Prospective Sponsors Will Notice Your Brand…..It Speaks Louder Than Words

So you want to get a sponsor in your organization…….somebody with influence who is ready to go to bat for you in furthering your career.  How can a brand help you accomplish this?
Think about the power of brands.  It can be a food, car, hotel, or clothing brand.  What makes a brand powerful?  What makes you go back again and again to a brand?  I’m guessing it probably isn’t just their logo or outward trappings that lure you back.

Just having a brand with frills doesn’t guarantee success; it’s what is behind the brand that really counts.  And that is true for personal brands as well.  Here are two examples of what I’m talking about. 

When I lived in Seattle there was a marvelous small restaurant on the Olympic Peninsula that served the most incredible seafood meals.  Whenever I was there a line of people, rain or shine, were always waiting to get a table at the place.  This little restaurant didn’t have a fancy logo or, for that matter, fancy anything….except fabulous food and super friendly service.  Forty-four years later I still remember that wonderful place and its name…..The 3 Crabs Restaurant!

On the other hand, I’ve been to restaurants all over the world that initially enticed me in by a fancy logo or an attractive storefront, but didn’t have anything else to back them up.  I can’t remember their names now nor would I ever visit them again.  Like these examples, personal branding is all about putting your best impression forward AND sustaining that impression over time. 

How do you develop a professional brand?  Authenticity is key!   Keep in mind the words of Abraham Lincoln:  “You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.”  If your brand is not authentic, people won’t be fooled and neither will a prospective sponsor!

Knowing who you are, what you contribute, and where you are going make up your brand’s core.  You should not be surprised if this sounds familiar.  Branding is interwoven with how you see and conduct yourself.  It’s your vision, purpose, and strengths, daily actions, writing, speaking, interactions with others and your appearance and “soft skills.”

Perceptions about you by others play a big part in the type of possibilities and advancements that come your way.  If you know and follow your vision and purpose, use and live your strengths, and set and take action on your goals then the likelihood of building and sustaining your brand is almost guaranteed as is the prospect of gaining a sponsor.

Brands are not useful, though, unless they are communicated to and known by others.  A product can have all the best elements of a brand, but until the brand is recognized it can’t live up to its potential.  An important element of professional branding is visibility.  You not only need to develop your brand and nurture it, you must also publicize it to make a sustained imprint in furthering your career.

Make developing your brand a priority.  Then own it, be proud of it and publicize it every day through daily actions that speak louder than words.  You will be surprised how much easier your career can advance and how much more interest a prospective sponsor will have in supporting you.

Sponsors clear the path for career advancement. But how do you get one?

Networking plays a critical role in career advancement.  An important part of the network portfolio is having a sponsor within your work organization. In simple terms, a sponsor is a senior manager in the organization who actively advocates for your career advancement and is in a position of influence to help push it forward.  But according to studies from Rock Health, (http://www.slideshare.net/RockHealth/rock-report-iii-women-in-healthcare), McKinsey (www.mckinsey.com/.../PDFs/Women_matter_mar2012_english.ashx), Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304746604577381953238775784.html), and others, a top barrier to career advancement for women is the lack of this type of sponsor.  So how can women secure a sponsor at work? 
 
Many companies are trying to turn this phenomenon around by instituting formal mentor and sponsorship programs.  If you are fortunate to work for this type of company, be proactive and join the program. 

If your company does not have a sponsorship program, the following is an overview of some preparatory actions you can take.  In the following weeks, I’ll step you through each of these, giving you more specifics, ideas, and examples of how these actions can be executed.

1.       Know who you are and what you want. Clarify your career goals before seeking a sponsor and hone your elevator speech. Know your passion and strengths and be prepared to share these as well as your previous successes and career ambitions with others.  If people don’t know what you want and the value you bring, they can’t help you move your career forward. 

2.       Develop your brand.  A brand signifies how you want others to think about you.  It includes your values, attitude, physical appearance, affective behavior, emotional intelligence, your knowledge and the value you project.

