formative elementary school years and the resulting feeling of being constantly overlooked. This experience brought me to leadership, because I saw being a leader as a way to make my thoughts heard.  But as a leader, I want to be the one that looks at every team member – loud or quiet – and sees value.

What do I want to develop or focus on next?

This week, I noticed how cross-team/cross-portfolio support goes a long way. After learning about how many corporate partners UWS has, I wanted to learn how UWS builds and maintains those relationships. So I asked to sit in on a future meeting with the Partnerships team, and they gladly invited me to their next meeting. As I move forward with my LiA, I want to try observing other portfolios at UWS to understand how they work together so seamlessly. (Already, I’ve seen that team-wide strategic planning and adaptability are key to cross-team collaboration).

This week, I also learned that you can be a lighthearted and bubbly team, as well as be incredibly productive and detail oriented; these characteristics are not mutually exclusive. There is a lot of work and effort being put in by people who make cheerful jokes at the office. This work is deceptively hard! I want to just be aware that the lighthearted environment of my office doesn’t mean their jobs are easy. They are choosing to be positive, and I want to do the same.