LJ De Guzman is the Senior IT Director of Procter & Gamble Philippines. She graduated from the University of Asia and the Pacific with a Master of Science in Information Technology. For the past 19 years working in P&G, she worked on technologies supporting finance, HR, product supply, brand, and sales.
Between 2016 to 2021, De Guzman was assigned to the US where she built the NA Master Data Organization and led the program for P&G’s eContent application replatforming.
In 2015, the Asian IT Women Leaders hosted P&G’s Chief Legal Officer, Debbie Majoras, who talked about work life and balance. The topic resonated with LJ De Guzman.
“I was one of the fortunate to hear her,” De Guzman said. “One of the things I took away from that session that has been my compass for work life integration was this: Women can have it all. But first I needed to get crystal clear on what ALL meant to me. Then I need to understand that different life stages will require focus on a different component of my all.
Having it all was understanding that I should view my life through the lens of time. If I am able to focus on the right area at the time when I need to – over the course of my life, it will all even out. With that I’ve pulled myself out of the quest –and oftentimes guilt – of needing perfect daily balance.”
De Guzman mentions being thankful for having managers and mentors who saw her potential, providing her with the independence she needed for her own growth.
“I have been very lucky to have had managers and mentors who have recognized my unique leadership style and my need for empowerment and independence in my work. My managers and mentors gave me all the opportunities to build new skills and figure things out on my own, but beyond that they also gave me the air cover to make mistakes and learn from them,” she said.
Of course, part of helping De Guzman achieve a high-ranking position in IT was through the support of her husband. “Outside the office, my biggest enabler has been my husband. I would not have been able to do all that I’ve done without his partnership and support. Throughout our 16yrs of marriage, we have never argued about work.”
De Guzman admitted facing challenges during her US assignment, citing an unconscious bias that height is a reflection of her abilities. Because of this, De Guzman learned and acted fast to break the stereotype and gender barriers in the workplace.
“Did you know that only 3.9% of Fortune 500 CEOs are below 5ft 7in? It’s an unconscious bias equating height to strength of mind and body,” De Guzman said. “Now, think: petite (5ft) / Asian / female / with a network limited to my immediate work team – you can safely assume I had a tough start to my NA assignment. I felt I had to learn fast, demonstrate my expertise and prove myself so that people could see past “the physical me”. It was hard work, but I did it. I not only got the approval to a long-standing program that our line had been wanting to execute for years, but I was also able to get it done in our company’s biggest market. At the end of my assignment, many of the people I worked with told me that they learned a lot from me and seeing a different style than what was common helped them expand their own mindsets and perspectives.”
One of the biggest barriers De Guzman learned about women is they underestimate themselves. “I have found that women consistently underestimate their own skills and competency, and by doing so pass on critical opportunities because they just don’t think they are qualified. I’ve done it too, too many times. But more and more I’ve found myself just saying “Yes” and jumping in. It’s not that I don’t think I will never fail, but I’ve become more confident that even if I do, I will be able to learn and bounce back from it. I think we need to learn to be more forgiving of ourselves and be our own best cheerleaders.”
De Guzman mentioned that companies, P&G and others, can continue to champion a more equal and inclusive workplace for women by offering accelerator programs for women leaders, where they can focus on specific skill sets that women may not naturally developed, or get exposed to both male and female leaders who they can aspire to be, build networks with peers who are in the same learning journey, and be mentored or sponsored by senior leaders to help them with individual circumstances.
“I also believe there is a lot of value in programs that educate the entire company about biases – gender and beyond,” De Guzman said. “I always thought I was fairly magnanimous, but after having gone through several of these trainings, I’ve realized I have been operating with a whole set of biases of my own. It is still hard to recognize and eliminate them all even today, but the awareness does drive action and, more importantly, compassion.”
When asked what piece of advice De Guzman would give to the next generation of female leaders, she said: “Demand what you’re worth! Paraphrasing the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, we too deserve a nation, company, world where we ‘will not be judged by our gender, ethnicity, affiliations but by the content of our character.”