Curious what you can do
to help you achieve greatness?
I had the opportunity to
learn just that at the Canadian Women in Communications (CWC) Power Networking
event. CWC had organized an amazing panel of women in leadership roles from a
variety of different sectors.
With leaders such as Sandy Pell the Communication
Manager at Hoot suite, Meredith Powell one of the CO-Founders to the Next Big
Thing and many others, the whole night was full of great conversation, advice
and ideas.
Here are my takeaways
from the 10 tips for success shared by Juggy Sihota the VP of Client Experience
and Strategy at TELUS and what she wish she knew earlier in her career.
1)
Try to surround yourself with
the most talented people you can find
Look for the most talented people you can
find and then surround yourself with them. Do it deliberately because it will
help develop your career and you’ll grow simply through osmosis.
2)
Tell people what you want to do
and why
Sharing something that personal can feel
difficult and uncomfortable with others. Do it anyways and share it freely with
those around you. When you’re hiding it instead of sharing, it can seem suspicious
and people are always imaginative. They will come up with reasons for why and
at times that may not be a positive thing.
Be open so that nothing is left to the
imagination and you will also be seen as both more confident and trustworthy.
When meeting with leaders, those can be the greatest opportunities for
you to share your goals and dreams. They can often times be in a position with
the resources to help you but can only do so if they know what you are looking
for.
3)
Be prepared to allow who you
work for to trump who you are
If you believe that there is a great
learning opportunity at work but it’s not quite what you enjoy doing too much,
you should still go for it. Don’t second guess yourself too much as in the long
run it will be more valuable than the short term discomfort. Take those big
learning opportunities while you can.
4)
Champions are important
Find and work for leaders who are
champions for others. These are the people who are secure in their career and
in themselves. They are the type of leaders to be vocally loud and proud when
it comes to the accomplishments of their teams and champion those who do
amazing work. Other hints for these types of individuals is that they protect
their teams and takes ownership of team weaknesses instead of blaming individuals
or throwing others under the bus.
5)
Understand the importance of
cultivating relationships
“If
I spent more time building relationships I would have been able to enjoy my
career even more”
Take time to go and have coffee meetings
with other peers and professionals from all areas. When things aren’t going
well it can really help to have someone to speak to that can understand and
relates to your challenges. By developing relationships with individuals from
all walks, it will also provide you with expert help from others when you need
it. After all, you can’t be an expert in everything.
6)
Develop yourself awareness
It’s important to be self-aware of yourself.
How you can help develop self-awareness is by asking those you trust and close
to you how you come across. Not only will that help you become aware of things
that you never knew, but if you are honestly making an effort to incorporate
their advice they will become vested in your success.
7)
Understand there is a
difference between being right & success
Being right doesn't mean you will be
successful. At times there is a difference between the two. Especially if being
right comes at the expense of fracturing and dividing relationships that you
have with others that you work with. Organizational success is a team effort
and relationships matter. But if you want both, maybe you can just be quietly
right instead of loudly.
8)
Be purposeful with mentors
Look for mentorship purposefully but
understand that some of the best mentorship is an informal arrangement. This
means deliberately making time to meet individuals and allowing the mentorship
to naturally develop over time. This was something many of the women on the
leadership panel found that they shared in common as a key ingredient to their
success.
9)
Be humble
Being humble and honest when you make
mistakes allows you to be more human
and relatable to others as a leader. By admitting mistakes and being okay with them
as a leader you are creating an atmosphere where it is okay for others to
mistakes as well too. This is especially important if you’re in an organization
that is interested in fostering innovation and creativity. This allows those on
your teams to be more of a risk taker and leaders themselves.
10)
Always be grateful
The final piece of advice was to always
be grateful and appreciate those who have helped you on your journey to success.
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Canadian Women in Communications Power Networking
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Definitely a recurring theme during the
night when it came to success for the panel was both making time to build new
relationships and finding mentors. I’m thankful to Kelly Gill from CWC who took
the time to organize this event and bring together such an amazing group of people
with great wisdom to share but also networking in Vancouver for being a great
portal to find out about fantastic networking opportunities. You should definitely check out their next event if you get a chance.
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By Stevie Vu
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