March 18, 2024 • 39 mins
Julie Sturza kicks off our Women in STEM series.
Julie is a pediatric research statistician at the large academic medical center. In this role, she works with physician researchers to design pediatric research studies, conduct and interpret statistical analyses, and assist in the dissemination of research findings through presentations and peer-reviewed publications.
Julie shares her experiences, talks to us about the importance of mentors, work life balance, and gender equality. This is a really thoughtful and honest conversation and one that I think you'll find yourself returning to.
Until next time, communicate with intention and lead with purpose.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Leah OH (00:00):
Julie Sturza joins us today on the communicative
(00:03):
leader. Julie is the leadstatistician at a large
nationally renowned medicalcenter. As a woman in the STEM
field, Julie discusses herexperiences and shares her
insights with us. We discussunique challenges women may face
in a male dominated field inJulie leaves us with thoughtful
advice related to mentorssupportive networks and work
(00:26):
life integration. Hello, andwelcome to the communicative
leader hosted by me Dr. LeahOmilion-Hodges. My friends call
me Dr. OH. I'm a Professor ofCommunication and a leadership
communication expert, and thecommunicative leader. We're
working to make your work lifewhat you want it to be. Oh,
(00:46):
Julie, thank you for joining ustoday on the communicative
leader. I'm so excited to haveyou, as a woman in the STEM
field. And as a friend, I'mreally excited to have this
conversation. So before we diveinto your experiences, can you
give us a little bit of yourbackground, and then help us to
(01:06):
understand kind of what inspiredyou to pursue that career in the
STEM field.
Julie Sturza (01:12):
Actually, I for having me, I'm really excited to
talk to you today. In terms ofwhat drew me into my career, I
think I knew I always wanted todo something in the field of
medicine or health. Probably alot of that had to do with my
mom who was a microbiologist,and then a physician's
(01:32):
assistant. Later in life, Ialways looked up to her and
loved hearing what she broughthome from work in terms of the
the cool topics that she wasworking on. So an undergrad I
was pre med and English major.
And then I went to grad schooland got a master's in public
health and specifically inenvironmental epidemiology,
(01:55):
which is the study of how humansare impacted on a population
level and on an individual levelby things that are in the water
or the air or the food that weeat. And so after grad school, I
did a fellowship at theEnvironmental Protection Agency
in Washington, DC. And I did alot of work on children's
(02:19):
environmental health care. But Ialso ended up working with a lot
of environmental economists whoreally use a lot of statistics
in the work that they did, andreminded me how much I loved
math and was missing the mathpart. And kind of showed me
this, the way that biostatisticscan combine math and science to
(02:44):
really make an impact in thefield of health and medicine.
Dr. Leah OH (02:50):
Yeah, that is so neat. I love so much of what you
said, Julie, and I think that,you know, recognizing you've
always had this passion and thisinterest in medicine and
biology. And you explored that.
And then also recognizing thatin conversations, you're really
drawn to the statistics of that.
And I love you know, I alwaysfeel like people find their
(03:13):
careers by leaning into whatfits them best. And, and so
that's really neat. And I lovethat, especially as a
communication professor, I haveso many students who are like, I
became a Comm major, because Idon't have to do math. And I'm
like, I'm so sorry to disappointyou, we're still going to do
math, right? Like, it's notgoing to be the same as other
(03:33):
majors. But when you do have agood grasp on statistics, I
mean, you know, the, your datafluency, and your ability to
understand your world and tonavigate it increase so much.
Julie Sturza (03:50):
Right. And looking back at that point, during my
fellowship, I kind of lookedback at my public health grad
school experience and realized,oh, yeah, the classes that I
really excelled at werebiostatistics classes. And I
just never really thought Iguess I didn't really see what
(04:11):
the career options were for thatother than getting a PhD and
teaching at a university orsomething like that. And so I
feel like it was reallyfortuitous that I got to work
with these awesome environmentaleconomists who showed me a
different way to use data in adifferent field.
Dr. Leah OH (04:32):
Yeah, yeah. That is really exciting. So then
pursuing, you know, it's justthe statistical field. What are
some of the unique challengesyou think that you've
encountered that may be those Ithink in the majority men, maybe
that they haven't experienced?
Julie Sturza (04:52):
Right? I think a lot of women relate to feeling
impostor syndrome. And that wasdefinitely something that I do I
struggled with and stillstruggle with today at times, I
also, I have kind of a naturallychatty smiley personality. And I
felt at times that I had kind ofhad to tone down who I was and
(05:15):
what my personality was in orderfor people to take me seriously.
And luckily, I think I've mostlygrown out of that as I've gotten
older, because I know that thisis just my personality. And it
doesn't mean that I'm not goodat statistics. And then the
other thing that I think is achallenge. So I have three kids
(05:38):
that are 10, eight, and five.
And so there was a lot ofmaternity leaves in a short
period of time. And I think nowmy kids are, like I said,
they're a little bit older. Andso policies have really
improved, I think in terms ofmaternity leaves, but at the
time that I was taking time offto have my babies I, I just felt
like an inconvenience sometimesand whether or not people were
(06:02):
trying to make you feel thatway, there was a sense that you
being awful, was inconveniencingpeople.
Dr. Leah OH (06:12):
No, I hear ya, Mama. It's so tough. I was I was
just having a conversation withyou know, in academia. As
forward thinking as we are,there's still so many
challenges. Because if you havea baby in a semester, when
you're teaching, what do you doabout afterwards or in the
(06:34):
continuity of delivery? Soactually, that's why I have to
make babies because I was ableto help them, luckily, after the
traditional semester, and so Ijust remembering people being
like, Have you been thinkingabout this? What is this going
to look like? Like, have youlike you can't put in an order?
Like, are we all familiar withhow this process works? So I
(06:58):
fully fully understand that.
And, you know, back to yourpoint about imposter syndrome,
that is my number one downloadedepisode, over the past four
seasons, anything because it'ssomething that even once we're
in sometimes it still flares up,be like, Hey, I've been doing
this for a while, but once oiljust comes knocking on your
(07:19):
door, and I think, particularlywhen we look a little different
than everyone around us, aremost of us most of those around
us at the peer level or aboveus, it can be especially
frequent and you know, saying,Are you sure? Does this make
sense? Like I'm doing? So okay.
(07:41):
But I hear you,
Julie Sturza (07:43):
I think helps to with impostor syndrome is just
having the maturity and theexperience to know that it's
okay to say, I don't really knowthe answer to that right now, or
that's such a great questionthat you asked me. And I want to
take a little bit of time, andresearch that before I give you
an answer. And I think that'sokay to do so. And I think
(08:04):
people respect that, as opposedto you just trying to make
something up on the fly, or, youknow, just kind of white knuckle
your way through an explanationthat you don't feel confident.
Yeah,
Dr. Leah OH (08:17):
exactly. That was one of my, it's one of those
moments that you're always goingto remember, I had a professor,
my PhD. And we were just beingpains, like looking back and
like I would not have wanted toleave that class. But we were
just peppering him withquestions. And then what somehow
someone directly said, what ifyou don't know? And he's like,
(08:41):
I'll get back to you. And thatjust like, this is an expert.
And this person isinternationally renowned for
what he does. And that was like,wow, I never thought of that as
an actual response, a validresponse. And now I defer to
that. It's your right, what arewe going to do in in lieu of
(09:01):
that option?
