1) What is your name, title, organization and accountability?
Maisie Wong-Paredes
Program Manager
Oculex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

I have been at Oculex for 7 months. Prior to that I had taken a year off to have a child and am now working part-time. As part of my responsibilities at Oculex, I am committed to bringing our lead product, a bio degradable sustained-release drug for treating sight-threatening eye diseases, to a successful FDA submission. I am also committed to building an organizational culture that is based in teamwork, communication and generous leadership.

2) When and why did you attend WLC (Women Leading Change)?
December 1997. I attended because I had already taken some course work from Generative Leadership Group and wanted to learn more. At that time, I was part of a team that was chartered to deliver a breakthrough product. I knew that gaining more experience and knowledge around generative and contextual leadership would allow me to achieve those results.

3) What skills have you used the most since the program?
I have totally shifted the way I see people and what they have to offer. I believe that people want to come to work to make a difference. I continue to use and build my active listening skills, and find myself more open to looking for new possibilities. I also find that framing the context of a situation and consciously traversing the scales are both helpful tools.

4) What results are you most proud of having produced?
When I took the WLC program, my groundbreaking project plan was to successfully launch the Cross Action toothbrush for Oral-B, to complete my MBA, and to have a baby. I have since accomplished all those goals and have done so through putting what I learned in the course into practice in all aspects of my life. I am still in the process of fine-tuning my work/life balance that allows time with both my family and a fulfilling career.

Other areas that I'm proud of is the effort put into launching the Cross Action toothbrush. It took the organization to a higher level of producing results. All of us who were involved continue to live a different vision due to our experiences and practices of contextual leadership. We are in different organizations now, but we are all still committed to bringing contextual leadership to others in our own companies.

Additionally, my new company, Oculex, sponsored six women in the last WLC program. Including alumni, that is 10% of the employees. We did this out of a commitment to develop leaders in our organization. In partnership with other leaders, we are working to shift the culture at Oculex to achieve extraordinary results.

5) What resources do you want from or do you have to offer the rest of the IWL community as you continue your leadership journey?
I am a huge proponent of sharing experiences to help others. I think with so many of us having gone through organizational transformations, there is value in sharing what has worked and hasn't worked in our organizations. I would be willing to talk with others about my experience in this area, as well as learn from others.

I also believe that I can achieve a work/family balance that's right for us. I'm not saying it's easy. It is something that I work at every day. I think it's about choices and being happy and fulfilled with myself and what I can contribute. I would like to hear from others about how they have managed this successfully in their lives.

Maisie can be reached at maisie_wp@yahoo.com.