00;00;00;13 - 00;00;32;19
Unknown
Hello and welcome to Building Leadership Community Podcast. I'm your host, Dora Mendez. I am the founder and CEO of Coach Dora LLC. Our guests will be entrepreneurs, small business owners, and community leaders that drive social impact. It can be lonely at the top, but it doesn't have to be.
00;00;33;10 - 00;01;08;21
Unknown
Hello and welcome to Building Leadership Community Podcast. I'm your host, Dora Mendez. I want to thank our listeners and viewers for joining us. I'm so grateful for you. Coming and listening to our show, watching us on YouTube. And if you're new to our our show Building Leadership Community Podcast. Don't forget to like, share and subscribe and hit that little bell button at the bottom of your screen so you can get notified, when new content, gets posted.
00;01;08;24 - 00;01;37;26
Unknown
So we have a great show for you tonight. It's, it's someone who I really I'm so happy to, bring on to the show. Since launching Building Leadership Community Podcast, the journey has been nothing short of transformative. As a champion of inclusion, leadership, growth, and connection. Season two is all about deepening the conversations and expanding our impact.
00;01;37;28 - 00;02;17;05
Unknown
When I started first started Coach Dora, the today's guest was a very early supporter and at its core Building Leadership Community Podcast is about fostering authentic leadership and empowering professionals to build stronger, more engaged communities. Every episode dives into strategies, insights, and personal stories that help leaders navigate their leadership journey with confidence and purpose. Today, I'm absolutely thrilled to have a very special guest join me.
00;02;17;08 - 00;02;53;09
Unknown
I've known Bora, B-o-r-a, since, 2019 when our paths crossed. First cross during a powerful nonprofit DEI Leadership lab. I remember vividly the New York Community Trust sponsored this gathering of nonprofit leaders, and the insightful facilitators were from Race Forward Bora, who had just stepped into her role as chief of staff at the time, radiated such genuine charisma that we clicked instantly.
00;02;53;12 - 00;03;27;13
Unknown
Our connection went beyond the initial meetings involving evolving into personal and professional friendship. I finally we call her sharing the exciting news of her pregnancy and our subsequent conversations navigating early motherhood. I was truly so happy for her. Fast forward to last year when I embarked on the Coach Dora journey. Bora support was unwavering from the start, and when I mentioned the idea of launching a podcast, she was one of my biggest cheerleaders.
00;03;27;15 - 00;03;50;07
Unknown
Having Bora as a valued member of my leadership community for years. It feels incredibly meaningful to welcome her today. Hopefully, have her become part of the wider Coach Dora storm movement. Welcome to the stage for, Lea.
00;03;50;09 - 00;04;13;29
Unknown
I. Bora, how are you? Hi. Thank you. I'm so excited. And you said too many nice things about me. They're all true. That's why I decided to leave you waiting in the green room. Because I knew you. You have such humility. I knew that if I were to read your bio to you, it would. You would cringe.
00;04;13;29 - 00;04;38;19
Unknown
But those are all true things. Thank you. Yeah. I'm trying to look for a corner to hide in right now, but maybe. Well, if you're listening, don't worry. No one's seeing you. But if you're. If you're watching, there's no corner for you to hide. I'm so grateful that you, decided to join us today. And I really want folks to learn, a little bit more about you.
00;04;38;20 - 00;05;12;11
Unknown
Learn about your, career and leadership trajectory. So share. Tell us tell our viewers and audience, a bit about your leadership journey and your career trajectory. Sure. Well, thank you so much for having me on here. And, I'm really excited for you and your journey. And, you know, I'll just start with the fact that I am a child of working class immigrant parents who moved here.
00;05;12;13 - 00;05;35;24
Unknown
And, you know, they. Started here, obviously. Well, not obviously, but, started here in poverty. And I was born into poverty and then moved into the middle class, so I don't I was thankful and privileged enough to have not really experienced much of the poverty part of it. Lived a joyous and happy life. But, you know, for me, it means a lot.
00;05;35;24 - 00;06;01;17
Unknown
And I start with that because I don't take working in public service for granted. You know, I have many other friends who I grew up with who would love to be in public service, serving our communities, communities that helped grow them, raise them, and ground them. But, you know, they take care of multi-generational families and have to choose to work in finance, and consulting with corporate consulting, and the like.