3.       Network with senior executives.  Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself at meetings to prospective sponsors, or volunteer for projects, committees, and initiatives that will give you visibility and that the prospective sponsor champions. A word of caution:  you must perform.  That means your work on projects and other initiatives must be outstanding. Senior managers are NOT going to advocate for someone they don’t know and who cannot produce and execute.

4.       Volunteer for cross-functional projects and initiatives and then perform well.  This will give you heighten visibility throughout the organization and showcase your brand and performance. 

5.       When you believe that you have established yourself through these steps, you can approach a prospective sponsor.  (It may be the case that you won’t have to approach a sponsor; the sponsor will approach you after seeing your value).  Make an appointment with the prospective sponsor.  In the meeting be clear that you are looking for a sponsor relationship.  Be direct about the value you bring and where you want your career to go. Let the prospective sponsor know that you are open for opportunities that can advance your career.      

Being Inspired and Motivated by a Personal Vision

This is the sixth in a series of posts on the story behind the making of my new book, 52 Week Game Changer:  How She Leads

 I often say in my workshops, “If you don’t know where you are going, all roads lead to nowhere,” which is a take-off on the Lewis Carroll quote, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” 

In my experience people without a vision for their future find it difficult, if not impossible, to feel fulfilled.  When working with women on their career planning, three of the first questions I always ask are:  What is your vision?  What is your purpose? What is your passion?

Studies on leaders show that successful leaders have a life’s vision and sense of purpose, but frequently we do not take the time to think about what we want for our legacy or the purpose of our lives.  The bottom line is:  If you want to be a leader you have to lead yourself first.  And you can’t   And you can’t lead yourself unless you know where you are headed.

Personal vision and purpose are standards and benchmarks that guide you throughout your life.  They help make it easier to arrive at decisions, solve problems, work with others, and face challenges because you have a yardstick by which to measure each of these.  Once you have a vision and purpose, career choices are made simpler; determining a course of action is made more clear; prioritizing your activities is more straightforward; having self-confidence and standing up for yourself feels comfortable; and leading others becomes natural. 

Vision and purpose are unifying themes throughout the 52 week game changing journey…..and when you’re finished you’ll never “leave home”without the two.

Honoring the Individuality and Values of Every Woman Who Turns Its Pages

This is the fifth in a series of posts on how my new book, 52 Week Game Changer:  How She Leads, went from vision to reality.

I believe that everyone has the potential for leadership.  I also believe that the roots of leadership are found at our very core—our personal strengths and values.  Leadership is rooted in who you are, not in trying to be someone else. Unfortunately, many of us do not think about, much less honor, our strengths and values to the extent that we should. 

Through coursework for leadership coaching and through the coaching experience itself (both as the coach and the coachee), my belief has only intensified that honoring personal strengths and values is as necessary for leadership success as water is for sustaining aquatic life.   If we do not know who we are how can others know and follow us?  If we do not honor our strengths and values, practicing and exhibiting them, how can we expect to model the way for others?  If we are not constant in the use of our strengths and values, how can we expect others to trust us?

The definition of confidence is a belief in one’s own abilities.  Studies have repeatedly shown that an important part of leadership is self-confidence and the belief that you can succeed. Those who lack self-confidence often avoid risk and are more cautious in career choices. Knowing your strengths and knowing how to leverage these is a critical underpinning of self-confidence.

Because knowing, honoring and levering your strengths is essential for leadership, six weeks in the initial part of changing the game is devoted to helping you know and honor what you bring to the table, finding your voice to speak for yourself, standing up for your convictions and believing that you have the ability to “Change the Game.”

The Title: I Knew It the Instant I Saw It

The following is the third in the series of how my book, 52 Week Game Changer: How She LEADS, went from vision to reality.