Julie Sturza (09:03):
Right. Right. It's powerful to to feel confident in
saying, I can get back to you.
Dr. Leah OH (09:10):
Yeah. And this is a nice segue, because I think that
when we are leaning into ourexpertise and saying Great
question, I'm going to circleback. You're definitely
demonstrating leadership. And sowith that in mind, you've
already touched on some of thesethings. But Julie, what are some
ways that you've used yourleadership skills to kind of
(09:32):
navigate and be successful inyour in your career? Yeah,
Julie Sturza (09:36):
I think time management and energy management
are really crucial to my fieldof work and probably to a lot of
others. And what I mean byenergy management is if I am,
you know, banging my head on thewall trying to push through
something and I am frustrated,and it's taken me way too long.
(09:58):
Way too much. Way. Oh, a lotlonger than I thought it should
take to, to understand thatthere's value in stopping and
taking a step back and realizingthat you can come back to it
later, once you've gotten yourenergy back up by doing
something that allows you tofeel more productive. And then I
(10:20):
think communication, obviously,is is a huge leadership skill
that I think has helped me alot, I think in, in the field of
statistics. There's a lot ofpeople who can do statistics,
and who can code and who canhave the knowledge base to do
statistics and biostatistics forpeople. But I think being able
(10:43):
to communicate those results, isa really crucial skill that I
think has allowed me to, to dowell in my job, and also
understanding. So I work a lotwith primarily visit MD and PhD,
(11:03):
physicians and people in themedical field. And I think that
they're used to being expertsand having all the answers. And
a lot of them feel a lot. Butsome of them feel a little
sheepish about the fact thatthey don't remember the stats,
the one stats class that theyhad in medical school. And so
(11:25):
understanding that not only doyou need to communicate things
in a way, that's understandable,but it's also sensitive to the
fact that these this is a groupof people who is not used to
feeling like they don't have theanswers.
Dr. Leah OH (11:39):
Yeah, Gosh, what a thoughtful answer, Julie, thank
you, I love they want to, he'shelped that idea, the value in
stopping, because you're right,there's so many times like, you
did not need to go down thatrabbit hole would have been way
better for like time managementand you know, mental health, if
I had just said, No, we can movethis to tomorrow, or, you know,
(12:03):
shuffling things even a little.
So thank you for bringing thatup. And I want to point out the
strength in your communication,because you're talking about
what I'm hearing iscommunication with
relationships. And certainly,working with experts can be
really tricky. It can be a hugeblessing, because you're
learning from people who areinnovators in their field. But
(12:23):
then you're right, and trying tosay is, you know, let's rethink
this, or have you consideredthis, take some tact. So you're
you know, you're reallyexcelling in your communication,
with relationships. And thenalso with that content, that
translational, right, andfiguring out, yes, this is what
this statistic says. But thenlet's explain why that's
(12:46):
important. And what that means.
And, in oftentimes, people tendto excel in one of these areas,
they tend to be really good withrelationships with them, their
content or translational, itgets a little bit harder, or
vice versa. And so I candefinitely see your leadership,
(13:07):
you know, part of why you haveso much success that you've
earned this because of yourability to communicate well
across all of these boundaries.
Julie Sturza (13:17):
Right. And I think too, like I was saying, with
working with these physicianswho are experts in their field,
I think, part of another thingthat I found has been really
successful for me is humblingmyself, in terms of my lack of
medical knowledge. So whenthey're initially meeting with
me and explaining the projectthat they want me to collaborate
(13:38):
on, just being open and humbleand saying, I don't understand
what you're talking about, orcan you step back? Why are these
kids having this surgery? Or whywould you think that this would
improve patient outcomes? Orwhat is it like for a patient in
your clinic whose experiencesexperiencing this with you? And
(13:59):
just, I think that kind of kindof allows them to really shine
and to show their expertise? Andthen it's it's relationship
building and in that way? Yeah.
Dr. Leah OH (14:15):
So you have disclosure, you're demonstrating
that you care about them andwhat's important to them and it
just I really applaud you I, Iam biased toward communication,
but I really, if people spentmore time thinking about their
communication and the impact ofeverything work gets easier,
your romantic relationships,your relationships with your
(14:37):
kids, your neighbors, so thankyou for what you're doing and
modeling. So Julie, this nextone this can be a tricky as you
know, it's a buzzword andthinking about work life
balance. And so I am wonderingif you know, kind of if you
could talk to us a little bitabout that work life balance As
(15:00):
a woman in a male dominatedfield and also as a mother,
Julie Sturza (15:04):
right, so I think I actually have not found it to
be as challenging as it could bein other fields, because I do
statistics primarily forpediatricians, who, like kids
and understand kids and frontalrelationships. And also there
just tends to be a lot of womenin the field of Pediatrics. And
(15:24):
so in that way, I feelunderstood. And just like people
share my expectations aboutwhat's important. And then I'll
also I also early on in mycareer, just found mentors or
more senior people who hadhabits or work life balance
(15:47):
skills that I kind of copied.
One of my bosses early on, Inoticed that she left every day
at three o'clock, and I askedher about and she said, Well,
yeah, my kids need to get pickedup from school. And so I leave
at three o'clock. And that meansthat I start work at seven
o'clock. And that's what worksfor me and my family. And it was
(16:09):
such a light bulb moment for me,because I was like, Oh, you
don't have to work nine to five.
And this is a very respectedsenior person. And she leaves
work at three o'clock, andeverybody just accepts that.
That's what's important to her.
And so that's something that Ihave, have tried to emulate and
(16:32):
it's really worked well for ourfamily is having flexible hours.
And if there's a thing that Ineed to leave for, then I leave
for it. And it's in. She alsoencouraged me to, don't just
say, just say, I need to pick upmy kids, I need to leave this
meeting right at three o'clock.
Don't try to hide what you'redoing or say it's for an
(16:56):
appointment or something. Justbe honest, because that's the
only way that things are goingto prove for everybody is if
we're just honest that kids needus families need us sometimes
outside traditional or duringtraditional working hours. Yeah,
Dr. Leah OH (17:13):
yeah, exactly. And I love that, you know, the
strength of the modeling, inrecognizing that. This isn't
something that necessarily welearn overnight. You know, we
can go to different resources,we can have conversations, we
can find books, but we can alsolook around us, like you said,
(17:35):
and looking at people who werespect, who we admire who, you
know, have earned a level ofdesignation in the organization.
Like, wow, okay, she's doingthis. And I love that you asked
about that, too, like, hey, whatgoes on at three o'clock? And I
know before I had kids, I wouldnever have thought of leaving at
(17:55):
three. But yeah, I like you ahard stop at three. And we'll be
sad little people waiting. Butyeah, so thank you for bringing
it up. And thank you, again formodeling that as well for for
others. And I think as you said,the more that we can have
(18:17):
conversations about it andnormalize it, the easier it is
for organizations, for theirleaders to also make that more
normative and make that part ofthe culture rather than an
exception or a one off. Right.
And so my next question in thisas kind of a follow up, you've
kind of addressed this andthinking about the previous
(18:39):
question, but how do youapproach abdicating either for
yourself? Or if you've hadothers, other women in your
organization or the field thatyou have advocated for? What
does that look like?