00;06;01;17 - 00;06;24;19
Unknown
And so I don't I don't take this for granted. You know, I was I've been a public school student through and through up until I went to NYU for grad school. So basically. But higher education, you know, up until college, I even went to Cuny. And I'm so thankful for that. And in terms of my leadership journey, it really started there because you know, I originally want to be a teacher.
00;06;24;19 - 00;06;49;13
Unknown
Can I can I interrupt you because you mentioned you were your parents were immigrant, immigrants from where? Korea. So your parents were Korean immigrants? Yes. And, where did they land in New York? Well, so actually, my parents came here separately. My dad came here first, and most of his family is here in New York. And my mom, actually, she came here all by herself.
00;06;49;14 - 00;07;08;23
Unknown
She left everything she knew behind. And she wanted a new adventure. She was like, this country's too small for me. I need to go somewhere bigger and better. And so she. She came to America, left everything behind. And, you know, she actually met my dad. She came here, I think, on a student visa and didn't intend to go to school.
00;07;08;26 - 00;07;32;22
Unknown
She really wanted to work here. And. And that's really where she thrives as a businesswoman. And then, like my mother, such an entrepreneur. And she met my dad, and, you know, he had citizenship, he had papers and it's history from there. Four months later, you know, they became pregnant with me. And then all this history. And all history.
00;07;32;22 - 00;07;56;09
Unknown
And now there's the parents and. That's right. Yeah, but they were here in New York and this was, you know, the all they've known and all I've known. So, so you went your public. So your parents met, fell in love. Had you, built roots, moved you into the middle class? You were a public school kid until you guys at NYU.
00;07;56;13 - 00;08;20;19
Unknown
And so, continue sharing, how that leadership journey, went from there. Yeah. So, I mean, let me take a step back from NYU, because NYU is really pivotal to my journey. But I would say my experience at Cuny Queens College was really what transformed my life. I mean, I wasn't the greatest student. I you know, it was okay.
00;08;20;19 - 00;08;41;16
Unknown
I really loved socializing in school more and, building relationships with my teachers, actually, and my school community as a whole. But when I went to Cuny, you know, I went originally thinking I wanted to be a teacher because I love people, but I actually realized that I am not great with children, even though I have a child of my own and I.
00;08;41;19 - 00;09;01;19
Unknown
It's different when it's your own, you know, you know, at the time, you know, thankful for my husband. But, you know, I then majored in sociology, and I decided at the time to minor in urban studies, and I said, screw it. I love this so much. I actually stayed for a fifth year and finished my double major in Urban Studies.
00;09;01;21 - 00;09;21;15
Unknown
And during that time, I had to take a fieldwork class where I had to intern at a nonprofit. Now, as a true born and raised New Yorker, you know, I went paid for school with my parents, like together. And then I also paid for my own apartment. And, you know, so I was going to school full time, and I had, like, two part time jobs.
00;09;21;19 - 00;09;42;25
Unknown
No internship was, like, able to work with my schedule. And so, my professor was like, I know of this local grassroots organization, and they do tenant organizing with senior citizens in particular, to teach them about their rights. And you'd be perfect because they need someone on weekends and evenings. And I'm like, well, my Korean isn't great, but sure.
00;09;42;27 - 00;10;09;09
Unknown
And it's all history from like literally my future launched from there. And with that nonprofit, I think one center for Community Action, you know, I became their AmeriCorps Vista and, you know, it really started my entire career trajectory there. Service. So service, yes. And you fell into it. And it's wonderful because you were able to use your Korean. I my broken Korean, yes.
00;10;09;11 - 00;10;27;03
Unknown
Well, I say the same about my Spanish. I say I speak Spanish like a gringa. Like a gringa. So. But it is a skill. How it is. You would not have been able to do it if you didn't have the language skills. I always know, I always want to lift it up. I always want to lift it up.
00;10;27;05 - 00;10;45;01
Unknown
Absolutely. How? What is what an important skill it is to speak more than one language. Absolutely, absolutely. And like at the same time, too, you know, my parents at the time moved to Long Island and my grandmother was living with us, and she felt so isolated there. She's such a social butterfly, which is where I get it from.
