How vulnerability makes you a better leader | Tracy Young

Transcriber: TED Translators Admin Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz

Translator: Alba Gil Vicente Reviewer: Mario Cal

Meus pais eran refuxiados do comunismo.

Mentres crecía, vin como os meus pais

mantiñan dous traballos sen ningunha queixa

para que meus irmáns e eu vivísemos mellor ca eles.

My parents were refugees of communism.

Growing up, I watched my mom and dad

Sentía orgullo de ser a súa filla.

E entendía ben a miña identidade como inmigrante.

work two full-time jobs without ever complaining,

A miña parte feminina, de tódolos xeitos, érame moito máis difícil de asumir.

so my siblings and I could live a better life than they did.

I was proud to be their daughter.

Nunca quixen chamar a atención co meu xénero,

And I understood the immigrant part of my identity well.

The female part of my identity, however, was much harder for me to own.

porque temía que non me tomarían en serio como executiva.

Así que centrei a miña enerxía no que consideraba importante,

I never wanted to draw attention to my gender,

como facer rir ó meu equipo.

because I was afraid I wouldn’t be taken seriously as a CEO.

Lembro escribir e practicar as bromas ata a saciedade

So I focused my energy on the things that I thought were important,

stuff like making my team laugh.

antes das reunións.

Ou era a primeira en chegar e a última en marchar da oficina,

I remember I would painstakingly write and rehearse jokes

porque pensaba que iso importaba.

before every all-hands.

Cando estaba embarazada de seis meses

Or I'd be the first one in the office and the last one out,

contactounos un grande competidor para adquirir a nosa empresa.

because I thought that these things mattered.

Toda empresa nova quere unha oferta así,

When I was six months pregnant,

one of our large competitors reached out, wanting to talk about acquiring us.

pero comezou a amolarme moito

que durante as conversas con estes descoñecidos

Every startup wants the option to be bought,

cos que eu estaba negociando,

os seus ollos viaxasen cara o meu ventre preñado.

but it really got under my skin

Púxenme de parto a noite do noso encontro cos usuarios.

when during conversations with these strangers

who I was negotiating with,

As semanas previas ó evento,

their eyes would sometimes wander to my pregnant belly.

mentres vía ó equipo prepararse para a presentación,

I went into labor the same night of our user conference.

pregunteime cantos homes se perderían o seu propio congreso

The weeks leading up to the event,

watching our team prepare for our big product unveiling,

polo nacemento do seu fillo.

Figureime que a maioría.

Mais seguía razoando comigo mesma que se eu non estivese preñada

I wondered how many male CEOs would skip their own conference

for the birth of their child.

non habería dúbida sobre se estaría ou non.

I assumed most would.

Así que tiña que estar alí,

forzándome a pasear os meus nove meses de preñez.

But I kept reasoning with myself that if I wasn't pregnant,

En restrospectiva, 14 horas de pé facendo de anfitrioa non foi boa idea.

there'd be no question whether I'd be there or not.

So I have to be there,

forcing myself to parade my nine-month pregnancy,

Cando cheguei a casa, rompín augas e comezaron as contraccións

work the halls as hosts on my feet for 14 hours was a bad idea in hindsight.

e pasarían 32 horas ata que escoitase os choros de meu fillo.

The moment I arrived home, my water broke and my contractions started

Cando o meu bebé tiña seis semanas, volvín ó traballo.

and I wouldn't hear my son's first cry for another 32 hours.

A compra da empresa non fora adiante,

e eu propuxérame conseguir os fondos necesarios para combater.

When my baby was six weeks old, I went back to work.

Our M and A had fallen through by then,

Mais aínda sangraba polos desgarros da vaxina

and I was determined to fundraise a war chest to fight them back.

provocados polo parto.

Aínda me pregunto a min mesma

But I was still bleeding from several tears in my vagina

por que apurei a volta ó traballo cando non estaba lista.

from pushing out a baby.

E agora sei que foi por mor do medo.

To this day, I still ask myself

Tiña tanto medo do que a xente podía pensar de min

why I rushed back to work when I wasn't ready.

como nai debutante e directora xeral.

And I realize now it was because I was afraid.

Tiña medo de que pensasen que as miñas prioridades cambiaran.

I was so afraid of what people might think of me

Así que me apremei para probarlle a todo o mundo

as a new mother and CEO.

que estaba máis dedicada ca nunca á empresa.

I was afraid that they would think that my priorities had changed.

Pasei os seguintes dous meses recadando fondos.

So I pressured myself into proving to everyone

that I was as dedicated to the company as ever.

Tiña un horario completo e a obriga de sacar leite para o meu bebé,

pero non tiña afouteza para pedir 50 millóns de dólares

I would spend the next two months fundraising to secure our war chest.

ó tempo que usaba o cuarto para nais.

I had a full schedule and I needed to pump milk,

E como pode unha sacar leite en Silicon Valley?

but I didn't have the courage to ask for 50 million dollars

Pois, aparcaba o coche

and ask to use their mother's room.

diante dunha casa ben en Palo Alto.

