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FountainBlue's August 13 When
She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series was on the topic of Politics in the
Workplace: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, featuring our esteemed panel of
speakers:
Facilitators Krista Henley and Rossella Derickson,
Corporate Wisdom and SBODN
Panelist Kim Elisha Proctor, Senior Manager
Holistic Quality, PayPal and BAODN
Panelist Eileen Sullivan, Group Director, Cadence
Please join me in
thanking our sponsors at Synopsys for graciously hosting us for this event.
Below are notes from the conversation:
By definition, any group
of two or more may have intrigue and maneuvering within a group, the definition
of politics itself, so where there are people,
whether it's in the boardroom, by the water coolers at work, or at home or at
the playground. there will be politics. Whether your political issue is
turf protection, hesitation in sharing info, playing favorites, gossip,
maliciously compliant, passive-aggressiveness or something else, no one's in a
bubble, even if you see yourself as an individual contributor with no direct
reports. In fact, the level of politics you deal with is directly proportional
to the number of people you're interacting with, whether or not they report to
you. Politics happens at all levels within an organization, and the types of
politics varies on function, team and organization.
In the best of all worlds,
politics is a cooperative, dynamic give and take which is direct, transparent,
collaborative, and focused on a win-for-all result. But politics can get UGLY,
so there are actions you can take to prepare yourself to manage politics.
It is first
important to acknowledge and accept the pervasiveness of politics, and think
with positive, yet realistic connotations: not just something an aggressive,
self-serving person would do, but something that everyone needs and leverages
to get things done, working with people.
Next, seek to
understand your personal strengths, objectives and strategies around managing
the politics around you. Listen to what others say about your actions and how
they perceive you based on your actions, but also listen to yourself and what
your body and mind as telling you. Know your strengths and leverage them to the
advantage of all, setting up situations for good politics which benefit all.
Men and women who successfully navigate the politics around them understand
both themselves, but also the people that they interact with as well as the
norms and rules of a group overall, whether its official or unofficial,
documented or not. It's a matter of understanding both what your needs are, but
also the needs of others in the group, and understanding the actions and power
plays people take on to get what they need.
Once you accept the
pervasiveness of politics, your own personal strengths and needs and that of
those youre working with, be strategic and plan out how you manage the
politics to drive results making proactive, measured choices, and encouraging
the same for others. Make it always a conscious choice about whether you
participate in the political maneuvering around you. Ask yourself if you should
engage, and if so, why and how and what are the desired results and costs. The key is to think it through strategically, and being
clear, transparent communications up front, and continually checking in with
the other parties regarding objectives, motivations, desires, and anything else
which may change as situations evolve.
Again and
again, the panelists commented on the importance of building relationships with
key others within, throughout and outside your organization. Take the time to
understand what motivates and drives them, while communicating your own needs,
and working toward common causes in alignment with corporate values and needs.
Its about building a large network of trust with people empowered to drive
results for individuals, groups and the organization overall.
Clearly,
building a large network of trust between like-minded, results-oriented
professionals at all levels. The panelists encouraged us to get out of your comfort zone, and start connecting with
more people who are different than you in role, perspective orientation, etc.,
but also people who are similar to you in many ways as well. The more you build
your network, the more visibility and power you will have, especially in
politically sensitive matters, whether or not you aspire to climb the corporate
ladder.
The importance of having a
broad and deep network is particularly useful if you work for an organization
undergoing change, whether its expansion or contraction, a change in products
and services, a change in markets and customers. When companies are retracting,
people feel threatened and insular, and its more important to develop deeper
relationships. When companies are expanding rapidly, its important to connect
with people from different areas and departments, developing relationships and
better understanding how people and groups work together as the company grows,
while getting visibility and building relationships.
As our
facilitators put it, everyone is encouraged to leverage their authentic self
and a politics of kindness to drive results which are collaborative and functional vs. results that make
people feel undermined and cheated and worse. The other side of politics is
collaboration, so focus on what it takes build collaborations benefiting people, teams and the company overall, breaking
down silos between people and teams. Practice positive communications, and be
strategic about spreading it to build community and team across roles, programs
and organizations.
Below is a
list of strategies and tactics our panelists leveraged to best navigate
politics:
Building
relationships is important, and its important to always try to work with
people you trust and respect, but at times, you have to work with people who
havent earned your trust. If and when thats the case, be clear and
transparent, and work other relationships to help ensure desired results.
Align
yourself with a great manager and boss (and program), because no matter how
good you are, your future is tied to his or hers.
Dont
be a pawn in a political maneuvering. Recognize that you always have a choice
about whether to engage and how and why and act accordingly.
Be
comfortable taking measured risks, even in highly charged political situations. But be extra careful if you're new to a relationship,
organization or team, for people may not be who they seem, and may have more
power than you think.
If you're dealing
with favoritism, try becoming a favorite of the favorite.
If you're a
victim of passive-aggressive behavior, dont take it personally and rise above
it. You will likely have allies as he/she have likely made other victims. If
you're in a corporate culture that discourages this, this behavior will be
quickly discouraged. If you're not, create a culture which frowns upon this
type of behavior and delivers feedback quickly to the offender.
If the project
you're working on becomes progressively more interesting to others within the
team, including people who outrank you, assume that there will be a greater
interest from others and respond accordingly, always focusing on whats right
for the overall project and company, rather than taking personal offense.
Whenever you're a
victim of bad and ugly politics, always think that there are multiple ways to
look at things, multiple points of view. You dont have to buy into someone
else's viewpoint, but taking the time to understand it will give you a broader
perspective, and help you strategize a win-win result, if one can be reached
under the circumstances.
If you're a
victim of long-term political battles and have gotten to the point of wondering
when you will walk, have a clear view of what you will do and won't do, and a
clear moral boundary a line in the sand that you won't cross. You have to
live with your own actions and decisions and sleep at night. If your political
circumstances are asking you to cross that personal line, don't do it, and
don't waste your time and energy being outraged at others who are pushing you
there. Just make your own decision, and take your own action so that you don't
have to go there.
Have the courage
to stand in your own power, embracing who you are, what you do, what youve
accomplished and the wisdom to know when to release or not engage.
Take the
initiative and be trusting and respectful of those around you, giving them the
benefit of the doubt. You will likely earn that right back, but if you don't,
don't be naive and follow the proverb 'once bitten, twice shy'.
Practice positive
communications and own the impact of your communications on others be it
positive or negative.
Take the
proactive stand up for what's right, even if it's a politically charged stand.
But also be willing to stand down, disagree and commit, for having multiple
factions on a sensitive topic will likely be division and unproductive.
Think of politics
like a game, something that brings up your competitive juices. Remember its
just there, and don't take it personally. In fact, find a way to enjoy it,
especially if you're building relationships and collaborations that benefit
all.
Be positive when
speaking of others. Be direct when displeased with others.
Taking up golf
may actually help you build relationships with decision-makers within your
company.
Always take an
observer stance, noticing who's doing what; what everyone's needs are. Be ever
the diplomat, caring about others around you, who they are, what their needs
are, how they respond.
When working with
people from other geographies, try to understand that their reality is
different than yours, while also acknowledging that you aren't currently
walking in their shoes, experiencing all they do.
Don't over-emote
over a political situation. It may not be as bad as you think, or it may wind up where
you think. If others treat you badly, it's likely not personal as in general
how you do one thing is how you do everything.
Know your style
and educate others about who you are and what youre about so they are less
likely to misinterpret your actions.
When advocating
for your team and their cause, identify and work with the decision-makers to
lobby for the cause. Also work with those close to the decision-makers to
ensure they understand the project and its impact and benefits to the company
and to themselves personally as well as THEIR team. If others not in the
decision-making chain are undermining you or unhappy with a positive decision,
be respectful and clear that your focus is on the overall company good, which
would also benefit them.
In conclusion, the
panelists concurred that navigating politics is a journey, not a destination.
Regardless of whether youre new to work, or have risen the ranks leveraging
politics, there will be lessons to learn throughout your career. Acknowledge that not every decision and action you make and
take will lead to the win-for-all results you seek, but always reach for
results you can live with, results that align with your core values and your
authentic self. In short, navigate
politics by being authentic and genuine in all you do, make decisions with the
highest moral standards, with objectives that support all, and work with those
you trust and respect and focus on making progress collaboratively for the
greater good of yourself, your team and your organization.
Panelist Shobhana Viswanathan, Senior Marketing Manager, Global
Alliances, VMware
Below
are notes from the conversation:
The inspiring and competent women on our panel came in
all shapes and sizes, industries, roles and perspectives, but they share many
things in common: a high level of self-awareness, a commitment to grow for
themselves and for the group and organizations they work with, a generous
spirit of sharing and empowerment, competence in skills and execution, and
exceptional communication and people skills. They each had a level of
self-confidence and persistence necessary to succeed in a male dominated
profession and organization, and sufficient results to command the respect of
their staff and peers, and earn the titles they currently hold.
They all engaged in activities outside their day-to-day
work, and did what it took to recharge and re-energize themselves every day.
They all continue to respond directly and proactively to the day-to-day
challenges they face, working collaboratively to ensure win-win outcomes in
alignment with corporate, personal and group objectives.
They are collaborative problem-solvers and experts at
engaging and empowering others to participate in the decision-making and
execution process. It's not that they don't run into controversial situations.
It's that their understanding of people and their fearless communication
styles, and their commitment, authenticity and integrity, have spurred them to
take action, and directly address problems immediately and
transparently.
These women are held in high esteem, and they generously
shared their thoughts on how to hone your leadership style:
Be the leader you want to be and know that it will not
always be easy.
A woman's leadership style is always about
balancing between being too soft and too aggressive (a doormat or a bench); too
work-focused and too family-oriented. It's a continual push-pull for all our
panelists, yet they keep making the choices that will allow them to succeed
both personally and professionally, leveraging a network of support. It's not
that they don't have the same challenges and issues the rest of us have. It's
that they have accepted the need to constantly make tough choices and developed
a support structure to help them have their cake and eat it too. Bringing the
two sides together, it's the image of a tough mom holding a baby. You have to
be competent and tough enough to succeed and nurturing and indulging enough to
make sure others learn and benefit from it.
It takes a strong and resilient person to choose
to walk the uphill battle and succeed in a male-dominated role and industry.
You have to be tough, competent, and resilient to succeed at it, and empower
others as you succeed.
Be yourself, adopt your own leadership style.
With that said, learn from the successful styles of others and constantly study
what other people are doing and acting, and what's working and not working for
them, even if its in a different context than your own work and personal
challenges. And focus on your strengths to keep developing and refining your
own leadership style.
Request the gift of feedback from people who see
you from different angles. Reflect on that feedback, and change your style as
appropriate based on the input.
Leadership is not about toeing the line and
being bland. Be willing to stick your neck out and be passionate and take a
stand. With that said, do your homework so that you understand why youre
taking a stand, and so that you can communicate your position in a confident
and compelling way.
Be well-rounded. Join other teams and
organizations and put yourself out there to discover other dimensions of
yourself. You will learn as much as you give.
Be self-aware enough to know what makes you
tick, what motivates you, and continue to make choices that will keep yourself
engaged and passionate.
Recognize whats important to you, and make
choices that ensure that you have the time and energy to do whats important to
you. This will involve saying no to other things, putting limits to some of the
things you're agreeing to do.
Have a mind-body connection, and make choices to
support your body and your mind and deal with the stress and challenges of
holding a leadership position.
Build a network and infrastructure that will support you
and others around you.
Develop a network of support from family to
friends to stay-at-home moms to nannies to babysitters, housekeepers and
gardeners, to help you meet the day-to-day demands of leadership at work.
Engage in and support the development of
mentorship programs within your organization, as a mentor or a mentee.
Supporting a mentoring culture and infrastructure within your organization is
not an easy task as it cant be mandated. But when it works, it benefits all
participants and the organization as a whole.
Facilitate grass-roots leadership within your
organization, and collaboratively encourage networking and learning across
departments and organizations. Developing engagement from the bottom up, and
enlisting executive management to participate will help build a stronger
organization and more empowered leaders.
Support the advancement of women within your
organization, and help people address their stereotypes about women managers vs
male managers. One of the reasons why both men and women wanted male bosses is
that they are historically more likely to advance, and bring along their staff
as they do. However, as more women advance to higher, more visible positions of
influence, this is changing, but the perceptions may remain.
Be the competent leader others will respect.
Walk a mile in the shoes of others, and show
that youve been part of the team, facing and addressing the problems they've
faced, whether its in sales or manufacturing or R&D. This way, you can
communicate with the people who are making things happen, and bring these
challenges and insights to the executive team and strategize on how best to
proceed.
You have to be a people person, and a great
communicator, showing that you care about people, and also that you get the
business imperatives. Learn to bond with people on their terms, and also earn
their respect for your business acumen and competence. Engage them in getting
things done, problems resolved.
Embrace your passionate side, but not in a way
which will brand you as too emotional. Channel your emotion to passion for a
cause at work or outside. Manage your emotions during conflicts by 1) taking a
breath, 2) focusing on the issues, 3) not taking things personally, 4)
understanding root causes for the conflict, 5) taking the conflict into a
one-on-one discussion, 6) speaking rationally with common sense, 7) having a
zero-tolerance policy for belittling remarks, 8) tabling the conversation if
necessary, etc.
Every leader will meet resistance. The question is what
you do about it.
If you are labeled a b** for an action you've
taken, consider to yourself if a guy would be considered a jerk for doing
something similar, and even bring up the question to others if you think
there's a double standard.
Learn from your mistakes. Don't hate the other
side because they were good, but learn from why they were selected. Consider
challenges as growth opportunities. And if you've made a mistake, pick yourself
up and keep moving forward, hopefully stronger for it!
Have the courage to immediately and directly
address individuals who has not treated you with respect.
Communicating to engage and inspire others is a
leadership prerequisite.
Be other-centric, whether you're communicating with a
staff member, peer, manager, family member, or customer, understand their
perspectives and abilities and strategize on the best ways to communicate to
them. Gather data tailored to what's relevant to them in a way that makes sense
to them. For example, if youre working with a resistant, defiant and cranky
engineer who can't multi-task and doesn't want to be bothered in the middle of
a project, plan your communications with him at the end of the project.
Leverage your gender, learn from your children.
Learn from your children, whether it's about the
latest social media trends, or the perspectives of the younger generation, or
even life priorities, in many ways, being a parent is a great leadership
challenge.
Women leaders bring so much to the table, with
their multi-tasking abilities, their ability to work across cultures and age
groups, and, as mentioned in the October 2009 McKinsey report inspiring others
and defining expectations and rewards will be critical future leadership needs.
In conclusion, leadership is about the choices you make
day-to-day. Take the time to reflect on the choices you're making and make sure
that they are on the path for success you've outlined for yourself. Have a plan
for success, and choose your take-aways and learnings from each and every
experience. Make the difficult choices when necessary, including leaving a position,
role or organization if it is not fulfilling, if it's not something you're
passionate about. Find meaning and purpose in the work that you do, and make
sure that it helps you grow in the direction you choose, while you're making a
difference in the way you choose.
When leaders make staff development a priority;
their team becomes unified, projects run smoothly and goals are surpassed in
return. KLR Consulting invites you to read a story about a woman who changed
everything in her organization with comprehensive employee development
programs, and welcomes your inquiries and comments. http://www.klrconsulting.com/clients/pdfs/first5_success.pdf
FountainBlue's June 11 When She Speaks
event was on the topic of Millennials In Our Midst and featured:
Facilitator
Camille Smith, Work In Progress Coaching
Panelist
Cyndi Stargiotti, Technical Training Programs Manager, Synaptics
Please join me in thanking our speakers
above, as well as our hosts at LifeScan, all of whom make our work possible.
Below are notes from the conversation:
Our panel concurred that it is not about
the age bracket or the perspectives of each generation of workers, its about
getting everyone fully contributing and successfully, fully integrated and
open-minded so that they as productive and as collaborative as possible, to
keep an organization forward-thinking and effective at a time when innovation
is key, problems are complex, international and multi-faceted, and teamwork and
collaboration will remain the keystones for success.
Each panelist eloquently described how
their organizations and their teams leveraged technology to its fullest, but
more importantly, listened to the needs of staff and customers, factoring in
their needs and perspectives and finding a middle ground, building alignment
toward strategic goals. Technology is an important enabler for building
communication and community, but it takes open communication and acceptance of
differences and building relationships of trust to get everyone to pull
together on common goals, despite differences in culture, age and perspectives.
The panelists encouraged us to develop a
corporate culture which respects differences and supports the needs of workers,
including millennials. The panelists commented that millennials prefer
corporate cultures that support flexible work hours, results-oriented
milestones stating what needs to be done without specifying how it should be
done, and constant and specific feedback. They do expect advancement based on
performance, but are generally now more realistic about the timeframes for
advancement.
Millennials were raised in the age of the
internet where answers are readily and quickly available, so they are
techno-philic, embrace the rapid pace of a corporate culture, and many show
amazing capacity for completing work well and quickly, all valuable qualities
in todays competitive corporate world.
The question arose about how millennials
can get more respect in the workplace, and the panelists responded by advising
them to stand behind their results and performance (even if it appears that
others with less stellar results and more experience receive credit), be
positive in communication (even if frustrated by above), build strategic
connections like sponsors and mentors within and outside the company, and be
strategic about how you communicate what you do, how you do it, and how
passionate you are about it.
Parents of millennials may not spend as
much time with their kids, coming from a driven, work-philic generation, but DO
shower them with attention and toys when they do. Therefore this generation has
more toys and tools, more confidence and independence than GenX for example.
The implication in the workplace is that they want to understand the context of
the work they are asked to do and how it fits into the bigger picture for the
organization. Once they understand this and buy into it, they generally attack
the task or problem with contagious enthusiasm, and deliver quality results
efficiently. Note also that Millennials in general have seen the work ethics
and choices made by their parents, and are choosing to live for the moment,
enjoy and celebrate life, which may impact how they come across at work.
The panelists made several suggestions on
how to create a cross-generational culture which brings out the best in all:
Create
opportunities to gather informally and socially and encourage interactions
between groups, generations, cultures, etc.
Encourage
open communications about assumptions, perceptions, expectations. Equally
important is to encourage acceptance and tolerance of differences.
Model
and encourage how a good sense of humor can help develop connections and trust,
and relieve stress.
Leverage
the best out of each persons differences in abilities and perspectives, and
teach your teams to do the same.
Reward
teams that can find a middle ground and work together toward a common goals, a
collaborative decision-making process that benefits all.
Encourage
and insist on focus when its necessary, but be flexible about having divided
attention when its not.
Insist
on respect for all, and be direct if someone is inadvertently being rude,
particularly if theyre unconsciously using technology gadgets when they are
ignoring or disrespecting someone else present.
Establish and support
mentoring programs to build connections between generations, roles, cultures.
In conclusion, business has become much
more complex, with so many political, social issues involved, with many more
interdependencies and risks than ever before, with local and global factors
impacting decisions, with the proliferation of technology and the need to
leverage it effectively to communicate openly and transparently, building
credibility and engagement of all stakeholders. It is essential for leaders to
engage all stakeholders within and outside a company to collaboratively made
effective decisions in a complex world. Full engagement of the tech-savvy,
efficient millennial generation in the collaborative decision-making process,
with their passion for building community and saving the world will set
forward-thinking companies apart from those who embrace the status quo, the old
way of doing business.
Biographies
FountainBlue's May 14 When
She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series event was on the topic of Standing on
the Shoulders of Mentors and featured:
Facilitator Kim Wise, Mentor Resources
Panelist Erna Arnesen, Vice President, Worldwide
Services Partners and Alliances, Cisco Systems
Panelist Claudia Galvan, Principal Lead Program
Manager, Windows Live, Microsoft
Panelist Vidya Venkatesh, Senior Specialist, Global
Product Support, Life Technologies
Below are notes from
the conversation.
Each panelist emphasized
the importance of mentorship in their growth and development, both personally
and professionally. Mentors have helped our panelists articulate and achieve
their goals, build relationships that endured the test of time, see challenges
from a different perspective, and keep climbing the corporate ladder. Mentors
open up doors to people, to information, to resources and networks. They help
you achieve your objectives step by step, and position you with the knowledge, strength,
network and confidence to reach still further toward your goal. Whereas formal
education provides you with the knowledge and skills to perform your job,
mentors provide you with feedback, input, confidence and coaching to succeed at
your job, managing people, time, objectives, etc.
There are many different
types of mentors. There are internal mentors within your company who are
familiar with the people and processes there and can help you navigate those
waters, very helpful particularly if youre new to a company or an industry.
There are external mentors from other companies who can provide more general
coaching and support. There are technical mentors who refer you to the right
information and resources so you better understand subject matter and have
better skills to deliver on your work objectives. There are senior mentors who
can draw from their extensive experience to give you ideas and perspective in
managing a specific challenge. Former bosses might make a good mentor for you,
for example. There are peer-to-peer mentors within or outside a company, who
are sharing similar challenges. And there are even reverse mentors, like the
program at Cisco which invites Millennials to reverse-mentor execs who want to
better understand the perspectives from that generation.
Whatever type of mentor
you select, you must know first why you want a mentor and what goals you'd like
to achieve with the support of a mentor. From there, you can decide who would
be a good mentor to achieve those goals. And then you can figure out how to
approach this potential mentor so that he/she would be interested in supporting
you as a mentor. When you have the initial conversation, do what you can to
make the chemistry work for both of you while also focus on what you'd like to
accomplish and why you think this person could help you meet those objectives.
In addition, set expectations in terms of logistics - how often to meet, where
to meet, etc. and also set ground rules on what type of feedback you're looking
for, and how best to communicate with you.
Remember, your potential
mentor is likely very busy, so make it convenient and easy and enjoyable for
your mentor to meet with you, and make it easy for them to help you: you should
do most of the prep work/agenda planning and keep them posted on how helpful
their advice has been for you. Take the initiative to ensure that the
relationship is continuing to work for you both.
In starting a relationship
with a mentor, it might be like riding a bike with square tires at first, but
if you work with it, and keep building results and a positive chemistry, you
will find it rewarding for both parties. Below is a list of topics which might
be covered in mentor-mentee meetings:
Career
development and transition
Performance
Reviews
Time Management
Negotiations
Your Passion and
Bringing It Out at Work
Global Teams
Functional
Expertise
Business Problems
Reassurance and
Validation
Feedback, Advice
and Suggestions on Specific Issues
In short, a mentor can
make THE difference in the success of leaders at all levels. Finding the right
mentor is a worthwhile exercise, and BEING a mentor to others is also
rewarding, educational and energizing.
Panelist Luciana Vecchi, Globalization Business
Manager, Core Services, Adobe Systems Incorporated
Below are notes from
the conversation.
Your brand tells
people who you, and what to expect from you whether at work or at home. It
helps people decide whether to trust you, and what to trust you about.
Effective executives, both women and men, proactively build their brand, to
ensure that others think highly of them, and have the confidence that they can
execute under specific circumstances, and even in situations where they have
little connections and expertise. Indeed, your executive brand can limit or
launch your success.
Our panel concurred
that an executive brand says something about you to people you know and people
you want to know. It is a compilation of all the things that you've said and
not said, done and not done. Below are some elements of the brands developed by
our esteemed panelists:
Proactive
networking and communication independent of roles and organizations and levels
Collaborative,
consensus builder focused on results
Deep
knowledge and expertise
Persistent,
results-oriented problem solver
Forward
thinking
Passionate
Community
orientation
Authenticity:
You get what you get
To begin building
your brand, start with an understanding of who you are what you are good at and
passionate about. Recognize your weaknesses as a part of who you are and
develop a plan to compensate for them, to make them a 'win' or a 'feature',
provided that the weakness does not interfere with your ability to deliver
results. Listen to yourself and make your priorities based on whats important
to you. Always make choices that will keep you authentic, make you happy to be
who you are.
Focus on what you
would like to accomplish both personally and professionally and then strategize
on how to accomplish your goals, both in terms of the actions you need to take
and the networks you need to connect with. Ensure that what you say and what
you do, or dont say and don't do, are in congruence with who you want to be,
how you want to present yourself now, and in the future, in your personal and
in your professional life.
Some people like to
draw attention to themselves through their hair (think Don King or Donald
Trump) or accessories or socks, but even if you choose to do so, it's what you
say and what you do that communicates who you are, rather than the less.
Continue to refine
your executive brand through your communications online, in person, and in
writing, and ensure that your thoughts and actions are in alignment with your
intended brand. Continue to align your decisions and actions and review and
update the brand you'd like to communicate.
If someone says or
does something which may threaten the integrity of your brand, first figure out
who is doing it, why they might be doing it, and whether he/she is important to
you. If he/she is important to you, or could influence how important OTHERS can
perceive you, work quickly to make an authentic stand for your brand, your
reputation, through strategic actions and communications. It is your job to NOT
JUST communicate your brand, but also to defend it from being misinterpreted.
Know when to stand up to misperceptions, to subtly or more directly prove them
wrong by your words and actions, and to ignore them altogether.
Whereas previously
only the most important people had handlers and publicists and others to ensure
brand integrity for them, in todays world of technology proliferation and
constant communications, EVERYONE must build and protect their brand real-time.
The wide range of social media offerings from FaceBook to LinkedIn to Twitter
offer so many different channels for communicating your brand, but they also demand
a proactive defense of the integrity of the brand, and thorough consideration
prior to communicating online, where anyone could Google your communications,
even ones youd prefer not to be known by. It's hard to compartmentalize your
personal and professional life, and it takes judgment and discipline to ensure
that sensitive or frivolous or private information does not negatively impact
your brand.
One example of the
consequence of not doing so is that it is now common practice for hiring
managers to Google a potential candidate online. Prospects are eliminated who
don't have the judgment to proactively manage their brand. With that said,
candidates who show their authenticity by backing their brands as a thought
leader through blogs, or get involved in associations that could benefit from
your expertise and keep apprised of and even help shape industry trends through
your involvement, have the definite advantage.
Your executive brand
can take you far - even farther than you had originally envisioned, and more
likely so if you proactively build and manage it. Be true to who you are at all
times, but also be open to and even fearless about opportunities to stretch the
definition of yourself if the opportunities or circumstances arise provided
that your values and integrity are not compromised. Surround yourself with
people with similar mindsets and support each other in building and extending
your brands.
