Upcoming Roundtable Schedule:
October 27, 2021
November 24, 2021
If you’re not sure if you have the dates on your calendar, contact Deb Pelham at Deb@RedCapeRevolution.com
Action from the Roundtable Sept. 21, 2021
We continued talking about both building advocates and sponsors as well as finding our voice and talking back to the negative voice in our head. Here’s one article that can help:
We also talked about ways to help other leaders see your value—and to help communicate what value you create. Here’s a framework that can help.
Action from the Roundtable August 25, 2021
We dove in a bit more about building your network of sponsors or advocates. Many of you have new leaders who don’t know where you’ve been or what problems you’ve solved. It’ll be up to you to reach out, hear their story, and earn the chance to tell them your story–the story you want to be known for going forward, not necessarily the one of who you’ve been. Here are a few resources as you think about how to get clear on your story:
A few of you noted that it’s hard to know how to initiate the reach out. Remember, our senior leaders are human, too, and may be feeling just as isolated behind their laptop as you might. They might welcome someone reaching out! I always suggest an approach that makes it about them first, not you. While the scripts in this article are more for job networking, the same basic rules and scripts apply:
Finally, remember that those influencers also have problems and challenges they need help solving, and a new leader especially doesn’t have the internal networks to know where to go for help.
To be of help, I always say “find the pain.” It’s something to listen for in conversations (or even in their public comments, giving you something you can later follow up on). More scripts and ideas on this here:
Action from the Roundtable July 28, 2021
We focused on making time to be strategic vs. tactical, and letting some things go.
Suggested Action: Identify the one thing you need to drop (or restructure) in order to have more time to think and be strategic.
Actions from Roundtable 1: June 24, 2021
Suggested Action: Make a target list of the people who need to SEE and SPEAK UP about our value, saying the things you identified you want them to say, like:
- “She’s ready for the next level – She’s already there.”
- “She’s strategic and contributing at a significant level.”
- “She’s inspiring and a role model.”
- “We can’t afford to lose her so we need to figure out how to give her the growth/promotion/rewards she’s asking for.”
Suggested Action: Schedule the first conversation you need to initiate
- Q shared that one place to start can be asking your immediate leader about the recent talent review: “I know the leadership team recently completed its talent review, and I’d like to understand how I’m currently being viewed in that process. Can we schedule time soon to discuss that?”
- You all also noted how many leadership changes have taken place, and that in some ways, reaching out to new or new-ish leaders might be something they’d welcome. They’re human, too, with fears that they’re not going to be successful in their new job. They need to know who’s out there doing what, so think about whether there’s a new leader who you might need to reach to directly and introduce yourself, rather than waiting for them to find you.