00;10;45;03 - 00;11;08;13
Unknown
And she and I, she was like, I can't be here and I need to be back in Queens. And I was like, okay, well, why don't you and I get an apartment together? And so, you know, but most people, most seniors in particular, especially immigrant seniors, they live in multigenerational homes. Right. And so our apartment was just me and grandma, her and her college aged granddaughter.
00;11;08;18 - 00;11;40;24
Unknown
It was clean, didn't have a million toys, clutter. And then her friends started coming over from the neighborhood and it became the hangout spot, which then turned into, oh, your daughter works for a nonprofit and can navigate stuff for us, great bringing mail over, you know, renewing snap, renewing everything. And so I became a senior center on my own, which, you know, paired well with what I was doing, even though that's not what I intended, but, you know, got to love Grandma and all of her friends, you know, got to give it back to them.
00;11;40;27 - 00;12;07;06
Unknown
As well. I love that, I love that I, I like somehow I picture like Golden Girls and when I basically was like a Korean version of Golden Girl. But there was that. But, you know, I would say like, so, you know, from there again, I did, I did AmeriCorps, I actually did two years of AmeriCorps. And it made me realize how much I love supporting people, you know, from my grandmother to friends and family.
00;12;07;06 - 00;12;41;08
Unknown
But like my talent of supporting people is there's one thing I realized. There's nothing like the incredible talents that my colleagues have. You know, they do magic with their work and, you know, in the way they where they serve participants day in and day out. I'm not talented in the same ways they are, you know? But what I learned is that I love my colleagues who love on their participant and the tenants they organize and just, you know, the systems that they're trying to help navigate for these people.
00;12;41;08 - 00;13;07;13
Unknown
They like, love the people that they're trying to help. And, you know, my colleagues are the bread and butter of organizations. They're the biggest asset of an org. Like, look at an expense or, you know, report of an organization. It's the staff. And so, you know, for me, I really thrive in listening to them thinking about their needs and matching that with the organization's mission, their budget, and the wiggle room for change.
00;13;07;13 - 00;13;31;09
Unknown
And I say that wiggle room for change, because change and managing change and building capacity of the staff, especially when the organizations are going through transitions, you know, which are pivotal moments, they're so important because they lead to the transformation at an organizational level, those those transitional moments. And that, for me, is what sparks joy for me day in and day out.
00;13;31;12 - 00;14;01;21
Unknown
So as chief of staff, I don't do this work for me, but for my colleagues who then in turn show up as their best selves at work to support our community. Right. So when I think of so hearing you talk and hearing like the passion you have for supporting people as a leader, as a chief of staff, and I know you'll share more about the organization you work, that you lead, that you help lead.
00;14;01;24 - 00;14;26;01
Unknown
I hear your leader. I think of your leadership. Your servant. Leader. Yeah. I would, I would I would categorize your leadership style as a servant leader and that you're a leader, that you lead through service. And like you say, you don't help the client, but you do you indirectly by making sure the people who are on the front lines and the grassroots have everything that they need.
00;14;26;04 - 00;14;55;04
Unknown
By operationalizing and helping the organization run, you are helping the folks because you're indirectly helping the the people who are doing the work on the frontlines. They can't be successful without without you, without the operational expertise that you bring. I mean, yeah, we we are like, you know, we're we're pie, we're pizza pie, you know, and we we can't we're not a whole without each other.
00;14;55;04 - 00;15;18;24
Unknown
Right. But they're a big part. I'm just one slice. They're, they're majority of it. And I want to credit them because you know like to be able to take home and take on all of the things that is shared with them by, you know, the members of our community is so hard, it's so burdensome. And it's and it's also so much love.
00;15;18;26 - 00;15;47;27
Unknown
And so I, I don't want to, you know, say my the the office work to build capacity is as hard as their work. It's not it's not you know. And I just want to lift that up because I think it's so important. Well I think it's just it's I think it the emotional, I think the emotional labor, the like, the emotional labor because, you're so you have so much humility.