FountainBlue's March 15 When She Speaks Women in Leadership Series
event was on the topic of Agility - The Key to Building a Successful Career and featured:
Facilitator Linda Popky, L2M Associates
Panelist Amanda Dutra, Senior Vice President of Career Management,
Practice Leader for the Global Transition Center of Excellence in the Pacific
Region NA, Right Management
Panelist Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Lisa Jing, Program Manager, Cisco
Panelist Shari H. Moore, GPHR, SPHR, Vice President, Human
Resources-Global and Americas Sales and Services, Hitachi Data Systems
Panelist Phyllis Stewart Pires, SAP
Below
are notes from the conversation.
Defined
as the ability to leverage passion and talent for business objectives, agility
is also about taking responsibility of your career, and having the initiative
to challenge yourself in strategic ways. It's about understanding and working
with the people around you as peers, mentors, partners, etc to focus on getting
a job well done. It's also about focusing on what you DO know already, and
applying that to your next role or challenge, and continuing to raise the bar
for yourself and those around you. It's also about being open and flexible and
resilient; choosing to learn with every experience, good or bad. It's about
accepting where you are now, not being disappointed that your career is not
going as planned, for rarely is a career one path, and rarely is it planned,
especially these days!
Global
megatrends are impacting how companies are functioning, and individuals must be
agile enough to take charge of their career path despite the rapid changes.
Below are some tips from the panelist on choosing agility:
Take
the challenges that come your way, and find a way to be successful with every
opportunity. Even if you don't succeed in the short term, or even if you fail
altogether, make that a learning experience and apply that learning to your
next adventure.
Exude
confidence rather than ego, even if you're totally out of your comfort zone.
Understand
what you're doing for whom for each new role, company or industry you adopt and
ensure that you deliver excellent results at every turn.
Leverage
mentors to help you adopt that proactive career path.
Don't
let your role limit your abilities, your effectiveness or your image. Don't let it dictate HOW
something gets done, just get it done YOUR WAY.
Emulate
the behavior of others you admire, make them informal mentors. Dare to try
doing it yourself, only do it your own way.
Sometimes
it's better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission.
Own
your brand and be visible to the right people so that the right opportunities
come your way. Then open the door if opportunity knocks!
Proactively
plan your career moves with your boss.
Everyone
has their own unique value proposition. Know yours and show its value every
day.
Don't
be afraid to communicate your value in a self-confident way that's not about
ego.
When
you get the opportunity, say yes, and tell them why you would be a good choice
for that opportunity with specific examples.
Think
of yourself as a solution provider, not just someone with specific niche
experiences. Think about market needs and market trends and how the solutions
you can provide can help companies address these trends.
Learn
to negotiate and advocate for your needs. Learn to communicate both orally and
verbally, as someone who knows what they're doing and can get things done.
Build
a support network to support your short term and long term career goals.
Put
your health first - you can't help others unless you have the rest, exercise,
nutrition, energy you need.
In
conclusion, with the rapid global changes in technology and markets, and its
impact on companies large and small, our panelists recommend that everyone
proactively chooses career agility, an entrepreneurial spirit, and an extensive
network as keys to a successful career.
FountainBlue's February 12 When She Speaks,
Women in Leadership Series, on the topic ofHow to Throw More
Balls Up Higher: Juggling Work-Life Balance in Demanding Times. A recording of
the session is made available through the generous support of Adobe. http://my.adobe.acrobat.com/p53223679/
Facilitator Deborah Campbell, Director,
Member Services, Western Region, Catalyst
Panelist Karen Catlin, Vice President, Core Services, Adobe Systems Inc.
Panelist Pat Cross, Vice President, Career
Management, Right Management
Panelist Lisa Dearborn, Vice President,
Leadership Development, Hitachi Data Systems
Panelist Natascha Thomson, Director of Global Ecosystem and Partner Marketing,
SAP
Below are notes from our conversation.
Silicon Valley women leaders are challenged
by the corporate and business pressures of high-stress, high-impact positions,
while still juggling the personal demands of life and family, and squeezing in
time for yourself. Each ball - from the heavy, urgent demands in a corporate
environment to the home-and-personal demands of children, spouses, friends and
others, to your own always-addressed-last personal needs for balance, health
and growth - is important.
The panelists defined work-life balance in
simple terms: making the time to do the things you want to do; understanding
and acting on your personal priorities, ensuring that your life is more than
your work; and being at your best both at home and work.
Our panelists concurred thatestablishing
priorities
on whats important to do, and implementing plans to ensure that you allocate
time for each of these priorities is of paramount importance. You must first
take the time to reflect continually on whats important to you, and have the
discipline to ensure that the things that matter most to you come first.
They also remarked that everyone musttake
responsibility
for establishing their own work-life balance - putting their own limits on the
amount of work you take on at home and on the job, and being proactive in
managing that balance, rather than feeling resigned and victimized.
Another core theme of the conversation
revolved aroundmanaging expectations - that from others, that from
ourselves, etc. The panelists were clear about having realistic expectations of
yourself, and also establishing realistic expectations from your peers and
colleagues at work. They warned about the perils of living up to others'
expectations of you, and advised you to establish your own expectations for
yourself. They also challenged our assumptions about what is expected at work,
and invited us to set up new expectations which may require less time at work,
while delivering the same or even more quality results. (Indeed, one of our
panelists was able to work part time while raising a family and also rising the
corporate ladder!) They cautioned us about guilt and perfectionistic tendencies
will not serve our work objectives in the long time, and taking the time out to
change gears and focus on others might actually make you more effective at
work.
One strategy for managing expectations is
toset
clear boundaries
and limits for yourself and for others you interact with at home and at work.
For example, to help set expectations on the amount of time dedicated to a job,
the panelists advised us to have clear work hours and only respond during those
work hours. They also said that compromising on those boundaries for a few
minutes might only accomplish a little bit more at work, while deeply cutting
in to the other commitments you made to family, friends, self, etc.
The panelists advised us todelegate
non-essential tasks
to others at work and at home. Creating partnerships and building relationships
at work to address work requirements is one win-for-all solution. An example at
home is to negotiate clearly defined roles for members of your family, so that
everyone contributes to daily chores, while also paying for services such as
housekeeping and gardening, so that you can spend more quality time together. One
caution to this strategy is to ensure that you dont delegate core tasks at
work for example, or tasks that are relationship-building opportunities at work
or home (for example, transporting your kids to and from school or activities
might be a perfect conversation-time that you dont want to delegate).
Although the panelists remarked that women
are particularly good at multi-tasking, they advised us tofocus on single
tasks, and single relationships as often as possible. Being 100% present
with the people most important to you will help you build deep relationships,
manage stress, and set a good example while showing them how much you value
them.
The panelists recommended adoptingstress-relief
practices
to help manage the heavy demands for professional women and men. Strategies
ranged from adopting a hobby to regular meditation. Also, taking the time to
appreciate all that you have - your work, your health, your friends, your
accomplishments, your future, etc. will help you re-charge and maintain a happy
balance.
In considering all the strategies and
advice above, the overarching theme is that you are in charge of your own
balance and happiness based on your personal values, and adopting a positive,
dynamic, can-do outlook and strategy can help you make it so. The bottom line
is that work-life balance IS do-able, but not all at once for all priorities,
and not all the time.
FountainBlue's January 18 When She Speaks, Women in
Leadership Series was on the topic of Expanding
Your Circle of Influence: With or Without Authority and featured:
Facilitator Jo Miller, CEO,
Women's Leadership Coaching Inc.
Panelist Kristine
Gallegos-Haehl, Trade Professional Manager, PG&E
Panelist Linda Holroyd, CEO,
FountainBlue
Panelist Gwen McDonald, SVP,
Human Resources, NetApp
Panelist Titina Ott, Vice
President, Organizational Effectiveness, Oracle
Below are notes from our conversation.
About Influence and Your Influencing Style
Influencing is to women like
catnip is to cats - we cant resist it, as evidenced by the number of people in
attendance, and the energy of all our participants and the event overall. It's
important to be able to influence others around us to build momentum, to drive
a cause forward, to rise within an organization, for personal satisfaction. A
couple of definitions of influencing are defined below:
Jo: An influencer is someone who makes a
greater difference than one person alone can make. Your circle of influence are
those with whom you collaborate, to make stuff happen.
Titina: An influencer is someone who understands
the dynamics of persuasion and how to use it to positively impact, situations,
individuals and organizations.Your
capability to influence is made up of your personal brand, knowledge and trust
that others have with you.
Linda: An influencer is a leader who draws upon
knowledge, passion, strategy and sheer will power to move things in a desired
direction for a shared cause. An effective influencer leverages 'circles of
influence' between different groups, consciously and effectively expanding how
each group member will participate in expanding that circle of influence for
all.
Effective Influencing Techniques with or without
authority:
Always lead with your values and your integrity,
but focus on generating measurable results.
You
must always feel good about yourself and what you are doing. Doing the right
thing is more important than moving the ball forward.
Be
willing to make the tough choices and do what needs to be done, but do it with
compassion and sensitivity, and where possible, maintain relationships despite
the tough choices you need to make.
Know yourself.
Know
your talents and align complementing talents around you and work together to
generate measurable results.
