Later in the afternoon we have a presentation on Oracle Solaris Cluster. I am very excited about this first release of providing High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR) capabilities for Oracle Solaris 11!

More details of Oracle Solaris Cluster 4.0 can be seen here. The team ... ]]> I am attending the LISA (Large Installation System Administration) Conference in Boston. There are technical presentations on Oracle Solaris 11 and the technology within it, including, IPS, Install, ZFS, Virtualization, Security and others. All presentations, by the experts themselves are part of Solaris Day.

Later in the afternoon we have a presentation on Oracle Solaris Cluster. I am very excited about this first release of providing High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR) capabilities for Oracle Solaris 11!

More details of Oracle Solaris Cluster 4.0 can be seen here. The team has put in a lot of effort to release this product, so close to the Oracle Solaris 11 release. Very proud of working with such a talented team!

Keynote speakers at the conference were Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, and the Honorable Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, who currently serves on the President’s Council of ... ]]> This year’s Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference was attended by a record-breaking 34 Oracle employees, making Oracle the top 7th organization by registration, ahead of Facebook, IBM and SAP. In total almost 3000 people from 34 countries attended the conference, which was held Nov. 9 - 11 in Portland, OR. Oracle was a Silver Sponsor and Oracle employees were organizers, speakers and committee members of the conference.

Keynote speakers at the conference were Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, and the Honorable Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, who currently serves on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Highlights of Dr. Jackson’s talk is featured here . Sheryl speech about “Why we need more women engineers” can be heard here .

There were many interesting technical talks. I found a talk on “Expressive Electronics: Introduction to E-Textiles” from MIT Media Lab fascinating.

We had a booth and were actively recruiting at the conference. We interviewed potential candidates during the conference’s career fair.

An Oracle employee was interviewed at Hopper by an NBC local affiliate.

The GHC conference was referenced extensively by the media including New York Times , Forbes , NPR

- Key to finding your brand/career? Knowing where your passion, skills & value to others meet. - Consider brands that evolve as your career does - entry level, ... ]]> I attended a wonderful leadership development workshop by Jo Miller, called ‘Building your brand’ at Grace Hopper Conference . It was attended by 850 women! I was unsure how a workshop with so many participants would turn out to be. It was thought provoking. I spoke to a lot of other women who like it too. I will write notes about it in the next weeks. But here is what stuck with me:

- Key to finding your brand/career? Knowing where your passion, skills & value to others meet.
- Consider brands that evolve as your career does - entry level, mid-level, senior level.
- Promoting yourself and your accomplishments are a business necessity. Figure out which way works for you, then do it consistently.

There were a steady stream of visitors at the Oracle booth today. Several engineers interested in starting a career. I interviewed a few prospective candidates. Here are a few of us at the booth in disguise! Only at Grace Hopper!

This is my fifth time at the Grace Hopper Celebration for Women in Computing, the first ... ]]> Grace Hopper Celebration for Women in Computing is an annual event bringing together thousands of technical women in computing and at different stages of their career. Attendees include women in the industry, professors, researchers, recruiters, undergraduates in Computer Science or considering CS as a major, graduate students choosing their research topic, recent graduates looking for a job. It is a diverse, exciting, inspiring, and nurturing environment of two thousand women, all of whom are smart, brilliant, beautiful, and unique in their own right

This is my fifth time at the Grace Hopper Celebration for Women in Computing, the first time when I am not a speaker or on a panel. It feels a little different this time but I intend to attend the sessions without any stress of preparing for my own session. I first heard about Grace Hopper Celebration from colleagues when I was with Sun Microsystems. I attended my first event in San Diego and have attended them ever since. I learn a lot from the sessions, technical and non-technical. I make new contacts and renew older contacts/friendship. The keynote sessions are special and very inspiring! I look forward to hearing Sandy Sandberg and attending the Senior Women’s Summit this time.

This is the first time in 4 odd years that I will not be flying back on a Saturday from the Grace Hopper Celebration for Women in Computing, driving from the airport to downtown San Jose to get my bib/chip from the marathon expo. Then run a 1/2 marathon the next day, early morning. The GHC conference is at Portland in November this year and does not coincide with this race.

I learned about the Asha Bike Program and attended the kickoff program and noted that I could be touring Napa on a bicycle.

I had already bought my beauty; a bright orange Felt road bicycle in 2007. It was a birthday gift from my family. Alas, it decorated our garage for some years. I had a hiking accident and injured my knee in Yosemite. It was a year before I ... ]]> I have been to Napa many times, to ride the wine train, wine tasting with friends and to enjoy the beauty of the vineyards. But to tour the place on a bike?

I learned about the Asha Bike Program and attended the kickoff program and noted that I could be touring Napa on a bicycle.