00;15;48;00 - 00;16;14;18
Unknown
I, I want, I, you need to take credit for the fact that you are paid to think, to be strategic. And, the organization cannot run without you in the lead. You're so you have so much humility, and it's hard work in a different way. The emotional labor is very different. You're not on the front getting that vicarious trauma.
00;16;14;21 - 00;16;48;12
Unknown
So it's different. There are different challenges. And I think as a leader, yes. Your staff is out there on the frontlines and there's a different ratio of emotional labor. There's a different ratio of vicarious trauma. But I want you need to take credit and I want to give you credit because there would be no place for those people to work if you weren't leading.
00;16;48;14 - 00;17;12;08
Unknown
The that strategic if you weren't the strategic thinker partnering with the leadership and the board on the bigger picture mission and vision. So I, I need for you to take some credit, for, you know, when I say servant leader, you are really the definition of it. You don't even want to take any credit for, like what?
00;17;12;08 - 00;17;34;18
Unknown
You have a key. And, I just love how you started your story with talking about poverty into the middle class. And it is a luxury. It's one of the, you know, it's a luxury. And I, as a first generation American myself, that it is just it's a wonderful thing to be able to for your parents to be able to lift that up.
00;17;34;21 - 00;17;54;25
Unknown
But you need to take credit, okay. Because it is not easy is. Yes. Okay. You get paid to think, and but it's worth it and it's valuable because that there would be no place for that for them to do their hard work. And, and the folks who would not get served in the community. Yeah. If you were not leading them.
00;17;54;25 - 00;18;21;25
Unknown
So I, I need for you to have to take some credit. Okay? Okay. Taking it. I'm taking it, I'm taking it. Thank you. And because you're an I mean, that's one of the reasons why I brought you on the show. We have such a diverse group of leaders from different industries. So you'll see; this this season, we have a CEO of $1 million, organization.
00;18;21;28 - 00;18;48;18
Unknown
We have, branding and marketing expert. We have HR, HR leader, and, we have, but at a at in a health setting, we, we have such a diverse group of leaders. So I, I love hearing your story in that you, are leading or not part profit. You're in the C-suite at a nonprofit organization. And quite frankly, there aren't that many women of color.
00;18;48;21 - 00;19;29;06
Unknown
There aren't that many women of color like us in the C-suite. And so, I love that you started with sharing, sharing your your story in that way. I think our listeners and viewers will get a lot of value about listening how you climbed, how you climbed up the ladder. So, tell us a little bit more about what when you were talking about, tell us a little bit more about, where you work at the nonprofit, who you serve and, and, because we've already covered you being a servant leader.
00;19;29;08 - 00;19;50;25
Unknown
And I'm celebrating that. So tell us a little bit more about sort of, the work and the people that you work with and what what that looks like. Sure. So I get to be the pleasure I or I have the pleasure of being the chief of staff for the Fifth Avenue Committee. And really, our mission is to advance economic, social and racial justice in New York City.
00;19;50;28 - 00;20;15;16
Unknown
And we do this through integrated, community centered affordable housing, which is so needed, in the city and just this country. But we also do grassroots organizing. We're actually founded by, you know, neighbors coming together and organizing for their neighborhood. We also do policy advocacy and really transformative education training and services that build the power to shape our community's future.
00;20;15;18 - 00;20;44;05
Unknown
And we're truly believing that most of our, you know, offices and, buildings that we own and manage, of affordable housing is in Brooklyn. And it's wonderful because I actually grew up in, on Fifth Avenue. And so I have a personal geographical and historical tie to, this organization and the impact that it has on building really wonderful neighborhoods.
00;20;44;05 - 00;21;09;15
Unknown
And, you know, Fifth Avenue runs from where, like authentic Avenue, where Barclay Center is pretty much all the way down, you know, to the end of Sunset Park, hitting Bay Ridge. And so for, for the non New Yorkers listening and watching, there are there are two “Fifth Avenues”. This is not the “Fifth Avenue” with breakfast at Tiffany's, in Manhattan. This is the “Fifth Avenue” in Brooklyn, New York.
