Ep #14 Bill Ryan | SVP Assistant GC of AT&T Services Inc. on Contextualizing Work and Family

The Future Is Bright Podcast

“I always try to make sure I'm contextualizing what I do on a day-to-day basis. And my personal priority is my family all the time,” shares Bill Ryan, SVP. Bill is the Assistant GC of AT&T Services, Inc., but has held many roles from working as a bilingual educator to becoming an attorney and working in-house at DirectTV. Today, he shares his professional journey and how he has built a sustainable career through contextualizing work and family.

The divide between work and personal life can cause your job to become unsustainable. If your priority is your family, but your job keeps you away from them all the time, then eventually you will resent it. In order to be an authentic leader, it is important to show up to work in a way that honors your values. Bill comes from a multicultural family, with his wife being from Mexico and his children being adopted from Korea. So for him, diversity is inextricably linked to his family and is one of his largest priorities. By incorporating his values, being mindful of his obligations as a leader, and recognizing the privileges he has been afforded in life, Bill has made strides in his own professional development and in that of his team members.

It’s easy to get so caught up in the day-to-day that you forget to prioritize your values. If you don’t prioritize showing up and leading from a place of authenticity, you will be a less effective leader. By contextualizing your work in regard to your values, you will create a more sustainable work environment for everyone.

Quotes

• “Success all of a sudden pivoted and is now defined as the success of everyone else around you.” (9:23-9:29 | Bill)

• “It's really great to be able to connect people and at least make an effort to connect in the native of language and build relationships on a different level and help understand the culture and things of that nature.” (17:14-17:23 | Bill)

• “I always try to make sure I'm contextualizing what I do on a day-to-day basis. And my personal priority is my family all the time.” (25:43-25:51 | Bill)

• “My commitment to diversity is nothing more than my commitment to my family.” (37:22-37:26 | Bill)

• “What I try to bring is being mindful of the obligations that I have as a leader and as an ally and someone who's benefited from a lot of privileges, and not everyone has.” (39:57-40:05 | Bill)

Links

Connect with Bill Ryan:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-ryan-685b521/

Connect with Chris Batz:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisbatz/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theliongroupkc

Instagram: @theliongroupllc

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm