um...that's so awkward

If you aren’t willing to look like a foolish beginner, you’ll never become a graceful master

There are people around me who cringe when they think I’ve done something embarrassing…but when self-consciousness prevents you from doing / trying things, those regrets eventually pile up into a mountain that blocks your view to all the possibilities. Learn to laugh at yourself (a helpful element of graceful embarrassment), and you may find that the long term joy and satisfaction from trying, outweighs the short term embarrassment.

If you aren’t willing to look like a foolish beginner, you’ll never become a graceful master

it's 110 degrees outside

Our experience in Phoenix has proven that high performance design and climate resilient construction does work in an extreme climate.

As recent transplants to this fast growing desert environment, we were greeted with mostly stucco and tile roof housing stock that paid little attention to energy efficiency and climate resilience. We saw an opportunity to put these practices to work in a locale resigned to climate extremes. The summer’s record number of 110+ degree days gave us the data we hoped for in terms of energy savings, indoor air quality, and overall comfort.

Our fully renovated house uses 70%+ less energy than the 1990’s rental house we lived in during construction. In dollar terms, the rental’s highest energy bill was over $800/mo (adjusted for size), compared to $240/mo for our climate resilient house. In the future, we plan to install solar. The net zero solar requirement will be 5 KW, an installed savings of at least $20k compared to the 15 KW system that installers originally proposed for a typical comparably sized Phoenix house.

What makes our house so energy efficient?

• uber-insulated 16” thick cement block walls

• heat reflecting metal roof and fiber cement siding

• triple glazed windows and doors

• heat pumps and split mini HVAC systems

• energy star appliances w/induction cooking

• heat pump water heater

• LED lighting

We also use an Awair monitor to measure air quality. The results explain the refreshing comfort level of our house. It measures temperature, humidity, CO2, VOC chemicals, and fine dust particles. In the dry, dusty desert, a typical leaky house has unhealthy levels of low humidity and high dust. Our healthy home air quality levels consistently score between 95-100% thanks to super-sealed construction, ERV systems that constantly turn over fresh air on a 24/7 basis while filtering for particles and balancing humidity. Coming home really does feel good for our well-being!

We made all this happen with our ‘building nerds’ at Vali Homes and Apollo Builders, our contractor, after interviewing a lot of skeptics who scoffed at our crazy ideas. It takes a strong constitution to break through the building industry’s fear of the unknown. By celebrating the big impact successes of our small, but mighty partners / catalysts, I hope to spread the word. Building a home for climate resilience, energy + resource efficiency, and healthy indoor spaces is a personal decision. By sharing some of the the hows (and who can help), the easier it will be to make those choices!

a high-performance healthy desert home

Before: a partially demolished 1970’s skeletal structure.
After: an energy efficient Shou Sugi Ban inspired residence.
Made possible by people with a shared vision.

It’s a love-hate relationship with every project…this one pushed the boundaries of building science and sustainability in desert residential design and construction methods.

Built to be a net zero, high-performance building, the house embraces its desert environment with a watersmart xeriscape and native plantings. Designed to echo the surrounding desert mountains, its desert modern steel and fiber-cement cladding conceals layers of insulating materials.

Time will tell how this climate-resilient, healthy home measures up for energy efficiency.

Jennifer Schumacher facilitated a cross-country acquisition of an abandoned site - when travel was shut down.

CoLab Studios inspired the design, undaunted with reuse of the remaining structure and footprint.

The Building Nerds - Austin Trautman and Lucas Johnson made the building science relatable and practical.

Tyler Kestner of Apollo Builders, stepped up and outside the box to deliver the built vision.

empathy for the disinterested

No one cares how much you know, unless they know how much you care.

Early in my consulting career, I worked with one particular consulting Partner - a friendly Texan with a Texas twang and a penchant for handing out advice using an adage. I didn’t grow up with adages, so sometimes it looks months to puzzle out the nuggets of advice. But, when I asked this Partner for advice on how to better understand our clients, to shape productive conversations and frame better solutions, the lightbulb clicked on immediately.

In fact, he said, there are 3 types of people:
1) Those who know that they don’t know what they don’t know (and are open to receiving or seeking more knowledge)
2) Those who don’t know what they don’t know (and may be indifferent, but are willing to gain more knowledge), and
3) Those who know all they want to know, and don’t want to know what they don’t know.

The pearls of wisdom:

Recognize that everyone comes from a different place.

Acknowledge that different places create different perspectives.

Do not mistake opinions (our own and others) for knowledge.

Curiosity forms our knowledge.

Do not judge a lack of curiosity for a lack of intelligence.

