After attending an empowering session discussing leadership strengths, mine being emotional intelligence, at the 2016 Multicultural Women's National Conference, I walked into the main room on the sixth floor of the New York Marriott Marquis.
Atop each table in front of each seat sat a red hardcover book with white lettering. As I took my seat I read the title: Strategize to Win: The New Way to Start Out, Step Up, or Start Over in Your Career. I recognized the title, which meant I recognized and knew of the author – Carla Harris.
With excitement I wondered, “Is Carla the keynote speaker?”.
I had heard her three times previously, but I had not heard her speak from her most recent book. I had only heard her speak on her pearls from her other book, Expect to Win: 10 Proven Strategies for Thriving in the Workplace.
No sooner than I had taken a seat, Carla walked briskly by, looking like a woman on a mission.
As it turns out, she was the keynote speaker and she was on a mission. She would get on the stage and talk for half an hour, sharing her wisdom and helping those of us in the room expand our leadership strategy.
Leadership Done the Right Way
What follows is some of what I took away from Carla's message. It is a strategy to do leadership the right way.
You see, leadership is more than a title; you will see that shortly.
Leadership is a behavior to be used as a way to engage, encourage, and empower others.
Leadership is more than about how well you perform. It is an investment in others.
In return you achieve what is necessary for you to achieve and excel.
It's a win/win.
If you are in a leadership position, desire to one day be in a leadership position, or are simply curious about the message, I challenge you to imagine that someone prominent asked you to step forward to implement and lead a program to engage, encourage, and empower others. How likely would you do it without a second thought?
Think about that as you read what follows.
Meaning of Leader – Your Leadership Strategy
Carla broken down leadership with each letter of the word leader. Here is what I noted in my furious writing of notes.
L = Leverage: You will not always have the best idea, but someone on your team can help you execute ideas. Create the environment where your team wants to contribute. Leverage others' intelligence.
E = Efficiency: Your staff should never not have clarity on what success looks like for them. You as a leader should know what type of success makes each individual on your staff happy.
A = Authenticity: Authenticity is at the heart of your power. It is your distinct competitive advantage. No one can ever be what makes you uniquely you. Inspire others to be their authentic selves. With that, I strongly encourage you to be your authentic self (that last part was me, not Carla).
There was a great story Carla told in this space. She said when she would go into meetings to do her pitches she never wanted people to know that she was a singer. One day before a meeting someone mentioned that she was a gospel singer. That sparked a conversation around singing.
The person she was meeting mentioned they wanted to sing, but was advised to only sing in the shower. Their daughter, however was very talented. One thing lead to another and before the meeting began, Carla had made a connection. There was a meeting before the meeting. The meeting ended with her sealing the deal.
What Carla learned was how valuable it was to be your authentic self. From that day on she said, “When I go into a room I bring Carla the banker, Carla the singer, Carla the speaker, Carla the golfer, Carla the football fan, I bring ALL….the Carlas because one of them will make the difference.”
D = Diversity and Decisive: The cost of inaction is much higher than the price of inaction, therefore the business case for diversity is that we are all competing around innovation. For innovation, you need a lot of ideas in the room. To get a lot of ideas in the room, you need a lot of perspectives. To get a lot of perspectives, you need a lot of experiences. For a lot of experiences, you need a lot of different people in the room.
E = Engage: Does that look familiar? You must engage with those on your team.
R = Risk. Be comfortable taking risks. Do not keep your head down. Do not submerge your voice. Fear has no place in your success equation. Failure always offers a gift: experience.
Other Leadership Strategy Nuggets from Carla Harris
– You can lead from any seat.
– Your leadership action allows you to ascend to any seat.
– There are two types of currency, 1) Performance and 2) Leadership.
Performance is offering what is asked of you and a little bit extra. Early on, it will get you paid and get you noticed, but experience has diminishing returns. Everyone will know what you can do, therefore they expect it. As such, you need to create a new standard of excellence.
Relationships do not diminish. Have a relationship with EVERY seat. Put your work in context through your relationships. You have power. Do not get skipped over. If someone does not know you, how much currency will they put in someone they do not know? Think about that.
Your Leadership Challenge
Recall the challenge from above? If not, scroll back up to check it out, then scroll back down to read the challenge.
Many of us, I am guessing, would probably jump if someone prominent were to ask us to lead a program to engage, encourage, and empower others.
How about we create a new standard of excellence as Carla suggested.
Step forward, reach out, and raise your hand before you are asked.
That is how you build equity and give people a reason to use their currency on you.
Remember this challenge each time you are consider waiting for an opportunity.
Start the Discussion: What leadership strategies do you suggest? Share in the post comments, on Facebook or Twitter.