Be
passionate and speak your truth. But first invest the time to reflect and discover
your truth.
Have
tough compassion with high integrity.
Do your homework.
Know
your audience.
Be
strategic about who you work with and how to connect with them.
Knowledge
is important. Take the time to explore an issue and the people around the issue
and build a strategy on how to influence each stakeholder before reaching out
to them.
Understand
what your level of acceptable risk is for any situation.
Understand
the other partys' acceptable risk and what theyre willing to leave on the
table.
Invest in your network.
Work
with partners and build collaborations and relationships.
Help
everyone around you to step up.
Learning to effectively influence others is a
journey, not a destination.
Its
a journey of personal growth and discovery. Let each milestone, each setback
set you further down that path.
Understand
your past successes and failures and your current challenges. Graph how what
you did say and do and what you should have said and done, and take that
learning as you go forward.
Keep
practicing your influencing techniques. Sometimes failures are more effective
than successes in building your skill-set, depending on your mind-set!
From
failures, learn what information you didnt have, how you could have done
things differently.
Decompress
and reflect following failures to better ensure that you learn from them.
Communicate with passion and clarity.
Build
and ensure alignment between all stakeholders with clear communication on
objectives, passions, goals, results, etc.
Be
animated and passionate to better motivate others to adopt the cause.
Speak
your truth, but be aware of HOW you speak that truth to best ensure that others
respond well. Be aware also of what the other party is ready to hear and what
they would respond to best.
Be confident and persistent. Theres no
substitution for that.
Have
the confidence to initiate rather than waiting for something to happen.
However, be prepared before you initiate.
Have
the determination to make great things happen.
Dont
assume that someone needs to give you permission or authority to step up. Take
the initiative.
Dont
assume that someone else has a better idea or suggestion. Jump in and add your
two cents, even if you dont think you have the experience or perspective to
add your input.
Sometimes,
you should act and beg forgiveness later. But make sure you do your homework
before you act.
Panelist Laura Debacker, Sr.
Director of Leadership Development and Employee Engagement, Sun Microsystems
Panelist Lori Smith, Director
of HR, Cisco
Below are notes from our conversation.
In business, you have to keep moving quickly, in response
to market and customer demands. Standing still can mean a death sentence, even
if the short-term numbers look good! So corporate strategies are proactively
changed, and new corporate executive teams assume the reigns in the quest of
proactive change.
Our panel this month had participated in many of these
'changing of the guards' as an executive from the incumbent and from the
newly-hired perspective and shared their insights on how new corporate
management teams really hit the ground running by leading a smooth changing of
executive suite members, by minimizing cultural impact, while ushering in
necessary near processes, people and procedures, thereby maximizing efficient
bottom-line progress through a transition. The panelists shared the following
advice about coping with inevitable change:
Embrace the diversity in your team, and
celebrate that everyone would respond to change differently.
oHelp
each team member cope with change, while also accepting that certain members
may not be right for the team, as things change.
oDont
take change personally, and help others not to.
oHaving
a sense of humor will help you keep your perspective during changes, and also
help address stress inherent in managing change.
oHave
realistic expectations of yourself and others. Dont try to do it all, embrace
it all yourself, and dont expect others to. But do be open to support and help
from others.
oLearn
from everyone around you, so you can identify what next to be, what next to do,
especially in an environment thats constantly changing.
Be strategic and make change an opportunity.
oFind
the opportunity with every change, and help others around you to adjust to any
change, and find their opportunities too.
oStrategic
alignment of goals between people, groups, partners, etc. is an important
element of for implementing successful change.
Maintain your leadership, reputation, core
values and competencies especially during change.
oBe
composed and confident during change, despite your internal feelings, to help
foster confidence around the change. With that said, also be candid and
transparent personally one-on-one about how changes are affecting you and what
you are doing to cope.
oAs
you work through change, keep your integrity and your reputation intact. Have a
strong moral compass while undergoing change, and ensure that you follow-up and
follow-through with your role in creating that change.
oAs
a leader, connect with people at all levels, and inspire them to embrace the
change by understanding why the change is needed, how it is aligned with them
personally, and how it can be best implemented. Mentor others along the way,
and be open to being mentored by others as well.
oBeing
self-aware about your own strengths and weaknesses will help you better and
more quickly adjust to the changes inevitable in any leadership role within a
company.
oBe
politically savvy, working with others to create, understand, communicate and
implement change.
oAdopt
learning agility habits and encourage the adoption for others, which would make
it easier for everyone to adapt to change more quickly.
Visionary leadership is critical, but not enough
to ensure successful change. Leaders at all levels must be engaged in the
changed management process, and trained and empowered to implement the change.
oClear
and constant communication of change why its needed, how it will be
implemented, how it will impact others, etc., - are a critical component of any
successful change.
oWhen
undergoing change, focus on whats under your control.
oTry
sticking through change, even when it feels uncomfortable. Often, there are
long term benefits to the changes, and widespread change in corporate structure
and direction are at times necessary for growth, particular in competitive
markets.
oAs
a rule of thumb, people learn 70% through experiences 20% through peers and
networking, and 10% through more formal trainings. Keep that in mind while
youre experiencing that change and benefit from the learnings inherent in
that change.
oHelp
others develop accountability strategies to help implement change.
We invite
interactive conversations around these notes and other topics of interest to
members of the community and also welcome you to forward our notes to
interested groups, provided that you copy us on your distribution, and that you
provide acknowledgment to FountainBlue and our sponsors and speakers, as our
notes are copyrighted by FountainBlue for 2006-2010.
FountainBlues November 13 When She Speaks, Women in
Leadership Series event, on the topic of Corporate Women on Nonprofit Boards.
Please join me in thanking our hosts at Symantec for their support of this
event and for the series! Please also join me also in thanking our lively and
engaging panel for so generously sharing their perspectives and advice:
Facilitator Wendy Beecham, CEO, FWE&E
Panelist Pamela E. Evans, Director, Executive
Programs, NetApp
Panelist Cecily Joseph, Director, Corporate
Responsibility, Legal and Public Affairs, Symantec
Panelist Marilyn Nagel, Chief Diversity Officer,
Cisco
Panelist Keren Pavese, Program Manager, Western
Division Office of Sustainability, Community Outreach & Diversity Councils,
EMC Corporation
Below are notes
from our conversation.
Our panel emphasized that serving on nonprofit boards
actually benefits them personally and professionally, provided that the board
and 1) the cause is something they feel passionate about, 2) the people are
people you enjoy serving with, 3) the projects are engaging, fulfilling, and
require your support, and 4) the workload and expectations are manageable.
Indeed, each panelist emphasized how serving on nonprofit boards helped them
with enhance their professional knowledge and understand and even impact
industry trends, with their community outreach goals, working in alignment with
corporate objectives, and with their personal development, providing enriching
experiences which stretches expertise and perspective.
If youre considering joining a board, he key to a
successful nonprofit board experience is to be strategic about which board is
right for you. Start by understanding what youre passionate about and where
you might contribute. Think also about what you get back by serving, whether
its connections or expertise or knowledge for example. Then, before making a
board commitment, you may want to consider doing some volunteer work and
getting to know the people involved. Remember that you are not just evaluating
the leader or any individual, but the whole organization as a system, so things
like how the staff and executive director and board members get along is a very
important thing to consider.
Be also knowledgeable about responsibilities and
expectations and terms, particularly when it comes to legal (do they have
insurance for board members for example) and fiduciary and
fundraising/development requirements (are their finances secure and
transparent, are you required to contribute and fundraise and if so, how much)
and terms of service (how long, how often). Treat the nonprofit board position
evaluation like a job interview, and have both parties evaluate the fit before
making a commitment.
If you are considering transferring from the corporate
world to the nonprofit world, follow some of the strategies above, including
identifying your skills and passion and getting to know the organization and
its alignment with your objectives and your alignment to theirs. Although
salaries are smaller, titles can be bigger, and the work may be more fulfilling
in many ways.
Sometimes, board participation is in alignment with
day-to-day work duties, and is part of your responsibilities in your role. Even
when its not, board participation might be positive included in performance
review meetings, particularly when direct results such as skills enhancement,
partnership development, and other tangible results are outcomes from that
participation.
If you DO decide to join a board, make sure that you do
the give/get, know what youre giving and what youre getting, and know also
when to get out, change your commitment if necessary to ensure that all
parties continue to meet objectives. If you are unsatisfied with your
participation on a board, consider also asking to change or enhance your role and
contribution, or toning down time and task requirements before deciding to get
out entirely. If you DO decide to leave, work with your nonprofit to recruit a
replacement.
The panel concluded by reiterating how personally and
professionally fulfilling it is to serve on nonprofit boards, and encourage
others to evaluate for themselves whether this is also a good option for them.
If
youre seeking a board position, visit Boardnet USA http://www.boardnetusa.org/public/home.asp and search for a
nonprofit match for someone with your skill set, education and interest.
