I had an great opportunity to share my perspective on women leadership with the US Consul General Susan Burns, Kelly Vo of Dear Our Community at the American Center in Ho Chi Minh City. Following is my perspectives on the topic:

1. Who inspired you / Who is your role model to become a leader? 

Everyone around me inspires me to be a better person myself, to lead myself to have a better life where I can contribute to make the world a better place.

However, I don’t have specific idols. But there are three ideas that inspire me to be my own protagonist in my life play:

• Our values are the total sum of our influence on others. 
• Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever had to help me make choices in my life. Steve Job once said : Almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.
• We are the main enablers of our lives. We have supporters around us, but if we do not initiate, we do not have motivation, no one else is responsible for our own life.

2. What are the challenges and opportunities you encountered as a leader? 

Leaders have challenges and opportunities, but it is not bigger than the people who are not titled as leaders. Because everyone of us has our own dilemma, our own struggle. 

Leaders may have big challenges but you have a big team to support you. So it means the big ship can embrace big waves, because you have a big team of sailors.

Thus one of the challenges is I always have to remind myself that sometimes I can do big things because I have my team to support me. Without my team, without my sailors, I can’t run the big ship to embrace big waves. It keeps me humble and I appreciate people around me more.

3. What does a “stronger, more prosperous future” look like to you?  What can we do to together achieve this goal? 

Some parts are strong and prosperous, but many other parts are struggling everyday to access basic necessities.

The world is now super connected, we are breathing the same air and face the same challenges of overpopulation, climate changes, nuclear war, pandemic, AI, natural disasters.

A stronger future is the future where countries cooperate to face these threats together, we strengthen global cooperation and have proactive measures to mitigate risks and ensure a safer future for all.

A more prosperous future is not just a richer future in terms of materials, but also a future where voices are heard, health care is universal, education is made accessible, and our environment is sustainable for the future generations.

The world always gives us a mix of opportunities and challenges, both domestically and internationally.

It has proven that we human beings excel not because we are good at making things happen, but because we have shared knowledge, hope and plan for the life we want to have. Thus as long as we share our knowledge, we keep our eyes open and share our hope, we will figure out ways to make it happen. Just don’t keep plans or ideas for yourself, nothing is too small or too big to do. Like HCM once said: Young age, small tasks, according to one’s ability.

4. How can women in leadership mentor and empower the next generation?

We have many ways, but one of the influential ways is by sharing their story.

Storytelling is an empowering and authentic way to reach other people.

Sharing your story, sharing your wisdom, make the next generation feel that they are understood, not alone. We are all related and have our own stories, and we will figure out how to live our lives together.

5. What do future female leaders need to succeed?

Define your goal, before that you invest your time to reflect to understand you well. Understand you will change. Time will transform you. Your time will come.

Like I said, it is not the money we accumulate, but the total sum of influence we have on others.

But let me make it clear, we only have effective leaders, not female or male leaders. There should not be gender based leaders, but effective, and result-oriented leaders.

Speak Up. It is important to speak up so that people know who you are, what you are doing, and how they can collaborate with you. 

I have my motto “Speak Partnership. Speak Peace. Speak Progress” because I believe through our effective communication, we create partnership, we make people understand us and we understand others. All of these create Peace and Progress. We thrive together.