Following is the second article in our new series of articles exploring 10 Principles for Executive Women.*
 

Be Proud of Who You Are and
What You've Done

Carol was the new Chief Marketing Officer at a communication-technology start-up company and the only female in upper management. When we met, Carol realized she was keeping a low profile in her new position because of a negative situation she'd had with her manager at her last company—which she had sued because of unethical treatment. Carol found herself weighing the potential cost of trying to influence the environment at her new company. Her opinion was that women work hard and accomplish much but don’t talk about it. She didn’t want to become self-promoting.

We discussed the fact that leadership requires creating visibility for oneself and one's team to raise awareness of the efforts that go into achievements. "Laying low" because of her past experience could be preventing Carol's department from getting due credit. We decided that avoiding political situations was wise and that working alone to change the environment might not be worth it, but creating visibility was a good practice.

As she began to review her accomplishments, Carol realized she knew at least as much about the company’s business as any employee, but she was afraid to speak up for fear of “getting shot again.” We determined that Carol could be more discerning about when she chose to make recommendations so she could decide when to define direction. However, never offering suggestions would deprive the company of value she could be providing.

The environment at the company became chaotic after the CEO was asked to leave. As she watched the men jockeying for position, Carol used her leadership skills to support the few women in the company and her influence to hire more women and act as a stabilizing force. Over time, this focus increased her confidence as colleagues began to see her in a more positive light.

Practicing the "Be Proud" principle helped Carol fully engage with her job and not shy from debate and participation. She knew this was not a long-term position, given the organization’s turmoil, but reasoned that if she could do well here, it would be excellent practice for her next job.

Self-Evaluate

Marcia was Managing Editor of a magazine that had become—driven mostly by her expertise—the jewel in her publisher's crown of eight popular titles. Despite this high level of success, Marcia continued to give herself low grades for her efforts. She sought feedback constantly from her manager, peers, direct reports, and even customers. And she also developed a reputation for lacking the confidence required to deliver messages that might be difficult to hear.

As with many behavioral issues, Marcia’s was sourced in insecurity. She told me she felt inadequate and too inexperienced to be in her position, which she had inherited two years prior when her former boss quit. She had only worked under him for one year and felt she needed more time before taking over as Managing Editor, although she'd been in the industry for 12 years.

When we discussed her practice of checking in with others to obtain an evaluation of her performance, Marcia realized that it had been a long-standing practice and that she'd had feelings of inadequacy at every stage of her career. It was clearly time to adopt the principle of self-evaluating!

Toward this end, Marcia set goals for the next month, quarter, and half-year. We determined what the results of reaching the goals would look like. She prepared to assess her one-month performance by doing weekly self-evaluations. At the end of every week, Marcia completed an honest self-evaluation of how she had handled interactions and situations while resisting the temptation to get opinions from others.

After two months, Marcia told me the practice of assessing her actions, decisions, and results was very empowering. As she began to trust her own opinions, Marcia began to feel more confident in her work. She did not abandon but changed her practice of soliciting others' feedback. Instead of asking, "How am I doing?" she began to present her perspective first and then ask whether her colleagues agreed. Marcia’s assessment became the standard Marcia used to determine how things were going.

Sr. Consultant,OEC
The Ayers Group,
a division of Kelly Services
Tel: 212.889.7788