Stephanie Chung
Board Member | C-Suite Executive | Keynote Speaker
Leading People Not Like You
Episode Summary
Today’s workplace is more diverse than ever, bringing together multiple generations and varied demographic backgrounds in unprecedented ways. For leaders, this presents both an opportunity and a challenge: how can you effectively lead people who come from experiences that differ completely from your own?
Stephanie Chung has the answer. As a groundbreaking aviation executive and the first African American president in private aviation, she understands firsthand what it takes to lead across differences. In her new international bestseller, “Ally Leadership: How to Lead People Who Are Not Like You,” Chung introduces a powerful framework using the acronym ALLY—a proven process for building inclusive leadership that drives results in our increasingly diverse world.
Whether you’re navigating generational gaps, cultural differences, or diverse life experiences within your team, this episode examines how authentic ally leadership can not only transform your management style but also enhance your organization’s overall success.
Keep Leading!® Live
Keep Leading!® Video Shorts
Bio
Stephanie Chung is not just an author; she’s a force of strategic innovation, a beacon of change, and a titan in the world of business growth and human capital management.
- Former Chief Growth Officer for Wheels Up
- The first African American to lead a private jet company, JetSuite.
- One of Adweek’s “Women Trailblazers”
- Ebony’s Power 100
- Robb Report’s “23 Black Visionaries Who are Changing the Luxury World.”
- She has been celebrated in publications such as Forbes, Barrons, Worth, Essence, D CEO Magazine, and her insights have graced the pages of Inc. and Black Enterprise Magazine.
A captivating keynote speaker whose work has been translated into 60 different languages.
Website
stephaniechung.com
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thestephaniechung/
Favorite Leadership Quote
“It’s not important what you hope, wish, or intend – it’s only what you DO that matters”. Brian Tracy
Subscribe, share, and review on Apple Podcasts!
https://bit.ly/4kPBcZo
Subscribe, share, and review on Spotify
https://spoti.fi/4iOFzlB
Full Episode Transcripts and Detailed Guest Information
www.KeepLeadingPodcast.com
Keep Leading LIVE (Live Recordings of the Keep Leading!® Podcast)
www.KeepLeadingLive.com
Connect with Eddie Turner
Website: https://www.eddieturnerllc.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddieturner
Twitter: https://twitter.com/eddieturnerjr
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eddieturnerllc
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eddieturnerjr/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/EddieTurnerJr
LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eddie-turner-llc
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@eddieturnerllc
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/eddieturner.bsky.social
Agent: https://gray-miller-agency.webflow.io/roster/eddie-turner
100 Coaches Agency: https://www.100coaches.com/coaches/profiles/eddie-turner/
About the Keep Leading!® Podcast
The Keep Leading!® podcast is for people passionate about leadership. It is dedicated to leadership development and insights. Join your host, Eddie Turner, The Leadership Excelerator®, as he speaks with accomplished leaders and people of influence across the globe about their journeys to leadership excellence. Listen as they share leadership strategies, techniques, and insights.
Share the Inspiration
Inspired by what you hear? Share the episode with your network and help spread the message of empowerment and leadership. Use the hashtag #KeepLeadingPodcast and join the community of listeners who are dedicated to continuous growth and leadership excellence.