So how does one pump milk on Sand Hill Road?

Quitaba a camisa e sacaba o leite dos meus peitos

Well, I would park my car

cunha bomba de silicona.

in front of someone's super nice home in Palo Alto.

Funcionaba, supoño.

Aseguramos un inversor para a nosa serie C

I'd undress and extract milk from my breasts

e a competencia volveu a nós cunha oferta revisada,

with a silicone hand pump.

It worked out, I guess.

e decidimos vender por 875 millóns de dólares.

We secured a lead investor for our series C

Uns meses despois da compra quedei embarazada de novo.

and then our competitors came back with a revised offer,

and we decided to sell to them for 875 million dollars.

E pouco despois sufrín un aborto.

A few months after the acquisition I became pregnant for the second time.

Mentres estaba co meu equipo...

And shortly after, I found out I had a miscarriage.

sentín como esvaraba de min.

While with my team ...

Fun ó baño...

I felt it slip out of me.

e caeu ó chan.

I went to the bathroom ...

Non sabía que facer,

and it fell to the floor.

así que volvín xunta do meu equipo, facendo coma se nada pasase.

Foi precisa a infertilidade, o aborto,

I didn't know what to do,

so I just walked back out to the team, pretending as if nothing happened.

a preñez, dar a luz sen fármacos mentres dirixía unha compañía

It took going through infertility, miscarriage,

para decatarme do equivocada que estaba por esconder a miña feminidade

pregnancy, giving birth without any drugs, while running a company

coma se fose algo que me avergonzase.

Sempre pensei que eu debía ser como os homes que eu vía no meu campo

for me to realize how wrong I was to hide my womanhood

as if it's something I'm ashamed of.

para non ser xulgada ou tratada de xeito diferente.

For so long, I thought I had to be what I thought a good male CEO looked like

Estaba oprimida pola crenza de que os negocios valoran a masculinidade

e iso fíxo que tivese medo de ser muller,

so that I wouldn't be judged or treated differently.

I was so constricted by my belief that businesses value maleness more.

o que implicaba ocultarlles moito de quen era ós demais.

Cando me atrevín a ser completamente eu,

And it made me afraid to be a woman,

cando me atrevín a confiar e compartir a miña frustración

which meant I hid a massive part of who I was from everyone.

e a miña ira, e a tristeza

When I dared to be fully myself,

e as bágoas co meu equipo,

when I dared to trust and share my frustrations

fun máis feliz e liderei con máis efectividade

and my anger and my sadness and my tears with my team,

porque por fin era honesta con quen era eu.

I became a much happier and more effective leader

E o meu equipo respondeu a iso.

Unha das consecuencias máis importantes de liderar sendo eu mesma

because I was finally honest in who I was.

foi ver a evolución da nosa cultura

And my team responded to that.

cara a unha versión de si mesma moito máis cohesionada.

One of the most important side effects of leading as my complete raw self

Lembro que tivemos uns trimestres duros.

was seeing our culture evolve

to a more close-knit and effective version of itself.

Semellaba que todo era un desastre

I remember we had several back to back rough quarters.

e non tiña tempo para prepararme para unha reunión.

E logo chegoume a quenda de palabra.

It felt like everything was in shambles

Achegueime ó micro e comecei a falar sen andrómenas

and I didn't have time to prepare for an all-hands.

And then it was time for me to speak.

sobre as miñas inquietudes, preocupacións pola competencia,

So I walked up to the mic cold and I started talking openly

os erros que cometemos na estratexia de ventas,

expoñendo de verdade as fraquezas da nosa compañía.

about my concerns, my concerns on competition,

E pedinlle axuda ó equipo.

the mistakes we had made in sales strategy,

A conversa cambiou completamente

really exposing the weaknesses of our company.

e tamén o noso xeito de resolver os problemas.

And I asked the team for help.

Cando nos entregamos colectivamente e por completo ó traballo,

That completely changed the conversation

puidemos conseguir moito máis en termos de beneficios

and how we would build and solve problems together.

As we collectively brought our full selves to work,

e número de exportacións ca nunca antes.

E levounos dunha empresa nova a una empresa de mediano tamaño.

we were able to accomplish so much more in terms of revenue growth

and the most products shipped the company had seen.

Quen queira que sexas, se pensas comezar unha empresa,

And it progressed us from a startup to medium-sized business.

ou pensas en liderar,

faino

e non temas confiar ou ser ti mesmo.

Whoever you are, if you're thinking about starting a startup,

or you’re thinking about leading,

Ogallá soubese iso hai dez anos.

do it

E aprende dos meus erros:

and don't be afraid to trust and be yourself completely.

Se estás recadando fondos en Silicon Valley, e necesitas sacar leite

I wish I knew that a decade ago.

usa as marabillosas salas de lactancia.

And learn from my mistakes.

Grazas.

If you find yourself fundraising on Sand Hill, needing to pump milk,

go use their nice-ass mother’s rooms.

Thank you.