00;21;09;21 - 00;21;51;23
Unknown
That's right. Which is very, very different than the Fifth Avenue that, most New Yorkers think about, you know, so this is not, Fifth Avenue where Saks Fifth Avenue is or Rockefeller Center is. This is Brooklyn Fifth Avenue. That's right. And I did want to talk quickly. I, you know, folks who are listening and watch the show know I like to keep the episodes at time, but I feel like people will be interested in learning how did you make the leap into the C-suite from AmeriCorps to senior center intern?
00;21;51;26 - 00;22;18;20
Unknown
How did you make the leap from, you know, you know, a well-educated intern to senior center to the C-suite? Can you share how how you made that leap? Yeah. Well, actually, the senior center was, my apartment. Okay, just to clarify that, but I did work for an organization that did run very successful senior centers.
00;22;18;20 - 00;22;39;19
Unknown
But, I'll get back to that. So, so I started at a grassroots organization who really does movement building and organizing and advocacy, in Flushing, Queens, where I lived the second half of my life. And really, the neighborhood that raised me and, you know, and so that was incredible. And, and it's a Korean nonprofit.
00;22;39;19 - 00;23;07;18
Unknown
So I'm like, serving my ethnic community, which is great. And so I started there as an intern. I actually was funded by, local foundation for an internship where I did organizing with them. And then I, you know, went on to do another year of AmeriCorps, but for a larger advocacy organization that, serves the Asian, the Pan Asian community in New York.
00;23;07;18 - 00;23;30;22
Unknown
And so that was really wonderful. And after that, I was literally like, oh, my AmeriCorps contract is coming to an end, and I can't do this for a third year. And, I was lucky enough to build relationships and land a job as a development person for, a great social service organization called Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York.
00;23;30;22 - 00;24;01;11
Unknown
And, you know, this is an organization where literally I had no idea, but my parents and my grandparents have utilized their services and their resources. And so it's amazing that I get to, use the English skills and, and my technical skills that I've learned through what my parents have given me, through my education and through immigrating here to then serve the community that helps my and supports people like my parents.
00;24;01;13 - 00;24;26;28
Unknown
And I was there for six years. And so, you know, in the AmeriCorps role, they did a lot of communications and fundraising. And then I moved over when I did, when I moved over to the, advocacy organization, the coalition organization, you know, I did more. I did still did, development and fundraising, but I also did a lot of capacity building because I led a group of AmeriCorps members that were on the ground.
00;24;26;28 - 00;24;48;24
Unknown
Right. And I supported them and their growth and their journey in their AmeriCorps year. And so I, you know, led a lot of workshops. I made sure that we had guest speakers. I could speak on their experience and, you know, provided them with opportunities to engage with one another and build, build, you know, spaces where because they were all in different organizations.
00;24;48;24 - 00;25;21;22
Unknown
And so coming together and sharing from each and learning from each other. So from there, moving on to the social service organization, I started as a development person, their first development hire, and then I moved on to then being an executive administrator as they needed someone to do like ops, admin contracts, just all of it, still doing development work while all of that and doing their communications work, you know, that again, most, most social service organizations, they have a lot of support to do the frontline work.
00;25;21;22 - 00;25;42;27
Unknown
Not a lot of support to do, you know, the overheads of the things that matter, operations. I'm always operational. Who wants to donate so that you can have a good IT? You know, they don't realize you can't you can't serve the community if you don't have the technology or if you don't have. So for people, nobody wants to donate for computers.
00;25;42;27 - 00;26;10;20
Unknown
So all right, that's a challenge. We're working in human services, the operations, you know, and it takes a backseat. It takes a backseat. But you you can't serve people well if you don't have the same equipment or needs or operational processes. And your person who was donated to the Red cross so that they could get a computer? You know, they want to donate so that, you know, people will side.
00;26;10;20 - 00;26;18;23
Unknown
So. Right. So, you know, it's tough. But thankfully, I was you know, those were my younger years. So I was able to do a million things at once and had the energy
00;26;18;23 - 00;26;26;09
Unknown
And, you know, I just did it all and took on all and forget about burnout. I didn't understand what that was. I was just like, I'm here, I'm doing it right.
00;26;26;12 - 00;26;52;26
Unknown
And it was wonderful and I loved it. I did that for about six years. And then I was like, oh, I'm hitting a ceiling of I don't know what I don't know. You know, I've worked at mostly organizations that didn't have a whole lot of support and operations. And I then decided to invest by going to NYU for my master's in public administration and nonprofit and policy and management and policy.