Transcript
hello everyone welcome to keep leading
live I’m Eddie Turner the leadership accelerator I work with emerging and
established leaders who want to Excel and exceed
expectations the keep leading podcast is dedicated to leadership development and
insights if you are joining this session let us know you’re here hit the uh
comments in the chat to tell us who you are where you’re from I don’t always see everything depending on the platform
that passes over your comments but if I see it we will acknowledge it we want you to be engaged in this discussion ask
questions if you’re not following my guest online you’re going to want to do so follow her on social media book her
to come give a speech to your organization and definitely pick up the new book we’re going to be talking about
we’re broadcasting on LinkedIn YouTube and Facebook so we’d love to hear from you uh no matter which platform you’re
coming uh to the session from now our world has changed and since
our world has changed leaders must change generational and demographic
workplace compositions around the world look different than they’ve ever looked
before this means there’s a high probability that if you are lead leading
you are leading someone who is not like you since you’re not leading someone
like you you might need to recalibrate your
thought process on leadership get new Solutions and new strategies where can you
look my guest today has written a book that gives the solution gives answers
that all leaders can benefit from her new International bestselling book is
entitled Ally Ali leadership rather leading
people not like you and this book is written by uh in fact that word Al is an
acronym and it’s written by Stephanie Chong Stephanie is not just an author
she’s a force of strategic Innovation she’s a beacon of change and a Titan in
the world of business growth and human Capital Management Stephanie is the former Chief
growth officer for wheels up she’s the first African-American to lead a private
jet company she is one of adweek’s women Trailblazers eony listed her on the
power 100 list Rob reports says she’s one of 23 black Visionaries who are
changing the luxury world she’s been celebrated in Publications such as
Forbes baren worth Essence dceo magazine
and her insights have appeared in the pages of Inc and Black Enterprise Magazine I am so excited to welcome my
friend Stephanie Chong Stephanie welcome to keep leading podcast thank you thank
you thank you Eddie it’s so good to be here and you know it’s always whenever you hear your own accolades it’s like
you’re at your own funeral right hearing your accolades thinking wow that’s interesting okay that’s so anyways thank
you for that wonderful introduction and I’m really excited to be here with
you oh no this ain’t no funeral we gonna give you your flowers now while you alive and get gate and celebrate
you you are big Hey listen talking about flowers and
celebrating and making sure we do it now you know when I met you six or so years ago it’s a long time
ago yeah it’s a day I will not forget and a moment that I will not forget is
this oh my goodness that’s right I remember we took that picture oh you oh
my God look at my hair it was crazy this is pretty special because all these incredible people in this photo
you look Sensational as always you are always sty the people in this photo are very special to us uh some really highlevel
Achievers and of course uh Father John uh one of the Hidden figures who we
didn’t see in the movie but who’s in the book uh his story was so compelling and we just met some great people that day
so I just wanted to share this this memory this this throwback for you and I what a great throwback oh my goodness
and we were in Colorado I think from what I remember right in the woods and out yeah it was those mountains behind
us although the s shy but yes you’re right we were in Colorado wonderful that was wonderful yes yes I remember I
remember the day we took that picture and just all the stuff that was going on what a great thank you that what a
blessing thank you for showing that that was a long time ago man yes thank it’s
my pleasure absolutely well tell me what I missed about you and your Sensational uh
background okay well you know what gosh I would I always start with at the beginning right because um you know you
read off my my accomplishments but where it all started is my dad was a master sergeant in the US Air Force and so I
grew up a military kid and I grew up listening to planes take off and land my entire life uh so the good thing about
that is I knew early on what I wanted to do right so I wanted to work in aviation that was my li lifelong dream as a
little girl and so really the very first job I had was parking planes and loading
luggage at the Boston Logan airport and uh loved that job if I could make you
know a decent amount of money I’d still be working there and uh and then from there I would go upstairs and check
people in at the ticket counter and so you know as they were boarding their flights Etc uh so I absolutely loved
that job I was young I was single I didn’t you know have any kids yet and everybody that I worked with was in that
same bucket so we would travel the world go on vacations because you could fly anywhere for free and uh just like it
was just such an amazing time but it also taught me so much it it taught me
about how to you know work in an operation of a big company and so on and so forth but it also because I got to
travel so much you know as an adult right I traveled a lot as a child just being a military kid but I got to learn
and meet about different people and how to communicate with different people and you know little did I know that that
would be the Catalyst that would then Propel my career and get me really sitting here talking to you about you
know a book that I wrote that was really a um Testament of all the things I had to learn in order to be able to lead at
a high level and especially lead people who were nothing like me so uh so that’s the only other thing I would say and
