Category: Women In Business

Given long-time limitations imposed on women, it’s not surprising that many women operate from a scarcity mindset. Heck, it’s still recent history that women couldn’t hold property or credit in their own name, vote, or even be recognized as persons in the eyes of the law. Women still make less money than men and have significantly fewer opportunities to access venture capital funds (or capital at all for that matter). Women are less likely to ask for what they want and less likely to believe they can get what they want.

For many years, with limited job opportunities available for women beyond the proverbial glass ceiling, it seemed like a competition of many for few. As a result, and further exacerbating the problem, women deprived themselves of the value in supporting each other on the path to success. They saw a fixed pie with only slivers available for women and so believed they had to compete for these slivers (or not seek them at all).

Today, with the rise of the feminine, we’re finally seeing a corresponding recognition that a rising tide lifts all boats. Women are more intentional about inspiring, uplifting, and elevating other women. In so doing, we elevate ourselves. Abundance mindsets, seeking to expand the pie (rather than grab a share of a fixed pie), open unexpected opportunities and benefit all.

Coming from a place of grace, generosity, and service has profound positive benefits for the giver. As noted by Alex Hormozi, author of $100M Offers, “People who help others (with zero expectation) experience higher levels of fulfillment, live longer, and make more money.”

With that philosophy in mind, he posed this simple question to his readers:

Help Other Women Negotiate for More

Would you help someone you’ve never met, if it didn’t cost you money, but you never got credit for it?

I’d like to echo that question for you to consider.

I’m on a mission to help women leverage their natural power to get more of what they want and deserve in life through the Art of Feminine Negotiation. All of life is a negotiation – whether you’re negotiating with your kids, intimate partner, service providers, employers, employees or for multi-million-dollar deals. It’s probably the most important skill we’ll ever use. Any yet, have been duped into believing they’re not effective at this skill (or alternatively that they have to ‘act like a man’ to succeed). Neither are true.

And so, I created my Art of Feminine Negotiation™ and HERsuasion™ programs. And so, I released my passion project, The Art of Feminine Negotiation: How to Get What You Want from the Boardroom to the Bedroom book, to help women step into their power to be more and get more.

To achieve that goal, I need to reach them. To reach them, they need to discover my book. One sure-fire way to increase the likelihood of them finding it is through reviews. So, here’s my ask. If you think this message is important and the book would benefit other women, please take a moment now to leave a review. It only takes a moment of your time.

That review might help another woman …

• Find her voice
• Get the recognition she deserves
• Make more money
• Improve her relationships
• Rediscover her life as she sets boundaries and prioritizes her dreams

Think of the power your simple review wields. A moment of your time could change a life.

Share the gift of empowerment. Thanks for considering this!

I had a new experience this week which reinforced my beliefs about the importance of reframing how we look at negotiation. For some time, I’ve been touting the advantages (and necessity) of breaking old conditioning and redefining our concepts of success, conflict, power and the art of negotiation. The more work I do in this area, the more value I see in it, and the more examples I see of how our skewed conditioning holds us back in negotiating our best lives.

The reminder came by way of a virtual reality experience. It was my first foray into the VR world. It was surreal and a little disorienting at first, but I got the hang of it shortly after they placed a seemingly disembodied floating gun and sword in my hands. I use the term ‘my hands’ loosely as when I looked down, I could only see my blue avatar hands and arm – a tad disconcerting on first glance.

The object of the game was to capture Davey Jones’ treasure. To do that, we had to fight off a never-ending barrage of pirate skeletons, ghosts, cannon attacks, and even Davey Jones himself, using our reloadable virtual gun and flaming sword. We were supposed to work as a team. In fact, team members could bring a fallen comrade back to life by touching their shoulder (again, not so easy when you’re not used to your avatar body).

Our team had two men and two women. Part way through the game, I noticed that each time I ‘died’ it was my female teammate who rescued me with a shoulder touch. In fact, I began to notice that it was us women who did all the reviving as the guys kept shooting and slashing (even when their transparent lifeless bodies and weapons weren’t actually working).