I put these pearls to use with a client who was adamant there were no good solutions to a problem that didn’t exist. Apparently, we had been hired by someone else who thought differently, but we were working with a team that wasn’t interested. It was a conundrum.

That client wasn’t unique. Consultants often find themselves where they aren’t welcome and their observations and suggestions are derided. Those partner’s pearls of wisdom enlightened me to the power of empathy. Telling someone the solution to their problem is not the same as that person asking you for a solution to their problem. And so, take the time to really listen, and restrain yourself from doing all the talking at the outset. You might just save everyone some frustration and walk away with some new nuggets of insight.

who's your SAM?

Mentors are helpful, but Sponsors and Advocates are instrumental in one’s career progression.

Mentors get a lot of press, but it was an eye-opening revelation when a colleague spoke of the impact that SAMs had on his own career development. The clarity his words shed on my own experience made me appreciate that while I had been blissfully ignorant, many others in the workplace could benefit from this insight.

What is a Mentor? These are people who are instructive for exploring career and industry interests. They may introduce you to their networks. They could be inside or outside your organization, but the key distinction is that Mentors have little to no vested interest in your work outcomes, and therefore, have minimal influence on how you move through an organization.

On the other hand, Advocates are colleagues who actively speak on your behalf, whether you're in the room or not. Advocates exist at all levels and carry weight when projects or performance is being discussed. For example, think of those times you’ve sat in a meeting where an issue is raised. An advocate will counter a concern by voicing their support of your approach or track record. Without an advocate’s voice, the issue to remains unanswered. Silence isn't golden when support is better. Advocacy is built on goodwill, which accrues over time. Build a network of advocates, and be a good advocate for others.

What then, is a Sponsor? These are the people who shape your career. Sponsors are the leaders who sit at the table when employee development, project assignments, and promotions are discussed. They are your bosses, project executives, or internal client leaders who directly benefit from and influence how your work is received and perceived. Sponsors can make your career, but misplace their trust and benevolence, and they can stall your career. Like Advocates, you earn your Sponsors. There’s no harm in asking for sponsorship, but expecting to be sponsored or expressing entitlement to sponsorship is a one-way ticket to “No, thank you.”

I grew up in an immigrant household, with parents who didn’t discuss work at home. I went into the workforce with naïveté, despite reading dozens of business books on how to succeed. My mentors were appreciated for their unbiased guidance, but when I think of my career, I know it wasn’t just hard work that helped me along. There’s no over-emphasizing the magnitudinous impact of my Sponsors and Advocates.

Those I’ve sponsored and advocated for earned well-deserved opportunities. So, at the end of the day, how we make the most of those opportunities is up to us - sometimes, opportunities are wasted. But, the adage that you reap what you sow runs true. Relationships with your SAMs are built from sustained and sincere effort.

Please, take your vacation on an island. But, don’t act like an island or your ability to thrive will be severely diminished.

evolution of the office

Is it really necessary to go into the office to accomplish productive office work? When I ran the real estate org for a 30,000+ employee company, every office worker had an assigned desk. And, many of those desks sat empty throughout the week. We measured that the average desk utilization number on any given week was around 45%. Work was being performed, but not always in the office.

Ambitious and diligent employees will collaborate and produce with accountability whether they’re in the office or not. Slackers will perform poorly regardless of whether being seen or not. And while there are social positives to in-office face time, in-person work as the norm is a relic. Beware though: If you’re not sharing information with your managers and co-workers, you’ll become a pariah who is: a) resented for not collaborating, and b) eventually overlooked. Communicating skillfully will always be a necessary and valued indicator of performance accountability no matter where you work.

The demographic balance of influence has shifted. A greater percentage of employees now understand how to work in a mobile work environment. And, we humans appreciate exercising control over our work environment. Organizations who embrace an agile space mentality are better positioned to retain employees, so adapt your in-office environment by giving your employees choices of where to work, when they do come into the office.

I have low confidence in the return to a highly populated office and the fully remote work model. The hybrid office arrangement will endure and expand. Cities and their businesses and landlords who rely on captive office workers for their lifeblood will decline. 

It’s evolution.

dressing for success

I avidly read “Dress for Success”. It was the women’s Bible for how to dress to be taken seriously as a professional in the workplace. My mom heeded its advice religiously, wearing suits and pumps with modest hem lengths, leg slimming heel heights, and blouses with bow ties and modest necklines. When I entered the workforce, I chomped at what I felt were outdated rules, yet I too, wanted to be taken seriously. Seriously fashionable.