Game changer!  I was browsing through the Internet. I don’t even remember what it was that I was looking for.  But all of a sudden, there it was in bold letters as a title on some webpage.  “Game changer.”   I ran into the next room saying to my husband Russell and my dog Bruno, “That’s it!  Game changer.”  Both looked at me quizzically, not understanding the significance of the moment, but none-the-less cheered me on with “You Go, Girl!”  I knew the moment I saw those words, that they reflected the spirit of my new-to-be book.  The book would be a game changer for helping women to believe in themselves, honor their individuality, and valuing their strengths. It would be a game changer serving as a companion, confidant, cheerleader, supporter, and sponsor to women as they cultivated their leadership potential.

I knew that “Game Changer” was only part of the title.  It wouldn’t be an overnight game change.  Changing the game meant cultivating, growing, and feeling comfortable in leadership over time.  Discovering, acknowledging, and honoring personal strengths and values would be the book’s core.  Finding and then being inspired by a personal vision and motivated by purpose, developing confidence, and finding a voice would require reflection and exercise.  Committing to goals, setting accountabilities and keeping them, would mean taking simple steps on what would be a game changing journey, not a singular event. 

The title of my new-to-be book, flowed naturally:  52 Week Game Changer:  How She Leads.

Order from http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/mljohnsphd and receive an immediate 15% Discount.  Coming to other major booksellers soon.

Next blog:  Revealing the Game!

From Chaos to Inspiration

The following is the second in the series of how my book, 52 Week Game Changer:  How She Leads, went from vision to reality.

The heart of my book had been revealed, but to fulfill its purpose, the book needed structure, organization, and arrangement.   Over the next couple of weeks, ideas for the book’s content, like Ping-Pong balls, popped into my head endlessly, and at the oddest times. Sometimes the ideas magically appeared while I was strolling in my town’s historic square, or when I was walking the dog, or when I woke, tossing and turning at 3:00 AM in the morning.  I ceaselessly catalogued all of them in my mind.  I doodled sketches on notepads, and wrote ideas on post-its, the grocery list, and even on the phone message log.  I struggled constantly in trying to find the right balance among the infinite thread of ideas.  Chaos seemed to reign.  But one day inspiration hit like a fireball…..the clues had been there all the time, I just hadn’t noticed until now.

I have been a career advisor, mentor, and sponsor to hundreds (and perhaps even thousands) of women over my 40 year career.  I have worked with women; I have been in a professional field made up of over 90% women and I have seen women struggle to try to make it up the career ladder.  I’ve been there myself, for goodness sake! 

I’ve seen and experienced the structural and cultural barriers that hold women back, but I also know that for many of us the center of what drives us forward in fulfilling our potential is frequently also the same as what holds us back…..it is ourselves. 

This is the inspiration that hit me like a fireball and created form out of the endless rain of ideas.  The book’s structure would be framed around ourselves….the celebration of personal strengths and values, and the discovery and commitment to a personal vision, purpose, mission and goals.  Leveraging these —strengths, values, vision, purpose, mission and goals—is the essence upon which leadership rests and when activated will not be stopped. 

In the end, we cannot truly lead others until we are inspired and can lead ourselves.

Next installment of the series:  Discover how the title of my book almost fell into my lap!

Game Changer

After my presentation “If You Want to Sit at the Head of the Table, You Have to be Sitting There First,” at the national meeting of the American Health Information Management Association last October, several women from the audience asked me and if I had written a book about what I had discussed. I hadn’t written a book, and after repeated questions like this one throughout the convention, I knew what I would be doing in the weeks ahead! I’m happy to announce that the book, 52 Week Game Changer: How She Leads, is almost ready for unveiling!

Read the inside story about the making of the book and get a sneak preview of its contents in my four-week series that starts below. Checkout the book's trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETKbdZ9FmC8

Finding Soul

The inside story of writing this book tells as much about it as the actual contents. And it is this journey that I want to share over the next four weeks, hoping that the story inspires and forges a deeper relationship with those who will embrace the “game changing” life in fulfilling their leadership potential.

During the days following the convention, my mind seemed like a whirlpool trying to capture the book’s essence. What is the vision? What is the purpose? The ideas circled round and round unendingly.

