From Misunderstood to CEO – Breaking Bias and Building Inclusion

Close enough. >> It's fine. >> Okay, everyone. So, up next is Alexandra, who will be presenting her presentation, From Misunderstood to CEO: Breaking Bias and Building Inclusion. >> Thank you. And um sorry for being late. Okay. Uh all right. So uh first of all, thanks for being here. Um I know there's always a dozen reasons to skip a presentation like you know uh look for some coffee or whatever. So um appreciate you showing up. My name is Alexander Batuni. I work at Extendley. Um so just a little bit of what we're doing. Uh basically we are UI software specialists or UI software doctors as we call it uh so to say we are based in Cyprus and having our engineer teams in Greece and Cyprus and um among our services are UIUX design embedded UI development applications development prototype development QML trainings and whatnot. Um this is like more or less the tools we're using of course always depends on customer project needs but since we're mostly focusing on embedded cute and slint are among our uh let's say tools of preference we're also slint official service partner and uh cute partner. So that's it about extendly. This is a slide it's not broken. Um now uh today we are here basically for something different not to talk about tech or or yes but not in a technical way. Um before we start with my presentation so I would like to ask you something like forget about the abstract if you have read it or not like based on what I look maybe I can also step here. What do you think I do like raise hands designer? Yes. Okay. Marketing. Okay. I like that. Junior developer. Maybe because I don't look that junior or CEO. One, two, three, four, five. Nice. Okay. So, marketing is the winner here. Um, so we're here to talk about from misunderstood to co breaking bias and building inclusion. Again, my name is Alexander Batuni. I'm the CEO of Extani. I'm a cute champion for 2024, a cute developer and author. So, I'm authoring two cute online Udemy courses and one in cute academy as well. And uh yeah, let's start. First of all, why I wanted to to share that? Um, basically, I had a bit of an unusual path through tech, so to say. Um, I'm now I'm often introduced by my title. So, you know, SEO, which sounds very serious, by the way, but the reality is, you know, for a good portion of my career, people mostly assumed I was the designer, not the marketing, um, or marketing, which basically I listened to that recently as well. So it became a bit you know of a running theme you know well do you wrote do you wrote that it was like I thought you were just here to observe like in meetings like people was just telling me like you're surprisingly technical like you know and you know I still don't know what that one means but anyways over time then I started to notice basically that I was not the only one so friends colleague people with different backgrounds accents or styles they were all you know being underestimated in small quiet ways and you know those those small things they always add up. So I thought you know instead of quietly bending in group chats maybe it's worth sharing a bit about it more openly okay about what it feels like what helped me push through it and what we can all do to make our teams bit more inclusive even like in these little moments. So even if one person here today walks away thinking, "Oh, maybe I've seen that. Maybe I can do something differently or you know, it's not just me." Then I'll count that as a win. So um that's really what this slides basically um in a nutshell is I came into tech with a non-traditional background you know coming from Greece um in Germany being in a major automotive project so you know I was not really the profile that you know someone would um expect. So my career has been shaped more, you know, by misperceptions than by actual qualifications basically. And basically I never expected to lead. I just didn't stop showing up. So we'll talk about that a bit later. I'm still here, still binding and now leading. So um and that's why I'm here today basically. So okay, let's get into it. Uh this one basically has some animations, but anyway, I will tell everything. So when I first entered the tech world, I was just, you know, excited to build cool stuff. Like I didn't think too much about how it'd be perceived from others. Of course, I assumed if I worked hard, I it would just show. So I quickly learned that being competent doesn't always protect you from being mis being sed or misunderstood. in my first uh full-time dev role I mentioned here in Germany. I remember I was at the cube world summit here in Berlin like few years ago and this is what this comic is about. So one colleague wanted to introduce me to another colleague of his like ex-colague of his and he said like yeah she's working on the project with us and then the other guy said oh nice to meet you. Then he he like immediately said, "You work on a design team, right?" I was like, "Man, I wrote the the UI code. I mean, why?" And okay, that was a bit awkward, but you know what stunk wasn't just the assumptions basically, it was how often it happened, right? So then I quickly started to question myself like, am I dressed wrong? you know, am I not sounding technical enough? Might be. Should I try to act more like one of the guys, whatever that means, right? So then I became fluent in the art of, you know, proving myself, right? That's why maybe maybe basically I like beer now. I don't know. So I was starting you know every conversation with a mini resume like you know I studied computer science and I had my internship in big data and so on. Um I started you know dropping acronyms to establish you know technical credibility. So like talking about pointers and objects and whatnot just staying late just to make it you know harder for anyone to doubt. You know I was just pulling my weight. I was I remember I was leaving the office at 6:30 p.m. 700 p.m. And that was basically just it was not just exhausting, it was also distracting. So basically I just wanted to focus on you know writing great code, collaborating with teammates and and learning. So instead I was spending half of my time and energy you know managing other people's expectations basically. So however even though now this is still happening I just have to say that that's why the early days