then of course I’m married to the same guy for gosh 35 years uh we have a
daughter who’s 33 yeah that is a blessing and so I always joke around and say Eddie I’m a black woman married to a
Japanese guy we have a Chinese last name and I grew up in an allh male industry
so so everything I’ve written in that book comes from true life experience and
uh and so I wouldn’t I wouldn’t have changed not one single second of any of that because it got me where I am today
so Sensational well tell us a little bit more about the reason you wrote the book
in addition to your beautiful background that you share with us and how you’re applying the the strategies from Ali
leadership how to lead people who are not like you yeah so you know it’s
interesting because when I the reason why I wrote the book originally I was asked by my speakers
Bureau like hey people are asking to Stephanie have a book they hire me to speak I come and then they want to know
does she have a book does you know she have anything else and so um when my speakers girl came to me I remember you
know I was a working executive we were you know really busy at the job and plus I still had the speaking going on plus
being a mom and a wife and I just remember thinking there is no way I’m going to write I do not have time to
write a book but then everything else settled down and and I really started to
observe where our country was headed and where I thought there was some challenges that I could add some value
um just because of my my work experience and my life experience quite frankly and so that’s what really started to prompt
me to to think about it pray about it and figure out if I was to write a book what do I care enough about to really
invest the time energy effort and resources that were going to be needed and at the end of the day Eddie what it
came down to is I have a heart just like you do for leaders we know that leadership is a tough job and so you
know the way that I wanted to give back was to just use my experience The Good the Bad and the Ugly as to what can I do
to contribute to really help leaders in this day and age of what’s struggling so when you think of the landscape at work
right now in you know and and and this is throughout the globe but I’ll Focus primarily on the United States we’ve got
five soon to be six Generations working that is unheard of that means the
employee age is anywhere from 16 to 75 and so you and I both know that the way
that a Zoomer thinks is very different than a way that a boomer thinks and Millennials think differently than Gen X
and just all that so all the different intergeneration that are working can be very very challenging because they have
different expectations perspectives wants needs desires work ethics everything so that I saw was um you know
issue number one right uh you know issue number two not really I shouldn’t say issue in a negative way but just here’s
the scenarios that leaders are dealing with the other part of it is here in the United States women are the majority of
the the country’s population we actually work differently lead differently
communicate differently so that adds a different Dynamic to the workplace as well then you couple in all the ethnic
de demographics that are changing right so the ethnic groups the black the Asian the Hispanic groups are all growing the
non-ethnic group continues to shrink that that changes the dynamic in the workplace and then that’s not even you
know you’d have to add in different abled body folks or our colleagues from the lgbtq plus Community or people who
have different neurod diversities and so the list goes on and on that’s the climate that is today’s modern Workforce
and so my heart was really to work with leaders and give them a tool if you will
to say listen you no matter who you are no matter what race Creed gender doesn’t matter who you are if you’re a leader
just like you said in the opening you will be leading people who are not like you and so I created the book to give
you tools and shortcuts of things that I did to be successful um and in hopes
that it would allow uh leaders to be able to be successful in their Journey as well because at the end of the day I
come from a primarily white male dominated space so I was the lonely only
for for many many many years and you know there’s a lot of lessons come out of that and yet I was still able to hit
the highest level an officer of a publicly held company you know but it didn’t come without a lot of lessons
learned and so that’s really what the book is all about there is no shame no beating people up none of that stuff
this book um is really all about how do you lead people who are not like you and I give you some really helpful hints on
how to do that wonderful well I’m looking forward to learning a little bit about that and
we have Esra Miller who has joined us who I recently met a couple of weeks ago
she’s tuning in all the way from Istanbul if my memory show correctly wonderful so thank you Ezra she says
this is a great topic we appreciate you joining us and letting us know you’re here and weighing in on the
conversation now this word Ally I read that it stands for a it’s an acronym so
why don’t you to tell us a little bit about that what Ali leadership is absolutely so it is you’re right it’s an
acronym and it stands for ask listen learn and then you take action so that’s
what Ally is and the reason why that’s important is I didn’t I didn’t I could have labeled the book allyship how to
leave people who are not like you but that’s that’s not what I was going for Ally acronym you have to ask listen
learn and then you take action as a leader so Ally leadership is the is the
reason why I named it that way and the you know the probably the most important part of that whole thing Eddie is the
reason why that was so uh prevalent for me is you know you know I I speak I mean
I speak for a living right so I go and speak to uh big companies usually Fortune 100 is is usually my audience
and whenever I’m out speaking and I primarily speak to leaders inevitably
