Do you find yourself battling the same demons over and over again in the office? Maybe it’s a lack of confidence that’s keeping you from advancing, negotiation jitters, difficulty communicating as well as you could or failure to take the necessary risks to get where you want to go.
You’re in luck! Below is a compilation of some of the best advice shared by speakers at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ 2018 Women in Engineering International Leadership Conference, which was held on May 21 and 22 in Silicon Valley. With over 20,500 members worldwide, WIE ILC has gained status as one of the key leadership conferences to inspire, engage and advance mid-level and senior women.
[See: 10 Tech Jobs That Make the Most Money.]
IEEE senior member Shay Bahramirad noted at the conference that much of how women (and men) are perceived as leaders is closely tied to the way they communicate and negotiate. “Without killer communication and negotiation skills, women will fail to distinguish themselves, especially in male-dominated industries,” Bahramirad said.
With this in mind, read on for insights from several of this year’s WIE ILC speakers, who delivered compelling messages that female professionals in any industry can use to empower themselves for greater professional success:
Manage your focus, not your time. Candy Barone, CEO and founder of You Empowered Strong LLC, presented on ways that women can gain more time from their workday. Barone encouraged the audience to distinguish between time management and focus management. “Stop managing your time, which is simply watching the clock; start managing your focus, which is watching your impact,” said Barone. “Do that which is inspired, not required.”
She added that managing your focus ultimately influences your leadership potential: “Leadership is how you choose to show up, how you choose to serve others and how you choose to take personal responsibility inside those two spaces,” said Barone. “What you prioritize and how you manage your focus says everything about how effectively you choose to lead.”
Gain influence with three ways up. Ellie Nieves, president and CEO of Leadership Strategies for Women LLC, emphasized the importance of proactive leadership in managing your career. In her talk, she noted that the No. 1 goal in proactively managing your career should be to gain influence by what she describes as showing up, speaking up and stepping up — in other words, being visible, credible and strategic. Nieves detailed that how women show up matters: “Exuding confidence and telegraphing to the world that we deserve to be in charge is the ‘it’ factor that we need to cultivate.”
[See: 10 Ways Social Media Can Help You Land a Job.]
When it comes to speaking up, Nieves emphasized that many women miss out on leadership opportunities because they are uncomfortable with self-promotion, thinking that it is bragging. “Self-promoting and bragging are two different things,” Nieves explained. “Bragging is ego-driven; self-promotion is accomplishment-driven. We should seek to find or create opportunities to share our contributions to successful projects.”
Finally, there’s stepping up, or being strategic about your leadership path. Nieves recommended that women do research to develop a plan and time frame for where they want to go. “Become a student of your industry and organization,” she advised. “Enlist the help and advice of mentors to help pave the way. This kind of research and planning will help you to make wiser decisions about leadership opportunities that may become available to you in the future.”
Orchestrate your next promotion. Eryka T. Johnson, founder and CEO of High Pursuit LLC, spoke about strategic ways that women can effectively pitch and negotiate a new promotion or professional opportunity. Johnson stressed that when it comes to landing a promotion, you should avoid emphasizing what you feel you “deserve.” “Management is not interested in what you deserve,” said Johnson. “Rather, it is more about how effectively you communicate the value you bring to the organization. Key to this is gaining clarity on the results you delivered and their impact to the bottom line.”
Johnson coached the audience to use publicly available resources, including annual reports, to glean this information. “Annual reports are full of opportunities for women seeking to move up in the organization,” said Johnson. “Take interest in what is most important to the organization. Focus in on company objectives and goals for the next 10 years. Then, position and present yourself as the ideal candidate to lead those grassroots efforts.”
Learn the essence of leadership. Dina Maloney, co-founder of EPIC Coaching and Consulting, shared advice on how women can shift their mind to cultivate their credibility in the office. During her presentation, Maloney noted that being a leader doesn’t require having a title, and having a title doesn’t make you a leader. She explained that one of the most powerful insights she has gained has been understanding the difference between aligning oneself with a title versus a position.
“When we accept a title, we focus on doing things right rather than doing the right things, which is often fueled by a need and desire to change what others think,” said Maloney. “When we accept a position, we focus on doing things that inspire and motivate, with an intention of positively impacting others’ experiences.” The ultimate takeaway? “We may not change what people think, but if we change how they feel, we can change what they do,” said Maloney.
[See: The 8 Stages of a Winning Job Search.]
Build risk-taking and resilience skills. Dawn L. Roe, vice president of human resources for Aboda by Reside, challenged attendees to master moving through fear and bouncing back from failure. Roe noted that, contrary to popular belief, women are not risk-averse and have been shown to take risks as readily as men. “The fact is, statistically, we simply aren’t in enough leadership positions making the big decisions in business,” she said.
When thinking about risk, Roe recommended looking at the “reward versus risk continuum” in making decisions. “If there is low risk and high reward, by all means, go forth and conquer. If there is high risk and high reward, before deciding to take the risk, you should make sure you have an executive sponsor who can support you if you fail. If there is high risk and low reward, don’t do it. If there is low risk and low reward, you will be playing it safe and it won’t hurt you to do it.”
Bring your authentic self to work. In her closing keynote, Lorraine Martin, former executive vice president and deputy of Lockheed Martin’s Rotary and Mission Systems, encouraged attendees to avoid limiting themselves by altering who they are at work to fit someone else’s preconceived notion or expectation.
“We must each bring our authentic selves to our work, because it is our unique perspectives — coming together with others’ — that will drive creativity and innovation,” said Martin. “This is especially important because the challenges our world faces, and will continue to face in the 21st century, require unprecedented ingenuity, creativity and cooperation.”
More from U.S. News
Famous CEOs and Executives Share Their Best Career Advice
Tips for Surviving a Career Transition
Want to Fix Your Weaknesses at Work? Follow These Experts? Advice originally appeared on usnews.com