is actually um let's say deleted. I remember this year uh earlier this year we had a booth at a major conference here in Germany and I just decided to you know wander around a bit see what other exhibitors do and then I stopped by one and the guy started you know asking me what do you guys do and I was like we do UI software and so on and he said oh wow that's cool so I will come by to see what you guys doing you know your demos and stuff and then suddenly he he was like do you only have the marketing team here. So, of course, I said, "No, you know, I'm the CEO and you know, one of our main developers is here as well. The guy didn't never show up." So, yeah, early days, not really the case. So, um here's the thing. Basically, I know I'm not the only one, right? So many of us who come from non-default backgrounds in tech um whatever that means like your gender, your origin, your accent, your age, your education, whatever that means. We learn early on that being good is not always enough. So you also have to explain why you belong. That's the problem. And the good news basically is that those experience didn't actually break me. It just gave me material for this talk. So um now I want to talk about something that most of us in this room have probably felt at some point whether we realized it or not. Um I call it the invisible weight. So it's the stuff you carry that's not in your job description, right? like having to prove you actually know what you're doing every day and on repeat or when you say something in a meeting and no one hears it or maybe they just ignore you and then five minutes later somebody else says the same thing and you know oh that's a good idea so I see some of you are smiling so yes so I guess you know what you mean I you know what I mean so this light behind me is basically my favorite way way of explaining it. So you've got your skills, experience and maybe you know even a degree or two that stands above the surface but below the surface is where all the energy is going. So we have assumptions you know like you must be the intern or like you must be the designer whatever. We have stereotypes like you're probably better at front end right? Yeah. whatever we have emotional labor. So like decoding what someone really meant in that email and also designing deciding at the same time if it's safe to speak up you know worrying if you're too too direct or not confident enough and we have the impostor syndrome. So even when no one is doubting about you you are right. So, the tricky part is that no one sees that stuff. When you're tired or frustrated, it's easy to feel that you're just it's just you, like nobody else feels like that. And then uh that you're not resilient enough or don't have the right mindset. But the truth is like the system wasn't designed with everyone in mind. And you know, some of us are climbing with extra weights to our backs and we're still expected to reach the same milestones at the same time as others. So if you ever felt like that, like you had to work twice as hard to be taken half as seriously, you're not imagined. It's it's there. And if you haven't felt it, then maybe someone from your team has already. And that's why I think this matters. So, um, we've talked about bias in broad terms. I wanted to also share a few specific stories, some mine and some from colleagues that I've worked with. Um, and I guess you might recognize a few of these patterns. So, first of all, we have Juan. Uh, of course it's not one, it's anonymous thing, but um, the guy is a US national with Latin American roots, was working on major uh, automotive project as well. He's brilliant like writing embedded C++ and 3D stuff like for so long. And then one day we were both heading to a meeting room and someone, you know, stops him at the door and said, "Could you bring us a coffee like before the session starts?" The guy was just a junior developer, right? So it's funny but of course it sticks. And then we have a second story Priya from India. Another brilliant C++ and cute developer. She was a senior technical lead at Mercedes-Benz no less. H but long before that when she decided to actually be a programmer then she told her family and friends about it and the the answer was like but you're a woman you know. Anyways, uh fast forward a few years, she she was mentoring, you know, junior engineers, leading architecture discussions and so on. Her story is not a us unusual basically, but it took effort talent and a lot of quiet resilience to get there. And then um another one of mine my stories as well uh you know I noticed when I was in meetings during my career basically what I just mentioned also before that I would say something and you know nobody would pay attention then after a few minutes and somebody else would say the same thing and you know the rest of the guys were like oh that's a brilliant idea so let's do that. I thought, you know, it was just imagine it, but then I read the meeting notes at some point and I I I mean, I saw it was there, so I just understood that it was just ignored. Um, anyway, these stories aren't here to make anyone feel guilty. Basically, they're here to, you know, show patterns so we can start noticing them. So, if you ever experienced something like this, you're not imagined. It's if you haven't, maybe you've accidentally been that person on one once or twice. But anyways, the good news is that we can do better. And actually, it starts with awareness. Okay. Um, wait. Yeah. So, when we zoom out from individual stories, what do we actually see? We start to notice patterns as I just mentioned. not just you know bad luck or isolated incidents but structural repeating behaviors that show up again and again. So for example some I've experienced so far is like gatekeeping you know for example you need you need 10 years of cute only you only have eight no you know come back later for example or like who who gets involved into technical discussions for example or who who's trusted to push to main or who's trusted to you know merge a patch on Garrett for example or approve whatever So gatekeeping doesn't always look you know like saying no but just times it's just not saying anything at all. Second is assumptions about competence. So we made assumptions so fast in tech like you know how someone looks like uh you know what country their name sounds like