And when we finally discovered the treasure, one of our male teammates shot us all, thinking he’d keep the treasure himself (which ended up not working and we all died).

After the game it struck me about the profound impact of subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) messaging that shapes how we show up and interact in this ‘game’ called life. Because at the end of the simulation, our individual scores came up – I didn’t even know we were being scored individually – and the message seemed to be that we had actually been competing with each other even though we were on the same team.

We got scored based on how much ‘damage’ (their word, not mine) we each did individually. Conspicuously absent in the scoring was any credit for effective strategizing or saving your teammates. Perhaps that explained why our male counterparts never wasted time on reanimating anyone. Not only did saving a teammate take precious seconds, but it left you vulnerable as you took your attention away from the advancing ghouls (who ultimately eviscerated us), and it meant lost points away from the action.

That got me to thinking about the importance of the work we do around the ‘rise of the feminine’. Had we all taken a collaborative approach, working together as a team, having each other’s backs, we likely wouldn’t have lost the treasure (and our lives). But hard-wired conditioning led to an immediate competitive approach, not just against the imminent threat, but against each other.

The need to exert power ‘over’ each other rather than seeking power ‘with’ each other ultimately led to our demise. Similarly, skewed perspectives on what constituted ‘success’, based on a ‘winner-take-all’ mindset, ironically caused us to lose. Our very sense of ‘conflict’ itself was off base. Instead of looking for creative, collaborative approaches to better outcomes and opportunities, we ended up set against each other, to disastrous effect. This was true in the world of VR, and it’s equally true in real-life negotiations.

My hope is that as we continue to have dialogue and raise our awareness about the negative impact of conditioning based on competitive models, we’ll start to shift our perspective and mindsets to a more collaborative approach. Dare I say a more ‘feminine’ approach. And by that I don’t mean gender – we all have both masculine and feminine energy but sadly have been led to see our so-called feminine traits as a liability.

What do I mean by a ‘feminine’ approach? One based on empathy, where we truly seek to understand and meet the needs of others. One where we listen, collaborate, build trust, stay flexible, and approach perceived conflict with curiosity, looking for creative solutions that best serve all. The beauty of that approach is that it brings better outcomes, better relationships, better buy-in, longer lasting agreements and less conflict. Isn’t that a better way to ‘win’ at the game of life?

Are so-called ‘feminine traits’ being appreciated more today or is that a myth? Are we, in fact, repeating the same patterns that continue to get us in trouble?

In my article last week (Art of Feminine Negotiation is the Key to World Peace), I stated that “there’s a new appreciation for the value of feminine energy … in business, in politics, and beyond”. Those of you who follow me know I believe that to be the case. In fact, I advocate for it as the way to shift the world back into balance. However, I just reread the Athena Doctrine this week and I’m not sure whether to feel validated or discredited re my confidence about the shift.

As I noted last week, my TEDx talk, Rise of the Feminine Voice as the Key to the Future, explored the idea that the world is out of balance because both men and women have lost touch with our feminine. I suggested that COVID had opened the world up to a new way of being and that the crisis had increased our appreciation for ‘feminine strengths’ in a way that we hadn’t seen in my lifetime.

People were suggesting that countries with female leaders fared better during COVID (which may or may not be true, and misses the point that these traits are not actually gender-based, but at least the value of feminine stock went up as a result). Attention was being drawn to increased productivity and success of corporations with women on their boards. Calls for increased funding to women-led start-ups were being heard.

More importantly to me (as feminine traits aren’t actually tied to gender, but rather, reflect perceptions about the masculine and feminine energy we all share) was the fact that so-called feminine traits (or soft skills) were being lauded as necessary leadership skills. Compassion, collaboration, creativity, empathy, trust, and curiosity were being recognized as valuable skills to bring to bear.

I was excited about this shift.

Yet, on rereading the Athena Doctrine, I questioned if my optimism was premature. That book was published in 2013, based on a study conducted in 2012, inspired by a review of the 2008 crash fallout. The authors noted the severe lack of faith in our political, economic and other systems following the 2008 shake-up. As they explored the consequences of that shaken faith, they embarked on an extensive global survey.

