Alright.So today, momentarily, you'll hear from Edan Fanny, who will do, a more detailed introduction of themselves and will then provide insights into their leadership journeys to managing director roles in their this global and dynamic digital landscape. But first, I'll give you a brief overview of Huron and who we are. So Huron is a global professional services firm that collaborates with clients to put the possible into practice by creating sound strategies, optimizing operations, accelerating digital transformation, and empowering businesses and their people to own their future. By embracing diverse perspectives, encouraging new ideas, and challenging the status quo, we create sustainable results for the organizations that we serve. Our people and values driven culture truly sets us us apart.

Our diverse team of experts come from the industries we serve and understand the complexities of our clients' business needs in the evolving technological climate. Combined with our strategic, operational, technical, and cultural expertise, we collaborate across our businesses to help our clients imagine the future and transform for tomorrow. In doing so, we are grounded by our values and every client and team interaction, firmly embracing the belief that our people are the heart and our culture is the foundation for our success. Leadership is a learned skill, and our leadership principles are a living expression of our culture and growth aspirations and a critical component to our future success. Most importantly, we believe that our leadership principles put into action every day by each member of our Huron team will greatly enhance our ability to achieve our vision of empowering our clients, our people, and the communities we serve to own their future. Now I'm honored to welcome two of Huron's exceptional leaders that exemplify Huron's values, culture, and leadership principles, Ida and Fanny, to introduce themselves before we dive into some of these fun topics.

Great. Thank you. So let me introduce myself, a short introduction. So my name is Fanny Ip. I'm a managing director at Huron. I lead the AI and intelligent automation group within Huron to serve across different industry. And I'm based out of LA. So happy to be here to share some of my experience throughout my career.

Great. Thanks, Danny. Edith Romina, managing director for digital enabling capabilities based in Tampa, Florida. I'm responsible for a global team that goes everything from enabling our marketing capabilities all the way through ensuring we have consistent delivery on projects, you know, and then also trying to help Fannie make sure that we've got the right people with the right skills in the right place.

Love that. Thank you. Now I'll stop sharing so that way we can, see our leaders here a little bit better as we talk through some of the next topics. Ida, can you please share what has been your personal journey on your path to managing director?

Yeah. Absolutely. So, I've been at Huron now ten years, a little over ten years. And when I started, I started as a director. I came in as an experienced hire, so I didn't grow up in consulting. I knew the industry. I was specialized in higher education and health care industry and, you know, started to see opportunities for me to take different leadership roles at Huron. One of the great things I liked about Huron is that I could forge my own path. I sat in multiple different roles, working across multiple different areas at Huron. And when I came in, I didn't see a lot of managing directors that looked like me in digital. In fact, we had no women at the leadership level in digital. And, you know, I we talk a lot about sometimes about imposter syndrome. Right?

So I sat back questioning, well, could I be a managing director? Right? What does it mean to be a manager or director? I didn't have the skills to be a managing director. Right? A lot of those things that we do about self doubt. I had an amazing mentor, Susan Vick, that pulled me aside and basically said, you can do this because you're already doing some of this work, you know, in the reference to the way you showed up. And it was that push that made me really realize that I could be in a leadership role. And with the support of our leadership team, right, applied to be a managing director and, you know, was promoted that year and became the first woman and the first woman of color to me of managing director in our digital capability. Now I'm happy to say that we are now, like, five times that in reference to the number of women that we have.

But it's all about, for me, it was stepping outside my comfort zone, believing in my own capabilities from a leadership perspective, and having someone believe in me and share that I could actually do this.

Absolutely. That's very inspiring, Ida. And Susan Vic also played a key role in, my career growth as well. Fannie, can you please provide some insights into your personal growth journey?

Yep. So, I would say I'm a lifelong career consulting, consultant. So my path to here is a little bit different. So I have been to different consulting firms. So I have been in the MBB with the big four as well as Huron. And then in the middle, I would like to try out how does it work in a product company. So I did have a detour for about four years to work in a product company, and see how it works. Because, in technology, a lot of times as a consultant, we work with product companies. So I think that perspective for me to be able to see how consulting firm works, different type of consulting firm, and then how product works, make me a better consultant now, at Huron.