someone will come up to me and say oh man like this is great I’m an ally especially men will say I’m an ally I’m
married I’ve got three daughters like I’m an ally and then my comeback is always the same thing Eddie I will
always say that’s fantastic I’m so glad to hear that tell me what it is that you’ve done this week to show your
allyship and then I get crickets question yeah exactly so then you know
there’s there’s then people don’t have any they don’t have any receipts to back up their claim and so one of the things
that I really try to communicate in the book is you can’t just call yourself an ally this isn’t a participation trophy
right it’s not like oh I’m an ally well no no no you’re only an ally not if you
call yourself an ally but if somebody else calls you an ally right you can’t say I can’t say oh I’m a nice person
like I can’t say that you can say I’m a nice person but I can’t say it and the same is true for allies allies have to
realize that you know people who see you as an ally they can say you’re an ally but that’s not something you can say
yourself and so I really wanted to kind of you know Mark my territory if you will with that particular statement
because it’s really time as leaders that we level up and the only way that anyone
will classify you as an ally is if they see you take action that’s the only way it’s GNA happen so you can’t you know
just poof I’m an ally that doesn’t work that way when you see something do you say something do you know what to say do
you know how to say it you know um all of these things is what makes you an ally it’s not just because you chose to
say I’m an ally it’s a very cool talking point but you know we’re all in a society where people’s BS monitors are
like off the chain right so nobody wants to hear you say something and not be able to back it up with cold hard facts
don’t even get me going on this subject Eddie tell us how you really feel s exactly exactly so that’s about you know
yeah so you’re you’re basically saying hey don’t um don’t self anoint yourself as an ally yes let someone else call you
an ally absolutely you’re only going to call you one if you’re acting like one yes exactly that’s exactly right because
you know I talk about this a lot in the book there are times and we’ve all been in this situation right so this isn’t
just a black and white issue or male and female issue or gay or straight issue everybody’s been in this situation where
something happens and you don’t feel comfortable with maybe the comment that was said or the joke that was told or
what have you and so what true allies do is they actually address it right then
and there but what tends to happen is people will go well I I don’t want to be a part of this conversation so they’ll
get up and they’ll leave well the truth is nobody get you don’t get any Street credit for that for getting up and
leaving right because you didn’t actually take any action yes you leaving was an act but maybe not the act of
Courage that we’re looking for right but what you have to do when you’re leading is you know this is a courageous job you
got to lean in right leadership is not for the faint at heart and so when you have those situations you must do
something you have to take action you got to ask you got to listen you got to learn and then you got to take action and so whether that’s you as a man
leading a woman or a woman leading a man or leading somebody from a different generation different race different
sexual orientation whatever we’ve all got plenty of opportunity to be able to use our voice for good and therefore you
know start to earn that right of being called an ally and I like the way you mentioned
that we earn we earn it this this right to be an ally and may I go one step
further Eddie to tell you that earn earn is actually an acronym as well so you
know earn stands for As Leaders we have to first establish an environment where everybody feels seen appreciated and
psychologically safe that’s the E then we have to assure alignment so as Leaders we need to make sure that the
left hand knows what the right hand’s doing what business are we in why are we here how does what I do if I’m an
employee impact what we do as a business so as a leader we have to make sure that the environment we’ve established
everybody is assured of what the we’re all in alignment as to why we’re here the r stands for As Leaders we have to
rally the troops right you get a bunch of people who know why they’re here who have a you know psychologically safe
environment and you rally them to one cause Eddie they are unstoppable Unstoppable right so you’ve
got to know how to rally the troops and then in you know I come from n Aviation right so you have to navigate the
Narrows and basically what that means is you got to know where you’re going why you’re going how you’re going to get there when you’re supposed to be there
you have to be able to track and measure and monitor all of that stuff as well and so I go a lot more into detail in
the book but that’s how you earn the ability to be called an
ally excellent thank you for letting us know it requires work if you earn it and giving us acronyms to show us the steps
to get there absolutely fascinating well I want to pause just for a moment to acknow my sponsor of the
keep leading podcast thank you so much Stephanie we’re going to pick back up on that there in just a moment if a single company’s indecision
can cost an organization $10,000 to a million dollar
imagine the potential Financial impact when more individuals are added to this
indecision equation it can spiral out of control very
quickly the answer is to use decision X decision X is a bespoke on demand
service designed to help your leaders overcome indecision and move forward with their work visit papon MDC and
discover how you can help your team get unstuck shift perspectives and Advance
today now Stephanie I want to just jump back and pull on that thread a little bit more as you define that for us uh I
think that’s fascinating about what Al leadership is but now that we know what it is and how it’s