They came to the conclusion that a “clear majority of people around the world were unhappy with the conduct of men” (interestingly, with the exception of Canadians). They also found that “millennials have a fundamentally stronger appreciation of femininity and the role of women in society.” And perhaps more importantly to the point of this article, they determined from their study that:

Universally, it seemed that people had grown frustrated by a world dominated by codes of what they saw as traditionally masculine thinking and behaviour: codes of control, competition, aggression, and black-and-white thinking that have contributed to many of the problems we face today, from wars and income inequality to reckless risk-taking and scandal.

A decade ago, they were advocating this concept that I’ve been sharing. That got me to thinking. If these ideas were being touted as new belief systems over a decade ago, then how was it that we came to be at this same place now? Is our excitement about the apparent ‘newfound’ appreciation of our ‘feminine’ misplaced if, in fact, we’ve been at this point before to no avail? If increased feminine awareness was being heralded as the key to our future back in 2012, why did nothing come of it? How did we snap back to old patterns with traditional definitions of success based on competitive, winner-take-all models?

That made me rethink my recognition that the Dali Lama has been talking about this theme for over a decade and a half as well. Is it the case that in times of crisis we recognize the fundamental problem of discounting our ‘feminine’, but when the crisis passes, we fall back into the same old patterns that caused the problems in the first place? If so, does that mean that our post-COVID re-examination of our priorities and values will be short-lived?

Not if I have anything to do with it. And I invite you to do your part to ensure we don’t rubber-band back to old ways of thinking and being. Leaning in to our feminine provides better outcomes, better relationships, longer-lasting agreements, better buy-in, and greater creativity.

As I’ve been promoting for some time now, and as I reiterated in last week’s article:

Hopefully now, we’ll see both men and women lean in to their feminine, bringing empathy to the table, seeking to build stronger relationships, not coming from a place of competition, not looking just to meet our needs, but also to understand and meet the needs of others, valuing and respecting our differences and stepping into the best of our humanity.

Imagine a world where we all negotiate life from that place of powerful feminine persuasion.

Do you lean in to your negotiations? What does that mean to you?

In the wake of Sheryl Sandberg’s ground-breaking book, Lean In, many people misconstrued the message, believing Sandberg was advocating that women need to get tougher and bring their bad-ass self to the table to be taken seriously. I hope that’s not the message you took away. It’s been my mission these last many years to reframe how we look at power, success, and negotiation … in business and in life.

It’s precisely that ‘toughness carries the day’ mindset that I’m determined to flip. I encourage a new approach, where we choose collaboration over competition, seeking to truly understand and meet the needs of the other party to find best possible outcomes.

I invite you to lean in. But not from a place of challenge or exerting power over the other party. Instead, lean in to the messiness. Lean in to the human ugliness that may come up. Use it to find the path to unearth power with the other party. To do that we need to understand … the good, the bad and the ugly.

Most people lean back when negotiations get messy. When the other party acts out or gets angry, or hurt, or reactive, we step back. In trying to play safe, we build in what we believe to be safeguards to minimize risk to ourselves. Yet these strategies or approaches undermine our ability to get best outcomes. Far from keeping us safe, they act as saboteurs.

Many resources on negotiation suggest that emotion has no place in negotiations. This ignores a fundamental reality. Humans are emotional beings. For too long, we’ve ignored this fact in studying best practices for negotiation. Effective negotiations are based, in part, on relationship. High EQ is a critical skill for relationship-building and hence, for effective bargaining.

Yet when emotions rear up in negotiations, we usually back away, finding them messy and uncomfortable to deal with. As a result, many deals go sideways and fail when a resolution was possible if we’d just dig in to understand where the emotion is coming from and what block(s) may be standing in the way of your perfect deal.

What if, instead of backing away, you leaned in? If you got curious? If you committed to uncover the unmet needs that caused the eruption you faced? What if you resolved to diagnose the problem with fascination, compassion, and openness? If you want to figure out what the problem is so you can resolve it, you need to lean in to examine it more carefully. It’s not the time to retreat or turtle.

