Sherman Ting's speech

Sherman Ting's speech is one of the best speech I've ever attended. It is very inspiring to me.

1 Entering companies that are growing fast is better than entering a mature company. The former allows you to try different positions, while the latter is highly competitive and you have to compete even for a very low position. In his career path, he joined Oracle in the fastest growing period and he managed to try manager's position very soon.

2 Glass Ceiling is for people for believe in it. Most of the Chinese people here at the valley encounter the so called Glass Ceiling. In Sherman's opinion, most of them don't deserve a promotion. If you don't have enough network, don't work harder to bring extra value beyond the 8-hour work, why are you qualified to be promoted? I agree with this point and I think this reflects the situation for lots of Chinese here who are still doing the basic work after graduating for many years. Challenge yourself and get fit to the environment, then you can live better.

3 Participate in new projects and functions. Same as entering growing companies, joining new projects and functions give one larger possibility to lead a team, a department, or a market.

4 Tips for being an entrepreneur:
-Vision with a passion.
-Eternally optimistic.
-Determination.
-Leadership.
-People make or brake a business.
-It's an unforgiving world out there.

5 Lessons learned during his entire career.
-Effective communication is key.
-Participate, be a consistent contributor.
-Learn from the best.
-Networking is a way of life.
-Hire the best to replace yourself. /I think this point is really interesting. Don't try to be the best at everything, but the question is where should I actually stop trying to be the best?/
-Never stop building new skills.
-Never stop asking and learning.
-Never afraid of trying the unknown. /I strongly agree with this point. There is surely risk but trying new things makes me happy and exited./
-Competition is about being better.
-No shortcuts.
-Go to where opportunities are. /Sherman told us that one Chinese student asked him about whether stay in the states or go back to China, he pointed out this and that student decided to go back. It is not an universal law for everyone because different people define opportunity differently. Some may think working in a big company here is a good opportunity./
-Be patient. /BE PATIENT!/

6 Sherman also pointed out the solid foundations for everyone.
-Communication.
-Problem solving.
-Functional and Domain Expertise.
-Ethical, high integrity.
-Good reputation.
-High Standard.
-Marketing plan for yourself.
-Have goals, make decisions which fits the goals.
-Good network.
-Adjust to different culture.
-Management experience.