Be Proactive: Find that Mentor — Sherry Lowe
She's Talking Back
Sherry Lowe is an award-winning print and broadcast journalist turned Silicon Valley marketing executive. She has experience in building marketing programs for rapid-growth tech companies. As a professional that served both in sports journalism and tech companies, she was completely used to being the only woman in the room. Today, she shares how she was proactive in searching for powerful mentors and being very conscious in bringing up younger professional women. Key Takeaways Sherry shares her first experience with being the only woman in the room. Sherry focused her efforts on...
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You Stop Yourself More Than the World Is Stopping You! — Jody DeVere
She's Talking Back
Jody DeVere is an internationally recognized speaker, trainer, often-quoted industry pundit and spokesperson for the automotive industry on the women's market. Jody’s company, AskPatty.com, Inc. serves as the first point of contact for many women who are seeking the very best experience to buy a car and service by visiting Certified Female Friendly® automotive retail locations across the United States and Canada. Key Takeaways Everything needs to be filled with compassion and empathy so that you can properly support your team. How do you shift as a leader and tap into your...
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Be Direct and Unapologetic. Express Your Truth — Catherine Hamilton
She's Talking Back
Catherine Hamilton is the Vice President of Consumer Services and Strategic Planning at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont. Catherine is also a certified yoga instructor and prides herself on prioritizing her wellness first before serving others. In this episode, Catherine encourages women to not apologize for having good ideas. Be confident in the way you talk, and don’t second guess yourself. If you’ve ever wondered how a superwoman ‘can do it all,’ then you’re asking yourself the wrong question! Key Takeaways How do you do it all? Catherine has never really been a...
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Women are Struggling with Confidence! — Dr. Sam Collins
She's Talking Back
Dr. Sam Collins works with communities and organizations to create the right conditions for empowerment, equality, and change. Throughout her 20 years of experience, she has worked with women and has seen some common themes appear over and over, like lack of confidence, fear to speak out and share their voice, and being fit into a blueprint that women have to take on all of life’s responsibilities. However, it doesn’t have to be this way! Dr. Sam shares her thoughts on this week’s episode. Key Takeaways Sam has been doing this for over 20 years. How did she get into this field?...
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We All Go Through Seasons in Life — Tricia Halsey
She's Talking Back
Tricia Halsey is the thought leader behind Generous Leadership® and the Founder of Big Idea Project®. Tricia is a recovering overachiever and has seen, and felt, its nasty side effects up close and personal. She refuses to let anyone on her team be in their ‘striving self’ because it only does more harm than good! That doesn’t mean they don’t show up and work hard, but there is a conscious balance and effort that gets put into how you feel about yourself. You might be a people pleaser or a perfectionist, Tricia says stop! Take time for yourself and become comfortable in your own...
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Overcoming Imposter Syndrome — Jen Coken
She's Talking Back
Jen Coken is an executive coach and recovering stand-up comedian. Jen at an early age knew that she had to be the funny one because she never fit into the traditional archetype of the ‘pretty girl.’ She went down a journey of self-discovery a few years ago and discovered all of this was a byproduct of imposter syndrome. Today’s episode covers what is imposter syndrome, why everyone has it, and how to overcome these thoughts that are weighing you down. Key Takeaways What is imposter syndrome? When our brain feels a signal that we’re threatened, we start to develop coping...
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Being More Open/Authentic to Your Team — Susan Eick
She's Talking Back
Susan Eick thought she had to act like a man in order to get invited into the corporate boy’s club, but it wasn’t working! The harder she tried, the fewer things she got invited to, and to top it off, it was exhausting! Why pretend to be something you’re not? Susan has learned over the years that being your authentic self is the best way to lead and have people respect/admire you. Women/Men have natural talents and we should leverage them, not try to act like each other. Key Takeaways ● Leadership is a people’s game. ● Leaders are having time now to really take a step back...