earned um is that also basically the answer as to how we become that Ally leader or is more involved yeah so
there’s there’s more involved right because there’s all the different steps that you have to do but we talk about that in books in the book and I actually
usually lay out a story as well to drive home the point and so and then I do you
know honestly too Eddie I I go and hit those topics that a lot of us as Leaders you know leading leading is is tough and
trying to think about what your average leader has to think about today right so the average leader today and I’m talking
about if you’re leading in Marketplace not necessarily if you’re leading in you know Ministry or or
nonprofit or what have you though they have the same challenges but those of us leading in Corporate America we have to
be focused on customer retention um you know customer uh growth right employee
retention how do we attract you know top talent and then we also have to be concerned about all the stuff that’s
going on globally Global Supply Chain issues what wars are happening how is that going to impact my business my
product is there a demand for my product is not a demand for the product what’s the stock market doing you know there’s
all kind of things we have to think about and now on top of jug yeah we’re juggling right and then on top of it
you’ve got to figure out okay now I have all these people that are nothing like me I I I you can’t even necessarily
relate to them because we have such different experiences so that’s a lot and I want leaders especially those that
are listening right now we know that’s a lot and so how do you manage all of that
because your average leader wants to be a fantastic leader they want to be the ones that people are in their industry
talking about oh man I want to work for Eddie like Eddie zck you you work for Eddie that’s amazing because I hear he’s
awesome he grows people he’s challenging you all the time like we all want to be that leader that everybody’s knocking
down doors to work for but when the reality is that there’s so much going on you can barely keep your head above
water you’re probably not growing your people developing your people doing one-on-one coaching sessions thanking
them for the you know you’re not doing all the basics right because you’re just trying to keep your head a flat and make
sure the board’s happy the stock cers are happy the you know your boss is happy so it’s just a lot so the way that
I structured the book is really just to break it down in its simplest way and that’s why I spend so much time in
Stories the stories will actually help people see how either I uh got it incredibly wrong right or how I knocked
it out the park um and in hopes that you know they can find a story that relates to them the goal isn’t that you have to
change who you are and that’s really the because I think people start getting overwhelmed with oh my God you know now
how am I gonna lead this person I know nothing about their history nobody’s expecting you to know anything about their history or uh you know whatever
their life’s traumas could be it doesn’t do anybody any good to beat people up
because they really don’t know right like nobody wins in that scenario but what you can do is you certainly can ask
the questions listen learn and then now that you know more information there’s
different opportunities for you to be able to take action and so that’s the biggest thing I want people to know is
you know we’re not looking for I I’m not here to let let’s just let me go there right on this particular subject not
here to beat up the white guy right I like a lot of the conversation has not been it’s I wanted the conversation to
go deeper and wider and so far a lot of the conversation has been you know for white men because they still control
about 87% of the leadership positions in Corporate America so a lot of the conversation has been okay let’s help
white men know how to lead people of color and women yeah okay that’s helpful right and so that’s part of the book but
it’s it’s we’re we’re way past that at this point right because there’s more women that are leading there’s if if
you’re a person of color and now of a sudden you’re leading somebody that doesn’t look like you how does that work right so it’s not just a one you know
way that we figured out with male allies that’s why name the book that it’s like no every leader has to figure this out
and so you’ve got to know how to lead I always say you got to know how to lead All God’s Children every race every create every gender that’s if you want
to remain relevant in the 21st century that is the requirement for leaders these days so yes the book tells you
different ways on how to do that but we kind of engulf it with stories so that it’s uh digestible and bite-sized fun
pieces that’s excellent and it’s so important as you mentioned because the traditional way of leading because you
have these five different Generations in the workforce that didn’t exist before and the societal Norms the societal mors
a lot of things have changed yeah you can’t use that same model that we learned in yester year so I love the
fact that you’ve produced this manual that can run uh give folks something to run through and and to to to think about
this differently and this a set of stories that I’m sure we we’ll find ourselves in one of those uh scenarios
in some way shape or form exactly exactly you know it um it’s interesting too because some of the stories may be
you know some stories I don’t even tell the answer because I want people to see how I actually ask the question how
would you have handled it right so people can really think through it um because again it’s really about putting
yourself in someone else’s shoes and trying to see the world from their perspective for a second and most of us
don’t do that because we’re so busy running around right so it’s like but no this is how we start to make the change
that we actually all desperately want to see what we’ve it lead we start we got to like start the food chain right
indeed we really do yeah yeah now you make a great Point Stephanie in in the fact that hey the only reason that the