I did hew to the guidelines during the first half of my career: Dress for the position above you. Wear clothes that fit, but are not form-fitting. Express your style without attracting attention to your clothes. I noted what the female executives wore and identified the few who dared to wear, from those who safely blended into the background. It was a bright line, and I respectfully followed in the footsteps of the fashionable few.

As I moved up, I became more emboldened to take the fashion “risks” dutifully avoided by other female executives. While I maintained the armor of chic dresses, blazers, and heeled pumps, I began to don dressy jeans with a jacket and boots. I added leather pants, skirts, jackets and dresses into my outfits and wore knee-high and over-the-knee boots. My aim was exude taste, confidence and the courage to stand out. I like to think I enabled my staff and peers to redraw the lines of the corporate uniform.

The pandemic, with remote work, accelerated the loosening of workplace dress rules. Not having to don the traditional corporate uniform will hold as a generational shift. But, despite my own rebellion, the executives and leaders who judge on appearance still expect younger, junior staff to show their work wardrobe respect. Show up to the office in something more thoughtful than the absent-minded jeans and a tee. Wear the hoodie to the office, and remove it when you’re in the office. Flip-flops are like nail clippers - hearing them in the office sends an icky message.

Relieving yourself of the office uniform armor can work if you’re not meeting in-person or going into the office and interacting with others. But, please, don’t go uber-rebellious or abandon all professional care from your closets. Dressing for success does look differently today than before, but it does exist, if you dare to care.

toxic positivity

A few years ago, after leaving my corporate role, my family complimented me on how I had changed since leaving a demanding job. In their eyes, I was more laid back, less apt to snap back, and generally easier to live with. On the other hand, they also mocked me for always looking at the bright side. I began to wonder if friends only shared good news with me.

In my defense, my job had bombarded me with complaints - I was the real estate and facilities leader, and it seemed every conversation with an executive or employee involved a gripe about the office space. I took this baggage of negativity home every day and may have been…(yes, I admit) a curmudgeon.

It took a few months of being free from the obligations of problem solving at work to shed the weight of this baggage. But, I swung to the opposite end of the pendulum. After years of solving work problems, I mutated my habit of being helpful, into being positive that no good came from complaining. Instead, I responded with a positive counterpoint to every single one of my family and friends’ gripes and complaints.

When you’re the know-it-all of how every minus has a plus, you miss out on having deeper conversations that come from being a more sympathetic listener. While I’m a devout believer of a half-full glass, I now appreciate that not all situations need my positive outlook and solution. It’s an effort, but staying quiet or (gasp) nodding in acknowledgement to gripes and indignations, is a daily practice.

Old (bad) habits will die, if you care enough to make the effort!

buying out of burnout

The idea of burnout was an anathema to me. I was an Asian woman in a male-dominated commercial real estate and construction fields, working in a male-dominated utilities industry. I had a lot to prove, so burnout wasn’t an option. In fact, I had successfully worked myself to exhaustion throughout my career, always bouncing back to do the next big thing. It was thrilling to work on high profile assignments that extracted hours of tolls on myself, family, and friends. But, I justified the toil by rewarding myself with a closetful of designer fits. Weekly bargain-hunting at Last Call, Nordstrom’s Rack, TJ Maxx, etc.was how I escaped.

Then came a new opportunity to deliver on a project that could propel me to new heights for my role. I gamely took it on, uncertain of its intent or my interest in the outcome. Three months, six months, then nine months…It concerned me when I couldn’t shake the feeling of being resolutely apathetic about my work. To cope, I could only look forward to creating outfits from the weekend’s acquired designer finds. This became a necessary ritual and my sole motivation for facing the day. After more than a year of pinning my daily outfit, I accepted that relying on my closet to get me through the day was a poor band-aid. I resigned, and a few months later, departed with no plans except to experience a different way of life.

For any careerists in denial, burnout is real. While spending money on yourself and loved ones can be rewards for the toil, ultimately, there is no buying out of burnout. In fact, the things I bought as balms to my burnout became burdens. Fortunately, I found joy in reselling and recycling all the acquired clothing I no longer found solace in.

I was fortunate to have a well-paid career. I loved what I did until I didn’t. And in hindsight, burnout has its degrees - one can be exhausted but not burned out, or recover from burnout by taking on a passion project. But, buying stuff is fleeting, not curative. Sage advice: Plant and nourish your savings as early and often as you can. Do this, and among other things, you’ll create for yourself the option of stepping away, if needs be, from the source of your burnout.

Sure, treat yourself for all your hard work, but remember to invest in your future. Yes, the returns may not provide immediate relief or gratification, but truly - it’s a long term investment with the highest curative and beneficial returns of all.

covergirl

link to BHQ and attitude articles