So I although I joined Huron a little bit later, I have been with Huron for about two and a half years. I still do notice that I am one of the odd ones out there. So, but I I think, one of my focus area is, if you look around, is not just at the top level. Right? How do you encourage the, like, the middle layer, the the the manager level to be able to know that, yes, they can do it, and how to nourish that. Like, I think that's part of what I folk a lot of my focus is to encourage, like, not just people, like, wanting to become a managing director, but, like, do you want to become a manager? Right? That's a first step as well.

So and I think there is specific challenges, for women in, in the consulting area as well as in the technology area, and I I'm happy to share some of my experience as well.

Thank you. Thank you, Fanny. And, yeah, I think it's great to kind of highlight, you know, the diverse ways, right? That not everyone's journey looks the same. And I think that's so important to highlight and, you know, really echoes kind of Huron's, you know, you own your journey, and kind of the ability to really, kind of drive it into the direction that you want. Vinny, I'd like to learn from you, you know, how would you say that your role in, you know, AI intelligent automation is really different from what you would normally consider, like, a traditional tech role?

Mhmm. Yep. So I think one of the key differences, I started to do automation maybe ten years ago, and I'm really into AI for the last two or three years, is that I'm always constantly it emergent technology for a reason because I have to educate a lot. I'm constantly educating internally the client. And then the second piece is no one knows how to use the technology for the benefits of it. So there is a bit of monetization skills that I need to figure out. It's like, how do I help our client to monetize the value of automation? And at the same time, how do I monetize it for Hero as well?

Mhmm.

So in a sense, it's like there is always no playbook. There's always just like it's open. Like, you made your destiny. So I think that's what is different. It's not like, oh, I'm I'm telling you what this product do. Like, I can certainly do that, but, like, how how do you use this product in order to get benefits for you? So that mindset is, like, you I constantly have to think about it. And I think that's why it's, like, quite different, when I hire my team as well is, like, I make sure that they knowing that, like, there is not always a playbook for you to follow. So you're part of the journey for me to figure out what it is, like, constantly making changes as well.

Thank you. That's excellent. And, you know, really taking the focus of not trying to take technology and as being the driver, but really kind of the people in the process as being the driver and then the technology to support that. Ida, same to you. How did you differentiate your role, as digital enabling capabilities lead from a traditional tech role?

Yeah. So and I think it's funny because, when I try to explain to my family what I do in technology, the first thing they wanna do is can I fix something of theirs? Right? You know what I mean? Because I think people automatically think technology. They think about hardcore programming. Right? You know? I feel that I call myself a functional technologist. I fell into technology by accident and similar to Fannie, I was focused on business process transformation. How do I make this business process better? And realize that technology was an enabler of that. Right? We don't just implement technology for the sake of implementing technology. We implement it to solve some business problem. And that's what I focus on.

That's what I focused on when I was in an external role, at Huron, you know, focusing in our clients and trying to get them to understand how to efficiently use technology, and also the things that they have to do in addition to the technology. You mentioned people processing and technology. That's a three legged stool that if you don't have all three of those, it won't matter what the technology is that you implement. Right? It's not gonna solve your problem. So today, I focus on working with our internal folks. Right? Our own enterprise on how do we efficiently use the technology to support our business processes for our consultants. So really looking at how do you use it, where do you use it. Right? And similar to family, I feel like every day, you know, what we use technology yesterday doesn't exist today. Right? You know?

Or what I thought was gonna work or was the latest and greatest is outdated by the time I figure out how to use it. Right? You know? So, really, it is trying to keep up with that and, again, really focused on how do we use the technology versus just great. This is technology.

Absolutely. And that dovetails very nicely into and the next question is there's so much, right, from emerging tech, from leading practices and things that are constantly, you know, flooding, all of our news feeds. I'm sure. How do you stay up to date but also, sift through it all to really understand what you need to prioritize?

I'll get start first. So I for me, I think it's really important to figure out how to, ignore the noise and then looking into the the the jams. Right? So my strategy is not that sophisticated. I I subscribe to a few more reputable, newsletter or, from the LinkedIn post post because I felt like they have did some filtering for me already, and then look at it from there. That's one. And then the other piece is as part of the leader for AI and automation, I actually have to write a lot of white paper. And the white paper topics comes from the client. So I think that's a great exercise for me. It's like, I listen to what the client are asking. And if I don't have a good answer, then I started looking for specific information. So that's it the other way. Right?