initial Target was we were addressing white men was not to pick on anybody but it’s just that hey that’s where the center of power has been right I think
the stat uses 87% of the positions in higher authority is still controlled uh by that
demographic now you as you as you mentioned you’re a black woman you you
come from a different background uh in terms who you work around and then you marriage and such anytime you’re the
first in anything but especially as a black person yeah you you’ve gone
through something it wasn’t easy it wasn’t handed to you there’s been some some pain some scars along the way so I
applaud you of being the first black woman to lead a or Aviation company thank you thank you what um what what
comes with that it’s off the Bittersweet hey I’m the first but boy boy let me tell you so you may not be telling us
some of the things that came with it but what’s just one of the lessons you’ve learned that you were able to pass on to other leaders well you know it’s it’s
it’s such a great question and yes and I think this is true for anybody who’s ever been in first uh yourself included
there’s always the stories that we usually don’t tell right because you
know you tell the you tell the stories but you don’t tell the stories that are going to uh you know really make people
go like oh my God I didn’t realize it and plus usually you don’t have that kind of time there’s so many stories that will shock people so you just kind
of narrow it down to a few what I will tell you is this when I um you know I
grew up around planes because I was a military kid right my dad was in the Air Force and so uh when you’re in the
military at least it was my experience that in the military what uh all the
kids that GRE that I grew up around I moved every two years of my life we all had the same lifestyle and so I didn’t
know anything different and neither did anybody that I was around right because we all all moved around all the time and
in the military it was a lot more about are you a civilian or are you in the military and less about are you black
white asian Hispanic right because so many of us were so many different races and so that kind of had an impact on how
I saw the world if you will now fast forward get into the workplace and especially the private Aviation side of
the house because that is you know the people who tend to are um tend to fly privately or work in the industry
because it’s you know getting your pilot license and all that stuff is an expensive hobby so historically it was
always you know primarily men and specifically white men and a lot of times men who had a background in uh the
military and so it was a very specific type of demographic what I would tell you is the probably some of the biggest
lessons that I learned is when I I remember I had to take over my very first sales team and my CEO had asked me
to come over and take over the team and originally I said no because I had I was already over seeing a sales team and I loved that team and it took me five
years to get the team where I needed it to be and so the team and I were like just vibing everything we were killing
it on the numbers the team had a great uh Team culture they worked really well as a team and so then I was asked to
like leave that and come to this other division where none of that was were going on and so I remember you know for
four months going no no I’m I’m good like thank you I I was gonna say R am and my CEO wasn’t wasn’t having it he’s
like stuff I need you to come over here and fix this team like you did the other team team and you know stop let’s stop talking about it you just need to be
here in the next 30 days and so I actually T talk about that in in the book because I open with that story that
all of a sudden here’s a black woman who I’ve you know come through the ranks right but certainly I was not a pilot
which is how most people came through the Rings I didn’t know I wasn’t maintenance I didn’t know how to fix a plane I don’t know how to fix a plane or
fly a plane okay that’s usually how people who are in leading in the private jet sector they come from one of those
two so I remember when I moved down uh and took over this team and I’m looking
at this all male team and they all had the same background not only were they the same race same gender they all have
the same military background and uh and here I’m looking at them thinking wow
like you know we we could not be further from each other and they’re looking at me like where’ she come from right like
who’s this lady and so you know and this team had never ever hit their number which is why I was brought in to get
this you know get this whole house in order if you will but after the first year the team hit their number for the
first time they never hit their number in 14 years and the reason why I give that story is because that’s how I
learned ask listen learn and then you take action so it wasn’t that the team was no good these people were highly
trained very effective um especially in the background that they had which were all military type of uh backgrounds they
just didn’t work together as a team and they and so that’s where that’s where
you know the Ally had to come into play I had to understand them and their background and they had to understand me
and what was I expecting as well and then together you know I earned the right to be able to call be called their
Ally but what I would say you know the lessons that I learned in that process was not to judge a book by its cover
just because I had no background zero similar similarities with them didn’t
mean that I couldn’t lead them so that was the first thing I had to get out of my own head if you will I knew how to
lead an effective team though these people were nothing like me and I’m sure they felt like I was
nothing like them so that was one of the lessons I had to learn I also had to deal with customers who would look at me
I remember I remember this one specific time we had an event the event was at Pebble Beach and so uh you know so I’m