how fluent their English is and we tie those assumption to how senior we think someone is right I've seen brilliant engineers as I've already talked like treated like interns and average ones treated like rock stars just because they have you know the presence then we have a communication ation bias. Um, that's a fun one. Like when a woman says something directly, it's too aggressive, right? But when a man says the same, it's assertive leadership. Okay? When someone speaks up often in meetings, it's disruptive. Sorry. Unless if they're a founder, then it's called vision. So these biases, you know, show up in performance reviews and you know who gets hurt. So it's like there all the time. Then we have the culture fit trap. I guess you've all heard we're looking for someone who who fits our vibe or not sure if they fit into the team, right? So basically that's often a shorthand for they're different. So culture fit is how many inclusive hires get just filtered out before they, you know, get even in the door. So the idea here is to aim for culture ad instead not just filtering out because you know h then we have invisible labor. So you know who tends to do the mentoring, the onboarding, the emotional support like all these work I mean we have to also credit that work as well because somebody you know it's it's not only about code basically um and that work doesn't always show up in on promotion reviews but you know it's just getting through down the table anyways. Um actually none of that is to you know blame people. These patterns aren't basically personal are just structural. We're just like let's say programmed that way because the society is programmed that way. But once you see them then you start noticing them everywhere. So the thing is here that you can start you know interrupting them. Um just speaking about me um up until this point, you know, back uh when I was uh working uh I thought if I just worked harder, you know, stayed later, spoke less, learned faster, the noise would just go away. But the thing is that you cannot outwork bias. You cannot fix being misunderstood. I mean this will be always there. what you can fix actually is like reframe how you see yourself, right? Um not as someone lucky to be there but as someone who belonged like not in spite of your background but because of it. So my big shift so to say came from a mentor who saw me before you know I fully saw myself and they basically they told me you know you're already doing the work of a lead so it's time to step into it right and basically that sentence it stuck with me it didn't of course it didn't erase all the doubt but it made me you know walk differently bit more confident so around the same time I just stopped trying to lead you know like the loudest person in the room but you know I started lead in a way that came naturally to me like you know listening before acting you know connecting across silos asking questions like that others avoid to ask um and it's not because I read these things in a book book but because that's what I needed you know in order to stay in tech and it turns out it just worked so growth isn't always loud sometimes it's just you know show up as yourself like doesn't matter to pretend you're something else. Now, um here's the part I've loved to, you know, zoom out a bit. Uh because it's this isn't just my story. As as I said, it's it's also an opportunity. So, I'm a big believer that inclusion isn't a job title basically. It's it's a habit, something we build in a way. We code, we collaborate, and we communicate. So here are a few things that you know I've seen work like um you should always like challenge assumptions like ask yourself do I expect this person to be technical or not I mean am I surprised when someone speaks up did I assume they were junior based on age accent or gender I mean why why should I do that right just noticing the assumption is a huge first step so let's start from there then amplify quieter voices then if someone makes a point sorry that gets overlooked to say you know as Maria mentioned earlier. So give credit back to the person it came from and this basically matters more than you think especially you know in fastm moving team settings. Uh give fact based feedback like skip vag comments like you know you come off strong you're too soft and so on. Focus on impact, not tone or personality. You know, ask yourself, would I say this to someone else if they looked or sounded differently for example? And then uh speak with people, not for them. Like don't assume what someone else wants or need, you know, just ask them basically. Um invite them into a conversation like what would support like look like for you right now, for example. So all these kind of things um basically I I believe that leadership is not uh you know a one-sizefits all thing. It's I mean let's stop acting like that. At the end of the day you know the goal isn't to be perfect. It's just to be open, curious and you know committed to living tech better than uh what we than what we founded. So uh since we're here at academy um uh let's talk a bit about false specifically. So open source is one of the most power spaces for learning growing and contributing especially for folks outside traditional pipelines. I guess we all agree into that. But open doesn't always mean welcoming. So we sometimes think that because it a repo is public, anyone can jump in, right? That's not the case. Um, and it's not always how it feels. If you know, if you ever open the P PR and, you know, got silence for a week then, or asked, you know, basic question and got snarky reply or, you know, felt lost in in a sea of inside jokes and acronyms, acronyms, and so on. you know that open isn't always the same as inclusive. So what helps here is a list like of a few things we could consider doing like you know write better readmies like not just how to run the code but how to participate how to get feedback uh what to expect and so on as arymi is often the front door of your community right use inclusive language when you know in in code and docs like avoid cultural references that assume that everybody shares your background because it's not the case. Use language that assumes curiosity, not experience. Like here's what this file does is better than this is obvious, you know. So, um, say hi when someone joins the chat. It's very