1.Know your Values
The typical workplace in today’s world, whether it is led by women or men, is often guided and directed by use of power-over, the loudest in the room wins, and seering competition that tears apart and down rather than building up. At Pavo Navigation, our women clients regularly find themselves out of alliance with these methods and behaviors. They feel forced to behave, speak, communicate and manage in ways that just isn’t who they are.
Bringing clarity to your values is a critical first step to build your own guideposts for how to show up consistently. Ask yourself, what are the values that inform my behavior and choices? Some examples are honesty, clarity, everyone wins, creativity and challenging problems to solve, collaboration, and more.
Hint
An easy way to find your values is to identify leaders you admire and wonder about what you think their values are that drive them. You can also look to those leaders you do not admire and wonder about their values to get clear about your own.
2.Insist List
In addition to bringing clarity to your values, knowing and owning what you insist on in your workplace is critical to regularly taking actions that support and edify it. For many people, especially women who have been trained and conditioned not to require or insist on anything but to rather go along, this can feel challenging. Nonetheless, it is a potent exercise in establishing clear, consistent boundaries for what you expect, allow and act to create in your day-to-day work environment. Some examples are an environment dedicated to diverse perspectives and styles of communication, dedicated to collaboration and teamwork, one where it is safe to ask questions and actively learn rather than need to pretend you know everything already.
Hint
Increase your awareness of what brings you joy and is easy at your current workplace and what doesn’t feel aligned and is hard, causes stress or triggers overwhelm or fear. Being a powerful, clear, and consistent leader starts with increasing awareness!
3.Regularly Get Perspective
We have all been trained, shaped, and raised to believe that working hard and being a successful professional requires that we give our blood and sweat to our careers. We have learned that our value as human beings is measured by our performance and whether or not we are successful at it. The definition of success being to climb the ladder, get the next promotion, and make more money. This results all too often in losing touch with our priorities. A Pavo Navigation tool we give to our clients invites realigning and clarity for what truly matters in our lives. “Begin with the End in Mind” invites you to consider attending your own funeral service. Who do you want to be in attendance? Who do you want to see rise to speak about you and what do you want them to say about how you lived your life? When we realize what our enduring priorities are, such as friendship, parenting, love partnerships, caring for the planet, making an impact on the lives of others, we are able to put the work in front of us at our job into perspective.
Hint
As you wonder about what your motivations are and your purpose on this earth, do so without judgment and give yourself permission to be totally honest with yourself
4.Trust; yourself first and foremost
Trust that you have the intelligence, the capacity, the desire to do your work, to learn, ask questions, and be the impactful professional you are. Trust that you show up fully in all of your skill and experience and that doesn’t change when we make a mistake, get something wrong, or have a “bad” day. Mistakes are critical. They are one very important way we learn and grow. The second movement of Trust is in the unseen energy that is always moving and interacting around us and that it moves in service to build and create increase for all and that includes you. Always. You are held in the strong, tenacious, and consistent field of energy that has your back. It is abundant, it is full of unlimited possibilities and it invites you to trust that there is more happening in service to your increase than you see in front of you.
Hint
If it seems like there is more evidence to the contrary, take a walk, do some gardening, look at nature. She is always reminding us that new life is abundant and all creatures strive to increase!
5.Be your authentic, genuine self all the time. No code-switching.
Using the first four tools equips you with all you need to show up as a consistent, clear, and responsible professional leader. You need not adjust who you are, how you behave, speak or act depending on who you are surrounded by. This is a powerful attribute of an effective leader. Team members know what they are going to get from you whether there is a crisis or everything is going smoothly. The experience people have of you is one of confidence that gives space and allowance for others to learn, grow, and for everyone to be the best professional they can be. People want to be on your team!
Hint
Make a list of all that you know you are and entitle it “I AM THAT”. I am capable. I am smart. I am fun. I am valuable. I am innovative. I am worthy. Keep it near you at all times and when you are heading into a meeting that feels challenging, read it through before starting.
AmyJo Mattheis
Executive Leadership Coach and Founder of Pavo Navigation Coaching. Pavo helps companies tackle such issues as toxicity, racial and gender bias in the work environment.
Amy Jo has developed what she calls a “toolkit” to help women find their voice and power and use to the adapt the workplace to their needs, rather than being “someone else” at work in order to fit in.