I’m the lead person at the event we’re hosting all high net worth customers and
this gentleman uh my sales director introduces me to this client the client says to me he’s looking at me up and
down and he goes wow so so you’re in church and you could tell the look on
his face you know said it all right like yes yes and he kept saying so wait like
so wow like he literally was like this went off like two minutes wow like you
so you’re in charge huh and then he said you must be really really really good if
you’re in charge isn’t that something isn’t that something now in his world he’s thinking he’s paying me a
compliment there’s no compl that right and so that’s just one of many stories
that I could because we understand everything that wasn’t said that’s right exactly because his body language is screaming it right and so you still have
to you know keep his dignity intact you still have to you know deal with all that and so I remember uh I remember
when he said that I you know put my hand forward shook his hand and I said yes
I’m Stephanie Chun I am in charge and yes I am really really really good you
know I mean like I gotta address it I he the of snaps right there there you go exactly and then you know what happened
at that point he looked at me and he like put a grin on his face and he goes what’s a damn good pleasure to meet you
Stephanie Chong right you know every day there was something that I was like all right how am I gonna handle this you
know and and and and because you know what you want to say right that’s reality you can’t and and at you know
and let’s just say I always believe that a lot of times that kind of that kind of um uh uh we’ll call it ignorance because I
can’t come up with another word he wasn’t trying to be rude right and he wasn’t trying to be mean but that was
his reality he had never seen anybody like me before in that level of a
position in that type of Industry now the truth was there was no one at that time like me before in that industry at
that level and so I was his first to see but that happened so often all the time
and yet you know you you have decisions to make as the leader as the person in my case person of color woman Etc how am
I going to handle this and still keep be true to my brand right and that’s really
a lot of times we forget about that you know there’s the brand that you work for and then there’s the brand of your own
brand and how do I want my brand to carry itself and so that’s usually my
driving force of how I will respond or not respond when I get those types of um looks or questions
awesome I appreciate you sharing that we had a listener tuned in and comment earlier from LinkedIn and now we have uh
CJ Advocates from Facebook she says this thank
you she want on just to add that this is a great conversation I am getting some
good nuggets nice and she did ask one question that I’d like to go and tee over to you okay
really is responsible for team culture the CEO or the supervisor fantastic
question it’s fantastic question so in my opinion it’s the CEO the CEO has to
set the vision for what this culture is going to be now it gets executed downline right so supervisors VPS you
know Etc just like anything else you know if you think about business overall it’s the CEO’s Vision that everybody’s
trying to bring to life right the CEO should always be focused on the future the that their his or her direct reports
now have to make sure that they have the plan the structure the process to make that Vision be able to be executable and
then below that now is the managers the directors the senior directors they’re the ones dealing with the you know okay
now we understand where we’re trying to go what are the people the process that we need to do in order to make the
vision of the CEO uh stuff come to life and then you’ve got the the worker bees right and the worker bees are dealing
with the realities of what’s happening the process the people every single day day by day minute by minute so each
level has a role But to answer CJ’s question it literally all has to start
at the Top If it doesn’t start at the top it will not happen you can’t have one division has a certain culture one
team has a different culture you can’t have all that right because then then you’re not all walking in accordance uh
to what it is that you’re trying to get accomplish as a company that’s why when I talked about you have to assure alignment that’s one of those examples
of assuring alignment everybody has to know what the right hand’s do and why are we here what does the business exist
for what’s the purpose behind the business and how is it that what I do impacts what we do as a company all that
has to be literally directed from the CEO of what they will and will not
tolerate in regards to setting the culture that everybody feels seen appreciated psychologically safe and
therefore can do their best work so beautiful well thank you for that answer
uh she’s letting us know her name so I guess the first name is the business so her name is sha Johnson I know sha she’s a a lobbies I believe in DC she says yes
yes thank you she waited again and she said absolutely
100% then she says what should be music to your ear she wants the book and wants to listen to more of this conversation
oh wonderful and she has one last request does she do Executive coaching
oh you know what what a blessing so first of all it’s funny I used to do Executive coaching and Eddie when you
and I first met you know that was a big part of my business now I’m on the road so much that I can’t be effective
one-on-one coach and so I no longer do Executive coaching any longer but CJ thank you so much and what I would do is
tell CJ you know by all means feel free to follow me or or sign up because I am gonna start doing some things like more
Mastermind Focus uh that will be in the future but at least if she’s on you know on our our radar then she’ll be the
first to be uh notified when that when that program actually comes into fruition we’re actually creating it and talking through it and working on it