The
Young, Nonprofit Professionals Network has a list of nonprofit resources which
may be useful for those looking at going into the nonprofit sector. http://208.106.176.241/resources/ResourceLinks.asp
CompassPoint
in Milpitas which provides a range of services for nonprofit organizations http://www.compasspoint.org
FountainBlues October 9 When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series event was on the topic of Women Leading Innovation and featured:
Facilitators Krista Henley and Rossella Derickson, Corporate Wisdom and SBODN Panelist Nina Bhatti, Principal Scientist, HP Labs Panelist Daniela Busse, Director of User Experience, SAP Labs LLC Panelist Christine Duran, Translation Technology Manager, Globalization, Core Services Group, Adobe Panelist Claudia Galvan, Lead, International Program Management Group, Microsoft Panelist Jessica Roland, Director, International Product Operations, Content Management & Archiving, EMC Corporation
Below are notes from our conversation. 'Innovation' is today's buzzword - considered integral to an organization's culture, its competitive advantage. Our panel of women leaders represented how innovation is successfully approached from different perspectives in different cultures. They passionately shared the need for corporations to remain innovative, supporting incremental advancements and ground-breaking innovations as well. Whether innovations involve new processes and tools and new business models, or whether they involve novel ways to doing things and looking at things, our panelists shared their stories of how to successfully forge innovation, even in the most resistant culture and teams, and even under the most challenging of circumstances.
Below are pearls of wisdom, generously shared by the panel: As a woman leading innovation, think of yourself as someone who sets the climate, culture and direction for the organization, making it easy for your team to develop, test and deliver innovations which serve the needs of real customers. o Leverage your communication skills to motivate, engage, and otherwise drive projects forward. Encourage others to do the same. o Leverage the differences between people to spark innovation and camaraderie. How will differing viewpoints add to the equation, making the end result more likely to serve the intended audience, or improving the development and delivery system altogether, for example? o Find a way to fit in and be accepted, be credible to your team and partners. You have to be accepted as one of them before you will be accepted as a team leader, particularly as a woman in a technical position. o Dont take things personally. Find a way to always focus on the customer and the company, while taking the high road, and using your communication skills and sense of humor. The pressure to do more with less during tough times can lead to innovation in business processes. It can also incentivize teams and companies to partner with others more efficiently. So if you think of these challenges as opportunities, what more can you and your team do? Building relationships and a support base are integral to the success of any leader. Innovation leaders should socialize their programs and plans with key decision-makers to best strategize how to forge innovation in specific key areas for the organization. o Engagement of all stakeholders is a critical component of any innovation, throughout the creation and execution process. To get buy-in from your stakeholders, understand what would motivate them to get involved and speak to their interests when proposing your project. Be strategic on your innovation focus. Know what you want to innovate, why you need to innovate it, how it will be innovation, for whom it will serve, etc. Get executive sponsorship and engagement to ensure alignment of your innovation objections with those of the organization. Be strategic also about how your innovation program is executed. o Time your message to key stakeholders to optimize receptivity to your program. o Push innovation to suppliers and strategic partners where appropriate. o Be customer-focused in your innovations. o Networking outside the company with a specific purpose can lead to real short-term and long-term innovations and forge strategic partnerships benefiting both parties. Be persistent and resourceful and creative in driving the innovation process forward. Its never an easy task. People, groups, ideas, and other factors may provide roadblocks to your best-laid plans. However, understanding and expecting these types of roadblocks will help you navigate treacherous waters and build momentum for your innovation project. Know thyself: Know what youre good at and leverage that. Be confident in what you bring to the table, while also valuing the gifts of others. Be recognized: Dont just take a back seat and let others take the credit. Dont be afraid to promote your work. Be courageous and take the risks and the responsibilities as well as the rewards of leading your innovation project.
Innovation Resources were also recommended: MindMap This highly effective diagramming method illustrates thoughts, concepts, relationships, associations, and consequences all connected to a central hub representing the main idea. http://www.mindmap.com. Bright Idea, The Global Leader In On-Demand Innovation Management http://www.brightidea.com/new.bix Emulate Microsofts ThinkWeek concept, and dedicate a week which encourages innovation submissions for review by executive management and peers.
In conclusion, the panelists agreed that ongoing, customer-centric, collaborative innovation, well executed, is necessary for corporate vitality and growth. It serves the needs of the customer, while also providing a challenge for the teams produces products and services for that customer, and serving the bottom line needs for any corporation. Indeed, innovation, well executed benefits all.
FountainBlues September 11 When She Speaks, Women in
Leadership Series was on the topic of Successful
Cross-Cultural Communications and featured:
Facilitator Francine Gordon, FGordon Group,
SDForum Womens Group
Panelist
Roya Afshar, Software Development Director, Oracle
Panelist
Khrystyne Heard, Manager, Human Resources, LifeScan
Panelist Debi Hirshlag, VP, Worldwide Human Resources,
Flextronics
Panelist Peggy Wolf, Manager, Cisco Services
Global I&D
Below are notes from our conversation.
About Cross-Cultural
Communications
When one
thinks about cross-cultural theres an assumption that its about people from
different backgrounds, but its much broader than that. It encompasses
differences in geography, languages, generations, companies, functional areas,
regions and industries. It doesnt happen just when you travel, or just when
you talk to someone over the phone. It happens with the staff, partners, and
other associates you work with.
The panelists shared some
sage advice critical for successfully communicating across- culture/
generation/ company/ area/ geography/ industry/etc.
Accept and understand
that everyones different, yet we are more alike that we are different. Close the cultural
communication gaps where appropriate, yet embrace the opportunities in the
differences because diversity in perspectives, talents, opinions, etc. lead to
new ways of thinking and doing things which may generate innovation and
financial returns for your company.
Build relationship of
trusts across
people with different backgrounds, and help others in your group do the same.
Strive to understand why there are differences, and collaborate with others
to find a way to meet common goals.
Dont be afraid to ask questions of trusted others, but first build
relationships of trust before asking.
Leverage technology and particularly social networking tools to build
relationships between people and groups who are culturally diverse.
Be the kind of authentic
leader that supports cultural diversity, and leverage that diversity for
business results.
Set the tone for others on respecting other peoples culture, recognizing
similarities, embracing differences.
Dont just listen but also HEAR what is said and intended.
Adjust the way you interact with others based on what you learn about each
culture in general and each individual within that culture.
Cultural differences impact peoples perceptions about someones directness
and aggressiveness and intentions. Someone who speaks clearly and assertively
in one persons perception might be perceived as self-serving or combative from
another persons perspective. Asking questions (particularly open-ended),
understanding objectives and intentions of interacting parties may help address
misunderstandings based on these cultural differences.
If youre open and sincere and communicate respectfully people from a
different culture will respect and appreciate your efforts and intentions and
give you the benefit of the doubt. It may help overcome language barriers and
inadvertent social faux pas.
Develop your emotional intelligence and that of your team.
Use brain maps to help make quick assessments and judgments about people
who are different than you, but dont be afraid to re-draw the map based on new
information/current interactions.
When resolving conflicts between
people with different cultures, focus on how you can make YOUR priorities and
perspective more important to that other person.
Be an expert communicator, recognizing that communication takes many forms from
verbal to written to body language.
Be sensitive to how you are communicating, how others are communicating,
and how you and others are responding to that communication and why.
Invite those who are not forthcoming to communicate and share in
alternative ways like one-on-one for example.
Manage your emotions when communicating with others. Make it a
left-brained/analytical task to understand what happened to stir your emotions.
Create a plan and manage relationships and interactions based on your
understanding of what happened, and have fact-based communications with the
other party.
To best respect and connect with others from another culture, leverage available resources and continue
to learn about cultural differences, but just use it as a guideline. It is
far better to first study, understand and respect other cultures and adjust
your understanding, assumptions and actions while actually interacting with
others from that culture.
Your knowledge of how
cultures are changing will help you better manage and lead.
In general, younger generation, far more open and inquisitive about the
world. Developing countries with access to technology are fascinated about the
world culturally and economically. Technology is leveling the playing field for
the younger generations, which will impact the workplace overall, more and more
and sooner than we think!
Above all, dont go into
the unconscious incompetence the mode of making assumptions, following
stereotypes.
FountainBlues August 14 When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series was on the topic of Politics at Work: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly and featured:
Facilitator Bobbie LaPorte, RAL & Associates
Panelist Mercedes De Luca, Global Customer Experience and Chief Information Officer at myShape.com, previously VP of Global IT at Yahoo!
Panelist Lise E Edwards, Oracle Women's Leadership (OWL), Program Manager, Oracle Human Resources
Panelist Susan Lai, Senior Director, Finance, Symantec Corporation
Panelists Eileen Sullivan, Group Director, Cadence
Below are notes from the conversation.
About Politics Lets face it office politics is a reality for everyone, regardless of the size of your organization or your position. But its good news that its a hot topic, and that people are more comfortable talking about it now than before, and supporting each other in addressing political challenges and understanding political nuances.
When asked to define politics, there was discussion about agendas and objectives and leveraging your personal influence and power, and that of others to build that agenda. The panelists concurred that at times there are unnecessary negative connotations around politics, so they advised that we know and accept that politics shapes their career and day-to-day work life.
