SUMMARY
Stephanie Chung spent her career in the aviation industry, rising from being a baggage handler to eventually making history as the first African American and second female president of a major private aviation company. During that rise, she was a top sales executive, generating $1B in revenue annually. Stephanie is now a highly sought-after speaker, and her most recent book, Ally Leadership: How to Lead People Who Are Not Like You, was released in 2024. In this conversation with GLN President and CEO David Ashcraft, Stephanie shares about her leadership journey, and how all leaders of all kinds can learn to be allies of the individuals on their teams.
IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 Introduction.
03:30 People who have left a legacy in Stephanie’s life.
06:15 How she got started in the aviation field, and how she moved into leadership positions.
15:30 How did Stephanie’s experience in sales prepare her for executive leadership?
18:00 Discussing Stephanie’s transition from sales into executive leadership.
21:00 How can leaders navigate the tension between wanting people in the office and trusting them to get the job done?
26:15 Stephanie’s experience with working in diverse teams, and what inspired her to write her latest book.
30:30 How aware was Stephanie that she was “the first” African American president of a private aviation company?
34:00 Diving deeper into the content of Stephanie’s book.
40:30 An example from the book of how Stephanie had to meet someone where they were at, and how it impacted her leadership.
46:50 Comments and Takeaways.
LISTEN
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
STANDOUTS AND TAKEAWAYS
- There are always two sides to every story.
- The job is the job, and the mission must be completed.
- A team represents the leader just as much as the leader represents the team. Everybody wins (or loses) together.
- As a leader, set the mission and vision and make it clear, but then step back and let the team do what they do.
- Being in the office does not automatically equate to being engaged. At the end of the day, it’s just about getting the job done.
- When you have people at the table with different upbringings, communication styles, perspectives, races, genders, age, etc., you have an opportunity to have the best of the best and can achieve greater positive outcomes.
- Part of learning to effectively lead those who are not like you is just making leadership easier.
- Allowing your voice to be heard is about being a role model and inspiration for those will follow you.
- There are simple, unavoidable facts about current demographics in the United States, including:
-
- We have six generations (ages 16-17) currently in the workforce
- Women make up the majority of the population
- Every single ethnic group is growing, while the non-ethnic group is shrinking
- We have increasing amounts of neuro-diverse individuals who are working
- As leaders, it’s our job to set the company up to win by getting different people to the table and leading them effectively.
- It’s a new world, and becoming a great leader today means leading those who are not like you, and the best way to do that is to meet people where they are.
- Leading is hard enough; if we can just truly learn to see everybody as God’s creation—and treated them as such—it would actually make our jobs easier.
LINKS MENTIONED
Whitney Putnam
Vice President of Marketing | Global Leadership NetworkJason Jaggard
Coach, Speaker, Author and Founder | Novus GlobalStephanie Chung
Chief Growth Officer | Wheels UpEp 171: Stephanie Chung on Leading People Who Are Not Like You
TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST
CommunicationConflict ManagementCultureDiversityHuman ResourcesInfluenceLeading OthersLeading YourselfRelational IntelligenceServant LeadershipSupervising PeopleTeam BuildingStephanie Chung spent her career in the aviation industry, rising from being a baggage handler to eventually making history as the first African American and second female president of a major private aviation company. During that rise, she was a top sales executive, generating $1B in revenue annually. Stephanie is now a highly sought-after speaker, and her most recent book, Ally Leadership: How to Lead People Who Are Not Like You, was released in 2024. In this conversation with GLN President and CEO David Ashcraft, Stephanie shares about her leadership journey, and how all leaders of all kinds can learn to be allies of the individuals on their teams.
On This Podcast
Whitney Putnam
Global Leadership Network
Whitney Putnam is the Vice President of Marketing at the Global Leadership Network. She is passionate about men and women working together to expand their influence so that many more people come to know Jesus. As a builder, Whitney cares deeply about building healthy and holistic communities of people, from the team she has the joy of working with at the GLN to those in her neighborhood. She is a well-respected leader and innovator having served as an executive leader at several global non-profits. She’s a mom to three little girls and married to a tall redhead named Michael. They can most often be found dancing in their kitchen and occasionally sprinkling confetti in greeting cards, all while living in Dallas, Texas.
Jason Jaggard
Novus Global
Jason Jaggard is an entrepreneur, author, executive coach and speaker. His work has been translated into over 50 languages and has been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, Entrepreneur and Chief Executive Magazine. He is the founder of Novus Global, an executive coaching firm working with Fortune 500 companies, professional athletes, elected officials and some of the most famous entertainers on earth. He also co-founded and is on the faculty of The Meta Performance Institute, which helps coaches create six figure practices serving high performing leaders and teams. His next book, Beyond High Performance: What Great Coaches Know about How the Best Get Better is out this May, 2023.
Stephanie Chung
Wheels Up
With over 30 years of experience catalyzing transformative growth in the aviation sector, Stephanie Chung has widely been recognized as a trailblazer. She was the first African-American president of a major private aviation company when she took the helm as President of JetSuite. During her tenure at JetSuite, Chung repositioned the brand from a commodity service to a luxury customer experience, upgrading the fleet, and elevating the client experience. Under her leadership, JetSuite was voted one of the Best Places To Work by the Human Rights Campaign. Chung also served as VP of Sales for Flexjet where she oversaw a sales organization and strategic deal team that together generated over $835 million in revenue. Prior, she held influential roles at US Airways (now operating as American Airlines), Delta Air Lines, and Bombardier. In 2020, Chung joined Wheels Up, the leading brand in private aviation, as the company’s first Chief Growth Officer. Chung also serves as a member of c200, a community of the most successful women in business, as well as on the Advisory Council of the National Business Aviation Association and the Advisory Board of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. Her personal achievements have been recognized in D CEO Magazine's Top 500 and inclusion in the Ebony Power 100. She has also been named as one of “2021 Top Women in Travel & Hospitality” by Women Leading Travel & Hospitality.
Show Notes
SUMMARY
Stephanie Chung spent her career in the aviation industry, rising from being a baggage handler to eventually making history as the first African American and second female president of a major private aviation company. During that rise, she was a top sales executive, generating $1B in revenue annually. Stephanie is now a highly sought-after speaker, and her most recent book, Ally Leadership: How to Lead People Who Are Not Like You, was released in 2024. In this conversation with GLN President and CEO David Ashcraft, Stephanie shares about her leadership journey, and how all leaders of all kinds can learn to be allies of the individuals on their teams.
IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 Introduction.
03:30 People who have left a legacy in Stephanie’s life.
06:15 How she got started in the aviation field, and how she moved into leadership positions.
15:30 How did Stephanie’s experience in sales prepare her for executive leadership?
18:00 Discussing Stephanie’s transition from sales into executive leadership.
21:00 How can leaders navigate the tension between wanting people in the office and trusting them to get the job done?
26:15 Stephanie’s experience with working in diverse teams, and what inspired her to write her latest book.
30:30 How aware was Stephanie that she was “the first” African American president of a private aviation company?
34:00 Diving deeper into the content of Stephanie’s book.
40:30 An example from the book of how Stephanie had to meet someone where they were at, and how it impacted her leadership.
46:50 Comments and Takeaways.
LISTEN
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
STANDOUTS AND TAKEAWAYS
LINKS MENTIONED
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