HKUST WiB, January 2024: New Beginnings

January 2024

Issue 3

New

beginnings Women in Business HKUST

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Editor's Note

01

Recap: Fall Semester with WiB

02

SKILL DEVELOPMENT Soft Skills That Are Rising in Demand

04

Polishing Your Networking Skills

06

Essential Reads for Personal & Career Growth

09

WELLNESS How to Make 2024 Your Year

13HKUST

How to Embrace Your Vulnerability

15

Community Stories: Georgia Clayton

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Visit our website for more information: HTTPS://WIBHKCONTACT.WIXSITE.COM/WOMEN INBUSINESS

letter from the editors Chae Eun Son

Lisha Bhavnani

New beginnings, to me, embody feelings of hope and empowerment. It reminds us that, irrespective of the calendar, we can change whenever we desire. The essence of a new beginning lies not in the grand gestures but in the small actions we take in our daily lives.

New beginnings are all about turning the page over, this may come with surmounting pressure to make something out of it. However, if there is anything you should ‘change’ in a new beginning, begin with your perspective and encourage yourself to adopt a positive outlook. Sometimes, a new beginning could just be about celebrating all your accomplishments and working towards maintaining it.

At times when we feel that a fresh start is needed, instead of doing more, we need to pause and reflect to envision the person we aspire to become.

Through this issue, we have curated content that will inspire and guide you on your journey of new beginnings.

From articles on skill development, goal setting, wellness and stories of the empowering women in our community, at WiB we strive to continue supporting and empowering women around us.

I encourage you to take a moment to celebrate your past accomplishments, no matter how big or small, and be proud of all that you have experienced and done last year.

Remember, new beginnings are not bound by a specific time or date they can happen at any moment we choose to take that first step towards something different.

Here at WiB, our objective is to acknowledge and celebrate all your individual accomplishments and create a platform that showcases your individuality.

Throughout our newsletters, and online blog posts (over at Wib.com), our aim is to provide you with resources to recognise and help grow your abilities. Whether that may be through articles or through event opportunities.

We hope you continue reading and supporting our newsletters, and we promise to keep delivering only the best content exclusively, for you.

Chae & Lisha

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Fall 2023 - 2024 Timeline of our growth at WiB. Editor-in-Chiefs Like all of us, WiB continues to grow and evolve each semester. With the support of our members and managing team, last semester we were able to organise a series of events to contribute to our mission.

“HKUST Women in Business empowers women to become leaders of business and close the gender gap in leadership. We strive to introduce young, aspiring executives to leading professionals in a variety of industries. We want to help our members unlock their talent and reach their highest potential in leadership.”

07/09/23

INFORMATION SESSION

21/09/23

SOCIAL MIXER

05/10/23

FIRESIDE CHAT

26/10/23

WORKSHOP: CREDIT FITNESS

31/10/23

AMPLIFYME X WIB FINANCIAL SIMULATION

09/11/23

YOGA WORKSHOP

09/11/23

MARKETING CAMPAIGN COMPETITION

16/11/23

VOLUNTEERING PROJECT 02

PART 1.

Skill

DEVELOPMENT 03

Soft Skills that are rising in demand

What are Soft Skills and why are they important?

Soft skills are referred to as “human skills”. It focuses on how you work and interact with others while reflecting on your values. There is a lot of significance placed on it as it is something artificial intelligence (AI) cannot replace so easily. Thus, to gain a greater advantage in an automated workplace, you must cultivate both your soft and hard skills.

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What Soft Skills Should You Be Working On?

the 4c’s

Soft skills that are predicted to be in greater demand:

Critical Thinking

01

Accessing and comprehending data obtained by AI or machine learning.

Communication

02

The ability to convey ideas and messages efficiently. Especially as remote working has been more prominent, employees with good presentation skills will be in more demand.

Collaboration

03

Interpersonal skill which allows employees to engage with their coworkers and collaborate to achieve goals in a harmonious environment.

Creativity

04

This is what drives innovation. It refers to being able to ‘Think Outside of the Box’.

05

Polishing your

Networking

skills

“Did you know that you are 40% more likely to land your dream job through company referrals.

It all boils down to one skill... Networking. Networking is the opportunity to meet individuals from different backgrounds and form relationships with them through the exchange of information. “

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06

Every individual has different approaches to creating connections, here are three easy steps to get you started.