00;26;52;28 - 00;27;15;00
Unknown
And for me, that was really important because it truly opened up my eyes to like, if there was a golden ticket nonprofit like, this is kind of what they should all have, right? And, and, you know, I also met so many incredible people, and I went part time because I worked full time. I was like, I just cannot leave my organization behind because the work is too important.
00;27;15;00 - 00;27;38;04
Unknown
So I worked during the day and then at night I went to school. But that was great because most of my professors were adjuncts, which means that they work full time, just like me. Like me. Yeah, exactly. And, you know, I learned so much from these people. They're not just researchers. I mean, kudos to the researchers for their research, but like the practitioners in the field doing the work day in and day out.
00;27;38;06 - 00;28;04;04
Unknown
And, you know, I got to learn real world challenges, scenarios, troubleshooting. And it was just incredible to be able to learn from people who are like my upper role models in, you know, this public sector world. And so that was really incredible. And, you know, but but one thing I'll say is, like, I have never been someone who just specialized that one thing.
00;28;04;04 - 00;28;23;19
Unknown
I don't know if it's because I'm the oldest kid of of four, but, you know, I'm just there to pick up all the scraps and fill in all the gaps and do everything for everyone. The first child you were born, a natural born leader. Forced into it, but yeah! That's another thing we have in common. We both.
00;28;23;19 - 00;28;54;04
Unknown
We both are the oldest child. Yeah. So? So when? So when when did you make the leap to the C-suite? So get your Masters. I did, you know, just so you know, I teach where I got my Masters. I've been so I. So now I'm the practitioner that that helps the next generation. I love that, you know, so you get your master's degree and then I'm trying to I want our listeners of yours to hear how you did it.
00;28;54;08 - 00;29;17;13
Unknown
Yeah. So I got my master's degree and I was, you know, thinking about what my next step was. You know, I kind of it took whatever I had learned. I even, you know, used my organization. Some of the challenges we were having at the time for my group project, which is great, like the student, my colleagues, in class were able to have, you know, real challenges.
00;29;17;13 - 00;29;40;20
Unknown
And then propose real solutions that that they can implement, not like fake ones, you know, that was made up, which was really rewarding for them. But then I moved to a think tank and I moved to a think tank because I was able to then. Well, sorry. While I was doing my master's, I became the assistant director of operations at Crank New Services, and that was really important.
00;29;40;20 - 00;30;10;25
Unknown
And we moved to a large community center. By the support of the community, we had a large capital campaign, and it was wonderful. And we acquired an old, Jewish center and that that move was really pivotal. And I learned so much about facilities management, operations and contracting. And more operations, more, more operations and administration and all of it.
00;30;10;27 - 00;30;31;26
Unknown
So all of it, yes, risk management, all of it. And then and then I moved over to a think tank. Right. And the think tank was really important to me because it it allowed me to see another perspective of the work. Right. Because you have all different aspects of the realm of public service and the think tank is the research portion of it.
00;30;31;26 - 00;31;06;15
Unknown
Right. And what they do, which I really appreciated, was they listened to us, they hear from us, they interview us, they take all of, you know, all of our experiences and our experiences, and then, you know, really provide a report that spits out our realities, but in a very polished way, you know, and and that was great. But then and I was I was there, I was doing operations, I was doing finance management, I was managing all of our policy symposium and events.
00;31;06;17 - 00;31;22;23
Unknown
And then I moved over as chief of staff and, and the way that I made that pivot, first of all, I never thought that right after being assistant director of all of these things, that I would then pivot over to chief of staff. After that, I thought I needed one more step. I was like, I need one more step.
00;31;22;29 - 00;31;42;28
Unknown
No, you did it. You were ready. You were ready. I didn't know I was ready. I had a mentor told me, you're ready. So I was very thankful for that. But, you know, I would help you. Part of what helped you make the leap was having a mentor. Absolutely, absolutely. And someone to just say, like, who says you're not ready?
00;31;42;29 - 00;32;10;17
Unknown
You're ready. And you know, what I realized was the chief of staff role was perfect for me because I had all of these experiences. You know, I was the jack of all trades, contracts, operation, fundraising, putting together, you know, a huge gala in midtown Manhattan, you know, board liaison, you know, just everything H.R. and budgeting and everything and everything and everything.