From my experience in climbing the professional and academic ladder and from research findings about women and leadership, I felt instinctively that the book-to-be must be more than a collection of lists, lessons, or rules. I believe that leadership doesn’t happen overnight, in a day, a week, or a month. Rather it is cultivated and developed over time. Lists, lessons and rules may be helpful guides, but its cultivation, the process of nurturing and promoting personal growth, that is leadership’s foundation.

Over the next few weeks, I took snippets of time to ponder the “soul” of my book-to-be. If I were to launch writing a book on women’s leadership, I had to believe that its content would help women move forward. It had to inspire women to believe in themselves. It had to serve as a companion, confidant, cheerleader, supporter, and sponsor and above all else it had to honor the individuality and values of every woman who turned its pages.

In this vision I had found the soul of my book!

Next week, “From Chaos to Inspiration.”

 

 

 

Violence Against Women.....What's the Issue?

How prevalent is violence against women in the United States and what is its cost?

According to the Centers for Disease Control, sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence are major public health problems in the United States.  Physical injury and mental health issues can result from these forms of violence and may lead to hospitalization, disability or death.  Statistics from the Centers of Disease Control National Violence Against Women Survey, November 2011 report the following.

Nearly 1 in 5 women in the United States has been raped in her lifetime (18.3%) equaling almost 22 million U.S. women.  Nearly 1 in 2 women (44.6%) experienced sexual violence victimization other than rape at some point in their lives which is more than 53 million women in the United States.  About 1 in 8 women or more than 15 million women report experiencing sexual coercion in their lifetimes and more than 1 in 4 women (32 million women) have experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact in their lifetime.

Approximately 1 in 6 women (16.2%) in the United States has experienced stalking at some point in her lifetime where she was very fearful or believed that she or someone close to her would be harmed or killed as a result.

Statistics regarding sexual and physical violence experienced by an intimate partner are equally alarming.  One in 3 women (32.9%) has expe­rienced physical violence by an intimate partner and nearly 1 in 10 (9.4%) has been raped by an intimate partner in her lifetime.

The impact of intimate partner violence ranges from fear for safety to physical injury.  62.6% experienced at least one post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom, 41.6% were injured as a result of the violence, and 28.0% missed at least one day of work or school.  Research suggests that victims of intimate partner and sexual violence make more visits to health providers over their lifetime, have more hospital stays, have longer duration of hospital stays, and are at risk of a wide range of physical, mental, reproductive, and other health consequences over their lifetimes.

Violence Against Women Act

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is a federal law whose purpose is to end violence against women and remedy the laws and social practices that have fostered and justified the history of violence against women. The VAWA was introduced in Congress in 1994 by then Senator Joe Biden and received bipartisan support.  The VAWA was passed in 1994, as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, and was reauthorized in 2000 and 2005. The current authorization expired in 2011.  VAWA focuses on nine specific areas of intervention: enhancing judicial and law enforcement tools to combat violence against women (Title I); improving services for victims (Title II); services, protection, and justice for young victims of violence (Title III); strengthening America’s families by preventing violence (Title IV); strengthening the healthcare system’s response (Title V); housing opportunities and safety for battered women and children (Title VI); providing economic security for victims (Title VII); protection of battered and trafficked immigrants (Title VIII); and safety for Indian women (Title IX) (From the American Bar Association).

Reauthorizations in 2000 and 2005 that included improvements and more programs in the legislation also received bipartisan support.  Until this year reauthorization of the Bill had not been an issue.   However, reauthorization is languishing in Congress.

The Senate version of reauthorization (S 1925) was passed by the Senate on April 26, 2012, by a 68-31 vote and included new provisions to protect Native Americans, undocumented immigrants, college women and LGBT members. 

The House version of reauthorization, H.R. 4970, a more restrictive version of reauthorization passed by a vote of 225-205, with 216 Republicans and 6 Democrats supporting.  H.R. 4970 excludes the additional provisions the Senate reauthorization included  such as protections to Native American women and also seeks to limit the number of U Visas that are granted to women who were abused, giving them temporary legal status and work eligibility.   The American Bar Association, among others, opposes H.R. 4970, considering it a retreat in the battle against domestic and sexual violence.