Instead of just information just come to you, you are searching for specific pieces of it. And then because I have to write the white paper, so I have to synthesize it and then write it. Right? So that that makes me internalize it a little bit better. So the the two ways. One is, looking at some more reputable, sources that already did some filtering for me, and then also, like, how I proactively trying to look for opportunities to synthesize information as well.

Excellent. Excellent. I like that dual approach. Ida, how about you?

Yeah. For me, it's it's similar to Fanny. Right? It is a lot about, you know, flushing out the noise. Right? Because every day, there's some new thing. For me, it's also participating in using and trying new technologies. I have always been the person that was the first person to get the first iPhone that came out. Right? I had the first, you know, watch, right, in reference to that. You know, a year ago, I actually invested in Apple Vision Pro, right, to really try out virtual reality, to understand, is this hype? Right? Or is this something that is valuable to be able to use? So for me, getting my hands dirty with new technology. Right? And there's some things that I've tried out that don't exist anymore. Right? And I wouldn't have known that they wouldn't be of value if I didn't try it out.

Right? The other thing too by trying out that technology, it helps me also articulate the benefits of it better. Right? Because I've used it, I've tested it, you know, I've played with it. You know? So to me, in addition to reading about it, it's the hands on experience with it, right, that really helped me sift out what is, like, oh, boy. This sent out is not gonna last or we got something here.

Yeah. Yeah. That firsthand experience. It looks like, Fanny may be having some, technical, issues here. So while we wait for her to, join us back, Ida, what are some of the key leadership principles, leverage to lead your teams, and organizations through complex changes and these evolving technologies?

Yeah. I I think one of the main things now is about being an agile leader. Fanny mentioned this. Right? Our landscape is changing every day. And, you know, if you were stuck in doing something the same way, right, and, you know, not allowing your team to experiment and be innovative. I mean, innovation and, you know, being a leader that really is, you know, thinking about things in a different way is some of the core values that we have at Huron. Right? That's what keeps us fresh, you know. And you also have to enable your teams to try. And, you know, we our our leader has this phrase about fail fast, Right? In reference to that. Right? You can you don't know what's gonna work until you allow people to try and experiment.

And you need to have a culture from a leadership perspective that embraces people experimenting, people bringing new ideas to the table. You know, when I was on project teams, I would tell people all the time, our junior analysts are some of the people that had some of the greatest ideas. Right? Sometimes people didn't listen to them. You know, when you provide that space so everybody has the ability to come to the table with a great idea, You get some great ideas and some very diverse perspectives that if you had shut those people out, you would not be able to see that. So I think being a leader in this environment is being engaging, is making sure that you enable a culture of innovation, right, and that you are listening to brand new ideals. Right? Don't shut anybody out. You know, no idea is a bad idea except for the one that people don't present. Mhmm.

I love that love that perspective. Fanny, welcome back. What are some of the key leadership principles, that you leverage to lead your teams or organizations through complex changes, in the ever evolving technology space?

So, may not directly, connect to the leadership principles, but I would say that as, I progress in my career, one of the area that I actually spend a lot of time on is to understand the intent of people when they say certain things, because we could have a lot of meeting. People say stuff, and then it seems like everyone is agreement, but then, like, then in a week or so, you'd have another meeting seemingly talking about the same thing again. Right? So I I spend time on figuring out, okay, why why do they say certain things, so that I can come prepare for hope hopefully, alleviate what whatever the conflict might be. So I always tell my team what they say in the meeting is not what really what they want to say if you couldn't get to the agreement. So I think that's part of it is you can call it empathy as well. Right? Put yourself into the shoes of your colleagues or your client.

So I find that, like, by understanding what they are looking for, a lot of times can help me resolve some of the issues or progress in, in consulting. Right? We want to sell something. It's like, what does the client really, really want to do? And then what can I understand what is the the personal goal maybe for them to to advance this? So I think that soft skills, a lot of times, is not really emphasized, but it's really important if you look at a lot of the leaders in any organization. They are exceptional in reading people. So and I think that's the skills that irrelevant you of gender or if you're talking about technology. I think that's important.

