I came across this HBR article about great leaders and authenticity by Rob Goffee and Garett Jones.

Being authentic is confusing. People view it as a license ….”well, this is who I am….and I can’t change.” They use authenticity as an excuse to hang on to bad behaviors. Continue reading →

When you’re trying to progress a project, your career, anything, it’s important to know who are the key people who can make things happen. Continue reading →

“It’s important for women to know that having a voice really means having a track record of success and accomplishments, so that people want to listen to what you have to say, because you’re saying something of value. So use your voice, but use it strategically.”  This is a quote from a great series, “The Corner Office” by the NY Times…click here for the article.

I love this. Too often men and women just talk….as if words are enough.  What you want is to add value to the conversation which comes as a result of your experiences and accomplishments.  You want people to care about what you think.

Here’s a test: next meeting, say nothing. See if anyone asks you what you think.  If no one asks, they’re going ahead without you. Change that.

I am a huge fan of Grey’s Anatomy….just love the show. My friends point out the medical misses, but I love the show for its strong women characters who are smart, competitive, and just cool.

One episode which made me laugh was when the new heart surgeon Maggie tells the younger intern that she needs to know when to “bring the thunder” because she’s young and pretty. Basically, how to stand up for yourself and make the argument.

This is when you’re going to lose it a little because you believe in your heart and soul you are right. When every cell is telling you that someone is making the wrong decision. You’re going to bring the thunder.

Now, you can’t bring the thunder all the time. But if you never bring the thunder, what does that say about you?

Remember Jeremy Lin? Back in 2014, he made everyone sit up and take notice as the first American-Taiwanese player for the NBA, and he played for the NY Knicks.

Watch his incredible tiebreaking 3 pointer with less than a second to go.

His coach said: “You just watch and you’re in awe. He held it until five tenths of a second left. He was pretty confident that ball was going in, no rebounds , no nothing.”

But what he said, which I loved was “When you win, that solves a lot of problems.”

That’s true at work too. I recently presented to a group of folks who were struggling: they were relatively new, they were getting projects dumped on them, they felt people didn’t understand their value proposition.  The advice I gave them was: “Define what it means to win, and then go after it.”

Defining winning is the most important thing you can do as a leader. People want a win that’s authentic. No one is motivated by the “everyone gets a trophy” approach. Wain Kellum, CEO of Vocalocity has a great quote…”true happiness, especially in a work sense, comes from earned achievement.”

Winning is the best morale booster and retainer of talent around. Make sure you know what it means to win.

If anyone ever says, “I don’t know what women want in the workplace”, here is a succinct list of five things (according to a Center for Talent Innovation 2014 report on women and ambition): Continue reading →

In your career, you’ll work on the one project that will change you forever. It will be something huge, your role will be key and terrifying, you’ll fight with each other, you’ll give up your entire personal life…all to make sure something happens the way it’s supposed to.

I got to be a part of something like that: what I call “living a real life Harvard Business School Case.”  We had a reunion the other day and here are my lessons learned:

1. You never lose the connections you have created with these people.  They will always mean something important to you.

2. You appreciate the bravery. Sure, it’s easy now that it’s finished for others to dismiss the effort. But you know how terrifying every day was as you were trying to complete the impossible.

3. You realize that people are NOT replaceable. Sure, you can put someone else in a role. But the reason why it all worked was because of who was in the role at that time.  Movies succeed or fail due to casting. It’s the same at work.

Most importantly, great things happen because there is leadership throughout the organization. It’s not just top down, it’s every person who’s involved exhibiting leadership in their own way.

I attended a fantastic seminar, and learned a lot. Here’s something that I found interesting. Leadership is along a continuum of power on one side and attractiveness on another.

Power is about authority, influence, and resources. Attractiveness is about likeability. You need to have both. Why?

You need enough power to be taken seriously.

You need enough attractiveness so others want to help you.

Many of us naturally fall somewhere along that line: the extremes are strong power – people who can execute, but can be viewed as rude, intimidating or abrupt. Others are strong attractive- well liked but viewed as soft, weak, or ineffective.  The goal is to be blended.

Where do you naturally fall? What actions can you take to be more balanced?