Julie Sturza (18:54):
Yeah, so I think a lot of it is kind of paying it
forward and explaining to themwhen I started this job, and
when I started having kids, thiswas the understanding and the
grace that was shown to me, by,you know, women who I reported
to, and I'm going to show thatsame understanding and grace to
(19:15):
you. And if you need to takeyour kid to the doctor, don't
think twice about it and justbeing really upfront about
saying these things so thatsomeone who might report to me
doesn't feel awkward oruncomfortable, asking for time
(19:36):
off for something that's, that'sfamily related. And then also,
I've also when I've managedwomen in the past and men for
that matter to kind of going tomeetings with them and kind of
(19:57):
sticking up for them andencouraging Showing them the way
to say, you know, that's reallynot in her scope of work for
this project, and kind of usingmy authority to kind of give
them an out or to explainsomething that they might not
feel comfortable doingthemselves. And then, also, you
(20:22):
and I have this in common foryounger girls, we both coach
Science Olympiad. And so that'ssomething that I, that I love
doing for my kids, showing themthat women love science and
women can be good at science.
And that's been a reallyrewarding experience.
Dr. Leah OH (20:42):
Yeah, thank you.
I'm just laughing at my ScienceOlympiad. My knowledge is
growing at the same pace as mymy daughter's and her friends.
But you're right, just justshowing up and being there, I
think is a powerful lesson. Andone thing you were mentioning in
your response that I reallyliked was when we think about
(21:03):
formal leadership, a lot ofpeople again, either or they
tend to really lean into thatauthority. So as your manager,
nope, that's outside of thescope of the work, but you're
also bringing in the influence.
So some will, will try justthrough relationships and hoping
(21:24):
that modeling is helpful. Andand that certainly can, but the
strongest titled leaders are theones that blend that authority
with their influence. And that'ssuch a powerful thing for you to
be modeling for others andhelping them then, you know,
it's one thing to watch you doit and then no, okay, she's
(21:44):
helping me to figure out how tostand up for myself, or how to
say no, in a polite way, whichis a lot easier way for me
personally, to learn it thanbeing like, Hey, Leah, listen,
this is what I'd like to see youdo? Or you've been struggling
with this? Can you do that? So Ithink we're also really mindful
of people's learning styles, andtheir ability to say face in
(22:07):
professional settings when youdo it that way. So really neat,
really neat to be hearing now.
So with this next one, I'mthinking about, you know, this
is a opinion based question. AndI'm just wondering what you have
seen, or what you wouldrecommend in terms of attracting
and retaining more women in inSTEM fields?
Julie Sturza (22:33):
I think it's kind of would be the same answer for
for both men and women, which isjust creating more family
friendly policies, greater worklife balance, just trusting and
empowering people to work in away that allows them to get
(22:54):
their work done, but also fitsinto their life and their
lifestyle and their familydemands. Whether that's working
from home or working nontraditional hours. And like I
said, I think that's, I think,like I mentioned earlier, with
expanded parental leave andstuff like that, I feel like
(23:15):
it's, it's good in a way thatsome of the cultural work,
cultural shifts are supportiveof both men and women in this in
the same way. But I think womenespecially can benefit from,
from greater work life balanceand flexible hours and things
like that.
Dr. Leah OH (23:34):
Yeah, and that's one thing. You know, one of the
benefits that came out of thepandemic, that we still see many
organizations, I know that someof them fortunately, are leaning
back into that antiquated, youneed to be here. And these
hours, you need to have yourbutt in the seat here where we
can see you. But I still thinkoverall, what I'm seeing as the
(23:57):
trend is at least two hybridapproaches, and things like that
can really make a bigdifference. And being able to
show up to do my work to do it.
Well, to also feel like I'mshowing up at home is these
responsibilities, you know, theyjust shift for us, depending on
where we are and what time itis. They don't, you know, never
we alleviated of, of these needsand requests of our time.
Julie Sturza (24:25):
Right. And I think a lot of that, too, is just
understanding people's differentpersonalities. And, for example,
there's someone I work with, whoreports to me who's pretty
introverted, and also has apretty long commute. And so for
that person, it makes totalsense to mostly work from home
(24:50):
big because for you know, avery, and I'm not saying this
person is specifically but forvery introverted people being in
an office setting can be reallyexhausting. and draining, and
just kind of understanding evenif that's not, I'm a very
personally I'm a veryextroverted person. So being in
the office works well for me,but understanding that not
(25:11):
everybody feels the same way.
Dr. Leah OH (25:13):
And that that's a gift too, because I think so
often, we assume others aresimilar. If you remember some of
my best advice, when I firstbecame a brand new assistant
professor, my chair reminded meyou're not teaching, you know,
30, Leah's, you're, these areall different students, and they
have all different motives andapproaches. And, and that was
(25:37):
really helpful. And recognizingthat, okay, I can't hold those
expectations for all of themthat I would for myself. So
right, and
Julie Sturza (25:46):
not to feel offended when someone's response
is, is not what your responsewould be, because they're just a
different person with adifferent Yeah,
Dr. Leah OH (25:54):
right, because I have some more so happy with the
D. And I just like, I wouldstill be fretting about A D,
even at this point. So, youknow, like you said, all
different expectations. Soanother question in this is,
when you are experienced, you'rein a leadership role. So with
(26:16):
this in mind, how have you seenthe landscape for women in stem
change over the course of yourcareer?
Julie Sturza (26:25):
What I've seen is that, you know, when I was
younger, there was a real pushto get elementary school girls
interested in STEM topics. Andmaybe the assumption was, that
was enough. And I think thatthere's been maybe a greater
push to support those younggirls that we get into STEM
(26:45):
fields throughout middle school,high school, college and beyond.
And just the importance ofcreating women only spaces where
there can be discussions abouttheir field or, or the work life
balance, etc. But yeah, so Ithink I think that it's become
(27:07):
more holistic in terms ofsupporting women throughout the
the career life lifecycle, notjust when they're cute. Yeah.
Dr. Leah OH (27:19):
And yes, yes, yeah, I even had some colleagues in
communication, who would look atmedia, children's media, and for
a long time, there were nofemale characters associated
with anything really related tostem. So they're saying, because
they had a colleague who had ababy girl, that was her first.
(27:42):
And she's like, we're showingher the shows, and there's no
one that looks like her that cando math, or that is an engineer
or doing anything in technology.
So I think we've started to lookat it, as you said, and there
was a big focus set by fifthgrade, if you're not in this,
then you're done. Right? It wasjust kind of this. I kind of
felt like a, this insurmountablething, obstacle that if you
(28:09):
weren't engaged in STEM by then,as a young girl, it was never
going to happen for you. And asyou're pointing out, I think
you're right, there are moreopportunities and conversations
now. And I know a lot ofresearch that's being done to
figure out how do we keep? Howdo we keep this momentum going?
(28:29):
Right. So my next question,Julie, and this is one you've,
you've already hit on quite abit. But I'm wondering if we
have maybe someone who is justgraduating or someone who's just
switched over into a STEM basedfield? Can you kind of speak to
either finding a mentor orthinking about how to build a
(28:50):
supportive network?
