›
INHI CHO SUH
IBM Vice President,
Data Management Software Marketing
FAST FACTS
• Responsible
for all worldwide
marketing strategy,
communications,
collateral, advertising,
events, channel
marketing, and viral/
web-based initiatives
for data-management
tools and solutions
• Previously, she was
director of IBM’s
Business Process
Management Strategy,
setting priorities across
the software portfolio
• Held leadership
positions focused
on strategic growth
for IBM.com,
DB2 Information
Management Software,
and WebSphere
Application and
Integration Middleware
divisions
• Received her bachelor’s
degree from Duke
University and her
Juris Doctor from
North Carolina Central
University School of
Law. She is a licensed
attorney in North
Carolina
HOW SHE TOOK RESPONSIBILITY FOR
HER SUCCESS:
If you’re part of a corporation today and
you have a function in finance marketing
or sales, typically you’ll work with people
in that business. I also volunteered for jobs
where I interacted with people outside of
my division. I got opportunities to interact
with people I wouldn’t have interacted with
on a daily basis. When I was impressed
with someone based on their behavior or
analysis or work ethic, I would reach out to
them and ask to do job shadowing. Based
on what I had observed ... I would document
that, reflect on it and try to implement their
personal styles into my work.
My barriers were a combination. I didn’t
have the right education, so to speak. I
have a graduate degree, but I wasn’t skilled
in business or business marketing. I have
a Bachelor of Science in biology and biochemistry. Also, there weren’t that many
Asian female executives in the function I
was in. I tended to ignore that [disparity]
so it didn’t sink in as a barrier. I focused on
gaining as much knowledge as I could.
CREATIVE THINKING
Driving innovation and creative thinking is
what is most valued. My ability to generate
creative ideas has differentiated me. It
didn’t matter that I didn’t have the right
business education or prior job experience.
If anything, it helped me because of my
background in three languages: French,
Korean and English. That [linguistic
acuity] allowed me to absorb information
quickly and make connections where
others didn’t. I saw patterns in business
or in a competitor’s business that others
didn’t see.
I believe in three rules: 1) Diversity
drives creative thinking. 2) All new ideas
are combinations of existing ideas. 3) If you
increase the number of diverse views, then
you increase the number of new ideas. If
my peers have MBAs and I have a science
background and diversity as a woman, as
an Asian woman and Korean immigrant,
then I carry a different perspective. My
ideas in combination with other ideas
increase our ideas.
›
YOU SHOULD PRACTICE LEADERSHIP AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.
Different cultures are growing at a great
rate. Having an Asian-American background and recognizing there are cultural
aspects in doing business, such as your body
language, etc., everything affects business
relationships. I have that extra advantage.
People think about leadership as a
particular assignment. I think about it as
something you practice all the time and
with any opportunity you’re given, whether
professional or social. I’m constantly awed
by people who are great at it. When you
ask how they came about it, it’s through a
variety of experiences and practices. If Tiger
Woods and other golfers have to practice
putting, in our professional jobs, you should
practice leadership as much as you can.