Mitt Romney has NOT publically stated his position on the Violence to Women Act.  In April 2012 a spokeswoman for the Romney campaign stated that he "supports it" and "hopes it can be reauthorized without turning it into a political football."   What Romney supports is anybody’s guess.  Romney still has not declared his support for either the Senate or the House reauthorization bill.  We do know, however, how Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan stands on the issue.  He voted in support of the restrictive House bill.

Unlike President Obama and Vice-President Biden, Romney has consistently evaded taking a meaningful stand on many women’s issues……in this case by leaving voters in the dark about where he stands on the Violence Against Women reauthorization. 

“We Love You Women!”  Really?

Women's History Month: Unspoken Heroines

One of my passions is reading women’s diaries and journals, particularly those of the westward movement.  My personal library includes upwards of over fifty of these journals.   In reflecting on women’s history and contributions the following quote from the book “More than Petticoats……Remarkable Montana Women” by Gayle Shirley  is applicable to begin Women’s History Month:

“There are unwritten chapters in the history of every new settlement, which no pen will ever write, but could they be written, they would tell of the many heroines as well as heroes, women as brave and deserving of credit as those who landed from the Mayflower.  They have had much to do in the ‘winning of the west,’ and a higher civilization has always followed closely in the footsteps of the woman pioneer.”

                                    ……Lucia Darling Park, 1839-1905, Pioneering Teacher, Montana.

Gayle Shirley has a series of More Than Petticoats books detailing women’s remarkable lives from various states.  See http://www.gayleshirley.com/

Is Your Career at a Standstill? Than Change the Picture.

Join The Women’s Leadership Journey, an 18-week dynamic teleworkshop that puts you in the driver’s seat for leadership advancement.  Three months post-workshop leadership coaching is included to  help you steer your career and develop your leadership potential.

http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=1042147

Dream Big.......

When you eat an elephant, eat it one bite at a time!  This may seem like an unusual expression for beginning a blog post, but it’s one that I’ve used many times in my teaching, consulting and coaching capacities. Fundamentally the message is “don’t bite off more than you can chew.”  Usually the phrase serves a useful set point with my clients when they are tempted to be over zealous and try to accomplish too much at one time.

Often I find people struggling to achieve their vision, be it a personal or business vision.  Generally it’s not that the vision is unrealistic or unobtainable.  Rather, people are thwarted by attempting to do too much at one time.  This inevitably results in frustration, loss of confidence, feelings of failure and inability to reach a rewarding goal. 

A vision may not be achieved in a day, a week or even, perhaps, in several years.  What we must realize is that incremental steps are necessary to attain transformational change; the journey to the vision can be as satisfying as accomplishing the vision itself.  Achieving each step presents new insights, builds confidence, gives a sense of accomplishment, energizes and motivates us and lays the foundation for the next step to continue the quest.

Dream big!  But make it a practice to savor the dream one step at a time.

View "Dream Big:  A Monarch Minute" Inspriational Thoughts for Women Leaders at: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlxaH1ohg7k&context=C38fb414ADOEgsToPDskI__oGpTuSe5-IwddJHZq_T

Check out how to develop SMART goals.  These will help you develop discrete, manageable steps to achieve your dream.  See http://topachievement.com/smart.html

Lead Yourself Before Leading Others

Over the course of my career I’ve seen a lot of people in leadership roles.  Interestingly, there haven’t been very many who have lived up to the leadership title.  I’m sure you’ve seen this too. 

Whether in the workforce, politics, or community or professional organizations people assume the reins of leadership but fail miserably in creating, articulating and achieving a vision.  The leadership literature is replete with rationales, but there is a convergence of thinking that before one can successfully lead others, she must be able to lead herself.  Translated:  Know Yourself!

