Beth Conley

First of all, I genuinely like what I do. When I made a career shift when I was younger and got more into the learning and development space, it was following doing something that I felt I was giving value. I was able to help support people and give back to them in a more meaningful way than what I was doing previously, and that really helps me be successful because I like what I do, and that makes me be motivated every day. But I also am fortunate. I've been in a situation where I can surround myself. I've been able to surround myself by good mentors and good leaders that have challenged me well and helped me to the next level. So, I'm fortunate to have a good support system around me.

I really think that I learned a long time ago that good leaders are good listeners. You know, it kind of goes back to what I already previously talked about, like, we don't know all the answers, you're not always right, so you have to listen to the people around you. It's always wonderful to get other people's perspectives and to just keep that curiosity going. I think that there were times in my career that I was like, you know, I know everything, or, you know, you graduate with a degree and I feel like you're on top of the world that way, and it doesn't mean that you don't know things, but you don't know everything, and you really learn a lot from your peers when it comes to, you know, everyone has walked a different path in life, and everyone can share that, so you have to be open to listening, you have to be curious about that.

I absolutely kind of still lean back on that, you know, try to always be teachable. It's a lifelong of learning. Like, we always have to be curious, we always have to be asking ourselves the why, and just building that self-awareness that we don't always know all the answers, so we have to slow down, listen with intention, and be so open to other perspectives from our own, and that's just like we're listening to learn, and that you're always growing from that.

It's an interesting challenge, and it's an exciting one. I mean, someone said this at work, it's not the doom, it's the boom, but AI is changing so much of what we do. We sometimes get nervous about technology changes, but we should be embracing that, and really looking at, like, what can we do to be more efficient in our job? What can we learn from this? It's such a powerful tool, so it's gonna change a lot of the way we learn and how things develop.

For me, I just like to make sure I give back to people. I feel fortunate in my life that I had a strong family unit. My parents encouraged me for education, to go to college and helped me, so I feel like any way I can give back to people, whether it's through charity work or just being that listening ear, giving to others is just such a fruitful way of living your life. It kind of takes you out of the equation, and it puts you in other people's shoes, and you really can make your community, your friends, your circle of your small community circle, whether that's just your friends or your family, somewhere much more enriched as you can give to them. Your time, your energy, just space to listen. I just find that all to be very important.