Julie Sturza (28:55):
So mentorships been really important for me,
and I have kind of differenttypes of mentors. So I have
thinking of two specific mentorswho I consider technical mentors
who are people that I can askvery specific statistics
questions, too, I can send themcode that I've written and ask
(29:17):
them to, to read it and see ifit is doing what I think it's
doing or if I need to make anytweaks to it. And those mentors
are really important in terms ofhaving confidence in my
technical skills in thosesituations where I'm kind of
stretching to something that Ihaven't done before or is new to
(29:37):
me. And then I kind of have Idon't know what I would call
them. Maybe like lifestyle typementors who are maybe people who
are doing the exact same job asme but people who I look to
emulate their work life balanceor their leadership skills or
(30:01):
how they, how they act inmeetings, how they come across
in emails, those types ofthings. And I think it's been
good for me to have have bothtypes of mentors and understand
that different people can serveas a mentor to you in different
ways. And no one person, no onementor is going to have
(30:22):
everything. So it's in your bestinterest to kind of try to find
a combination of mentors. Go.
Dr. Leah OH (30:31):
And it's funny, I don't know if you know this
literature, but that's exactlyhow we think about mentoring is
the career focused, like thattechnical side, and then the
social emotional side? Becausesometimes if careers going
really well, there might bethings at home that it's like,
gosh, we've got a new scheduleat school, and I'm really having
(30:51):
a challenge, I'm not able to getin my cadence. And like you said
there other times, it's like,this is a new project, am I?
Huh? Okay, I need I need a quickcheck in. And so, you know, so I
think that's really, reallyimportant that you're thinking
about that, from all of thesedifferent vantage points, where
(31:12):
we might need someone to come inand kind of shore up our
confidence or shore up ourtechnical ability to say like,
Yep, you're on the right track.
Yeah,
Julie Sturza (31:21):
and just what you were saying, Now reminding me to
have I guess, I would call likeanother class of mentors, maybe
a peer mentor, who is someonethat you can sit down and talk
to for 10 minutes and say, I'min this situation, where
someone's asking this of me, andI know you do similar things in
similar type of situations, howdo you handle it when X, Y, and
(31:44):
Z happens? And you're not surehow to respond? And those? I
don't even know. I mean, itfeels weird to call it a peer
mentor. I don't know what youwould what you would call it,
but just someone who, who doeshave a really similar position
as you and who can relate to youon specific things related to
(32:04):
your job?
Dr. Leah OH (32:05):
Yeah, I think like that social support, right? And
I think you're right, you canask them, What would you do
here? Or can I pick your brain?
And they're really good. Also,for just a quick rant today,
like, yeah, I love the fiveminutes to complain about this.
And you don't need to give thema backstory because they know
they understand it. And a lot oftimes, that's all you need to
(32:26):
then to be able to go forward ina productive way.
Julie Sturza (32:31):
Yes, totally. I had a recent example where
someone that I was collaboratingwith on a project said something
that as a, you know, statisticalcollaborator, I found very
offensive, but I was findingmyself explaining it to my
husband or to a friend, and theywere like, I don't get why that
(32:53):
was so upsetting to you. Andthen finally, like a co worker,
and I caught up last week, and Isaid it and he was like, I can't
believe that.
Dr. Leah OH (33:02):
Yeah. Oh, wait, surely Thank you.
Julie Sturza (33:06):
Found out the outrage that I needed.
Dr. Leah OH (33:08):
Yeah, exactly. So Julie, I have two final
questions for you. And these gohand in hand. So I end every
episode of the communicativeleader. With these pragmatic
leadership or communication, itcan be a tip, it can be advice,
it can be a challenge. So thefirst part of the question, you
(33:28):
know, what advice do you want toleave our titled leaders with?
Julie Sturza (33:35):
would say connections are so important, I
think we touched on thisalready, but showing the people
that you work with that you careabout them more, or you view
them as more than just a personwho can give you the thing that
you're asking for you view themas a whole person who has a
personality and who has a lifeoutside of work. And I know
(33:59):
personally, that the people thathave shown me those type of
connections that were leadersabove me, I find myself just
naturally wanting to go aboveand beyond for those people,
because I so appreciate thatthey took the time to ask me
questions about my family or mylife or vacations that I went on
(34:20):
and just show me that I wasn'tjust a person who was there to
do statistics and hand them overto them. So that would that
would be something that that Ithink is really important is
just building connections.
Dr. Leah OH (34:34):
Yeah. And I think too, if we, you know, we spend
so much time at work, whether itis hybrid or virtual or in the
office and taking the time tomodel that especially our titled
leaders, like you're saying,then that becomes more of a norm
and an expectation for others,rather than just one kind person
who is thoughtful and they thinktoo, you know, considering the
(34:59):
amount of time I'm an energy wegive to our organizations, to
our peers, to our stakeholdersthan you know, that's an
organization I want to be a partof. That's an organization that
feels better for me. And Iimagine a lot of others feel
like yep. Yeah, and so lastquestion. So we've just thought
(35:19):
about advice for titled leaders.
Now, what do you want to leave?
Or employees all ranks acrossall industries? What advice do
you have for them?
Julie Sturza (35:30):
Yeah, so this, this is something that's like
very practical, practical andspecific, which is to always ask
for deadlines, and then clarifythe nature of the deadline. By
that, I mean, is it like a dropdead must be done at this time?
Is there some flexibility?
Because so often, and I'm guiltyof it, too, you shoot someone an
(35:50):
email and say, Hey, can you dothis for me? And there's this
big unknown of, can you do thisfor me write the second write
this week, in six months. And soI think, before sending an
email, where you're askingsomeone to do something, just
put a timeline in and then say,this can be flexible, you know,
(36:15):
as long as it's anytime withintwo weeks of this deadline, or
say, I really need this. Andthis, you know, because there's
a deadline I'm then trying tomeet. And then if you're on the
receiving end of a request, Ialways push, like, immediately
respond and say, Sure, I can dothis for you. What is your
(36:37):
timeline, because I've foundthat sometimes you're really
like busting your butt trying tomeet some deadline that is not
actually really that important.
And it just makes everythingmore stressful than it than it
really needs to be. Yeah,
Dr. Leah OH (36:54):
that is such a helpful piece of advice. And
it's the first time I've heardthat, right, which I really
love. And it's so important. Andthat doesn't matter if you're in
a project based role, a customerservice, you know, whatever it
is the you know, the knowledgeor product that you're bringing
to the table, someone is goingto be asking you for information
(37:16):
or some type of output. Sothinking ahead of time, sure. I
was smiling when you're sayingthat like, yeah, there
definitely been times thateither Yeah, I have like, acted
like a maniac trying to getsomething done and realizing
like, oh, this deadline, sixweeks out, why am I why am I
doing this? Like why have I readthis? Because I didn't stop to
(37:39):
ask for clarification. And Iknow, especially on the
receiving end, I'm sure therehave been students who've been
like, Dr. Rowe, you've just gaveme, you know, a mild heart
attack. You didn't need thisuntil then. And so thinking
about that both as sending andreceiving, so that's really a
thoughtful, thoughtful point toleave us with.
Julie Sturza (38:01):
No, because even when you know, when you're
sending a request to someone,whether or not you are fully
conscious of it, you have anexpectation of when you want it
done. And so you'll sit therestressing over the fact that
this person hasn't returned youremail or hasn't given you what
you need, and then you realize,well, that's because they have
no idea that I needed it when Ineed it.
Dr. Leah OH (38:24):
Yep. And I love that. And I think it's those
those specific actions thatreally add up to make work life
so much more manageable, right.
And that's what we're alllooking for just just a little
bit of cushion, just a littlebit of padding. So, Juliette,
thank you for joining us today.
I have truly enjoyed ourconversation. I've learned a lot
(38:45):
from you. And I know ourlisteners well as well.