right now so I don’t do one-on-one coaching anymore but uh I am trying to be able to do uh more masterminds for
small groups not big massive stuff just smaller groups that they we can fit that into the schedule so her time is
actually really perfect she says awesome thank thank you yes masterm are awesome
and those are a great way especially for busy Executives like yourself to be able to give yourself to a group of people at the same time rather than
oneon-one time slides right right I could talk to you for hours thank you so
much for what you shared what’s the biggest lesson that you like Stephanie to make sure everybody walks away from
this conversation with that’s a good question there’s probably two right so um one of the things that I heard and I
and I actually heard this I many but probably like I don’t know 15 years ago maybe 20 years ago from uh Carla Harris
she’s the originator of this quote but I quote it all the time because I still think it’s effective now that any major
decision that’s going to be made about your career you will not be in the room and I think that’s always important for
every leader to always remember that when people are you know I come from the SE Suite right so when we’re talking about who should we give this next
project to or who should we give you know the international um assignment to and so on and so forth all of those
discussions you won’t be in the room if your name’s being discussed and so what that means then is that your brand I
made it reference to you know your personal brand your personal brand has to represent you and be able to be the
Forerunner because many times you won’t be in the room and so we as professionals don’t usually think about
our personal brand we tend to think about the brand that we work for so I would say for every all of the listeners
is to always be mindful of what do you want your personal brand to rep represent when people are talking about
it or thinking about it what is what is it right and that’s what you’re doing every single day to make sure that what
you’re doing lines up to your personal brand which should line up to your personal values and your purpose and why
you’re here and so that would be the first set of advice I would say second set of advice I would say is this when
As Leaders to be relevant and I said this earlier and to be effective you were going to have to realize that just
because someone’s not like you doesn’t mean that you can just stick your hand in this head in the sand and hope that
they go away right that’s not happening nobody’s going away right can’t ignore this you know these these those days are
dead and so if you want to be that leader that really does hit your Highest
Potential then you’re going to have to really buckle down and figure out how do
you lead people who are not like you it’s not a nice to do or maybe I tried if I have time you’ll never have time
now is the time and so as the world is changing so rapidly this is the new
level of leadership period and you have to get on board and so and there’s no
ANS ifs or doubts about it and so there’s a whole move movement happening you know one of the things uh if I could
just say this Eddie when I wrote the book I I had a lot of beta readers uh read the book and I had a lot of
different types of people read the book and one of the things I was pleasantly surprised to see that a lot of the white
male Executives that read the book um that they they don’t even know each other so they would come back to me with
all the answers to the questions that I gave them and but they all had the same message they said Steph you’re really on
to something with this book whatever you do don’t make it a one-off book make it a movement
because this is what’s needed for today’s leaders now this is coming from
white men right and so I remember when I said you know when you read the book how did you feel they said I felt like you
made me think there are times I felt a little uncomfortable and I said did you ever feel mad right because I didn’t
want that wasn’t the goal behind they said no never felt mad and if there were times that I feel like then you would
swipe in and talk about your vulnerabilities or where you missed the Mark or you know the lessons that you
learned and so I use that as an example because the book is for everybody right
I don’t ignore the elephant in the room that yes white men control most of the um leadership positions now but the
conversation has to go deeper and wider than that and so this is really for
every leader and so the one message I really want for leaders to grab hold of is if you want to hit your Highest
Potential whatever that is for you you’re going to have to deal with this issue and whether it’s a different
generation different gender different sexual orientation different religion you know whatever different different
different that’s we’re in a global world and a global economy and so you’re gonna have to get a lot more educated about
how do you do this and do this effectively if you want to be able to have the honor of leading a lot of
people so that’s the message I would leave with everybody what a powerful
message and I’m so happy to have had you again my friend thank you so much for being a guest and I want to make sure
that people know to go out get a copy of this book where books are sold and to learn more about you that they should
make it over to Stephanie ch.com uh find out more about the work she’s doing book
her as a speaker uh for your next big event thank you so much Stephanie of
course this was so fun thank you so much Eddie it was nice seeing you again it was my
honor and thank you for listening that concludes this episode of the keep leading podcast everyone I’m Eddie turn
the leadership accelerator reminding you that leadership is not about our title
or our position leadership that Stephanie brought out so well for us today is action it’s an activity it’s
not a garment that we put on and take off we must be a leader at our core and
allow it to emanate in all that we do so whatever you’re doing always
keep leading