Professional speaker and business coach L. Michelle Smith says Black women in corporate America are taught to blend in. “If I stand out, if I shine, I get backlash,” Smith says. “I heard from women who lost their positions because the shine got too bright.” That’s why Smith says she wrote her latest book, “No, Thanks: 7 Ways to Say I’ll Include Myself,” which Smith describes as a “hardcore leadership…
Are you stuck thinking that your mentors must be more powerful or more senior than you to be your mentor? Let’s blow up that paradigm and see how you can expand your tribe or personal board of directors with more members who can add rocket fuel to your career and leadership growth. This is part of the section assembling and activating your tribe in my new book No…
Are you being mindful of your small gestures? We examine this in my new book No Thanks: 7 Ways to Say I’ll Just Include Myself. Often we skip over them and tend to the grand gestures, but that can do damage to your reputation. Take a listen to today’s #NSCRockstarLeadership Tip of the Day. Get the book at nothanksbook.com.
In a piece from Harvard Business Review, Zuhairah Washington and Lauren Morgan say that “women of color don’t need to be told to “lean in.” Research shows that the vast majority of them have confidence and ambition, determination and desire.” Stated in the article’s title, women of color simply “get less support at work.” This concept is not lost on executive coach, author and speaker L. Michelle Smith.…
Filling your #Linkedin timeline with “corporate rah rah?” …and that’s a good look for whom, again, Sis? It’s time to do better. Your #nscrockstarleadership tip of the day is to leverage the 80:20 rule for employee advocacy, because it really is a win-win for you and your company. Over rotate, and you’ve just squandered your social media real estate…and for companies that have a far bigger marketing budget than you do.…
I kicked off my national media tour with the crew from Rolling Out AM Wake Up Call! Thanks for having me on, Munson Steed and the hosts, Romeo, Tiara and Minnie. We discussed my new book No Thanks: 7 Ways to Say I’ll Just Include Myself. It will be available later this week on BlackBookstore.com and right now at nothanksbook.com. The audiobook drops very soon,…
Want to lead like a rockstar? Be genuine. Do you really want to be mistaken for the devil on the floor? You know, the one who wears Prada and never gives eye contact? Be aloof, and whether you are really a good person or not, we’ll never know. It’s the old corporate mindset: be removed, cold, unaccessible. The rockstar leaders that you can identify have pushed through that.…
Sis, what are you telling yourself that allows the bad acting to continue to hurt you in your workplace? 
I’m afraid if I say something about it, it will just reflect negatively on me I’m a subordinate. I have to take it. I don’t know how in the world to look for a better position I just love this company so much The…
Are you sleeping on the technology that can support your goals to become the rockstar leader that you know you can be? Are you having others leverage it on your behalf? It’s time you took control. This new fractured, digital and cultural economy demands it. Today, I’m talking about wielding those weapons of mass innovation, Sis. You know, the ones that you’ve been avoiding that now have become…
Stay away from office gossip, yes…but keep the office gossip close. I’m talking about that office busy body. What’s the opportunity in it? Yes, we go all Art of War in today’s #NSCRockstarLeadership Tip of the Day. If you think everyone is on your side in the workplace, think again, Sis. But this isn’t your cue to hunker down and keep to yourself. It’s your chance to leverage…