I had already bought my beauty; a bright orange Felt road bicycle in 2007. It was a birthday gift from my family. Alas, it decorated our garage for some years. I had a hiking accident and injured my knee in Yosemite. It was a year before I could start to train again and made my comeback to running when I ran at Big Sur in April 2010. Getting on my neglected bike was a natural next step. Slowly but surely, I told myself.

I showed up at the first ride at Shoreline Park which was more “Biking 101″, important but elementary. The first ride was on Canada Road, near highway 92. At specific times on the weekends, a good 8 mile stretch of road is cordoned off for bikers. I rode with a few seasoned bikers and got invaluable tips on gear changing, posture, braking, road rules etc. I also applied all the physics fundamentals to practice with the gears. The only bikes I pedaled prior to this were in India. Years ago, bikes came in one form, one shape, different makes (Atlas, Hero) and maybe different colours. This is the bike that I used to ride in Kgp. This picture is of my mom (before I was born) with the bicycle that was handed down to me. I loved my bike and took care of it as my most precious possession for years. .

My bike in Bangalore was not any different. Now you see, these are a far cry from the bicycles of today which can go fast. Really fast!! Armed with biking apparel, new cleats and clipless pedals, gloves and helmet, I was ready to take the challenge!

We biked every weekend on the hills around the Bay Area in Almaden/Morgan Hill, Skyline, Alpine/Portola, Foothills, Mt Eden, Old La Honda, Calaveras, Niles Canyon, Highway 1 (my all time favourite!) among others. I got comfortable with my cleats, thankfully never fell in them! I tried do at least one ride during the week or do spinning in the gym. Week after week we conquered longer distances and tougher climbs. Every time I felt I was ready, I had another tough ride that deflated my confidence. But, I was determined to reach my goal.

Another rookie biker Simi and I drove up to Napa on Saturday for the registration and checked into the hotel in Vallejo. This was where everybody from Team Asha were staying. Nothing fancy about the place… it was going to be one night to rest. We met with the team at a reasonable Italian place for dinner. It was good to spend time with the fun group. Meat balls, pasta, pizza… beer… all part of a carbo load diet. Some of the dishes made for good laughs!

We woke up at 5AM and I was ready to start the ride around 7:30AM, later than planned. Most of the Asha bikers started earlier and I managed to be with some of the fast Asha bikers Neel, Naveen, Amit and Kiran. The morning was very pretty with fog shrouding the hills and the vineyards. The ride to the rest stop #1 was a good 14 mile ride, mostly flat. I caught up with a lot of the Asha bikers, while we re-fueled and got some yummy treats. Our team jersey was well designed and eye-catching. I had a lot of riders ask me what Team Asha was.

The next 17 odd miles was a steady uphill climb. On one of the turns, while changing gears, my bike chain fell off. It is the first time that this happened to me. It was straightforward to get it on but my fingers were all greasy. Thanks to my fellow biker to stop for me. We passed by the Henessey Lake on the left. This area is surreal. The rolling hills, the cozy cottages, gigantic mansions, vineyards, as far as the eyes could see, seemed a lot like the pictures of rural Italy that I have seen. This is “Tuscany in California”. I got to rest stop #2 to find most of my team mates there. It had taken me 2 hours to complete about 33 miles. The rest stop had a large spread of fresh food, fruits, cookies and more.

I enjoyed my peanut butter banana sandwich! This combination was new to me indeed. It tasted yummy and gave me much needed calories. Home baked gourmet cookies had subtle flavours (espresso & raisin especially), unique and delicious. I ate well and contemplated a siesta! But the thought of climbing a major hill got me back to reality. Hanging around here was not going to do me any good.

I set out but noticed very soon that I had a flat on the back tire. I followed Coach Rob’s instructions from the bike repair workshop. Another Asha biker stopped to help me. Half way through the process, coach Stan showed up and helped me repair the fix. Thanks Stan! Stan was doing a 100 mile ride and was shuttling down the road to find Asha riders. I headed out alone towards the infamous Ink Grade. A few Asha rookie bikers (Sony, Tejaswini, Shashi & Vamsi) were there and we all started the climb together.

Ink Grade is a 4 mile hill with 4-7% inclination. I took a couple of breaks to climb the hill. It seemed unending. Markings on the road saying 1/2 way, 3/4 way was reassuring. I was indeed making progress and going up the hill! I helped a few bikers on the route…one of them was not doing well (she had nausea and felt giddy, which did not sound good to me). I was with her for a bit and walked with her a little. I continued to ride when she was OK. I waited for her at the top of the hill. It was nice to see her make it up fine. I am glad to have made it to the top too! It was around noon when I sent an sms to my family! It was a surprise and refreshing to see one of our captains Raghu (who could not ride because of a shoulder injury the week before) and Gautami from the Asha SAG (Support) team there. The SAG team has helped us on all our long rides, providing us beverages and food at rest stops. Bless the SAG team!! I should not forget to thank Rajeev and Renuka who introduced me to the Asha bike program. I have got to know a fun group of people.