In helping people with career choices, one of my first questions is “what is your passion?” Surprisingly, a very small percentage of people can answer that question. How does someone make a career choice without understanding her passion, values or strengths?  The answer is, “Well, probably not very well!”  

How does a “Leader” lead without knowing her passion, values or strengths?  The answer is, “Well, probably not very well!”  Plato said over two thousand years ago “I must first know myself………. to be curious about that which is not my concern, while I am still in ignorance of my own self would be ridiculous.”  It is safe to say that we have a large number of leaders who look pretty ridiculous.

 Knowing yourself has been purported to be the most difficult lesson in the world (Cervantes).  But, while difficult, it is a rewarding and fulfilling journey.  The journey begins with a step….so don’t be afraid, take the first step and enjoy the journey!

Tools that you may find helpful for beginning your journey:

VIA Survey of Character Strengths:  www.authentichappiness.com

TypeFocus Personality Type:  http://www.free.typefocus.com/

A New Year’s Resolution: Accept The Gift of the Present

A colleague of mine and I met for lunch a couple of weeks before Christmas.  Our conversation turned to focusing on my friend’s continuing anxiety over a business decision that she had made over six months ago.  She was chastising herself about the income she had lost; about how she had not been assertive enough, and rebuked herself for making the same types of mistakes over and over again. 

I know my colleague very well.  She is creative and resourceful and I knew that replaying this business decision over and over again was depriving her of pleasures of the moment, especially during this holiday time. 

When she paused and looked at me for a response, I offered her a  powerful quote by Babatunde Olatunii.  “Yesterday is history,” I said.  “Tomorrow is a mystery,” I continued, “and Today is a gift.  That is why we call it the present.”  I asked her to reflect on the quote and then invited her to explain what lessons this business decision had provided.   The conversation from that point shifted dramatically.  From worrying about the past my colleague jumped into identifying choices she could immediately make that would incorporate the lessons from that event six months earlier.

Worrying about the past and fretting over the future, robs the woman leader from the time, energy and enjoyment of concentrating on the choices today that will make a difference for tomorrow.   

This is not to say that the woman leader should not reflect about yesterday, set goals or think futuristically.  Not at all! 

The key, however, is establishing a healthy balance between yesterday, today, and tomorrow.   Yesterday is past , but action in the present provides input (not control) for tomorrow.   Apply yesterday’s lessons to your actions today, and tomorrow will be a breadth of opportunities to learn much more.

Inspirational quotes, like the one I shared with my colleague, energize us.  Such quotes make us feel good and they usually wake us to the moment.   How can we capture the vitality of the moment and be attentive to the lesson each holds?

One strategy I have found particularly useful is to journal my lessons. 

As you live each day in the present, be aware of the lesson each moment is offering.  Think for a split second about the lesson.  Perhaps the lesson is:

·         Listening attentively to my colleague’s opinions helps me see matters with more clarity

·         Anger is decreasing my ability to be productive

·         Worrying is inhibiting me from making an important decision

·         Thinking positively makes me feel good

·         Hurrying caused me to overlook important details

·         Speaking up for my needs gave me confidence

Get a special, notebook and label it “The Gift of Lessons” or “Lessons Learned” or whatever title is meaningful to you.  Each evening, take the gift of the Present, and write down and reflect (journal) on three to five lessons of the day.  The history can’t be changed, but with the gift of the Present you can absorb the meaning of each lesson and celebrate the opportunity it has given you to build a better tomorrow.