1

Join events. Universities often provide students with dozens of opportunities to meet with companies, whether this may be through career fairs, or through alumni gatherings. It is highly recommended to attend these events, and engage with the guests, to create the opportunity for yourself to be in the position to network!

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2

Be prepared. If there is someone you know is going to attend the event, be prepared and do your research. Find out more about them so there is something of substance to base your conversations off on.

And if that doesn't work then go ahead and ask them some questions!

Find mutual topics.

Are you a foodie? Or let me guess... are you a Potterhead? It is these simple questions you can use to find a mutual ground between two people.

Show your genuine interest to get to know the other person, while still being understanding that not everyone will be willing to reciprocate, and that's okay!

4

Send follow ups. Don’t be afraid to contact that person a few hours after you met, whether this may be through a Linked-in request, instagram follow or even an email. Chances are they are just as interested in maintaining contact with you. If there is something that the both of you bonded upon, feel free to send them articles, or depending on the formality, send them some funny memes too! There is no limit or boundary as to what you can send to keep the conversation going every once in a while. Just a simple ‘this article reminded me of you’ goes a long way.

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Alternatively here are a few things you should avoid doing when networking.

1

Meet people for your personal benefit! More often than not experienced industry professionals will be able to identify a person only meeting for their own agenda. Try using this opportunity to create a genuine and lasting connection.

2

Unequal exchange!

Remember it is all about the exchange of information between two individuals. Try to leave them with a useful piece of information that they can remember you by, for example if the conversation was about animals, tell them one of the unique animal facts you had stored in your back pocket!

“Overall, it's always helpful to keep an open mind when going to any event, or career fairs and look forward to creating new connections.”

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Essential

Reads

For personal growth & success this year

09

Books can serve as an excellent means to engage your mind, provide an escape from your hectic lives, and transport you to another realm.

Here are our top three self-care book recommendations for this year.

1. "Think Again" by Adam Grant: In this thoughtprovoking book, Grant encourages readers to question their beliefs and opinions, fostering a mindset of continuous learning and adaptation. He presents compelling examples and strategies for embracing the unknown, ultimately promoting intellectual humility and personal growth.

2. "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck" by Mark Manson: This self-help book challenges conventional wisdom by encouraging readers to embrace life's struggles and focus on the things that truly matter.

Manson offers practical advice on how to cultivate resilience and find meaning in our actions, ultimately leading to a more fulfilling life.

3."Atomic Habits" by James Clear: Clear's book provides a comprehensive guide on how to build and maintain good habits while breaking bad ones.

He emphasizes the power of small, incremental changes that compound over time, leading to significant personal growth and success.

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Our top two fictional books:

‘Night Circus’ The first word that comes to mind to describe it is ‘enchanting’. It brings about the perfect balance between the childlike wonder of the circus, the complexity of navigating rivalries, and the blurred lines between fantasy and reality. It sparks your imagination and is one of those books that you can’t seem to put down. The author takes her readers along with her as she explores her characters choices and motives, and it provides an overall immersive experience that very few books manage to pull off.

‘They both die at the end’ by Adam Silvera is a novel that explores themes of friendship, love, and living life to the fullest. Set in a world where people receive a notification on their last day alive, and the story follows two young men, Mateo and Rufus, as they meet and spend their final day together. Through their emotional journey, the characters reflect on the importance of human connection and the value of making every moment count before they die. I love this book because it reminds us to live in the moment, and to do things that drive us towards our happiness.

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PART 2.

Wellness

COMING BACK TO YOURSELF

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how to make your year 2024 It's that time of the year when our social media fills up with everyone's New Year's resolutions for the upcoming year.

With a new year comes a lengthy list of goals we want to achieve. However, a couple of days later, we soon forget what goals we even set in the first place!

I'm sure we can all relate to feeling so motivated, but soon, losing motivation to carry these goals through. So, let's explore why most of us fail to be consistent and what we can finally do to make 2024 our year.

“ 365 new days, 365 new chances, 365 new beginnings. ” Before we move on to How to set new year goals, there is one crucial step most of us ignore. It is reflecting and taking a look at the previous year. We must celebrate and realise all our accomplishments - no matter how big or small they were. When we reflect on what worked and what did not work, we can learn from our mistakes and become wiser in the new year.

The reason why many of us are unable to persist with our goals comes down to systems. In this case, the concept of a 'system' is used as a broad term to describe how we break down our goals, hold ourselves accountable and the mindset and intentions we have during the process. Let's explore what factors create resistance in achieving our goals and how they can be solved.