Think of an I.T. expert. When a computer acts up, spewing out info it shouldn’t, or freezing up, or shutting down, the expert doesn’t run away, but instead leans in, using that messy, annoying, confounding stuff as valuable information to make a diagnosis. I invite you to try the same in your negotiations.

When those pesky emotions show up, don’t back away, but lean in to the perceived problem to collect the necessary intel to identify and fix the problem. Those high emotions often signal the heart of the real fears or needs of the other party. Knowing that allows you to come up with better outcomes and get better buy-in.

Deal with these messy issues quickly where possible. Like a red wine spill on a white carpet, if you leave it too long the stain will be permanent, whereas if you act fast and blot followed by a quick application of dish detergent and vinegar you can clean up the mess and carry on with the party.

We’re taught to hold our cards close to our chest. We worry that if we’re vulnerable, we’ll be seen as weak, and others will take advantage of us. In my experience the opposite is true.

That approach creates a wall between the parties – a gap or space that’s tough to bridge. It doesn’t lead to the transparency and trust necessary for creative solutions.

Be willing to be vulnerable and to explore vulnerability of the other party. While outbursts may not seem like vulnerability in the moment, they can be gorgeous opportunities to see behind the Wizard’s curtain. I invite you to seize those opportunities. You may just find a heart, a brain, or unexpected courage to close the deal in unanticipated and gratifying ways.

All of life is a negotiation. I say this often. I typically quip that the art of negotiation is about getting what you want ‘from the boardroom to the bedroom’. In fact, my newly released book has that as its tagline … Art of Feminine Negotiation: How to Get What You Want from the Boardroom to the Bedroom. And that’s true. Negotiation can enhance your personal and professional outcomes. But recently, I’ve expanded my appreciation of the breadth of this skill to recognize its inherent value on the global scene. It just may hold the key to world peace.

This point was really driven home when I was asked to keynote a Peace Pulse event for Ollin Women’s International recently. In preparing for the event, the more I read about Ollin, the more I recognized how connected our work was. They are dedicated to fostering world peace. Their peace pledge is to make peace a part of our everyday life. In exploring their member’s personal definitions of peace, it warmed my heart to see references to letting go of ego, and acknowledgements that peace can be big and small, and that before we can bring peace on the outside we need to start on the inside.

This deeply resonated with me as I’ve been on a mission to redefine and reframe conflict, success, power, and negotiation. Many of my clients ask, “Why do you call what you do negotiation training or programs? Doesn’t that push away a lot of people?  What you do is so much more than that.”

I choose to focus on negotiation (notwithstanding the pushback) because I seek to raise awareness that life is a negotiation, from the micro to the macro level. Mastering this skill may be the single most important learning of your life.

We negotiate every day in a myriad of ways. Our first and most important negotiation is with ourselves … negotiating our own mindset. From there, we negotiate our relationships (with our kids, intimate partner, co-workers, service providers, or multi-million-dollar transactions). We also negotiate on the global scene (whether peace in the middle east or conflicts such as the current Russia/Ukraine debacle). The principles are the same. When you uncover how to negotiate on the micro level for your personal impact, you are equipping yourself to negotiate with much broader potential impact.

Most of my clients come to me for the professional development i.e. how to up-level their ability to get more professionally. And we do that … in spades. But the thing that most surprises them is the profound impact our work has on their personal relationships and life. And the thing I find most interesting is the extent to which many of them go on to negotiate even bigger stakes with profound ripple effects for the world (sometimes without them even realizing it).

My reframes focus on leaning in to the feminine. After much research and work on this mission, I came to believe that the solution to much of the world’s ills starts with that simple shift.

In 2020 I did a TEDx talk: Rise of the Feminine Voice as the Key to Our Future. The idea was that the world is out of balance because we’ve lost touch with our feminine. This was not a new concept but interestingly, it was still being treated as novel.

That’s surprising given that the Dalai Lama has been talking about this for at least a decade and a half. Every year, in multiple talks since at least 2007, the Dalai Lama has said:

To promote greater compassion, we must pay special attention to the role of women. … the time has come for women to take more active roles in all domains of human society, in an age in which education and the capacities of the mind, not physical strength, define leadership. This could help create a more equitable and compassionate society.