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Create Meaningful Conversations and Connections — Michelle Tenzyk
She's Talking Back
Michelle Tenzyk advises and coaches CEOs and senior-level executives to create company cultures that attract and retain critical talent at all levels. Michelle shares something so important in today’s episode — Tell your story and speak your truth. It’s going to be difficult; there will be many people who judge you online, but the more of us that share our story, the easier it will be to bring those walls down! Key Takeaways ● The ability to live in the moment helps manage the constant uncertainty around us. ● For most of us, life tends to be more certain. We have routines...
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Attract the Right Attention with Your Personal Brand — Karen Leland
She's Talking Back
Karen Leland is a Branding and Marketing Strategist and Implementer. There are a lot of things she’s seeing right now in the online space that are making her go, ‘Oh, no!’ As people are starting to get used to working from home and going digital, some of the ‘standard’ ways of how we are doing business are going away, like wearing professional clothing during a meeting! Your personal brand can do so much for you during this time as more people are looking online to find the right candidate to get the job done. Key Takeaways ● Karen’s theatrical background helped set her...
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Trust Your Emotions — The First Thing You Feel Is the Right Thing — Sylvia Rohde-Liebenau
She's Talking Back
Sylvia Rohde-Liebenau is a leadership development expert and an EMCC accredited coach. Her expertise and insights will blow you away. Although she originally started on a path of international relations, she found her calling towards helping women find their strength and the confidence to lead. She talks about why expressing your personality/quirks is a blessing, how to find stillness within yourself, and that leadership is always going to be a continuous journey. Key Takeaways Sylvia shares what her colleagues are concerned about when it comes to virtual teams. It’s more important...
info_outlineSusan Eick thought she had to act like a man in order to get invited into the corporate boy’s club, but it wasn’t working! The harder she tried, the fewer things she got invited to, and to top it off, it was exhausting! Why pretend to be something you’re not? Susan has learned over the years that being your authentic self is the best way to lead and have people respect/admire you. Women/Men have natural talents and we should leverage them, not try to act like each other.
Key Takeaways
- ● Leadership is a people’s game.
- ● Leaders are having time now to really take a step back and analyze where their time is going.
- ● As leaders take more digital meetings, they’re not scheduling time for breaks and so they end up feeling more exhausted than before.
- ● Sometimes it can be difficult to innovate, there’s a lot of testing that goes into it or they might not have a budget so they don’t prioritize it, but Susan is seeing that so many leaders had to innovate overnight due to the pandemic.
- ● They didn’t think they had innovation in them, but they were wrong! They were able to get things up and running with no budget, within a week.
- ● Susan explains the difference in culture in Canada vs. the U.S.
- ● What risks are out there for a modern leader?
- ● There’s a pent up demand for getting this back to normal as quickly as possible and leaders are forgetting that you still need to communicate to your team!
- ● Susan’s first employee retreat, she didn’t know if it went well or not. Fast forward to her latest one and she’s never felt more connected. The biggest shift in this was Susan and being more open/authentic to her team.
- ● When Susan was coming up in her corporate career, she had to look like a guy and show no emotions.
- ● Susan realized she couldn’t be someone she wasn’t, so when she started opening up and showing more of her personality, that’s when more doors opened for her.
- ● What’s next for Susan?
- ● Susan’s daughters have better female role models than she did when she was growing up. She is very hopeful for the future.
- Resources
- Refineryleadership.com
- Susan on LinkedIn
- Quotes
- Michelle’s quote: “There is a level of importance around keeping the intimacy around human connection and leaders with their team.”
- “Leadership’s a people’s game and we’ve forgotten that. In the past we thought it was a title, status, responsibility, and people get pushed down.”
- “Leaders I’ve been talking to have said that they’re forced to innovate overnight. We have this need and we have to act on it now.”
- “Work says they want your best you, but what if your best you is something that is not as beautiful and polished as what they’ve experienced in the past?”