The goal is too unrealistic This refers to when a goal is either too hard or too easy to carry out. When a goal is too hard to be accomplished it can be intimidating to approach- leading to more procrastination to carry it out. On the other hand, when a goal is too easy, there is no sense of reward or accomplishment leading to low motivation.

Solution: When you set your goals, be mindful and realistic. One tip is to visualise the type of person you would like to be at the end of 2022. From this, you can explore and create more intentional goals that support the person you would like to develop into this year. This also allows you to have a stronger reason for setting this goal- giving you more purpose and motivation to keep persisting.

“ The more reflective you are, the more effective you are.

- Pete Hall & Alisa Simoral. “

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Lack of planning and accountability With the overwhelming amount of distractions from our daily lives, it is easy to forget the goals we set. Consequentially, if we forget what goals we set, they will not be worked on and soon we lose motivation to even give it another attempt.

Solution: Create a system to frequently review and track your goals. A good tool to use is a habit tracker- which enables you to track your goals daily. This creates a rewarding experience as you can visually see that you are taking small steps to reach a greater goal. In addition to a tracking system, creating a review system allows you to celebrate the effort you have been putting into achieving your goal- while allowing you to make any adjustments and learn from your journey. We must keep in mind that sticking to our goals requires changes to our lifestyles and change is not something that can be done overnight. We must treat this like a marathon, not a sprint. So keep in mind that there will be some days where you will not achieve the goals you set, however, just realise that it is okay and this is all part of the process of developing. As the saying goes 'consistency is key'.

Now that we have covered why most of us fail to keep consistent and what we can to do overcome them, we can focus on how to set our goals. But, remember that this is not a ‘one-size fit’s’ solution. Everyone is difference and, thus, has different methods that may work for them. Make sure to take these ideas into account, but, focus on finding what works for YOU! As mentioned above, creating a vision board is a useful tool that supports creating more purposeful goals. It is great to have a range of goals, however, to be more effective try to prioritise a few that are the most important to you. This allows you to focus on these few - making it less intimidating to keep on track. Some categories I like to focus on when setting my goals are my career and academic goals - focusing on what type of skills I want to develop and learn and the new experiences I would like to encounter. Additionally, personal goals consisting of health, creativity and relationships are 14 ones you can also focus on to make sure that you are balancing your personal and professional life!

How to embrace your

vulnerability

15

While you were brainstorming to create goals for the new year, you may have encountered a realisation. “ What do I truly want this year?

What is happiness to me?

What is success to me?

What are my values? “ The list goes on, and on, and on...

Reflecting and setting intentions for the new year allows you to be more self-aware and in tune with your values.

However, to truly be self-aware, one must recognise their strengths and confront their fears. When facing fears, we are often unaccustomed to the discomfort that arises.

But instead of avoiding or shying away from these uneasy emotions, it is important to embrace them, for vulnerability is intertwined with courage.

Now, let us delve into the transformative process of Embracing Your Vulnerability, providing valuable insights on starting the new year with enhanced self-awareness and profound self-acceptance.

“Vulnerability is our most accurate way to measure courage. We can measure how brave you are by how vulnerable you're willing to be.”

Throughout history, society has defined a successful leader as being brave, powerful, courageous... However, have you ever considered 'vulnerability' to be a characteristic a leader would possess?

This is inspired by Brené Brown's studies on vulnerability. Brown stated, “vulnerability is our most accurate way to measure courage. We can measure how brave you are by how vulnerable you're willing to be". This article will discuss how being vulnerable is a sign of strength and how we can all learn to embrace our vulnerability to become brave leaders.

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“If you want something you've never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done.” – Thomas Jefferson

What is Vulnerability?

The Cambridge Dictionary defines the quality of being 'vulnerable' as one which includes "being easily hurt, influenced, or attacked". Often, society perceives vulnerability as a weakness.

However, from Brown’s studies, she reshapes the concept of vulnerability as one which helps us measure how courageous we are. To be bold and brave, we must embrace our fears and step out of our comfort zone.

According to Brown, ‘showing up despite the risks’ is what will make those who accept their vulnerability stronger and more resilient in all aspects of life.

How do we embrace our vulnerability?

1. Recognise that facing vulnerability is an act of courage and be proud of the small steps you take.

2. “It’s not the critic who counts”. We must be able to let go of the constant judgement from our peers and strive toward what we truly want.