It only took a decade and a half and a global pandemic for the message to be received. COVID appears to have opened the world to a new way of thinking and new way of being. I started talking about the importance of the rise of the feminine voice many years ago. I believe the time is now.

There’s a new appreciation for the value of feminine energy … in business, in politics, and beyond. I’ve been asked to speak about the Art of Feminine Negotiation™ at business schools, law symposiums, corporate events, trade union conferences, and a few weeks ago in Greece on feminine wisdom. People are suggesting that countries with female leaders fared better during COVID. This may or may not be true, but the discussion is important because at very least, the value of feminine stock went up. Feminine traits are being recognized as key leadership skills for the first time in a long time.

To clarify a possible sticking point, when I speak of feminine, I’m not talking about gender. There’s no one way to be a woman, a man, or any of the spaces in between. We all have masculine and feminine energy. The problem is that for too long we’ve been under-valuing our ‘feminine’.

This is key as the world had shifted out of balance as both men and women eschewed their ‘feminine’ in favour of a competitive, masculine model of success. Hopefully now, we’ll see both men and women lean in to their feminine, bringing empathy to the table, seeking to build stronger relationships, not coming from a place of competition, not looking just to meet our needs, but also to understand and meet the needs of others, valuing and respecting our differences and stepping into the best of our humanity.

Imagine a world where we all negotiate life from that place of powerful feminine persuasion. Studies confirm that people who show up and invoke these so-called feminine skills in negotiating their lives get better outcomes, more creative solutions, better buy-in, less conflict, longer lasting agreements, better relationships, and more positive impact – both personally and professionally. Imagine the power of those results on the global scene.

Most people, at some point, have a craving for unhealthy food. With their internal conscience, they try to dissuade themselves from choosing the ‘wrong’ option. But as they appeal to self-interests, they end up with unhealthy outcomes. This habit is called self-negotiation, which is a sabotaging tactic that keeps us resisting change, even when we want to improve ourselves.

People who self-negotiate often use their own internal arguments as an excuse not to work towards a goal, rather than as a reason for it. It’s unsurprising why fitness and health are one of the most put-off goals that people set because of self-negotiation, which is especially evident in gym attendance dropping off over the course of a year.

In one study, the percentage of new members who attend fitness organizations dipped to 50% in the sixth month and 22% by month 12. Rather than allowing yourselves to sabotage your own efforts, it’s essential that you learn how to negotiate better with yourself. Through these tips below, you can improve your self-negotiation tactics and use them not as excuses but instead as motivators to work toward your desired health targets.

Reframing your diet mindset

When it comes to dieting, people may have a tendency to negotiate with themselves and think they can eat more today because they exercised or will exercise the next day, but then don’t. These seem to be the cause of failure, however, negotiations based on calories aren’t effective either. As some of the best weight loss programs have come to learn, calories don’t tell the whole story when it comes to nutrition.

You also need to consider protein, fiber, sugars, and fats in your diet for a healthier pattern of eating. Rather than making excuses and limiting yourself, you can reframe your choices to more positive outcomes. For example, instead of thinking, “If I eat that cookie, I’ll get fat.” — it’s better to reframe it as “This food looks good, but I also enjoy feeling good when I feed my body healthy food like this apple.” By changing your mindset, you can better convince yourself to make the healthier choice.

Track your habits and behaviors

When you set mental goals for yourself, it can be easy to change them at the last minute because they are too difficult to achieve. Desiring big outcomes is good but often, self-negotiation kicks in to persuade us to take the easier, but not necessarily healthy, choice. Instead, it’s more effective to physically note and work towards smaller targets.

As the saying goes, “What gets measured gets done.” You can start off by writing in a journal what you plan to achieve in health: your desired fitness level, the average amount of sleep per day, or your resistance to stress, to name a few. When you’re faced with a poor choice, you can go back to these goals and use them to redirect yourself back on the right track. This lets you think beyond your present thoughts and reminds you to stay accountable for your goals.

