SAN DIEGO SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER, UCSD NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE GMH Senior Summit Breakout – Leadership Survival Skills Group Leader: Maria Klawe

SAN DIEGO SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER, UCSD NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE Charge Charge: How to be more effective leaders individually and collectively as women in our field? Process: –Explored leadership challenges –Discussed strategies and best practices

SAN DIEGO SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER, UCSD NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE Leadership Challenges 1 Broadening perception of leadership beyond conventional styles –How do we achieve in the current landscape? –How do we evolve the landscape? Extra challenges and responsibilities of being women leaders in our field Managing enthusiasm to promote women/political correctness vs. readiness for new positions and responsibilities and development of the skills to succeed –How to decide when to take/seek new opportunities

SAN DIEGO SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER, UCSD NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE Leadership Challenges 2 How to “feel” like a leader and place oneself within the technical, political, social framework –“Entitlement” issues Role of women leaders in computer science with respect to furthering the representation and agenda of women in computer science –Energy management and burnout –Where are the “sugar mommies”? How to encourage agencies to invest in maintenance of good outreach projects vs. seeding outreach projects How to weather transitions successfully (going from one culture/institution to another)

SAN DIEGO SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER, UCSD NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE Strategies and Best Practices What have you or others done to be an effective leader?

SAN DIEGO SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER, UCSD NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE Strategies and Best Practices 1 “Power of rhetoric” If you want things to change, declare success about it –Raise visibility by having things be part of the language Take time for reflection – leadership by introspection Values: learning to be adaptive, flexible, agent for change

SAN DIEGO SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER, UCSD NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE Strategies and Best Practices 2 Be able to articulate your vision in an easily understood way –Provides a focus for your leadership Get a core group of people working with you –Buy-in is critical. Build on people’s strengths and passions –Invest people in forwarding your/their agenda

SAN DIEGO SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER, UCSD NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE Strategies and Best Practices 3 Be willing to lose openly and often –Accepting loss speaks to integrity and leadership Use a group of key people in your life whose advice you trust Be willing to change your thinking To be a leader, you need to be able to get people to follow –You need to get people working together and engaged with a mutual agenda

SAN DIEGO SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER, UCSD NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE Strategies and Best Practices 4 People follow leaders with vision –Vision must be simple, focused and compelling –Leader must do their homework –You must be able to sell your vision You need to master when to use influence and when to use power –You need to know how to use both Actions are at least as important as words –If you think something is important, you need to demonstrate it to your reports wrt your priorities, how you spend your time, etc.

SAN DIEGO SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER, UCSD NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE Strategies and Best Practices 5 You need to be able to work in a number of different time scales –You need to be able to plan far ahead You need to be able to manage both self- confidence and self-doubt –Take enough input to question yourself You need to be able to create new leaders –Good organizations have bench depth

SAN DIEGO SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER, UCSD NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE Strategies and Best Practices 6 Stay at the table – don’t give up on people or what you believe in Leaders should listen –Be obliging in the way you refuse You have to be respected even if you or your decisions are not liked Be a role model for your organization –Interact with your staff consist in the way you want the culture to be

SAN DIEGO SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER, UCSD NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE Strategies and Best Practices 7 Make your goals about your team’s success rather than your success You need to get good at managing both up and down –With direct reports, it’s useful to foster communication among parties Strategy: Each person can explain the other’s point of view Value the idea and not just the status of the person who said it

SAN DIEGO SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER, UCSD NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE Action Items 1.Maria and Robin and Fran B. will organize leadership short-course, sponsored by IWT and available to senior women Focus: Development of skills applicable to our day-to-day leadership roles 2.Summarize leadership challenges and strategies for senior women in computing 3.Susan and Fran A. will organize a senior women’s summit around the idea of women being catalysts for change in society Focus: Strategies to use leadership to change society more broadly