As we gradually emerge from the shadows of the COVID-19 pandemic, effective leadership has become more critical than ever to help teams and companies determine how to navigate the new waters successfully. We’re collectively presented with the perfect moment to reinvest in ourselves as leaders by examining our personal goals, strengths, and unique value.
Women in particular have been challenged with even greater work-life family challenges in the wake of the pandemic. While no one is completely sure yet what the new workplace will look like as we navigate this unfamiliar terrain, what is certain is that leaders can define their ideal path forward—get behind the wheel and drive their own bus, so to speak, and choose their own “True North”—versus waiting for someone else to take the wheel.
Over the past several weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to speak to a number of women leaders about knowing and living their True North. In most cases, as we’re newly emerging from the last couple of disruptive years, this calls for rebooting specific aspects of their leadership.
Here are some highlights that I’m inviting these women leaders—and you—to consider:
Know Your Value
Do you find yourself doubting your professional capabilities or letting others determine your career path or brand reputation? Many of even the most talented women leaders that we work with at SHAMBAUGH need coaching to champion their personal leadership vision while increasing their sense of self-worth. Often, we spend too much energy worrying about what others think and become overly focused in trying to please others. This can derail women leaders from focusing on and achieving their own goals and aspirations.
Women leaders need to get clear on their own value by taking the following steps:
- Believe in yourself. Know your differentiating qualities and the specific value you bring to others on your team and to your organization. Reinforce by getting constructive feedback to affirm your strengths and value-added qualities.
- Don’t assume that others know your value. Since people aren’t mind-readers and may lack a complete or accurate view of what you can do or have done, it’s important to demonstrate what I call “authentic self-promotion.” This requires being able to articulate your value to other leaders and your direct reports by sharing your expertise, accomplishments, and goals with them.
- Lean into your learning agility. You don’t need to be 99 percent ready to take on a new opportunity or stretch role; people rarely check every box when it comes to being fully prepared for a promotion. It’s more important to be willing to grow and learn by taking risks, accepting failure, and learning from your experience. The current changes in workplace dynamics require refreshing your skill sets in addition to understanding the value you bring to others.
- Create alignment. In the types of hybrid environments that have become commonplace today—where some people work remotely, and others spend at least some of their time in the office—it can be difficult to be clear on key priorities and expectations. Be intentional and take the time to ensure your efforts and skills are aligned with your manager’s or organization’s opportunities, challenges, and goals.
Invest in Relationship Currency
Another important point about hybrid environments is that relationships have become even more important. In the “old days” when everyone worked in a traditional office setting in the same building, it was much easier to be in a conference room with your colleagues and stakeholders or connect with people at an event. Now you may be working closely with team members who you may have never met in person.
This is where relationship currency comes into play. It’s essential to create true connections with colleagues and employees throughout the organization to ensure that people know not only what you bring to the table, but also how you can support them. It’s also important that you find new ways to develop a level of trust and mutual cooperation, no matter where you and others are working.
Here are some recommendations to aid in these efforts:
- Become familiar with the unfamiliar. Research has shown that diverse relationships lead to greater cognitive diversity, which drives better decision making. Strive to surround yourself with a diverse range of people who offer different backgrounds and thinking styles to help expand your knowledge of changing workplace dynamics.
- Meet from anywhere. Know that part of our role is to continually invest and build in important relationships. If you work remotely, make the effort to set up a 30-minute virtual coffee with key people. Ask them what their top priorities are, share what you are up to, and ask how you can support them. Who do they recommend you meet?
- Build partnerships with men. Know that the majority of influencers in most companies and industries are men, since men still occupy a disproportionate share of leadership positions. Make it easy for men to participate by inviting them to key events and actively building partnerships.
- Invest in building sponsor relationships. While mentors can be helpful in skill building and advice, sponsors have the power, influence, and access to recommend you or open a specific door for you that leads to a greater level of opportunity. However, sponsors generally don’t just come along without effort. Once you’ve identified a potential sponsor, take the initiative to meet them for coffee, or get involved in a project they are overseeing.
- Help other women. Finally, it’s important that women see their role as helping other women rather than competing against them. Some ideas on how to help other female leaders and high-potential women is by starting a mentoring circle, introducing other women to your network, or sponsoring talented women.
There’s an unprecedented opportunity to become more intentional about how you tap into these various aspects of your leadership now and in the future. Make one of your New Year’s resolutions to reboot your leadership and reinvest in yourself—and your team—as a leader.
Contact me at info@shambaughleadership.com or link to SHAMBAUGH’s offerings to learn more about SHAMBAUGH’s Coaching and Development Programs for Women, Accelerating Gender Equity, Inclusive Culture, and Fundamentals of Leadership in a Post Covid Work Environment. I’d be happy to speak at your company on how women can champion their life/career and lean into their highest leadership.
Rebecca Shambaugh is President of SHAMBAUGH Leadership, and Founder of Women in Leadership and Learning. Rebecca is a contributing writer to Harvard Business Review, the HuffPost, and a TEDx speaker. Rebecca has been featured on CNBC, Forbes, Training Magazine, and US News and World Report. She is author of the best-selling books It’s Not a Glass Ceiling, It’s a Sticky Floor and Make Room for Her: Why Companies Need an Integrated Leadership Model to Achieve Extraordinary Results.