Julie Sturza (38:49):
Thank you so much for having me. This was really
fun.
Dr. Leah OH (38:53):
All right, my friends. That wraps up our
conversation today. Until nexttime, you indicate with
intention and lead with purpose.
I'm looking forward to chattingwith you again. Soon. I'm the
communicative leader.
Julie Sturza joins us today on the communicative
(00:03):
leader. Julie is the leadstatistician at a large
nationally renowned medicalcenter. As a woman in the STEM
field, Julie discusses herexperiences and shares her
insights with us. We discussunique challenges women may face
in a male dominated field inJulie leaves us with thoughtful
advice related to mentorssupportive networks and work
(00:26):
life integration. Hello, andwelcome to the communicative
leader hosted by me Dr. LeahOmilion-Hodges. My friends call
me Dr. OH. I'm a Professor ofCommunication and a leadership
communication expert, and thecommunicative leader. We're
working to make your work lifewhat you want it to be. Oh,
(00:46):
Julie, thank you for joining ustoday on the communicative
leader. I'm so excited to haveyou, as a woman in the STEM
field. And as a friend, I'mreally excited to have this
conversation. So before we diveinto your experiences, can you
give us a little bit of yourbackground, and then help us to
(01:06):
understand kind of what inspiredyou to pursue that career in the
STEM field.
Julie Sturza (01:12):
Actually, I for having me, I'm really excited to
talk to you today. In terms ofwhat drew me into my career, I
think I knew I always wanted todo something in the field of
medicine or health. Probably alot of that had to do with my
mom who was a microbiologist,and then a physician's
(01:32):
assistant. Later in life, Ialways looked up to her and
loved hearing what she broughthome from work in terms of the
the cool topics that she wasworking on. So an undergrad I
was pre med and English major.
And then I went to grad schooland got a master's in public
health and specifically inenvironmental epidemiology,
(01:55):
which is the study of how humansare impacted on a population
level and on an individual levelby things that are in the water
or the air or the food that weeat. And so after grad school, I
did a fellowship at theEnvironmental Protection Agency
in Washington, DC. And I did alot of work on children's
(02:19):
environmental health care. But Ialso ended up working with a lot
of environmental economists whoreally use a lot of statistics
in the work that they did, andreminded me how much I loved
math and was missing the mathpart. And kind of showed me
this, the way that biostatisticscan combine math and science to
(02:44):
really make an impact in thefield of health and medicine.
Dr. Leah OH (02:50):
Yeah, that is so neat. I love so much of what you
said, Julie, and I think that,you know, recognizing you've
always had this passion and thisinterest in medicine and
biology. And you explored that.
And then also recognizing thatin conversations, you're really
drawn to the statistics of that.
And I love you know, I alwaysfeel like people find their
(03:13):
careers by leaning into whatfits them best. And, and so
that's really neat. And I lovethat, especially as a
communication professor, I haveso many students who are like, I
became a Comm major, because Idon't have to do math. And I'm
like, I'm so sorry to disappointyou, we're still going to do
math, right? Like, it's notgoing to be the same as other
(03:33):
majors. But when you do have agood grasp on statistics, I
mean, you know, the, your datafluency, and your ability to
understand your world and tonavigate it increase so much.
Julie Sturza (03:50):
Right. And looking back at that point, during my
fellowship, I kind of lookedback at my public health grad
school experience and realized,oh, yeah, the classes that I
really excelled at werebiostatistics classes. And I
just never really thought Iguess I didn't really see what
(04:11):
the career options were for thatother than getting a PhD and
teaching at a university orsomething like that. And so I
feel like it was reallyfortuitous that I got to work
with these awesome environmentaleconomists who showed me a
different way to use data in adifferent field.
Dr. Leah OH (04:32):
Yeah, yeah. That is really exciting. So then
pursuing, you know, it's justthe statistical field. What are
some of the unique challengesyou think that you've
encountered that may be those Ithink in the majority men, maybe
that they haven't experienced?
Julie Sturza (04:52):
Right? I think a lot of women relate to feeling
impostor syndrome. And that wasdefinitely something that I do I
struggled with and stillstruggle with today at times, I
also, I have kind of a naturallychatty smiley personality. And I
felt at times that I had kind ofhad to tone down who I was and
(05:15):
what my personality was in orderfor people to take me seriously.
And luckily, I think I've mostlygrown out of that as I've gotten
older, because I know that thisis just my personality. And it
doesn't mean that I'm not goodat statistics. And then the
other thing that I think is achallenge. So I have three kids
(05:38):
that are 10, eight, and five.
And so there was a lot ofmaternity leaves in a short
period of time. And I think nowmy kids are, like I said,
they're a little bit older. Andso policies have really
improved, I think in terms ofmaternity leaves, but at the
time that I was taking time offto have my babies I, I just felt
like an inconvenience sometimesand whether or not people were
(06:02):
trying to make you feel thatway, there was a sense that you
being awful, was inconveniencingpeople.
Dr. Leah OH (06:12):
No, I hear ya, Mama. It's so tough. I was I was
just having a conversation withyou know, in academia. As
forward thinking as we are,there's still so many
challenges. Because if you havea baby in a semester, when
you're teaching, what do you doabout afterwards or in the
(06:34):
continuity of delivery? Soactually, that's why I have to
make babies because I was ableto help them, luckily, after the
traditional semester, and so Ijust remembering people being
like, Have you been thinkingabout this? What is this going
to look like? Like, have youlike you can't put in an order?
Like, are we all familiar withhow this process works? So I
(06:58):
fully fully understand that.
And, you know, back to yourpoint about imposter syndrome,
that is my number one downloadedepisode, over the past four
seasons, anything because it'ssomething that even once we're
in sometimes it still flares up,be like, Hey, I've been doing
this for a while, but once oiljust comes knocking on your
(07:19):
door, and I think, particularlywhen we look a little different
than everyone around us, aremost of us most of those around
us at the peer level or aboveus, it can be especially
frequent and you know, saying,Are you sure? Does this make
sense? Like I'm doing? So okay.
(07:41):
But I hear you,
Julie Sturza (07:43):
I think helps to with impostor syndrome is just
having the maturity and theexperience to know that it's
okay to say, I don't really knowthe answer to that right now, or
that's such a great questionthat you asked me. And I want to
take a little bit of time, andresearch that before I give you
an answer. And I think that'sokay to do so. And I think
(08:04):
people respect that, as opposedto you just trying to make
something up on the fly, or, youknow, just kind of white knuckle
your way through an explanationthat you don't feel confident.
Yeah,
Dr. Leah OH (08:17):
exactly. That was one of my, it's one of those
moments that you're always goingto remember, I had a professor,
my PhD. And we were just beingpains, like looking back and
like I would not have wanted toleave that class. But we were
just peppering him withquestions. And then what somehow
someone directly said, what ifyou don't know? And he's like,
(08:41):
I'll get back to you. And thatjust like, this is an expert.
And this person isinternationally renowned for
what he does. And that was like,wow, I never thought of that as
an actual response, a validresponse. And now I defer to
that. It's your right, what arewe going to do in in lieu of
(09:01):
that option?
Julie Sturza (09:03):
Right. Right. It's powerful to to feel confident in
saying, I can get back to you.