Reduce or make self-negotiation easier

Depending on your personality and willpower, self-negotiation can be a great way to convince yourself to do a task you wouldn’t otherwise commit to. However, there is always the possibility that you will lose these negotiations. Reducing the need to self-negotiate can discipline you and ensure you attain the results you want, especially your health goals. One of our tips for negotiating balance is to control your environment. You can start by eliminating physical unhealthy factors such as junk food and replace them with healthier alternatives like fruits and home gym equipment. Alternatively, you can also add more positive influences in life that inspire you to reach your health targets. Even if you haven’t built the habit of taking the healthier option yet, your environment can encourage you to achieve your best potential and reduce the need, or make it easier, to self-negotiate.

Can colour affect your negotiations?

What was the first thing that came to your mind when faced with this question? Was it wardrobe choices? Room colour? Colour of your skin? The colour you bring to the table when negotiating? There are layers to this conversation and it’s a subject worth examining. In unpacking the issue, we may be able to discover how to use colour as your secret sauce to better negotiation outcomes.

Not long ago we were bombarded with purported new ‘shocking evidence’ about how colour can impact negotiations. Everyone rushed to change their wardrobe to maximize their effectiveness as a negotiator. While there is some merit to this science, I believe there are broader social implications to colour and in this article, I’d like dig deeper on the concept. Let’s explore the impact of the colour of our skin and our ‘personal’ colour.

In an ideal world, the colour of our skin wouldn’t matter. But the sad reality is that it still does – in terms of process, relationship and substantive outcomes. Simply looking at the continuing pay differential for white vs black vs First Nations vs Latino women dispels any notion that colour is irrelevant today. We still have work to do on this front.

While it’s unfair, the reality is that women of colour often feel the need to be more conscious about how they show up, as they’re perceived and judged differently. When legitimately advocating for themselves, they’re often unjustly labelled ‘angry black women’ or some such unflattering moniker. These stereotypes continue across the colour spectrum and can adversely impact on negotiation outcomes.

Even negotiating for access can be more challenging for persons of colour (and women of colour in particular). Getting a seat at the table can be affected by your colour. And for people for whom English is not their first language, the barriers can be even higher. They’re often not even given the time or space to put their thoughts together to express their views. This is an unfortunate loss in the bargaining process as valuable perspectives are ignored and lesser outcomes achieved as a result.

In addition to consideration of what biases you may face, it’s also important to be aware of what biases you may bring to the table. We often go into negotiations making assumptions about the other party and in so doing we limit our effectiveness and ability to secure best outcomes. Likewise, we often make assumptions that the other person will discount us or not show up with partnership perspective. In bringing these biases, we miss opportunities as it narrows and compromises our perspective-taking ability.

Another element of colour that’s worth exploring is the individual ‘colour’ or personality you bring to negotiations. Do you feel comfortable to show up as your full authentic self? Or do you rein in certain qualities to meet expectations (real or perceived)?

Women are more likely to modify their behaviour to meet expected social norms. They fear (with good reason) being judged as ‘too emotional’ or ‘too demanding’. They may demure and soften their pitch and/or approach, ask for less, or play to egos in the room. At the other end of the spectrum, they may overcompensate, bringing masculine energy to the table that doesn’t reflect their authentic style, believing that’s the only way to be heard or succeed.

Many so-called experts advocate for women to modify their behaviour and employ ‘workarounds’ to avoid push-back based on societal expectations. I do not subscribe to this theory. I think it perpetuates the stereotypes and entrenches the problem. If we want meaningful change, we need to start talking about the elephant in the room and coax it out of the corner and into the light.

I believe we’re better served by showing up in our full authenticity and in so doing start to break down ill-informed barriers and expectations. We get what we tolerate in life. If we continue to tolerate discrimination, we will continue to attract it.

Instead, as per the first ‘W’ of my signature 5W model – ‘who’ – I invite you to consider, with intention, who you want to show up as in every negotiation. Choose the power of your authentic self, showing up in your full technicolor.