However, there was also consensus that the WAY this is done will influence how others perceive you. Theres a difference between communicating transparently and building and leveraging relationships and achieving objectives no matter the cost to others.
Advice for Navigating the Political Waters in YOUR Organization The panelists shared lessons learned about miscommunications and misunderstandings about intent, about motives, about objectives and emphasized the need to build relationships, ask questions, seek alignment, understand objectives, and work together in alignment to achieve shared corporate goals.
Repeatedly, the panelists emphasized the importance of building relationships with people at all levels, and the need to partner with people at many levels to make things happen. And a critical factor for developing relationships is clear and open communication, with an emphasis asking a lot of questions and reaching an understanding on motivations rather than working on assumptions and judgments.
There was an equal emphasize on understanding yourself, and your own passions and objectives, and maintaining relationships while staying true to yourself. Indeed, if you remain true to yourself, you will build your own brand and people will know what to expect when they work with you.
The panelists emphasized that its important to orient discussions around whats right for the company and focus on facts and work, not taking actions and words personally.
Specific pearls of wisdom are listed below:
Take the opportunity to interview with as many people as possible, to get to know the company and its people prior to starting there. Even after you land, dedicate some time to meeting with key influencers and develop those relationships.
Dont lose yourself, your own sense of style. Know when and where to compromise that style.
In every situation, you have a choice. Be the person you want to be, or you may regret what you did.
Even if you DO regret what you did, be truthful, forthright, humble in your communications with the people you hurt along the way.
Decide whether which is the right battle for you at the right time.
Dont take sides.
Dont let it get personal.
Seek to understand before being understood.
Be clear to the people youre working with.
Ask for help.
It can be tiring and lonely to constantly play political games.
Network.
Make your mistakes also your learnings.
Men look at politics differently. They see it as a game, a competition, and they dont take it personally.
Not everyone has the best interest of all in mind. Handle closely those who dont.
Have the meeting before the meeting so that you can plan and align and avoid surprises.
Spread your circle of influence.
Lead with your passion.
Be politically astute: pick up on things that are said and unsaid about a person, a group, an organization. Plan accordingly.
Understand why someone you dont respect might be valued by others, particularly if they are respected by others high up in the management chain.
Rise above the bullying.
Be self-aware while being other-centric.
Be skilled at influencing up.
Ask for what you want.
Mentor others. Be a mentee.
FountainBlues July 10
When She Speaks, Women in Leadership event was on the topic of Womens Leadership Styles: Whats Right for
You? and featured:
Panelist Nancy
Long, Senior Vice President, Global Human Resources, Hitachi Data Systems
Panelist Marleen
McDaniel, Serial Entrepreneur and Business Adviser
Below are notes from the
conversation.
The panelists concurred
that men and women are definitely different in their outlook, and the way they
lead and manage and communicate. Accepting that there ARE these differences,
and working with these differences will help women to better lead and succeed,
particularly in workplaces dominated by men. Understanding the cultural
tolerance for factors such as use of profanity (whether it is religious, sexual
or excremental) and being constantly aware of both the audience (gender, age,
geography, etc.) and the objectives will help leaders of either gender better
communicate clearly and lead effectively, driving results. In addition,
embracing more typically female communication and collaboration skills will
benefit leaders of either gender.
Our panelists advised
women to focus on the business objectives, backed up by information and facts,
while also considering each audience and their individual perspectives. They
also encouraged women to do more of the things that men do to make them
successful: from leveraging contacts more proactively to asking for what they
want, to promoting themselves more objectively and strategically and ensuring
that there is a support base of advocates with influence who can help them
succeed.
With that said, the
panelists encouraged us to identify and leverage our own strengths.
Interestingly, they agreed that making mistakes and trying things that dont
feel right are both very important lessons needed to help people reach their
gender-independent true north position leadership styles that are in
alignment with values, beliefs and abilities. With this type of confidence and
leadership, one can serve as a role model for teams and organizations, while
also helping determine whether the current environment is in alignment with
ones personal style.
In conclusion, the
panelists are advocating for a balance of being tough, especially when necessary,
but also being supportive, collaborative and compassionate, while focusing on
business objectives. Taking responsibility for actions, parking your ego while
focusing on facts, and transparently and clearly communicating progress are all
factors that build trust within teams and organizations, and help drive results
for the organization. Getting feedback and support from mentors, team and
others will help leaders focus on self-improvement qualities which would
benefit all. Lastly, as you climb up that corporate ladder, take the time to
connect with and support others along the way.
Resources:
She Wins, You
Win: The Most Important Rule Every Businesswoman Needs to Know by Gail
Evans.Gail Evans is a journalist and
was the first female executive vice-president of CNN. She became a best-selling
author with her first book, "Play Like a Man Win Like a Woman: What Men
Know About Success That Women Need to Learn" http://www.amazon.com/She-Wins-You-Win-Businesswoman/dp/1592400256
Nice Girls Don't
Get the Corner Office: 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their
Career by Dr. Lois P. Frankel. She is the president of Corporate Coaching
International as well as the author of numerous articles and several books.
With over twenty years of experience in human resources development, she is a
frequently invited guest on talk radio, television, conferences, corporate
workshops, and retreats. http://www.amazon.com/Nice-Girls-Dont-Corner-Office/dp/0446531324
FountainBlue's June 12 When She Speaks event was on the topic of Working with Millennials and featured:
Facilitator Lisa Orrell, The Generation Relations
Expert, The Orrell
Group, author of Millennials Incorporated
Panelist Urvi Bhandari, Sales Manager, AT&T
Panelist Megan Campi, Customer Service Relationship
Manager, Cisco
Panelist Kristen Dearing, Leader of Strategic Sales,
Global Communications and Media, Sun Microsystems
Panelist Claudia Galvan, Lead, International Program
Management Group, Microsoft
Panelist Shalini Govil-Pai, Lead PM, Google
Panelist Lori Smith, Director of HR, Cisco
Working with Millennials
The
Millennial Generation, otherwise known as Generation Y, is no longer made-up of
just kids and teens. Born in the early 80s and 90s, the eldest are now
graduating college and entering and impacting the professional workforce. As
the earliest Baby Boomers are starting to reach retirement age, and with the
increasing pressures for organizations large and small to recruit and retain in
key talent from the millennial generation, it is becoming increasingly more
important to understand and work with this generation of workers.
Millennials
are in general energetic with a plethora of ideas and a direct, assertive style
in communicating them, without necessarily following established business
etiquette or without respecting chain-of-command expectations (speaking to top
management over direct bosses for example). They are globally-minded and
techno-philic, leveraging social media tools such as YouTube, FaceBook, texting
and Twitter. They are used to multi-tasking (texting during meetings,
committing to many work and life projects and juggling multiple priorities), to
confidently speaking whats on their mind (directly communicating their goals and
objectives), and to being global in their interests and connections.
With
all these strengths, a noted weakness is that many Millennials are more
interested in generating ideas than in seeing them through to results and
conclusions, often distracted by the next idea. There was also a conversation
about the perceived sense of entitlement that many Millennials have, and how to
better understand and work with Millennials who are perceived as having a sense
of entitlement. There was general agreement that it is more a perception based
on the confident, direct, salary- and role- centered communications and desire
to move quickly and make a positive difference than an ACTUAL desire for
privileges and rights and title, etc, without merit. Therefore, the suggestion
from the panel is for Millennials to understand how they are coming across and
folks of younger and older generations to understand the Millennials
perspective and therefore be less likely to take offense to it.
The
panel shared some sage and practical advice on how to recruit, retain and
communicate with Millennials. The overall emphasis was on training managers to
be more resourceful, more communicative, and more flexible in understanding
what motivates Millennials, and in keeping them engaged in projects which
interest them, and specific suggestions are listed below.
Leverage the strengths and global interests of
Millennials to direct them into leadership opportunities outside work, while
also keeping them engaged at work.
Challenge managers to make their projects appear more
compelling and exciting to Millennials.
Encourage managers to open communication channels
between Millennials and senior management as an opportunity to share ideas,
motivate Millennials and even provide reverse-mentoring opportunities.
Initiate friendly competitions leveraging social media
will help Millennials participate in strategic conversations ensuring that
technologies and ideas address the needs of younger target audiences, for
example.
Help Millennials to develop patience while building
successes and skills and personal brand as they strive to achieve their
short-term and long-term career objectives.
Provide continual feedback and communications to
Millennials as they were raised in an age of instant communication and crave
this level of feedback.
Leverage global communication technology to better
attract and retain Millennials.
Take every opportunity to mentor and support
high-potential Millennials, for they are our future leaders.
Welcome and encourage play in the workplace, from
scooters to XBoxes for example, as part of the corporate culture.
Engage Millennials in strategies to better communicate
with other Millennials and every else, through social networking channels.
