issue 24 - week of february 12, 2024

Editor’s Note

Congrats to Ursher and the city of Atlanta for winning the Super Bowl! 🏈

Seriously - what a game!!

This week I’m reflecting on the privilege I have to help others like me and my family. What do I mean by that?

• Mothers

• Women

• People who started from the bottom

• Black People

• People with accents (ESL)

• Immigrants

• People of Size

• Non-traditional backgrounds (resume gaps, career changers, freelancers)

• People who can’t afford grad school lol but are still holding out 😁

Cultural competence is the ability to interact, work, and develop relationships with people from different backgrounds. It involves understanding and respecting different values, attitudes, and beliefs, and responding appropriately to those differences.

It’s not always a color or race conversation.

When we think of our project and program teams, do you SEE each other?

Do you see the veteran who lost his wife in combat?

Do you see the mom who spent the entire night in the ER because she couldn’t break her toddler’s 105-degree fever?

Do you see the man who was a research scientist in China who authored multiple ground-breaking papers in physics but is now quietly building APIs?

I’ve seen many people (due to ignorance and sometimes a little self-preservation) forget that these life experiences and perspectives generate a secret sauce for delivery.

You have to start from a place of empathy and respect before you can put people on a mission.

But when I look at the people who are:

Criticized most

Disenfranchised

Not set up for success

Deemed as replaceable

Accused of being problematic

Not meeting expectations

Are not believed

And so on…

Yep. You guessed it.

So while it’s BHM, I’m asking for you all to sit in awareness. No action is required, just take some personal notes. When was the last time you opened up to, reached out to, or gave a chance to someone who saw things completely different than you?

Think about your privilege and see if there’s an opportunity for you to open your hearts to humanity.

Stay Blessed Fam!

Until next Wednesday,

Phedra, Founder at HCPM

this week’s picks

recs for your delivery goals - uncommon sources with nuggets of wisdom

1. 📺 Watching: My Best Friends Wedding. 👰‍♀️ Yes, throw back to the 90s and ROM COM! This is one of my favorite movies. As I watched it for the millionth time I couldn’t help but think about how every program has a goal. But then life happens and you fight like heck to create the circumstances to be successful in your endeavor. Sometimes it doesn’t work out the way you expect it to, but your ability to support the path decided by your teams with grace and humility is the way we all win. #illsayalittleprayerforyou 🎵

2. 🎧 Listening: Texas Hold Em. Let’s just say the price of cowboy boots just went up. 🤠 I’m always going to rep the south. It’s time to start brushing up on our line dances. Y’all! Bey is the definition of work-life integration. Do y’all realize what kind of tour Renaissance was? And she was/is STILL recording music. Still showing up and showing out. I don’t have that work ethic lol. I will forever continue to be inspired by one of the hardest working women of my generation.

3. 📚 Reading: Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. Life is a journey of growth. Finding a way to expand my thinking and practices is the only way I’ve been able to find success year after year. This book combines the fields of quantum physics, neuroscience, brain chemistry, biology, and genetics to show you what is truly possible.

4. Following: Hugo Ventura who experiments with all types of prompting for generative AI using Midjourney. I’ve gotten insane results thanks to his posts. Digital artistry is a fascinating place. Give this guy a follow.

Have a recommendation? Send it to: [email protected].

feature: prioritization in 10 min

Urgent always takes priority, but should it?

Is that unimportant task going to move the needle forward?

Try to narrow down your options by considering the results you want to achieve. Prioritize work that is urgent AND important, followed by work that is simply important.

Urgent tasks require your immediate attention. When something is urgent, it must be done now, and there are clear consequences if you don’t complete these tasks within a certain timeline. These are tasks you can’t avoid, and the longer you delay these tasks, the more stress you’ll likely experience, which can lead to burnout.

Examples of urgent tasks may include:

• Finishing UAT before a product launch

• Handling an urgent client request

• Fixing a busted pipe in your basement
  
  

Important tasks may not require immediate attention, but these tasks help you achieve your long-term goals. Just because these tasks are less urgent doesn’t mean they don’t matter. You’ll need to thoughtfully plan for these tasks so you can use your resources efficiently.

Examples of important tasks may include:

• Planning an offsite to bring strategic alignment to your team

• Professional networking to build a client base

• Household chores lol

So take the time before the swirl of slack messages and video calls come your way and plan your day.

Take a blank sheet of paper and put every request that comes your way into a quadrant. Just because someone asks you to do something, doesn’t mean you should do it.

As program managers, prioritization is something you must be good at.

Take 10 minutes and do this right now. I’ll wait.

Ok yay! Didn’t that feel good?

Everything that is in the Delete square. Send that slack message and graciously say no.

"I'm honored by the request, however, I need to be mindful of my existing commitments."

"I'm really focusing on a few select projects right now, so I won't be able to commit to anything additional."

"It's challenging for me to fit this into my schedule at the moment, so I'll have to decline."

Felt good didn’t it?

Now to delegate requires a bit of social capital, especially if you don’t manage a team.

Look for interns, bright spots, and people wanting to grow into senior roles.

"I believe this task offers a good development opportunity for you. Would you be willing to take it on?"

"Given your expertise, this task seems well-suited for you. Would you be able to take it on?"

Or something of the like.

Schedule tasks require your real attention and deep work.

• Can you give yourself a block of 2-4 hours per day for deep work?

• Do you schedule/block your calendar for recurring needs like networking, sending emails, or research?

Finally, your work day is set with only urgent and important things that require your immediate attention right now.

The majority of requests are being taken care of but don’t need your brain power.

You’re not going to burn out this week.

Congrats! 🎉🥳🎊

helping you remember to meditate like

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