Dr. Leah OH (09:10):
Yeah. And this is a nice segue, because I think that
when we are leaning into ourexpertise and saying Great
question, I'm going to circleback. You're definitely
demonstrating leadership. And sowith that in mind, you've
already touched on some of thesethings. But Julie, what are some
ways that you've used yourleadership skills to kind of
(09:32):
navigate and be successful inyour in your career? Yeah,
Julie Sturza (09:36):
I think time management and energy management
are really crucial to my fieldof work and probably to a lot of
others. And what I mean byenergy management is if I am,
you know, banging my head on thewall trying to push through
something and I am frustrated,and it's taken me way too long.
(09:58):
Way too much. Way. Oh, a lotlonger than I thought it should
take to, to understand thatthere's value in stopping and
taking a step back and realizingthat you can come back to it
later, once you've gotten yourenergy back up by doing
something that allows you tofeel more productive. And then I
(10:20):
think communication, obviously,is is a huge leadership skill
that I think has helped me alot, I think in, in the field of
statistics. There's a lot ofpeople who can do statistics,
and who can code and who canhave the knowledge base to do
statistics and biostatistics forpeople. But I think being able
(10:43):
to communicate those results, isa really crucial skill that I
think has allowed me to, to dowell in my job, and also
understanding. So I work a lotwith primarily visit MD and PhD,
(11:03):
physicians and people in themedical field. And I think that
they're used to being expertsand having all the answers. And
a lot of them feel a lot. Butsome of them feel a little
sheepish about the fact thatthey don't remember the stats,
the one stats class that theyhad in medical school. And so
(11:25):
understanding that not only doyou need to communicate things
in a way, that's understandable,but it's also sensitive to the
fact that these this is a groupof people who is not used to
feeling like they don't have theanswers.
Dr. Leah OH (11:39):
Yeah, Gosh, what a thoughtful answer, Julie, thank
you, I love they want to, he'shelped that idea, the value in
stopping, because you're right,there's so many times like, you
did not need to go down thatrabbit hole would have been way
better for like time managementand you know, mental health, if
I had just said, No, we can movethis to tomorrow, or, you know,
(12:03):
shuffling things even a little.
So thank you for bringing thatup. And I want to point out the
strength in your communication,because you're talking about
what I'm hearing iscommunication with
relationships. And certainly,working with experts can be
really tricky. It can be a hugeblessing, because you're
learning from people who areinnovators in their field. But
(12:23):
then you're right, and trying tosay is, you know, let's rethink
this, or have you consideredthis, take some tact. So you're
you know, you're reallyexcelling in your communication,
with relationships. And thenalso with that content, that
translational, right, andfiguring out, yes, this is what
this statistic says. But thenlet's explain why that's
(12:46):
important. And what that means.
And, in oftentimes, people tendto excel in one of these areas,
they tend to be really good withrelationships with them, their
content or translational, itgets a little bit harder, or
vice versa. And so I candefinitely see your leadership,
(13:07):
you know, part of why you haveso much success that you've
earned this because of yourability to communicate well
across all of these boundaries.
Julie Sturza (13:17):
Right. And I think too, like I was saying, with
working with these physicianswho are experts in their field,
I think, part of another thingthat I found has been really
successful for me is humblingmyself, in terms of my lack of
medical knowledge. So whenthey're initially meeting with
me and explaining the projectthat they want me to collaborate
(13:38):
on, just being open and humbleand saying, I don't understand
what you're talking about, orcan you step back? Why are these
kids having this surgery? Or whywould you think that this would
improve patient outcomes? Orwhat is it like for a patient in
your clinic whose experiencesexperiencing this with you? And
(13:59):
just, I think that kind of kindof allows them to really shine
and to show their expertise? Andthen it's it's relationship
building and in that way? Yeah.
Dr. Leah OH (14:15):
So you have disclosure, you're demonstrating
that you care about them andwhat's important to them and it
just I really applaud you I, Iam biased toward communication,
but I really, if people spentmore time thinking about their
communication and the impact ofeverything work gets easier,
your romantic relationships,your relationships with your
(14:37):
kids, your neighbors, so thankyou for what you're doing and
modeling. So Julie, this nextone this can be a tricky as you
know, it's a buzzword andthinking about work life
balance. And so I am wonderingif you know, kind of if you
could talk to us a little bitabout that work life balance As
(15:00):
a woman in a male dominatedfield and also as a mother,
Julie Sturza (15:04):
right, so I think I actually have not found it to
be as challenging as it could bein other fields, because I do
statistics primarily forpediatricians, who, like kids
and understand kids and frontalrelationships. And also there
just tends to be a lot of womenin the field of Pediatrics. And
(15:24):
so in that way, I feelunderstood. And just like people
share my expectations aboutwhat's important. And then I'll
also I also early on in mycareer, just found mentors or
more senior people who hadhabits or work life balance
(15:47):
skills that I kind of copied.
One of my bosses early on, Inoticed that she left every day
at three o'clock, and I askedher about and she said, Well,
yeah, my kids need to get pickedup from school. And so I leave
at three o'clock. And that meansthat I start work at seven
o'clock. And that's what worksfor me and my family. And it was
(16:09):
such a light bulb moment for me,because I was like, Oh, you
don't have to work nine to five.
And this is a very respectedsenior person. And she leaves
work at three o'clock, andeverybody just accepts that.
That's what's important to her.
And so that's something that Ihave, have tried to emulate and
(16:32):
it's really worked well for ourfamily is having flexible hours.
And if there's a thing that Ineed to leave for, then I leave
for it. And it's in. She alsoencouraged me to, don't just
say, just say, I need to pick upmy kids, I need to leave this
meeting right at three o'clock.
Don't try to hide what you'redoing or say it's for an
(16:56):
appointment or something. Justbe honest, because that's the
only way that things are goingto prove for everybody is if
we're just honest that kids needus families need us sometimes
outside traditional or duringtraditional working hours. Yeah,
Dr. Leah OH (17:13):
yeah, exactly. And I love that, you know, the
strength of the modeling, inrecognizing that. This isn't
something that necessarily welearn overnight. You know, we
can go to different resources,we can have conversations, we
can find books, but we can alsolook around us, like you said,
(17:35):
and looking at people who werespect, who we admire who, you
know, have earned a level ofdesignation in the organization.
Like, wow, okay, she's doingthis. And I love that you asked
about that, too, like, hey, whatgoes on at three o'clock? And I
know before I had kids, I wouldnever have thought of leaving at
(17:55):
three. But yeah, I like you ahard stop at three. And we'll be
sad little people waiting. Butyeah, so thank you for bringing
it up. And thank you, again formodeling that as well for for
others. And I think as you said,the more that we can have
(18:17):
conversations about it andnormalize it, the easier it is
for organizations, for theirleaders to also make that more
normative and make that part ofthe culture rather than an
exception or a one off. Right.
And so my next question in thisas kind of a follow up, you've
kind of addressed this andthinking about the previous
(18:39):
question, but how do youapproach abdicating either for
yourself? Or if you've hadothers, other women in your
organization or the field thatyou have advocated for? What
does that look like?