basic, very simple, but powerful. You know, just one kind welcome message could turn someone into a contributor at some point. um credit contributions fairly and publicly, even small PRs, even documentation fixes or typos. I mean, why not? This this is all work that matters and recognition builds momentum. Don't assume silence is this interest. So, not everybody has the same character, so to say. we we we're not all like open or you know a quick check in can show people you care like and help them re-engage if if needed. Um avoid inside jokes like basically this means that you know if your humor requires history then maybe rethink it or you know explain it to the person first before you start you know talking about it. Uh be a welcomer not just a maintainer. So this is not just about merging code. It's about also mentoring people all the time. And then create friendly on boarding. Um you know use checklist or whatever you think it can make people feel like there's a place for them and a way to to grow, right? Um this one I like it. Mentorship isn't charity, right? It's strategy. meaning that you know helping people grow basically makes your community more resilient in a way that you don't just wait for maintainers to burn out but you grow new ones so that you know your community can also uh benefit from that. um recognize invisible labor. You know, who's holding emotional tone in the chat, who's reviewing the code and so on. Let's credit that work too. Also, you know, including inclusion is not just code commits after all. And uh finally, words matter. So, comment your code, you know, like a future contributor is watching. I know I'm asking for very difficult things but uh answer questions as if that person you know might be your next core dev speak like someone is learning from you basically because they are so you don't need to be a maintainer to make force more welcoming in general so just being intentional kind and a little more human that's you know that's already a huge step basically so I won't keep you for longer Just a few final reflections. I've shared a few stories today. Some mine, some from others. Not to point fig f fingers or just dwell what's wrong, but to say, you know, that this stuff it's it's real. It's there, but it's changeable. We don't all have the same power, but we do all have moments where we get to choose, you know, do I help someone feel seen? Do I make space? Do I speak up or stay silent, for example? And that's where the culture of tech gets uh shaped you know not just in keynotes but in comments in code code reviews and conver conversations. Um the thing is that I've never let's say set out to be the inclusive one. I was just trying to survive long enough to do work you know I cared about in my career. But here's the twist. The more I showed up as myself the more I found others who were doing the same. And you know that changes everything. So whether you're a student, a contributor, a manager, founder, maintainer, whatnot, let's be the kind of tech community we want to belong to. You know, one where you don't have to prove yourself of, you know, just in order to be respected. And even if one person leaves this room today feeling a little more seen uh or thinking know a little bit more bravely about how they show up, then I think we're already building it. That's it. Thank you. [Applause] >> Yep. Do we have any questions? >> Yeah. I want to thank you for your courage. Um I think it it's not easy, but um you did it and your analysis is quite sharp. So um I think that's that's good and you're strong by by doing this as well. I have just a question and and I want to confirm people work in patterns. I mean it's hard to change. It's not even conscience man. It's it's just as it is. Um but my question is you might also have met people that trusted in you probably just a few. Um can you just you know give an example or recall uh how this was if you have met them? Yeah, first of all, um, thanks. And yes, I did for sure. Um, I guess there were a few. I can't count them in my fingers like that few. Um, they, you know, it was just they were themselves. That's what basically I wanted to, you know, express with that. Just being yourself is when when you do that, you it doesn't cost you anything to just, you know, give give credit to someone. just recognize their efforts or their talent. Um that's it like don't try not to follow the patterns just you know if if you see something then just say I mean even if even if if it's good or bad right but because there's also you know that somebody does something wrong you can also say that the thing is that then the other person should be in a way that okay accept and you know accepted as feedback and so on. So um yeah it's it's a bit of a complex matter like but as I said just start with awareness and then you know try to you know analyze yourself when you do stuff and then ask ask yourself why did I do that and then you can you know you can be this person that you can you are basically telling to the other person that you know you're good in that and so on instead of following patterns and when you do that then the other person of course you know earns like confidence and you know has you know bit more power to move on right so I'm not sure if I answered your question >> anybody else oh >> thank you thank you for your talk um yeah I just want to say I I've seen these these patterns um that you talk about with woman colleagues, but also myself as a migrant where I would get comments like, "Oh, I didn't expect you would be this good coming from this place." And uh things like that. And I was thinking that online when I was just a username, I I wasn't being judged as much. I was only being judged on what I was saying. Maybe my English wasn't native level kind of. So I wonder if you have a different experience when people only see your username and something to take away from that like being synonymous rather than showing up as your all the facets. Yeah, >> it's a very very short answer. My username is female. So I do >> I can use a I can use Alex instead which often gets you know ah that's a guy Alex. Um >> anybody else? Okay. Excellent. Thank you very much. >> So, we have a little bit of a break till the next one. So, the next talk starts at at 6 exactly. So, feel free to go to the bathroom, take a break, whatever you need. We'll be back.