This Key Time Shift Sets Apart Executive Women from High Achieving Ambitious Ones
Are you too accessible to have an executive presence?
“I had one day when I was in meetings from 930am to 930pm.”
Minka is killing it at work. At the start of the pandemic, she came to me seeking promotion at her Fortune 500 company and got it. Next month, she’s getting promoted again. Leadership is floating her name for org President. It’s very exciting.
Minka is also drowning in meetings and emails. She is so busy dealing with everyone else’s requests that by the time she feeds and puts her kids to bed, she still has hours of her own work. Even though she’s been growing and training her team to support her, she came back to visit me for a tune up because she is afraid of saying “no.”
The Root
Saying no triggered deep anxiety that she would be rejected or disliked, which was unacceptable to her ego. This was rooted in her past and she saw it playing out with her young son. Automatically saying yes meant that despite running a team of 15+ people, she was still as accessible as she’d been when she first started.
This is a woman who’s on a Presidential path! You wouldn’t ask the president where to find a document on Google Drive, and no one should be asking you the same!
The Shift
I reminded her of the times in our sessions when she would have to plot to figure out how to access decision-makers. What if that is the way people tried to access her time? This was a lightbulb moment.
She didn’t feel rejected by other leaders who couldn’t meet with her, she learned to bottom line her communications and become integral to decisions so she got a seat at the table.
Clearly she has relationships (husband, children, friends) where she has to say no to people, and even if they resent her for a time, they manage. She’s built up enough goodwill that limiting her access should not be an issue. This applies to her work relationships.
I’m going through the same. For the last 4 years, I have done discovery calls. I might be on Zoom with possible clients for hours a day. It was draining and inefficient. At this point, I have so much free content that I have learned to leverage that to help people. Or speak to them over email or text.
Does this end up not working for folks? Sure. But as someone running a company (or you an org, dept, or team) making yourself less accessible makes your attention more valuable.
This and many more lessons in presenting as a leader worthy of promotion in the new Career Strategy GPS program: A 9 month online course & group program that gets ambitious, high performing womxn hired, promoted and paid for their leadership and expertise without overwhelm or overwork.
Interested?
Fill out a 3 question application for Career GPS
If you’re a fit, you’ll receive an invitation to a FREE Private Training
Join an exclusive group of hand selected women and learn to articulate your brand and value
Have questions now? Email holler@acelectric.co and ask away!