The downhill ride was refreshing and beautiful! This is the reason, I guess, I will continue to climb hills! I rode alone till rest stop #3, which was at 55 odd miles. I was not hungry but I stopped to get some water/cytomax. The ride from here, on Silverado trail was boring and felt very long. It was pretty but I had seen prettier sights earlier on the ride! It was about 13 miles back to the start point at Veterans Home. I rode with Tahera as we chatted and exchanged notes and talked about all the fun things we would eat when done. It made the miles fly. Thanks Tahera! A few wrong turns but we got back to the finish line a little after 2PM. I saw Amit sitting on a bench waiting for me to roll by. It is wonderful to see family cheer you through the journey! I missed seeing my son; Rahul has always been there to cheer me but he had to be back at the University the same morning. Amit got a picture of me as I rode past him near the finish:

There was much cheering at the finish, with hugs, high-fives and beer! The lunch was good and the company of the bikers was absolutely wonderful, as we exchanged notes and celebrated our success! Big thanks to the wonderful coaches Stan, Rob and Vishwa and the captains! And most important of all, an awesome job done by the organizers Chandrika and Megha! Kudos to all of them who volunteered tireless hours to make Team Asha successful! Thanks also to all my donors for donating to Asha and supporting me through this ride!

Here is part of the team at the finish:

I echo Queen’s lyrics and sing…
I like to ride my bicycle, I like to ride my bike,
I like to ride by bicycle, I like to ride it where I like!

For many more years of biking, Cheers to Team Asha!
——————————-
Note:
- Asha for Education is a charity organization. More details here.
- I got my bike fitted at La Dolce Velo in San Jose.

I was one of the 20 Technical mentors in the first TechWomen program. I spent the month of June 2011 ... ]]> The U.S State Department organized the  TechWomen program in response to President Barack Obama’s call in his June 2009 speech in Cairo for greater collaboration with Muslim communities around the world. TechWomen is a professional mentorship and exchange program bringing together technical women leaders from the Middle East & North Africa and from leading companies in Silicon Valley. Several mentees and cultural and technical mentors shared technical expertise and fostered international, long-term relationships to create business opportunities for women in their countries.

I was one of the 20 Technical mentors in the first TechWomen program. I spent the month of June 2011 working with a very bright lady, who was visiting the US and at my office. I did not get the time to visit Washington DC as part of the TechWomen delegation meeting with Hillary Clinton. That would be another interesting experience. My mentee Bana was very articulate in an interview she gave in DC. I met remarkably talented women as part of this program.

TechWomen is an initiative of the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, managed by the Institute of International Education (IIE), and implemented in partnership with the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) .

Details of my ride and logistics of fundraising are available here. here.

It is a coincidence that I am ... ]]> I came across a very powerful TED talk by a social worker Dr. Sunitha Krishnan. She is genuine and passionate in her efforts against human trafficking and the sex trade. Sunitha believes that our silence can enable abuse.  Sunitha’s talk is a powerful message to society. I admire her courage and guts to address the social stigma in our society. It is one of the most moving and humbling speeches I have heard/watched recently. The topic is not unique to any particular country.  I also found the Q&A at  TED blog very thought provoking.

It is a coincidence that I am currently reading Nicholas Kristof’s & Sheryl WuDunn’s book “Half the Sky.” The first few chapters dwells on the same topic that Sunitha talks about. I will write a review when I finish the book.

Leaders need to be capable of navigating and managing “inflection points” (organizational & personal) in order to grow and sustain innovation. This requires the leaders to have the courage to take risks. The personal skills evolve with the times and conditions. New rules are needed for success. Risk taking in the new world needs collaboration and partnering with colleagues ... ]]> As part of the Grace Hopper Conference on Women in Computing, I attended a workshop on risk taking led by Dee McCrorey. The emphasis was on giving practical ideas for personal and professional reinvention.  It was a very thought provoking talk. 

Leaders need to be capable of navigating and managing “inflection points” (organizational & personal) in order to grow and sustain innovation. This requires the leaders to have the courage to take risks. The personal skills evolve with the times and conditions. New rules are needed for success. Risk taking in the new world needs collaboration and partnering with colleagues who can help you solve problems. It is not about doing everything alone.

At the leadership workshop,  “Collaborative Risktaking Workshop” Dee had us try out the new rules.

