Ancestry CEO Deb Liu grew up in one of the only Asian families in South Carolina. To avoid being teased, she mostly kept to herself. It wasn’t until Deb got to Stanford Business School when she realized: she had to learn to speak up. That realization spurred her long career in Silicon Valley. But Deb says, without some openness and vulnerability from herself and others, it never would’ve happened.
In this episode, Deb shares:
Why she should’ve been fired from her first product management role
How being open and vulnerable with her boss actually helped her career
Key moments from her tech-heavy product career at eBay + Facebook
Why being a “strategic introvert” allowed her to contribute more effectively at work
Her most used tip from her new book, Take Your Power Back
On Speaking with Intention:
Deb: You don't have to speak all the time. You don't have to get energy from other people. But picking the things that are important to you, Making those moments really count when they arise. When you're given the opportunity to influence, to not shy away, I think that's really important. And it took me a long time to learn that lesson, and it held me back for a long time too.
On Leaning On Your Team:
Deb: I was really struggling. I was on my seventh manager, had not been promoted, had done all this work. And I said to my new manager – the seventh one at Facebook after 2 and a half years – I said, “I just don't know if I can do this.” He said something really profound that really changed my life. He said, “Why do you think you have to do this alone?” It's those moments that make or break your career. If somebody understands and puts out a helping hand, it could be so incredible.
On Her Best Tip From her New Book, Take Your Power Back:
Deb: So often, we have what my friend calls “unintentional, ridiculous strategies” that we have for our careers. Would you ever go into a meeting and say, “I don't wanna add value to this meeting. I'm just going to sit in the back.” Would you ever say, “I don't really wanna know from my manager whether I'm gonna get promoted or not. I'm just gonna use strategic ambiguity to never answer that question.” You would never actually do that. But how many times are you actually doing it? You're giving yourself a free pass and not clarifying: what's the distance between me and getting the next opportunity? What would it take for me to show up in this meeting?
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