In part three of the blog series, I want to share the following book that influenced my leadership journey so far. Like the first four books shared, the one below come from recommendations and the concepts intertwine if you take the time to dig into what the authors share.
Book #5 – “How Women Rise” by Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith
I couldn’t go five books deep without having one leadership book focused on women, and “How Women Rise” is an excellent read for women and men who have women on their teams. Women tend to have habits in how they appear in careers that most men don’t. I want to highlight some of the habits the author shares that have resonated with me historically and, in some cases, still do. Please listen to or read the book to become a remarkable leader, mentor, or sponsor to fabulous women. For men, look for opportunities to mentor, coach, or sponsor those women who’ve broken these habits.
Some key habits that resonated with me:
- Reluctance to claim your achievement
- Expecting others to spontaneously notice and reward your contributions
- Overvaluing expertise
- Building rather than leveraging relationships
- Failing to enlist allies from day one
- Putting your job before your career
- Perfection trap
- Too much
- Letting your radar distract you
Here are a few examples of what I took away from the book.
Habit #1 – Reluctance to claim your achievement
- Habit is rooted in: Genuine desire and willingness to acknowledge the achievements of others.
- Breaking the habit: You need to find ways to celebrate and acknowledge your achievements without being obnoxious or shrinking the accomplishment. Being proud of your achievements does not need to take a back burner to others.
- My habit-breaking example: My MBA is the one that remains top of mind right now. I was so nervous about failing at the start that I could have easily kept quiet about the huge personal wins. I surprised myself by modestly sharing my daily successes. It allowed me to share the struggles and how the end goal of getting my MBA while working full-time could be shared and celebrated with the great humans in my life.
Habit #2 – Expecting others to spontaneously notice and reward your contributions
- Habit is rooted in: One’s reluctance to showboat or self-promote.
- Breaking the habit: Stop expecting others to notice your accomplishments and reward you accordingly, spontaneously.
- My habit-breaking example: Early in my career, I thought that my leaders had a photographic memory and they had a “Penny’s wins” folder in their brains. As a result, they’d know my wins, and I had no need to remind them during performance reviews or when opportunities arose that would help me progress. I ended up getting my career advancements by moving organizations. I don’t regret my strategic moves, but when I took a step back, I could see where I could have made some adjustments. I could have reminded my people and leaders of my accomplishments, approaches, and strategic thinking, and I might have been more satisfied and other opportunities might have presented themselves. My leaders, like me, do not have a photographic memory. I need to make it easier for them to support and reward me for my contributions.
- The author suggests: Say what you’re working on, what you’ve accomplished, and why it motivates you – think elevator pitch. Remember, hard work needs to demonstrate loyalty consistently.
Here are a few other tidbits I’d like to share that might entice a listen or read:
- Someone’s always watching – use the 12 habits to be on offense vs. defense.
- Take accountability when your calendar goes awry. Make choices to be late, shift, or cancel.
- When you choose an employee over yourself – it’s always the right idea.
- Ambition is a beautiful trait but ineffective when out of balance – patience helps ambition.
- More leaders need to look at the whole picture of an employee’s performance instead of asking (or implying) what have you done for me lately.
- Emotional intelligence helps no matter what you’re doing, but it’s even more valuable for managers because it affects more people.
- It would help if you were optimistic or had problems scaling your team.
- Just say thank you and stop talking when others compliment or celebrate your achievements.
Helgesen and Goldsmith offer so many more insights, so check it out, read it, and let me know what habits resonate with you.
Options for reading/listening: Book | Audible
I’d love to hear your thoughts if you choose to read or listen to the book.
Follow Penny on LinkedIn or checkout theizzyway.ca for more of her blog posts.
