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www.privateairny.com Private Air | Summer 2020 57 BUSINESS today she leads global initiatives to combat corruption and is a regular speaker at formidable international organizations like the United Nations. roughout her career, she has met extraordinarily successful (and fundamentally extraordinary) aspiring female immigrants who have aptly leveraged their ostensibly prohibitive backgrounds to propel themselves forward in the workplace. "It's like being struck by lightning when you meet these women," Esimai said. "ere's this instant kinship because of the shared experience and realizing we've all faced the same challenges." However, what was particularly striking about the expat powerhouses Esimai has met is that nearly all of them possess certain traits that have helped them excel in the modern American business environment (and beyond in many cases); ones that she hopes ambitious immigrant leaders today, both men and women, can take inspiration from. ree ings Powerful Professional Immigrant Women Have in Common: 1. We All Have at Instinct to Blend In. ey Ignore It. Some people spend an obscene amount of time and effort trying to stand out. Others don't like attention. But as an immigrant, you don't get that choice. You speak another language. Maybe you have an accent. You are almost certainly used to different foods, holidays, and music. Ultimately, you carry a unique viewpoint that can't help but draw attention, and the first instinct of many is to downplay this difference and hide it. Except this can be a huge mistake. e truth is that successful immigrant leaders need to stand out in some way, and it's been determined that powerful women tend to be even more assertive than men. Developing the confidence to do that means drawing from experiences unique to you and, most of the time, that's a byproduct of how and where you grew up. "I would not be able to lead the initiatives I have against bribery and corruption if it weren't for my experiences, making me the person I am... It's impossible," Esimai said. Few of my peers understood how normalized some of these practices were, and this gave me a unique perspective on how to develop solutions." How can you take advantage of what makes you different? For one, ensure that you are not the person holding yourself back. Remind yourself that you deserve to be there and be confident in your own experience and judgment. is will radiate outwards and affect how others see you. If you're in a situation where you find you have a unique insight into a problem, and nobody in the room is saying what you think should be said, silence your inner critic and go for it! Remember, influential leaders rarely get to where they are by merely repeating what others do or amenably agreeing with what others say. ey certainly don't apologize for their distinct thoughts. ActioNet founder and Taiwanese immigrant, Ashley Chen, who pushed her to build her $360 million business, insists, "Action without vision is a nightmare, and vision without action is only a daydream." 2. ey Excise Self-Limiting Behaviors (And Excuses). It goes without saying that immigrants or any perceived workplace "outsider" faces certain obstacles because of their unique circumstances. If you identify with these labels, you might not expect that one of the biggest of these can be the limits imposed by your mind. But, there's a particularly common one among immigrant women whom those who breakthrough have aptly transcended. "Shyness is an epidemic," Esimai laments. "ere's nothing inherently wrong with being shy, but it often stems from a lack of self-confidence that is almost always undeserved." Immigrants often tell themselves that they don't have the qualifications or language skills to speak up or volunteer for a project, cutting them out of valuable opportunities to advance their careers. Studies find that doubts based on these self- inflicted stereotypes persist even when professionals are explicitly told otherwise. If you have a similar shyness problem, remind yourself that you don't need to fit every qualification for a role or project. You will learn what you need as you go. One of the best pieces of advice Esimai ever received was, "What you don't know, you will figure out;" wisdom that's been substantiated time and time again in her own professional experiences.

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