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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Power Up summary
Magdalena Yesil
How Smart Women Win in the New Economy
23 mins
Table of Contents
Power Up
Summary of 8 key ideas
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Key idea 1 of 8
To “Power UP” your career, you must endure mistakes, stay humble and remain confident.
The New Economy is a fast-moving field, since advancements and new innovations are being made all the time in the technology industry. If you hope to stay on track during all of the twists and turns that lay ahead, you need to keep a few core principles in mind.
To begin with, it’s important not to get discouraged when mistakes are made, and instead use them as an opportunity to power UP.
The author, Magdalena Yesil, made a mistake back in the early days of Apple. She rejected a job offer from Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak! Unfortunately, she had heeded the advice of her college advisor, who told her she shouldn’t take a job from a tech company that named itself after a fruit.
Rather than just beating herself up, Yesil recognized the real cause of her mistake: she didn’t do the proper research before making the decision. Instead, she decided to power UP. From then on, she’d do her homework and make well-informed career decisions.
Another core principle of powering UP is to stay humble, as this is key to being receptive to valuable feedback.
During her first engineering job, Yesil designed a semiconductor chip. After her presentation on the chip’s logic functions in her first review meeting, her work was harshly criticized by her bosses.
But, once again, Yesil saw an opportunity: this was a great chance to learn and understand each and every design flaw that needed fixing. During the meeting, she remained attentive and receptive to each piece of criticism. And because she was open, her colleagues were always honest with her about any ways in which she could improve.
This brings us to the third principle: remain confident about each career decision.
Making a career change can be a scary and emotional time. Changes often come with financial risks, but these are the burdens you must bear if you are to reach your long-term goals.
Marc Benioff was an early collaborator of the author’s when she was working at Salesforce. But before they became colleagues, Benioff worked at Oracle, where he had a close friendship with his mentor and a secure and lucrative position.
When Benioff joined Salesforce, he had an eight-thousand-square foot office space with just ten other employees. But he presented each of these employees, as well as Salesforce investors, with an attitude of confidence about his career decision.
As it turned out, that decision wasn’t bad: Salesforce’s offices are now the tallest building west of the Mississippi.
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What is Power Up about?
Power Up (2017) aims to empower women in the workplace with practical advice and heartfelt anecdotes from a Silicon Valley pioneer. Although primarily focused on the tech industry, it’s a guidebook that can be applied to breaking glass ceilings in all industries. From taking ownership of career choices to navigating sexist office politics, Magdalena Yesil offers a call to action for women who want appropriate credit for their hard work and a salary to match.
Who should read Power Up?
- Women in business
- Anyone working in the tech industry
- Entrepreneurs and venture capitalists
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