To see a video of this Monarch Minute visit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVNyUGQ1MI8

To learn more about differences between how men and women worry see:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2010/03/29/men-and-women-think-diffe_n_517277.html

For the benefits of journaling  in leadership development see:

http://www.leadershipdevelopment.edu.au/content_common/ns-the-neuroscience-of-leadership-journaling-080108.seo

Women Healthcare Chief Information Officers Prove Glass Ceilings Can Be Broken

How do women break the glass ceiling?  Joan Hicks, CIO, University of Alabama Health System and Theresa Meadows, CIO, Cook Children’s Health System shared their thoughts on this topic  during The Monarch Center’s virtual roundtable series on Profiles in Women’s Leadership in May (see http://www.themonarchctr.com/Women's%20Leadership%20Profiles%20-%20The%20Monarch%20Center.htm  )

Meadows and Hicks fielded a range of questions from an engaged group.  And throughout the two roundtables, I couldn’t help but note that the leadership actions both espoused coincided closely with the hybrid model of leadership that The Monarch Center has developed for its women’s leadership training.  These two dynamic women seemed to nail the highpoints of the Center’s strength-based and values leadership model in every way.

From managing work/life balance to setting IT priorities in the explosive health IT environment, these women exuded confidence and ability but recognized the importance that building relationships plays in a successful career path to the top.

Hicks, a health information management professional, and Meadows, a registered nurse, both received graduate degrees in health informatics from The University of Alabama at Birmingham before beginning their trajectory into the C-Suite. 

In assessing their careers, both CIO’s had key advice for those women wanting to move into top tier leadership positions.  A good work ethic, both agreed, that includes doing the best in your current role and making yourself valuable to the organization is paramount to success.  Meadows encouraged participants not to be afraid of new challenges but to seek them out.  Facing new challenges not only demonstrates your value it also builds self-confidence, she said.  But it is not enough to be competent, Hicks warned.  You must also effectively and in the right way let people know what you contribute, she stressed. 

Setting a career goal, making smart career choices, and building relationships were top priorities for Meadows.  It’s 90 percent about relationship management, Meadows remarked, and you must learn to use your network and relationships to their fullest potential. 

Hicks and Meadows agreed that playing to your strengths is essential.  Hicks reminded the roundtable participants, that no matter what the position, you must be authentic; your career is not sustainable if you try to be something you authentically are not.  Be decisive and don’t obsess, Hicks advises.   Even when the sharks are circling, she added, you must be transparent.  Integrity and honesty are overriding qualities for leadership success. 

The take-away from these women leaders is that glass ceilings can be broken.  And fortunately there are role models like Meadows and Hicks who are showing women every day that they can do it too!  Share your thoughts.

Leadership is a journey, not a destination.

Leadership is a journey, not a destination.  If you believe that you will become a leader by attending a class, workshop, seminar, or by a reading a book you will be disappointed.  Leadership is a long-lived journey.  If chosen, it is one that requires us to continually improve our self-understanding and our capacity to guide others for the common good.

Most of the fun in any journey is not necessarily getting to a destination.  Rather it is planning the journey and the excitement of achievement in the progress of getting from one place to another.  New sights, sounds, experiences, fragrances, people, cultures, and foods all play a part in the dynamic nature of the journey.  In fact, arriving at a supposed destination launches an avalanche of memories and retrospection that moves us to new dreams and provides the momentum to continue our journey to yet another place.

Leadership is a constant journey.  Fed by our observations, experiences, and perceptions leadership is about reflecting, learning, applying our strengths, and engaging others in a spiral of innovation, inspiration, initiation, and improvement for the common good.

Embrace and enjoy your leadership journey.

Downshifting Caretaker Instincts to Improve Leadership Mentoring is as Easy as 1-2-3!

Cary Sylvester, Executive Director of Technology for Williams Reality International, hit a cord with me on a   “Just for a Moment” podcast when she described a frequent leadership mistake:  taking care of everyone’s problems (http://justforamomentpodcast.com/wordpress/archives/date/2011/04/04) .   

When someone has come into your office with a problem, how many times have you said “I’ll take care of it.”  Ok, I confess, I’ve done that!  But how does this grow self-sufficiency and confidence in those you are supposed to be mentoring?  And in the long run how much damage does it do in getting your work done?

Instead, Sylvester recommends:

1.       Acknowledge the problem

2.       Discuss the issues, and

3.       Give ownership for solving the problem back to the employee. 

Is downshifting caretaker instincts as easy as 1-2-3?  What’s your experience?