Leaders
and organizations will find that following the practices noted above is not
only going to better attract and retain Millennials, but it will positively
impact workers and overall culture. Indeed, Millennials speak for other workers
when they express displeasure or ideas for change, but they are more vocal and
direct about expressing their ideas, and less tolerant if change doesnt
happen. Listening to the needs of Millennials and making the changes will
positively impact working conditions for all.
FountainBlues
May 8 When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series was on the topic of The Mentors in Our Lives and featured:
Facilitator Kim Wise, CEO, Mentor Resources
Panelist Martha Galley, Senior
Director, Windows Live Business Development, Microsoft
Panelist Ruth Gaube, VP and Deputy Executive Council, Symantec
Panelist Amy Gonzales, Regional West
Coast Director, Women Unlimited
Panelist Shivani Govil, Corporate
Strategy Group, Office of the CEO, SAP
Panelist Darcy Kiefaber, HR,
LifeScan
Below
are notes from the conversation:
Our esteemed panel shared their perspectives on
the importance of mentoring for their personal development, for the resiliency
of their organizations, and for the general support of the network and
ecosystem. Their view is that being a mentor supports your organization,
whether your mentee is within the organization or outside it; and that being a
mentee is an investment in your own success and leadership. Serving in both
roles provides benefits to all parties. Mentorship benefits include skill
development, confidence building, soft skills, political astuteness, etc., and can
support successful career management, competency development, personal and
professional development, etc., Below are some pearls of wisdom shared from the
experience of being a mentor and being a mentee:
Believe in yourself, have self confidence.
Choose what you do: just because you CAN
doesnt mean you SHOULD.
Manage a Work/Life Balance.
Trust your instincts.
Lighten up, keep things in perspective.
Be comfortable taking measured risks.
Listen to the advice that you give to
others.
Appreciate your personal skills.
Broaden your perspective by engaging with
people at all levels and backgrounds.
In general you should be strategic about the best
mentoring strategy for you considering factors such as why youd like to be
mentored, what your strengths are, what objectives you have, who you should
approach, etc., With that as a given, there are a wide range of successful
mentoring relationships mentorship across roles, across organizations, across
geographies, etc., So be strategic about how youd like to grow through
mentorship (as a mentor or a mentee) and flexible about how you get those
benefits.
As you seek the right mentor for you, be specific
about your goals and your skills, and consider tactical factors such as
location and time commitment etc., before reaching out to your targeted list of
potential mentors, generally who are two levels above where you are within an
organization. Then have the confidence to approach the targeted mentor and
impress with your clarity on goals, objectives, roles, etc., and they will be
more likely to make that mentoring commitment.
Remember that mentoring relationships are dynamic
and interactive, and be flexible enough to change your mentors and your goals
and relationship as you progress. Mentors may become mentees for example,
another mentor might be needed in another area, work/life balance challenges
might become more or less important, etc.,
Many of the best corporations are invested in the
success of their workforce and support structured and grassroots affinity and
mentoring circle programs designed to support the staff. Investigate what your
organization is doing in support of its people, and how you can contribute to
it and benefit from it.
Whether youre within a corporation, in a start-up,
in transition, or on your own, develop a mentoring plan that works for you,
benefiting yourself, your organization, your community.
FountainBlues
April 10 When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series was on the topic of Leading with Power, Influence and Integrity and featured:
Facilitator Camille Smith,
Founder/President, Work In Progress Coaching
Panelist Erna Arnesen, VP of
Global Services, Channels and Alliances, Cisco
Panelist Nina Bhatti, Principal
Scientist, HP Labs
Panelist Nancy Long, Sr Vice
President of Human Resources, Hitachi
Data Systems
Panelist Alexandra Woody, Sr. Dir.
Program Management & FPLC, Flextronics
Below
are notes from the conversation.
About Leading with Power, Influence and Integrity
Power, influence and integrity are
three inter-connected circles.
Whereas there are many ways to describe
power, the concept of integrity is more nebulous. It refers to a concept of
wholeness, of alignment with your personal values, as well as that of your
organization and your team.
Defining leadership moments are
not easy. There will be conflict, resistance, difficult circumstances. You may
test a relationship, or even jeopardize your job. If you are up to the task and
doing the right thing based on your personal assessment, your personal moral
standards, it will prepare you for more of these opportunities to learn and
grow and lead.
Leading with power, influence and
integrity takes the strength and intelligence to make plans and the courage to
execute on them, especially under difficult circumstances, especially when many
variables impact the right course of action.
Leadership goes well beyond
positional power, where someone has the authority to manage other people or
projects and might rightfully use coercion as a strategy. People can also gain
power by becoming an expert/authority on a specific topic, by
encouraging/reinforcing others around them.
Even if you have positional power,
use that power judiciously. Empowerment and engagement are much more
effectively at getting things done and building positive relationships.
Power over is about coercion,
being domineering. Power to is more about affecting change. Power with is
centered on collaboration. Power Within is centered on yourself.
Advice for Leading with Power, Influence and Integrity
Dont shrink from any
conversations with yourself, with others. Have the confidence and ability to
speak up and keep speaking up until you have nothing further to say.
Insist on a seat at the table.
Proactively manage your
relationships with others, AND your relationship with yourself.
Focus on people as they are the
most important assets.
Surround yourself with people who
can support you and believe in you.
Leadership is not painted in black
and white. Be aware of the nuances of behaviors and interactions and manage
accordingly.
Be passionate and hold to your
true north values, your personal moral standards.
It may be perceived that adhering
to your moral standards would make you less powerful, but actually the opposite
is true. When you act with integrity people take notice and give you more
power, more influence.
Figuring out whats right and
wrong might not be as difficult as deciding between one of two good things.
Focus both on your core values but
also on the core values of your organization. Ensure alignment when youre
considering joining a company, and as you work with the company.
Consider strategically who will be
impacted by actions and decisions made and plan accordingly.
Be aware that a lot of people are
watching what you say and dont say, what you do and dont do. Your next
opportunities, indeed your reputation, will be impacted by the actions and
decisions you make day to day, every day.
Bring a skill of value to the
table.
Accept but manage your emotions.
Most people are less effective at getting things done if too much emotion is
distracting them from doing the tasks at hand, or the strategic thinking needed
to achieve objectives.
Say what you will do, and do what
you say you will do.
Leadership is about doing the
right thing, even though no ones going to know. Oprah Winfrey
Have the discipline and control to
influence your power over others lives. Clint Eastwood
FountainBlues
March 13 When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series event was on the topic of Agility - The Key to Building a Successful Career and
featured:
Facilitator Sandra Wales,
President, Wales Investments, Inc.
Panelist Pat Cross, Vice
President, Career Management, Right Management
Panelist Lisa Dearborn, Vice
President, Leadership Development, Hitachi
Data Systems
Panelist Lisa Jing, Program
Manager, Integrative Health, Cisco
Panelist Patricia Wimberly, Sr.
Manager, Solutions Practice, Global Services - Western Division, EMC
Corporation
In
this century, it is much more difficult to plan your career path, as there is
more fluidity within and across corporations, across global markets, plus
better acceptance of people moving from one role or industry to another. This
month's panel will focus on agility as the key to building a successful career,
featuring women who have changed roles and industries, positions and companies.
They will share their stories of successes and challenges, and also share how
they are supporting others to do the same.
Below
are notes from the conversation:
Thoughts on Why Agility Is So Important
Being agile helps you leverage your skills
in different industries, and will help you better leverage your abilities and
strengths and better grow and expand yourself into new areas, skills and
networks.
Being agile displays your leadership
ability and flexibility, your ability to lead and succeed using skills which
are transferable from a variety of situations.
Being agile helps you position yourself
for new opportunities in new companies, roles, countries, industries.
Being agile may provide huge financial
benefits.
In the best case scenario, career agility can help you progressively
become all that you can be personally and professionally.
Thoughts on How YOU can adopt a more agile
philosophy for your career
Think about the skills and strengths that
you have and how they can be transferred to another role, company, industry.
Get clarity about what makes you special,
what youre passionate about, and plan on embracing opportunities which would
help you shine.
Be open to new possibilities, even if they
werent planned. Sometimes a negative situation is a positive one in disguise!
As one panelist remarked, Welcome the opportunity to get thrown into the deep
end!
Take the opportunity to get the education
you need to succeed, whether its an MBA, a conference or lecture,
informational interviewing, in-depth reading, etc.,
Partner with current management on your
short term and long term goals. Ask what it would take specifically to get to
the next level of your career, and be proactive in your management of your
career.
As you proactively plan your career,
ensure that you keep focusing on your strengths, and moving in the direction of
your passions and intentions.
There is generally no need to remediate a
missing skill, unless it would interfere with your ability to achieve your
goals.
Embrace new opportunities with energy and
enthusiasm, and sell to your strengths.
Dont be intimidated about your lack of
deep technical or industry knowledge, and do sell how quickly you learn, how
your current skills are an asset, and how energetic and passionate you are
about what youre doing!
Network with people of similar interests.
With that said, also network with people
with different interests!
Surround yourself with people who believe
in you and will proactively support you. Be willing to reciprocate.
