This post is dedicated to my Fastgirls, without whom I would not have felt the urgency to be authentic. You inspire, humble and amaze me with all that you bring to the world. Thank you.
Today marks the end of the 90 Day Be the Expert Challenge. As I type this I am overcome with emotion. This post represents the last 'required' post of the last set of tasks for the challenge. I missed the 9PM deadline, rendering me incomplete with the challenge. As usual, I procrastinated and I find myself writing this post to complete the challenge. I feel a mix of emotions but mostly a calm about not having completed the challenge but still having had my life transformed by this work--even in the face of enormous disappointment with myself. I was the only person out of 13 women left in the challenge to be incomplete at this last check in. What can I say about that? I was being authentic. (Insert ironic smiley here.)
The last 90 days have taught me a lot about what I value, how I prioritize my time and what I am willing to do to be true to myself. I fell into authenticity as an area of expertise and as a life practice, as a behavior because this is what the challenge has demanded. It demanded from the beginning that I be clear about my value and values, that I commit to taking action and spending time with my community of Fastgirls, and that I was consistent in each of these things.
Fastgirls helped me refine my passions and create my path forward at a time when things were a bit murky. Fastgirls surfaced the framework for my forthcoming leadership curriculum. In a year of great loss, gave me an expansive sense of self, which is invaluable in a way I never could have imagined. I came to Fastgirls looking for some idea about what would vaguely be next for me and what I leave this challenge with is near perfect clarity about what I am called to do.
When I was 11 years old, I participated in a life-changing leadership development program and the homework component was at times overwhelming. Some nights, at 11PM, when I'd had all I thought I could stand, my mother would offer me a glass of water, rub my back and tell me I could read another page, write another paragraph. From prep school to college, from college to grad school and at every job in between, my mother was there with a word of support and hand to hold.
Though my mother died almost 9 months ago to the day, I have no doubt in my mind that she has been with me these last 90 days, encouraging me to write every blog post, present in every letter of gratitude I've written to poets who've changed my life. She has seen me grow and change in this work, defining for myself a path that she always saw for me when she gave me journals, imploring me to write, or tell me to challenge myself, ensuring that I'd grow. For all that I have gained these last 90 days, I also dedicate this note to my mother, my very first Fastgirl.
Showing posts with label leadership. Show all posts
Showing posts with label leadership. Show all posts
Friday, December 24, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Poem: Lie to me
We are afraid--
The world of us--to tell each other our secrets.
In hidden rooms, with jammed tight doors,
we suffer silently per protocol,
make messes of our messes.
if we would stand straight, eye to eye,
confessing our disaster...
Perhaps we'd find each other in our messes,
and our masses would seem masterfully drawn
together in the larger open spaces of our togetherness
where doors don't jam
and people cry
and laugh
and hold each other
instead of keeping secrets.
The world of us--to tell each other our secrets.
In hidden rooms, with jammed tight doors,
we suffer silently per protocol,
make messes of our messes.
if we would stand straight, eye to eye,
confessing our disaster...
Perhaps we'd find each other in our messes,
and our masses would seem masterfully drawn
together in the larger open spaces of our togetherness
where doors don't jam
and people cry
and laugh
and hold each other
instead of keeping secrets.
What Cosmo Magazine Won't Teach You
This content initially appeared in the online magazine, The Vyne. Since it's publication, Cathie Black has been denied the waiver mentioned below.
In the last two weeks, New York City has been set ablaze by the appointment of Hearst Magazines Chairman, Cathie Black, to School Chancellor by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. New York residents as well as local and national education advocates cluster primarily around two major criticisms — Bloomberg’s lack of transparency into his selection process and Black’s glaring lack of credentials as required by the state. While Bloomberg’s thought process has left many tongues wagging, perhaps more intriguing is what is going on in Cathie Black’s mind as she navigates the very rough and shifting terrain beneath her well-heeled feet. We’ve not yet heard from her in the media, so we can only guess at this point at her thoughts on the situation–quite ironic given her post as chief of a communications behemoth.
As the female Chairman of Hearst Magazines, a company whose history and global reach are impressive, Cathie Black makes for a venerable symbol of successful leadership. She has led and managed an organization whose primary medium, the print magazine, faces peril at the hands of digital media on a daily basis–even with such titles as Cosmopolitan and O, the Oprah Magazine. She has presumably achieved success by making shrewd business decisions and using sound judgment. So why does she now find herself at the center of a social and political maelstrom of criticism? How did she get here and what does she do now?
You’ve seen this scenario before, with yourself or a woman you know. You’ve been in a post or career for a while and you hit a wall, professionally, intellectually or personally or simply decide that it’s time to move on. Thinking that it’s time for a change, but without putting much physical energy behind it, you’re suddenly headhunted for a prime opportunity or tapped on the shoulder to do ‘the next big thing.’ What usually goes through your head (right after you pop your collar)? “Perfect! An opportunity to do something different.” And before you know it, because of your brilliance, political savvy, and charm you find yourself facing a new and exciting professional opportunity. The temptation to accept can be huge and taking the leap into a high profile position may seem like a great decision, the rush of newness, the promise of acclaim. Pause. What step did you miss? At what point did you clearly define what should be next for you? What are your personal/professional objectives for your next experience? Have you accomplished all you intended in your current position? Before you sign on the dotted line and upgrade your handbag, take a minute to put pen to paper and strategize.