Julie Sturza (18:54):
Yeah, so I think a lot of it is kind of paying it
forward and explaining to themwhen I started this job, and
when I started having kids, thiswas the understanding and the
grace that was shown to me, by,you know, women who I reported
to, and I'm going to show thatsame understanding and grace to
(19:15):
you. And if you need to takeyour kid to the doctor, don't
think twice about it and justbeing really upfront about
saying these things so thatsomeone who might report to me
doesn't feel awkward oruncomfortable, asking for time
(19:36):
off for something that's, that'sfamily related. And then also,
I've also when I've managedwomen in the past and men for
that matter to kind of going tomeetings with them and kind of
(19:57):
sticking up for them andencouraging Showing them the way
to say, you know, that's reallynot in her scope of work for
this project, and kind of usingmy authority to kind of give
them an out or to explainsomething that they might not
feel comfortable doingthemselves. And then, also, you
(20:22):
and I have this in common foryounger girls, we both coach
Science Olympiad. And so that'ssomething that I, that I love
doing for my kids, showing themthat women love science and
women can be good at science.
And that's been a reallyrewarding experience.
Dr. Leah OH (20:42):
Yeah, thank you.
I'm just laughing at my ScienceOlympiad. My knowledge is
growing at the same pace as mymy daughter's and her friends.
But you're right, just justshowing up and being there, I
think is a powerful lesson. Andone thing you were mentioning in
your response that I reallyliked was when we think about
(21:03):
formal leadership, a lot ofpeople again, either or they
tend to really lean into thatauthority. So as your manager,
nope, that's outside of thescope of the work, but you're
also bringing in the influence.
So some will, will try justthrough relationships and hoping
(21:24):
that modeling is helpful. Andand that certainly can, but the
strongest titled leaders are theones that blend that authority
with their influence. And that'ssuch a powerful thing for you to
be modeling for others andhelping them then, you know,
it's one thing to watch you doit and then no, okay, she's
(21:44):
helping me to figure out how tostand up for myself, or how to
say no, in a polite way, whichis a lot easier way for me
personally, to learn it thanbeing like, Hey, Leah, listen,
this is what I'd like to see youdo? Or you've been struggling
with this? Can you do that? So Ithink we're also really mindful
of people's learning styles, andtheir ability to say face in
(22:07):
professional settings when youdo it that way. So really neat,
really neat to be hearing now.
So with this next one, I'mthinking about, you know, this
is a opinion based question. AndI'm just wondering what you have
seen, or what you wouldrecommend in terms of attracting
and retaining more women in inSTEM fields?
Julie Sturza (22:33):
I think it's kind of would be the same answer for
for both men and women, which isjust creating more family
friendly policies, greater worklife balance, just trusting and
empowering people to work in away that allows them to get
(22:54):
their work done, but also fitsinto their life and their
lifestyle and their familydemands. Whether that's working
from home or working nontraditional hours. And like I
said, I think that's, I think,like I mentioned earlier, with
expanded parental leave andstuff like that, I feel like
(23:15):
it's, it's good in a way thatsome of the cultural work,
cultural shifts are supportiveof both men and women in this in
the same way. But I think womenespecially can benefit from,
from greater work life balanceand flexible hours and things
like that.
Dr. Leah OH (23:34):
Yeah, and that's one thing. You know, one of the
benefits that came out of thepandemic, that we still see many
organizations, I know that someof them fortunately, are leaning
back into that antiquated, youneed to be here. And these
hours, you need to have yourbutt in the seat here where we
can see you. But I still thinkoverall, what I'm seeing as the
(23:57):
trend is at least two hybridapproaches, and things like that
can really make a bigdifference. And being able to
show up to do my work to do it.
Well, to also feel like I'mshowing up at home is these
responsibilities, you know, theyjust shift for us, depending on
where we are and what time itis. They don't, you know, never
we alleviated of, of these needsand requests of our time.
Julie Sturza (24:25):
Right. And I think a lot of that, too, is just
understanding people's differentpersonalities. And, for example,
there's someone I work with, whoreports to me who's pretty
introverted, and also has apretty long commute. And so for
that person, it makes totalsense to mostly work from home
(24:50):
big because for you know, avery, and I'm not saying this
person is specifically but forvery introverted people being in
an office setting can be reallyexhausting. and draining, and
just kind of understanding evenif that's not, I'm a very
personally I'm a veryextroverted person. So being in
the office works well for me,but understanding that not
(25:11):
everybody feels the same way.
Dr. Leah OH (25:13):
And that that's a gift too, because I think so
often, we assume others aresimilar. If you remember some of
my best advice, when I firstbecame a brand new assistant
professor, my chair reminded meyou're not teaching, you know,
30, Leah's, you're, these areall different students, and they
have all different motives andapproaches. And, and that was
(25:37):
really helpful. And recognizingthat, okay, I can't hold those
expectations for all of themthat I would for myself. So
right, and
Julie Sturza (25:46):
not to feel offended when someone's response
is, is not what your responsewould be, because they're just a
different person with adifferent Yeah,
Dr. Leah OH (25:54):
right, because I have some more so happy with the
D. And I just like, I wouldstill be fretting about A D,
even at this point. So, youknow, like you said, all
different expectations. Soanother question in this is,
when you are experienced, you'rein a leadership role. So with
(26:16):
this in mind, how have you seenthe landscape for women in stem
change over the course of yourcareer?
Julie Sturza (26:25):
What I've seen is that, you know, when I was
younger, there was a real pushto get elementary school girls
interested in STEM topics. Andmaybe the assumption was, that
was enough. And I think thatthere's been maybe a greater
push to support those younggirls that we get into STEM
(26:45):
fields throughout middle school,high school, college and beyond.
And just the importance ofcreating women only spaces where
there can be discussions abouttheir field or, or the work life
balance, etc. But yeah, so Ithink I think that it's become
(27:07):
more holistic in terms ofsupporting women throughout the
the career life lifecycle, notjust when they're cute. Yeah.
Dr. Leah OH (27:19):
And yes, yes, yeah, I even had some colleagues in
communication, who would look atmedia, children's media, and for
a long time, there were nofemale characters associated
with anything really related tostem. So they're saying, because
they had a colleague who had ababy girl, that was her first.
(27:42):
And she's like, we're showingher the shows, and there's no
one that looks like her that cando math, or that is an engineer
or doing anything in technology.
So I think we've started to lookat it, as you said, and there
was a big focus set by fifthgrade, if you're not in this,
then you're done. Right? It wasjust kind of this. I kind of
felt like a, this insurmountablething, obstacle that if you
(28:09):
weren't engaged in STEM by then,as a young girl, it was never
going to happen for you. And asyou're pointing out, I think
you're right, there are moreopportunities and conversations
now. And I know a lot ofresearch that's being done to
figure out how do we keep? Howdo we keep this momentum going?
(28:29):
Right. So my next question,Julie, and this is one you've,
you've already hit on quite abit. But I'm wondering if we
have maybe someone who is justgraduating or someone who's just
switched over into a STEM basedfield? Can you kind of speak to
either finding a mentor orthinking about how to build a
(28:50):
supportive network?
Julie Sturza (28:55):
So mentorships been really important for me,
and I have kind of differenttypes of mentors. So I have
thinking of two specific mentorswho I consider technical mentors
who are people that I can askvery specific statistics
questions, too, I can send themcode that I've written and ask
(29:17):
them to, to read it and see ifit is doing what I think it's
doing or if I need to make anytweaks to it. And those mentors
are really important in terms ofhaving confidence in my
technical skills in thosesituations where I'm kind of
stretching to something that Ihaven't done before or is new to
(29:37):
me. And then I kind of have Idon't know what I would call
them. Maybe like lifestyle typementors who are maybe people who
are doing the exact same job asme but people who I look to
emulate their work life balanceor their leadership skills or
(30:01):
how they, how they act inmeetings, how they come across
in emails, those types ofthings. And I think it's been
good for me to have have bothtypes of mentors and understand
that different people can serveas a mentor to you in different
ways. And no one person, no onementor is going to have
(30:22):
everything. So it's in your bestinterest to kind of try to find
a combination of mentors. Go.