3. Learn to face rejection and accept constructive feedback.

However, “only accept and pay attention to feedback from those people who are also in the arena”. This refers to focusing on the advice given by people who are also willing to embrace their vulnerability and show up for themselves.

4. Don’t be afraid of failure. Brown states that “adversity helps us become braver as it presents opportunities to exercise our courage”. Mistakes are not a sign of weakness and we should not avoid them. We need to learn from them and be proud as it shows that we are trying to be more courageous.

5. Embrace your authentic self. As brown mentions “vulnerability is needed to be courageous, but it doesn’t mean that if you’re courageous, you don't experience fear”. We can all start to practice being our authentic selves through these 3 tasks: loving-kindness, self-compassion and self-exploration.

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community stories In this section, we feature the diverse opinions of the talented women in our community. We believe that everyone has unique stories and lessons to share from their personal journeys. Join us as we amplify their voices and create the ground for meaningful conversations.

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Featuring: Georgia Clayton

Hi! I’m Georgia, and I’m a writer-and-content strategist-marketing-type person, but I did a lot of things before this. I’m 23 and I live and work in Hong Kong, where I’ve been for the past 12 years and counting.

My monthly newsletter, Breathe Out, is a growing community where we’re covering the big topics and the small topics about being a woman and navigating early adulthood, the trials and tribulations, and the ways through it all that will help us level up and stay balanced – together.

I started Breathe Out because I felt like there wasn’t enough guidance for that sticky period in life from when you’re starting to venture out – not just into new internships, jobs, and careers, but also beginning to tackle the rapid-fire changes happening within your own mental health and external surroundings.

What to expect We’re talking about careers, mental health, work/life balance, song and music recommendations to get you through the rough patches and our greatest moments, excerpts from my own life and (often very jumbled and messy) experiences, and more – all to empower you with actual practical stuff that you can do, and reassurance that it’s possible.

To see all this and more, join us (for free!) by subscribing at breatheout.substack.com.

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My thoughts on the new year and starting 2024 It’s the start of 2024 (for anyone who is not yet aware), and so I thought about sharing why I’m not aggressively working on myself again this year.

Hold up – no resolutions? No SMART targets? No goals on a post-it note? Have I gone completely, utterly insane? Potentially. Thing is, I’ve found that tying myself down to a set of KPIs doesn’t really work for me.

So, drum roll please, 2024 is the year where I focus on one thing: stability!

I want this year to be calm.

Not in a do-nothing way, but in a way that means that, whatever I do, I’m focused on keeping my head level, my feet on the ground, and walking at a decent pace (I dislike sweating) towards the projects that inevitably crop up along the way.

I think we make these resolutions to satisfy a need to be constantly doing something because we believe, wrongly, that deep down we just aren’t good enough to be successful as everyone else, and everyone else seems to be doing everything.

However, rather than a promise to be better, it ends up being the golden handcuffs that constantly make us feel downtrodden, burned out, and dampen the vibe.

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That’s why I think stability is important–it comes down to levelling off any overcommitment (or resolving any under-commitment) to the activities, people, places, projects, and things that make me feel at peace rather than scrabbling around to achieve.

That’s not to say that there aren’t things I want to work on this year. I’m not sailing without a rudder (tried that approach in 2022; didn’t work) – nor am I lounging in “stability” because I’ve got a job that I love and now I don’t need to think.

I see progression as cumulative rather than linear or summative. My ideas don’t expire on 31st December 2024, and they might change–I had to get to grips with this in 2023 when I was thrown some pretty epic curveballs literally every 6 to 8 weeks.

So, maybe this year I won't go up as far as I want to at work yet. The point is that I’ve set enough New Year’s resolutions to get frustrated when I don’t meet them; I’ve changed the goalposts so many times in my head when I tried switching from “resolution” to the ever-nebulous “goal” or “aspiration” or “target”. I challenge you to do the same.

It might look like creating a more coherent study plan so that you can maximise some of your time to connect with friends outside of a busy working schedule (trust me, you can find the time). Maybe, in 2 months, you start assessing how much time you spend each week dedicated to an upcoming exam now that you’ve got that study plan and want to commit more to your sports club.

Obviously, there are real deadlines that we need to meet in life, but those aren’t the point–your stability for 2024 will come down to how you manage the time around them.

However you do it, the purpose is to turn a boiling pot down to a simmer – the food’s still gonna cook!

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January 2024 Issue 3

Women In Business HKUST