Three of the most critical components of exemplary leadership are self-awareness, judgment and preparation. Cathie Black’s current quandary indicates that at minimum she lacked adequate preparation to articulate her unique qualifications for the role of School Chancellor. Prior to accepting the post, did she ask herself the right questions? “Have I taken the time to outline what I am looking for and how this opportunity supports that?” “Do I fundamentally know how to do the job and influence perception about my ability to do the job?” “Do I know what to expect in the first 5, 30, 90 days?”
As gifted and passionate women we are often invited to address major challenges and lead initiatives. It is flattering, and often justified, given our previous accomplishments. However, we have to manage our careers and safeguard our reputations, thinking critically about every potential opportunity. Clarity of purpose and an ability to articulate our unique qualifications only support our strategic thinking. Without this level of reflection, we may find ourselves second-guessing our decisions, scrambling for support and calling on the endorsements of the ‘Oprah’ in our own network to vouch for our ability – something we should be able to articulate freely and with conviction, instead of being shell-shocked into silence.
What happens with Cathie Black is yet to be seen, but in the interim it appears she has something more immediate to address than the broken New York City public school system–her own perceived ‘achievement gap’.
In the last two weeks, New York City has been set ablaze by the appointment of Hearst Magazines Chairman, Cathie Black, to School Chancellor by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. New York residents as well as local and national education advocates cluster primarily around two major criticisms — Bloomberg’s lack of transparency into his selection process and Black’s glaring lack of credentials as required by the state. While Bloomberg’s thought process has left many tongues wagging, perhaps more intriguing is what is going on in Cathie Black’s mind as she navigates the very rough and shifting terrain beneath her well-heeled feet. We’ve not yet heard from her in the media, so we can only guess at this point at her thoughts on the situation–quite ironic given her post as chief of a communications behemoth.
As the female Chairman of Hearst Magazines, a company whose history and global reach are impressive, Cathie Black makes for a venerable symbol of successful leadership. She has led and managed an organization whose primary medium, the print magazine, faces peril at the hands of digital media on a daily basis–even with such titles as Cosmopolitan and O, the Oprah Magazine. She has presumably achieved success by making shrewd business decisions and using sound judgment. So why does she now find herself at the center of a social and political maelstrom of criticism? How did she get here and what does she do now?
You’ve seen this scenario before, with yourself or a woman you know. You’ve been in a post or career for a while and you hit a wall, professionally, intellectually or personally or simply decide that it’s time to move on. Thinking that it’s time for a change, but without putting much physical energy behind it, you’re suddenly headhunted for a prime opportunity or tapped on the shoulder to do ‘the next big thing.’ What usually goes through your head (right after you pop your collar)? “Perfect! An opportunity to do something different.” And before you know it, because of your brilliance, political savvy, and charm you find yourself facing a new and exciting professional opportunity. The temptation to accept can be huge and taking the leap into a high profile position may seem like a great decision, the rush of newness, the promise of acclaim. Pause. What step did you miss? At what point did you clearly define what should be next for you? What are your personal/professional objectives for your next experience? Have you accomplished all you intended in your current position? Before you sign on the dotted line and upgrade your handbag, take a minute to put pen to paper and strategize.
Three of the most critical components of exemplary leadership are self-awareness, judgment and preparation. Cathie Black’s current quandary indicates that at minimum she lacked adequate preparation to articulate her unique qualifications for the role of School Chancellor. Prior to accepting the post, did she ask herself the right questions? “Have I taken the time to outline what I am looking for and how this opportunity supports that?” “Do I fundamentally know how to do the job and influence perception about my ability to do the job?” “Do I know what to expect in the first 5, 30, 90 days?”
As gifted and passionate women we are often invited to address major challenges and lead initiatives. It is flattering, and often justified, given our previous accomplishments. However, we have to manage our careers and safeguard our reputations, thinking critically about every potential opportunity. Clarity of purpose and an ability to articulate our unique qualifications only support our strategic thinking. Without this level of reflection, we may find ourselves second-guessing our decisions, scrambling for support and calling on the endorsements of the ‘Oprah’ in our own network to vouch for our ability – something we should be able to articulate freely and with conviction, instead of being shell-shocked into silence.
What happens with Cathie Black is yet to be seen, but in the interim it appears she has something more immediate to address than the broken New York City public school system–her own perceived ‘achievement gap’.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Tell your truth, but not the whole truth
I had an amazing conversation with a man this Monday evening about the importance of being authentic in the workplace. His work focuses solely on helping organizations figure out their HR and Diversity and Inclusion strategies but what we both agreed on is how much bigger than HR and Diversity, work-life (meaning your life at work) is. In the her book, Don't Bring It to Work, Sylvia Lafair offers makes a very astute observation that who we are in the workplace is a direct reflection of who we are period. The folks we have or are working with (super achievers, complainers, hermits, etc.) are 'products of their environments. I encourage you to read this book as it offers insights into how to recognize something, fairly counter-intuitive - that what we see is actually what we get. Even with our attempts to mask our true-selves, we still manifest some version of our 'outside of work' self.
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