Dr. Leah OH (30:31):
And it's funny, I don't know if you know this
literature, but that's exactlyhow we think about mentoring is
the career focused, like thattechnical side, and then the
social emotional side? Becausesometimes if careers going
really well, there might bethings at home that it's like,
gosh, we've got a new scheduleat school, and I'm really having
(30:51):
a challenge, I'm not able to getin my cadence. And like you said
there other times, it's like,this is a new project, am I?
Huh? Okay, I need I need a quickcheck in. And so, you know, so I
think that's really, reallyimportant that you're thinking
about that, from all of thesedifferent vantage points, where
(31:12):
we might need someone to come inand kind of shore up our
confidence or shore up ourtechnical ability to say like,
Yep, you're on the right track.
Yeah,
Julie Sturza (31:21):
and just what you were saying, Now reminding me to
have I guess, I would call likeanother class of mentors, maybe
a peer mentor, who is someonethat you can sit down and talk
to for 10 minutes and say, I'min this situation, where
someone's asking this of me, andI know you do similar things in
similar type of situations, howdo you handle it when X, Y, and
(31:44):
Z happens? And you're not surehow to respond? And those? I
don't even know. I mean, itfeels weird to call it a peer
mentor. I don't know what youwould what you would call it,
but just someone who, who doeshave a really similar position
as you and who can relate to youon specific things related to
(32:04):
your job?
Dr. Leah OH (32:05):
Yeah, I think like that social support, right? And
I think you're right, you canask them, What would you do
here? Or can I pick your brain?
And they're really good. Also,for just a quick rant today,
like, yeah, I love the fiveminutes to complain about this.
And you don't need to give thema backstory because they know
they understand it. And a lot oftimes, that's all you need to
(32:26):
then to be able to go forward ina productive way.
Julie Sturza (32:31):
Yes, totally. I had a recent example where
someone that I was collaboratingwith on a project said something
that as a, you know, statisticalcollaborator, I found very
offensive, but I was findingmyself explaining it to my
husband or to a friend, and theywere like, I don't get why that
(32:53):
was so upsetting to you. Andthen finally, like a co worker,
and I caught up last week, and Isaid it and he was like, I can't
believe that.
Dr. Leah OH (33:02):
Yeah. Oh, wait, surely Thank you.
Julie Sturza (33:06):
Found out the outrage that I needed.
Dr. Leah OH (33:08):
Yeah, exactly. So Julie, I have two final
questions for you. And these gohand in hand. So I end every
episode of the communicativeleader. With these pragmatic
leadership or communication, itcan be a tip, it can be advice,
it can be a challenge. So thefirst part of the question, you
(33:28):
know, what advice do you want toleave our titled leaders with?
Julie Sturza (33:35):
would say connections are so important, I
think we touched on thisalready, but showing the people
that you work with that you careabout them more, or you view
them as more than just a personwho can give you the thing that
you're asking for you view themas a whole person who has a
personality and who has a lifeoutside of work. And I know
(33:59):
personally, that the people thathave shown me those type of
connections that were leadersabove me, I find myself just
naturally wanting to go aboveand beyond for those people,
because I so appreciate thatthey took the time to ask me
questions about my family or mylife or vacations that I went on
(34:20):
and just show me that I wasn'tjust a person who was there to
do statistics and hand them overto them. So that would that
would be something that that Ithink is really important is
just building connections.
Dr. Leah OH (34:34):
Yeah. And I think too, if we, you know, we spend
so much time at work, whether itis hybrid or virtual or in the
office and taking the time tomodel that especially our titled
leaders, like you're saying,then that becomes more of a norm
and an expectation for others,rather than just one kind person
who is thoughtful and they thinktoo, you know, considering the
(34:59):
amount of time I'm an energy wegive to our organizations, to
our peers, to our stakeholdersthan you know, that's an
organization I want to be a partof. That's an organization that
feels better for me. And Iimagine a lot of others feel
like yep. Yeah, and so lastquestion. So we've just thought
(35:19):
about advice for titled leaders.
Now, what do you want to leave?
Or employees all ranks acrossall industries? What advice do
you have for them?
Julie Sturza (35:30):
Yeah, so this, this is something that's like
very practical, practical andspecific, which is to always ask
for deadlines, and then clarifythe nature of the deadline. By
that, I mean, is it like a dropdead must be done at this time?
Is there some flexibility?
Because so often, and I'm guiltyof it, too, you shoot someone an
(35:50):
email and say, Hey, can you dothis for me? And there's this
big unknown of, can you do thisfor me write the second write
this week, in six months. And soI think, before sending an
email, where you're askingsomeone to do something, just
put a timeline in and then say,this can be flexible, you know,
(36:15):
as long as it's anytime withintwo weeks of this deadline, or
say, I really need this. Andthis, you know, because there's
a deadline I'm then trying tomeet. And then if you're on the
receiving end of a request, Ialways push, like, immediately
respond and say, Sure, I can dothis for you. What is your
(36:37):
timeline, because I've foundthat sometimes you're really
like busting your butt trying tomeet some deadline that is not
actually really that important.
And it just makes everythingmore stressful than it than it
really needs to be. Yeah,
Dr. Leah OH (36:54):
that is such a helpful piece of advice. And
it's the first time I've heardthat, right, which I really
love. And it's so important. Andthat doesn't matter if you're in
a project based role, a customerservice, you know, whatever it
is the you know, the knowledgeor product that you're bringing
to the table, someone is goingto be asking you for information
(37:16):
or some type of output. Sothinking ahead of time, sure. I
was smiling when you're sayingthat like, yeah, there
definitely been times thateither Yeah, I have like, acted
like a maniac trying to getsomething done and realizing
like, oh, this deadline, sixweeks out, why am I why am I
doing this? Like why have I readthis? Because I didn't stop to
(37:39):
ask for clarification. And Iknow, especially on the
receiving end, I'm sure therehave been students who've been
like, Dr. Rowe, you've just gaveme, you know, a mild heart
attack. You didn't need thisuntil then. And so thinking
about that both as sending andreceiving, so that's really a
thoughtful, thoughtful point toleave us with.
Julie Sturza (38:01):
No, because even when you know, when you're
sending a request to someone,whether or not you are fully
conscious of it, you have anexpectation of when you want it
done. And so you'll sit therestressing over the fact that
this person hasn't returned youremail or hasn't given you what
you need, and then you realize,well, that's because they have
no idea that I needed it when Ineed it.
Dr. Leah OH (38:24):
Yep. And I love that. And I think it's those
those specific actions thatreally add up to make work life
so much more manageable, right.
And that's what we're alllooking for just just a little
bit of cushion, just a littlebit of padding. So, Juliette,
thank you for joining us today.
I have truly enjoyed ourconversation. I've learned a lot
(38:45):
from you. And I know ourlisteners well as well.
Julie Sturza (38:49):
Thank you so much for having me. This was really
fun.
Dr. Leah OH (38:53):
All right, my friends. That wraps up our
conversation today. Until nexttime, you indicate with
intention and lead with purpose.
I'm looking forward to chattingwith you again. Soon. I'm the
communicative leader.
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