Yeah. That's excellent. Yeah. I firmly agree with both of you. Right? You know, it's kind of that allowing that space from everyone across the organization and then kind of being thoughtful about, kind of those interactions and being very intentional is, you know, truly something that distinguishes leaders, such as yourselves. Now we do have a the question in the chat, and, I encourage everyone to post their questions here. But what does a typical day look like for you as a managing director? And I'm sure no day is the same, but would love to, hear some insights here. This question was from Rachel

Tao. I oh, go ahead, Fanny. Were you gonna say it? No.

No. No.

You go.

So I was just

guest or yeah.

It's kinda going back to what Fanny says. I spend most of my day working on people stuff. Right? Convincing people to do something they don't wanna do. Right? Understanding what perspective people are coming from. Right? So I could figure out how I help them on the journey of change, you know, in reference to that. So it it is a lot of of people. The other pieces around around process and strategic visioning. Right? You know, it's like everything is about where are we looking to go. Right? I know where we've been. Right, where are we going, and what are the things that I need to lay out for my team as a vision to help them figure out how do we enable that vision. Right? How do we move forward in that direction? And, you know, I tell my teams this all the time.

My whole goal as a managing director for them is working for them and moving all the boulders out the way. Alright? How do I move out all of the roadblocks out of the way so that they can be the best that they can be and they can be the most successful? And, again, that's all going back to dealing with people, right, and managing people. Mhmm. Yep.

So I think, similarly, like, I do spend a lot of time on emails and meetings. Right? But what I have realized is that I have to make the meetings count. So I have to figure out what are the meetings that I should go to. I think that's a big part of it and what I can delegate, because, the meetings I go to is either I am the only one who can do it. Right? Or I can provide the presence or the authority to get something done. So that's how I prioritize it a bit. And I think the other piece is I I don't, I'm not successful to do it every day, but every week, I want to make sure that I have some time to think, because I can endlessly trying to answer emails and text all day long. So, I think, like, having the like, you just say, it's having the thinking time to think strategically, how do I move the group forward, is important.

It should deserve some of the thinking time, as well. So so it's like I I I would say every day is different, but every day is kind of the same. You answer email, do some meetings. Yeah.

I love that. Now if you were to summarize, right, you know, all the great qualities you exemplify and you talked about today, what would you provide as kind of, you know, advice for those emerging leaders, that are coming up?

So for me, I think it's balance. So all of us has a career, but all of us have personal life as well. Mhmm. And we cannot tell you what is the right balance. You have to decide what is the right balance for you, and don't look at what like, don't try to compare to others. Right? So as long as you make yourself, like, knowing that this is the balance I want, this is what works the best for me, and go with it. And I think that would work because it will it will make you happy. And then if you're happy, you tend to work better. So

For for me, I agree with Fanny on the balance. Right? And and everybody's balance is different. For me, it's about impact. Right? As a leader, how do you show up? How do you have an impact? How do you impact other people? Right? You know, Fanny talked about, you know, her her ability to help others grow. Right? You know, and expand into that. To me, that's what leaders are about. It's you as a leader developing the next generation of leaders. Right? And really investing in people. You know, to me, that's the greatest leadership quality. It's not about commanding. It's not about telling what people what to do. It's inspiring people and sharing with them how do they do that and guiding them through. You know? To me, that's that's that's how you, you know, are a good leader, you know, in reference to that.

I love both of those, comments. And I'll also add on, you know, everything, you know, Eda and Fanny shared. Right? Everyone's journey is different, to their goals. And I think raising your hand and asking the questions, you know, if there's somebody that's doing something that maybe you aspire to do, reach out to them, set up, you know, chat with them, you know, whether they're inside your organization, or elsewhere. And having some of those conversations or, you know, providing some insight into, hey. You know, when it's appropriate, here's some things that I'm interested in. Right? And kinda getting that feedback as well, is feedback is always great. I think there's no type of bad feedback because it always, allows you to grow and, continue and then kinda having that ability to raise your hand and, you know, stand for what per career path you wanna go to and kind of be brave and bold in that, I think is also something very important as you kinda navigate that journey.

Well, said it, Anna.