00;32;10;17 - 00;32;43;04
Unknown
But particularly the most important thing is stakeholder engagement. You know, I'm able to hear a little bit more about what? Yeah. Listen to me about what that means. Yeah. What I mean by that is, you know, the whole role of chief of staff is managing change. Right? And change through special projects. They're piloting things, initiatives, everything. And when you're when you're doing change management, it's all about communicating with stakeholders.
00;32;43;06 - 00;33;17;29
Unknown
And what I mean stakeholders I mean internal and external external. Right. So you have your staff, you have your C-suite or management team and consultants that you might be working with. And the board and any advisory committees from the community or even working groups internally, like my entire job is communicating, communicating, communicating, building transparency through communication at all times because I'm basically the project manager of change for the organization as a whole.
00;33;18;06 - 00;33;39;10
Unknown
You know, like we you know, we have a housing development team. They project manage all day for construction, right, for affordable housing, and they need to communicate out. But it's only for a project. But for me, it's for our entire organization. Right. And so the stakeholders are very different. And that is really important literally sending out emails.
00;33;39;10 - 00;34;08;24
Unknown
But the way that I communicate, I think is important, you know, for some staff emails are great for them, for others phone call for others teams or zoom meetings for others walking to their desk. Right? For others, it's like a late night session because during the day they just can't. And now you have with the inter-generational right. I was just having this conversation with, another podcast guest.
00;34;08;26 - 00;34;33;19
Unknown
You know, there are five generations in the in the workplace. You have traditionalists, you have your boomers, you have your Gen-Xers like us, you have your millennials. I mean, you have your oh, you're a millennial. I am oh, I put you in my category. Oh, that's what I hear. You. I don't know why. When I hear your breath of experience, I just I can't believe that you're not that you're not in my category.
00;34;33;22 - 00;34;57;22
Unknown
Thanks, Dora. And then Gen Z, because I hear you, I was like, wow, you did all these things. That sort of out of time is amazing. So a millennial and that's it. Millennials are turning 40 now I no I'm excited. Yeah. You guys are turning 40. I just turned 50. Oh, congratulations. So, yeah, millennials are turning 40 now.
00;34;57;22 - 00;35;40;28
Unknown
And now, you know, remember when we were like the young go getters and now we're the boss and it's like big. It's a big change. But with five generations, the different communication styles is really important to understand. So when you say stakeholder relationships, I, I like the fact that you concentrated on communication as being the common thread and understanding the diverse communication styles, amongst, the people in your organization, your collaborators, your vendors is, I think is an essential skill.
00;35;41;00 - 00;36;16;04
Unknown
Important. It's it allows me to have all of my successes. It's really, the communication skills and the various techniques. I'll call them. Okay. So I'm going to, I'm going to leave it at that. I think that's a great way to, to uplift communication, how communication is so key to being successful in the C-suite. And understanding how to maintain that stakeholder relationship.
00;36;16;06 - 00;36;42;13
Unknown
And I just think that's a great, way to leave it, to leave it, to leave our audience and listeners. With is that communication piece and how that has been key to launching you into your, leadership role in it. And I love the fact that you mentioned leadership isn't about the title. You have been a leader since you were young, since you lived with the grandmamma.
00;36;42;15 - 00;37;13;10
Unknown
So you, you know, you have been as the oldest of four. So leadership has showed up for you in many different ways. It isn't your job title, just your job title. But the fact that you are a rare gem C-suite woman of color. Really, making a difference in the community? I think our folks are gonna really take something away with, with that, our servant leader, Bora Lee
00;37;13;10 - 00;37;17;07
Unknown
Thank you for being here. Thank you for having me.
00;37;21;26 - 00;37;53;12
Unknown
You've been listening to Building Leadership Community. Watch on YouTube @CoachDoraM. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube @CoachDoraM. Visit me on the web at CoachDoraMendez.com. Hosted by me, Dora Mendez. Produced by Dora Mendez and Dylan Rogers. Graphics, editing, and sound mixing by Dylan Rogers.
