Ten women leaders spoke regarding their life-lessons to MBA students at the Women in Leadership class I co-taught recently. The group represented a terrific and diverse set of leadership experiences: big companies vs startups, companies spanning financial services, technology, healthcare, social impact, in careers spanning legal, finance, marketing, and general management. Themes I heard over and over:
In your career, change is constant. If you are looking to grow in your career, be open to new opportunities, be ready to leave your area of expertise behind and experiment with the “next thing”. Look for opportunities and put up your hand. Passion for what you do is important, but so is the ability to match opportunity with passion. Sometimes, moving sideways and taking detours to broaden your skills is a key element in learning the “big picture” and the “why”, which lets you ultimately lead better. Do not be afraid to take a step back to diversify your learning and experiences…it pays off.
Keep your network warm. Relationships are critical, with those inside and outside your company. They can help you learn more about your industry and the “big picture”. These people can potentially serve as mentors or sponsors for you. Stay in touch, not just when you need someone. Network with those you genuinely like and respect. Find what type of interactions work best for you, meeting one-on-one or joining associations. And think about the “two-way street” aspect of relationships i.e. what you can do for others, not just what they can do for you.
“Having it all?” Sometimes “family comes first, which does not mean work comes second”; many shared the view that one cannot have it all at the same time, and being able to prioritize is important. They spoke about the role flexibility has played in their careers, and the fact that at different times in their lives, different priorities rise to the top, then make way for yet others when it comes to a balanced approach. You may have to define what “having it all” means to you and what tradeoffs you are ready to make.
Confidence: “fake it till you make it”. Be confident that you can figure it out. Take the leap. Do not turn down new opportunities because you think you need more skills. Communicate with confidence and clarity. You do not need to be “perfect” at what you do to put up your hand. “Women typically do not have a competence gap, they have a confidence gap”. Assertiveness is not the same as aggressiveness; the difference is in how well you listen and look for common ground, and are then able to bring the facts to the table with confidence. Be your own best PR; and remember, it rarely hurts to ask. Many women do not ask and lose out.
Lead with integrity and empathy. Last but very far from least, being genuine and authentic is critical. “Radical candor” is the way to go, as we heard from so many of our speakers. Caring for those who work for you, while setting high standards for yourself and for your team, are far from mutually exclusive. Focus on developing your team and giving them opportunities to grow. A great test: do really strong performers who work on your team move ahead in their careers? And would they come and work for you again?
Author Bio Chitra Nayak has 25+ years of experience across companies spanning technology, financial services, and management consulting. She is currently a board member at Invitae (NVTA) and Intercom, and also advises startups on Go-To-Market. Most recently she was COO running GTM at Comfy, a real-estate tech startup, and also was formerly COO at Funding Circle, an online SMB lending marketplace. She was at Salesforce.com for eight years, as COO Platform and SVP Sales Development, and prior to that was at AAA, Charles Schwab and the Boston Consulting Group. Chitra has always had a passion for empowering women in the workplace. She was a co-founder of the Salesforce Women’s Network. She co-created a “Women in Leadership” class at California State University, East Bay. She writes about women in the workplace on LinkedIn. Chitra has an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MS in Engineering from Cornell and a BS from IIT-Madras.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
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