Playing The Long Game (Deb Liu, ex-Facebook VP & Ancestry CEO)

Lessons from six years without a promotion, raising three kids, and surviving cancer.

Most engineers I talk to are looking for the next review cycle win. The next bump. The next title change that will validate the work they’ve been doing for the last six months.

But

Deb Liu

thinks that’s a mistake.

You might know Deb, former VP at Facebook, ex-CEO of Ancestry, and author of Take Back Your Power. She has built products used by billions, gone on Lenny’s Podcast, on the board of Intuit, and founded the 30,000+ member community Women in Product. Besides being a proud mom of three, she is also open about her struggles with cancer.

Today, she’s here to share more about three topics that will challenge how you think about your own career:

1. Why short-term career thinking will quietly trap you.

2. How family choices shape your career trajectory

3. Why staying silent in key moments isn’t humility

Our discussion took place as a Q&A format. If you’re looking for a summary, I’ve summarized my takeaways at the end.

Wit…