Ladies, you don’t have to wait for permission or validation…
I was coaching a senior female leader who, when she came to me, was extremely frustrated.
She described her situation as ‘being a woman in a man’s world’ because she was working in an environment where the men outnumbered the women in leadership.
As a result, she felt ineffective and often like she was ‘beating her head’ against the proverbial wall to get things done.
She also felt like her boss, the CEO of the organization, was adding to the challenge by not validating her position and her level of authority. She felt she carried little weight and couldn’t affect the kind of change she knew would make the company better.
In one of our initial sessions, I remember asking her, “What if you didn’t need him to validate your position and authority?” “What if you led in such a way that his validation became unnecessary?”
These questions sparked much deeper conversations which led to a shift in her mindset and perspective.
As we worked together, she began to give herself permission and validate her own ideas. Instead of waiting to get it from others.
She realized the kind of leader she wanted to be didn’t depend on someone else’s action or inaction.
She adjusted her focus, renewed her vision, and adapted her approach.
Through the Coach Approach principles, she learned how to:
- inspire people to action (rather than direct or drive them),
- coach people up for success (rather than push them to be accountable), and
- consistently give both positive and constructive feedback.
She began to see a shift in how people (at all levels in the organization) began to respond to her.
And that further fueled her passion to creatively engage her team. As well as those outside of her area of the business.
***She made a new path for herself by choosing to LEAD DIFFERENTLY. ***
She no longer needed ‘authority’ but learned to be an ‘influencer’ that people WANTED to follow.
***Not only that, but her efforts to grow into a coach leader and influencer landed her another promotion.***
Sometimes, we have self-imposed limitations or even limitations we’ve allowed others to place on us.
We can feel like our ability to move forward or succeed depends on someone else advocating for us, when in reality—many times—we already have what we need.
Maybe our mindset or perspective needs to shift. Maybe we need to learn how to use tools we didn’t know we had.
Nothing changed in my client’s actual work circumstances – what changed was WHAT she BELIEVED and the WAY she CHOSE to show up as a result.
It’s the POWER OF POSSIBILITIES.
I encourage you…ask yourself today “What if?” What if you gave YOURSELF permission? What if you learned to lead differently? What might be possible?