#1 Responsibility: Do the Right Thing for the Right Reasons

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines responsibility as moral, legal, or mental accountability. Responsible risktaking looks beyond the immediate to the longer term impact of your decisions by assessing the upstream and downstream risks associated with business decisions. Upstream areas include the organization at large, customers, and external stakeholders, while downstream assessments would include your internal customers and local communities.

#2  Collaboration: Create Your Innovation Safety Net

Innovation in a reinvented world requires a safety net, one to support you in taking greater risks that achieve better results through short-term rotational alliances and longer range collaborative partnerships.

Old: Days of the reckless risktaker whose decisions were based primarily on personal gain and bottom line results at the expense of those left to clean up the “success mess”.

New: the greater the risk the wider your net(work).

#3 Transition: Manage Your Career Life Cycle

Career transition is no longer a stop-and-go process, but an ongoing ebb and flow of change. In order to take advantage of this life cycle shift, you need to understand your personal change patterns and the optimum time for reinventing yourself by letting go of the old and allowing the new to enter. Leading through ambiguity requires a certain comfort level with change, transition and personal risktaking. Building and sustaining relationships both inside and outside your organization is important, as it ensures connections that can be transferred from company to company, position to position, and person to person while you develop your expertise over time.

#4 Credibility: It’s the Real Deal

Sustainable relationships begin with rapport and end with credibility. In between we have trust, influence—guiding others to think differently—and persuasion—leading others to act differently. Business in a reinvented world will increasingly demand shorter execution cycles for building your personal credibility with others. Shorten the cycle by acknowledging your sources for innovative ideas and solutions–it increases word-of-mouth trust and influence with others.

#5 Career Capital: Compound Your Value

Doing the right things for the right reasons requires the right data. Quantifying contributions can sometimes be difficult to capture, i.e., how do you measure your influence with others in leading change that benefits the company directly? It’s time to take your finance rep to lunch, seek out a mentor, or sign-up for some finance courses and learn how to identify and quantify your direct and indirect contributions. By learning how to measure and report you and your team’s contributions, you’re able to extend your valuation reach across the organization.

(Note: This part got me really thinking.)

#6  Decision-making: Innovation across Boundaries

Decisions made in today’s business environments can feel as if they’re being made in “reinvented time”. The world is a more complex place and your decisions now have the power to directly impact and indirectly influence upstream and downstream outcomes. Thus, collaboration in risktaking and designing credibility into your relationships take on greater importance. Do-It-Yourself decision-makers won’t be as successful in this reinvented world. Even though a final decision may fall within your “accountability space”, as an adaptive leader you’ll want to tap the collective knowledge of subject matter experts and innovation tribes in order to obtain the full benefits of your decisions.

#7  Succession Strategies: Care of the Future

Whether you’re heading towards a new opportunity within the company, off-ramping for a period of time, or starting your own business, a solid plan is a great way to establish your credibility across the organization and leave behind a legacy with those who you may never meet. Succession planning and execution expertise will grow in importance within the next three to five years as demographic shifts occur around the world, including the ageing of executives and senior leadership teams.

#8 Entrepreneurial Leadership: Replace Fear with Creativity

Entrepreneurial skills will continue to grow in importance as companies look to reinvent their organizations. The leadership challenge in the coming months and years is how to inspire and motivate a diverse workforce that elects to put more creative “skin in the game” for product breakthroughs and for sustaining innovation. Suggestions for entrepreneurial leaders:

• Clearly define the playing field, i.e., what does success and setbacks look like in your company’s culture?
• Is there a traceable accountability process that is consistent across the board? Do you assume responsibility for your role and actions even when the going gets tough?
• Does the workforce trust its leaders? Do you know what trust looks and feels like for you? Would you consider yourself trustworthy? Do others trust you to “have their back?”
• How does personal risktaking translate in the workplace?

#9  Tools and Technology: Level the Social, Mobile Playing Field

Do not shy away from trying your hand at using social media. Whether you’re experimenting with a business blog or setting up a personal marketing campaign inside your organization, it’s time to jump in and try your hand at building a networked community, participating in online training, and leveraging your social capital. Mobile technologies and use of smart phones and other devices help perform our jobs, and as leaders, you’ll be expected to experiment with using new tools and technologies that move people forward faster and drive results at less cost.

#10 Emotional Maturity: Learn from the Past, Reinvent for the Future

Emotional maturity is less an “age thing” as much as it about learning to lead in healthier ways. It begins by understanding your change patterns, grounding yourself emotionally, while creating balance in your life. Courage allows for setbacks and failed attempts that result in teachable moments. The ability to rebound from personal, professional and business setbacks without miring you in fear and complacency will redefine success in a reinvented world.