Part IV of the ‘How to Negotiate Effective Relationships with Mentors and Sponsors to Advance Your Career’ series

Many key roles make up the constellation of relationships that can help catapult your career.  Effective use of mentors, sponsors, allies, coaches and connectors is one of the fastest ways to launch your career, yet they are often misunderstood or overlooked altogether. This mini-series is designed to raise your awareness about how to find mentors, sponsors, allies, coaches, and connectors, and how to use them to advance your career.

In Part I of this series, we highlighted the difference between sponsors, mentors, allies, and coaches. In Part II of this series, we talked about how to find mentors to boost your career. In Part III of this series, we talked about how to find sponsors to turbo-boost your career.

Today, for Part IV of this series, we are going to break down what allies, coaches and connectors are and discuss how to use these relationships to get maximum benefit. These are the three most-oft ignored assets in relationship-building to build a career. Understanding how these 3 roles differ from one another can be key in getting you better opportunities and propelling your career to new heights.

What is an Ally?

Having allies in the work field is essential when trying to work your way up the ladder. Allies are individuals or groups of people that rally to support you.  Allies back you up and help enforce your ideas. They may offer assistance, support, or friendship. This support may be for a specific project or issue or can be more general or broad-based in the workplace.

By way of example, if you have an issue coming up at work to effect a change in approach or philosophy, and you expect there will be resistance to the idea, it can be a game-changer to solicit allies in advance of the proposal. Having others reinforce the strength of the idea can offer increased leverage and pave the way for easier acceptance, making the difference between rejection or adoption of the proposal.

Likewise, in situations where your ideas are consistently being taken by others in the boardroom and/or you’re not getting the recognition you deserve for your contributions or ideas, having allies in the room who can speak up is invaluable. i.e. “Thanks for picking up on Cindy’s idea, Sam. I agree she’s raised an important point.”

Having allies helps with confidence because you know they have your back, and there is strength in numbers.

How to Find an Ally and Use Them to Get Maximum Benefit?

Allies can be a wide range of people who can offer you support in one way or another. They could be your colleagues, your manager, or a resource group where members support your ideas. Many alliances happen organically, where you bond and form relationships naturally through shared interests or goals. If you want to seek out an ally, it is important to get to know people in your network and build those relationships, to increase likelihood they will naturally become allies. It is also important to be an ally to others. The more connections you make and people you have backing you, the more likely your ideas are to be heard, which can help boost your career.

What is a Coach?

Coaches are often confused with mentors but there are distinct differences. Coaches teach others and provide them with guidance to help them grow. They provide knowledge and tools for the people they are coaching and help them perform to the best of their ability. Coaches give feedback and help you get tangible results.

A coach will typically provide a thought-provoking experience that helps you to see your own goal and maximize your potential. A coach tends to be a more short-term relationship, with a specific outcome in mind. These outcomes can involve both ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ work. In other words, coaches can be invaluable in assisting with the mindset work necessary to allow you to step into the most powerful version of yourself. They can also offer new skills and expertise as well as tips and tricks to fast-track your progress. With the right coach, you can cut years off the learning curve so they’re worth their weight in gold.

How to Find a Coach and Use Them to Get Maximum Benefit?

 A coach may be somebody that is in your network already. Coaches are usually experts in their field. They may already be in your network, or you can seek out experts in your field outside of your network. There are exceptional coaches available for hire, either for one-on-one coaching experiences or as part of a group coaching experience or program.

If you can find a coach who has expertise, reputation, and is able to provide the tools you need to improve your skills, this could be a big step in personal and professional growth and could help boost your career.

What is a Connector?

Connectors are people who may not help you directly but can help connect you with other people who can benefit you in your career. A connector may be someone who has a lot of connections, and who is good at networking. Connectors can help boost your career by introducing you to people who may become mentors, sponsors, allies, or coaches.

How to Find a Connector and Use Them to Get Maximum Benefit?

The best way to find Connectors is to expand your network and meet new people. The more people you know, the more likely you are to meet people that can connect you to the people that can help boost your career. It is important to network and go to events to make these crucial connections.

Having the knowledge about what each of these roles are, the benefits of having them, and how to find them is sure to be a step towards advancing your career. And, as always, it’s critical to be intentional about seeking out these valuable supports and building your ‘team’ to catapult your career and success.