We had a saying in corporate communications when it came to reputation management… sometimes you have to simply aim for fair and balanced because there may not be any winning. It’s especially true for your critics. But what if you could change that? Considering your interpersonal relationships: Have you learned that someone who actually has some meaningful impact on your career had something negative to say about you?…
Proximity can be an aspiration killer. When I was running my agency, I recall putting a policy in place for interns that they could not immediately be hired on to my staff until they joined another agency. Then they could boomerang if they’d like, but only after experiencing another work environment. They didn’t understand it. In fact, one of my intern’s parents called and tried to talk me…no,…
Did you know that forgiveness is a powerful tool in leadership arsenal? You discuss the merits on Sundays and sometimes even Wednesday night, but why haven’t you allowed it into your workplace? I speak with clients everyday who are taking on new roles, but expressing angst about moving forward based on something that happened to them in the past. So we work on what it takes to truly…
Look, I’m guilty of it too. In fact, when my I release my next book, Yes, Please: 7 Ways to Say I’m Entitled to the C-Suite, you’ll learn exactly how I sold myself short. The truth is that if you want to aspire to senior executive leadership, it really isn’t an either-or. It is a both-and when it comes to getting where you want to go in the…
How do you know if someone you are speaking to is listening? I use to media train senior executive and C-Suite leaders to prepare them to go on national news and morning shows. One thing that I noticed my women leaders did that my male leaders did not was nod their heads excessively throughout the interview. For television appearances, it was crucial that we addressed this and broke…
Stop the note taking, Sis. I understand that you want to remember everything when you are in that meeting; but not only does this undermine your position as a leader, it doesn’t allow you to fully tap into your brain’s superpowers. Did you know that science has proven that the mere stress and adrenaline from key moments in time put your mind’s ability to remember in high-gear. In…
Sometimes, what’s obvious isn’t what’s causing the problem. I remember once when there seemed to be a colleague hell-bent on my undoing. It was odd to me because until a certain point, I thought that we were good. In fact, it was so disturbing because this colleague seemed to be going to great lengths to undermine me, but I would learn eventually that what was obvious wasn’t the…
I shared this with my Black women leaders and others in my private online community SLAYNET on Monday, and I think its worth sharing broadly here. In Tuesday’s #NSCRockstarLeadership Tip, we talked about competitive neuroplasticity, in other words, the way you train your brain to be more distracted when you attempt to “multitask.” Neuroscience has nicknamed this phenomenon the brain tax. How might this impact Black women leaders?…
I remember having a conversation with a trusted tribe member, a key member of my personal board of directors, after accepting an amazing role at a huge company. He was so excited about what I could do in the role, and I agreed. Then I turned to him and said, “…but everything has an expiration date.” He was stunned. He replied, “No, it doesn’t. You are going to…
Try making a little progress. According to neuroscience, progress begets motivation, which begets more progress. This is the core concept of The Progress Loop. If you find that the sheer thought of that big project or major goal causes you angst, try backing up a bit, chunking that plan into bits, and taking on a little at a time. You’ve heard that “baby steps moving forward” is not…