— Nina Bhatti, Founder, Kokko Inc. “Opportunity does not come gift-wrapped. You must take risks.” — Nina Bhatti, Founder, Kokko Inc.

Influencing Upward

From the prep survey I am able to influence my management and senior executives. 29% agree. 4% strongly agree.

To be an effective leader, you have to be a strong communicator. One of the most important areas of leading and communicating is with your own management. — Lori Carlin Proctor Senior Retail Supply Leader, Procter & Gamble

Understand your leaders and their goals Influencing Upward Understand your leaders and their goals

Everyone makes decisions differently Everyone makes decisions differently. The better you understand your leaders, the easier your life will be and the more successful you will be. Understand their business, their goals for their business and their decision-making style. — Kim Brown Strickland VP of Finance, Merchandising and Marketing, Walmart

1. Understand your leaders and their goals Learn what business goals they are responsible for Check in with them frequently to keep up to date with their most important goals and challenges Understand what motivates them Identify their communication and decision-making styles.

Influencing Upward Understand your leaders and their goals Communicate in a style that they find persuasive

— Linda Nordgren VP & GM of Merchandising, Safeway Inc. Take time to understand your leader and their preferred communication style. Observe how others communicate effectively with them. — Linda Nordgren VP & GM of Merchandising, Safeway Inc.

Founder, Ayuda Heuristics Don't be afraid to ask your leader how they want to be communicated with. — Cyndi Mitchell Founder, Ayuda Heuristics

2. Communicate in a style they find persuasive Do they prefer to communicate via email, IM or in person? Schedule time to speak, or catch them in the hallway? Do they want a high-level overview, or a deep dive into data? The whole story or just the bottom-line? The entire plan or the end result? Do they make decisions quickly or think it through? Are they a lone decision-maker or do they crowd-source decisions? When is the best time to bring them bad news?

Influencing Upward Understand your leaders and their goals Communicate in a style that they find persuasive Pre-sell your big ideas

Never underestimate the importance of the meeting before the meeting!

3. Pre-sell your big ideas Does this make sense to you? Do you agree with this? Do you think this is a smart way for us to be investing our time and money? Does this align with the initiatives in your area? And if it does, will you back me up when I give my presentation?

Influencing Upward Understand your leaders and their goals Communicate in a style that they find persuasive Pre-sell your big ideas Know when and how to challenge your leaders

— Linda Nordgren VP & GM of Merchandising, Safeway Inc. Don’t tell me what you think I want to hear. Be your authentic self, and challenge direction with courage and good grace. — Linda Nordgren VP & GM of Merchandising, Safeway Inc.

4. Know when and how to challenge your leaders It’s all about consistently delivering good results — and having credibility Make sure it’s the right time Have all your facts together Speak high level about the situation but answer detailed questions The more solid facts, the better your chances Know when to pick battles and when to let go. — Kim Brown Strickland

The key is having a good case and not backing down if at first they don’t agree. Be politely persistent. — Kim Brown Strickland

Influencing Upward Understand your leaders and their goals Communicate in a style that they find persuasive Pre-sell your big ideas Know when and how to challenge your leaders

“Time spent understanding people is never wasted.” — Cate Huston

Lead From Where You Are

Transitioning from Doing to Leading

— Lisa Walsh, VP, PepsiCo Sales You have probably built success as a specialist who is adept at knowing your topic or your area of the business. It is one of the reasons you have gotten promoted. As you go higher, you will be valued for understanding the business and how various pieces of the business integrate into the whole. — Lisa Walsh, VP, PepsiCo Sales

Transitioning from Doing to Leading Executing Subject matter expert Problem-solver Tactician Your success Envisioning Thought leader Agenda-setter Strategist Team’s success

— Dona Munsch, VP Cloud Operations, NetApp My “get ‘er done” mentality—as the go-to person, and the only one who knew how to do certain things—got in my way of moving ahead. I couldn’t step out of my own role to take on new opportunities. — Dona Munsch, VP Cloud Operations, NetApp

Your time portfolio: Analyze your calendar Take a look at the last month Color code activities: are they strategic or tactical? — Dona Munsch

Transitioning from Doing to Leading What do you need to let go of? What will you do more of?

38% agree. 8% strongly agree. From the prep survey I am able to motivate and engage others, regardless of whether they report to me. 38% agree. 8% strongly agree.

Leading others, with or without authority

“There are very few roles today that have 'command and control' authority. Leading by influence is the most powerful form of leadership, and is something that can be learned. All organizations need leaders at every job level.” — Holly Meidl, SVP, Healthcare Division, Allied World Assurance Company, Ltd.

Seed your career with early leadership experiences Through interviews and focus groups with 16 women, Cindy Pace, Ed, uncovered a key finding: Women learn to lead by direct experience with managing people, relationships, and challenging situations. Significantly, they benefited from these experiences within the first 5 to 7 years of their careers.

“Do not rely on positional power. Saying ‘do this because I said so’ is the weakest form of leadership.” — Jody Mahoney, SVP Business Development and Industry Partners, Anita Borg Institute

I asked 16 leaders… “What skills do you most appreciate seeing in employees who step up and lead without authority?”

Leading from where you are Be inquisitive Take ownership Take risks Be a practical visionary Put the team first

Be a practical visionary Be inquisitive Be inquisitive Take ownership Take risks Be a practical visionary Put the team first Ask questions before setting a direction. Show enthusiasm and a desire to learn. Listen. Do your research. Understand your stakeholders’ viewpoints and develop a well-rounded view of the issue. Don't be afraid to ask for guidance.

“I most appreciate the skill of listening to others before stepping out to lead.” — Holly Meidl, SVP, Healthcare Division, Allied World Assurance Company, Ltd.

“Once you have identified the change you want to make, create a stakeholder map of those who will be most impacted. Ask a lot of questions on your listening tour. People like to share their expertise and will help you.” — Dr. Patti Fletcher

Be a practical visionary Take ownership Be inquisitive Take ownership Take risks Be a practical visionary Put the team first Be proactive. Have a can-do spirit. Be willing to get your hands dirty. Notice and assist with problems outside of your role. Help to solve the pain points that are not anyone’s mandate. Be personally accountable for the outcome.  

“See a gap, fill a gap!” — Leila Pourhashemi, VP Business Operations, Ancestry

Be a practical visionary Take risks Be inquisitive Take ownership Take risks Be a practical visionary Put the team first Leadership is a skill that’s best learned by doing. You must take risks! Volunteer for something that you or your organization have never done before. This means placing a bet on yourself. Don't be afraid to fail and learn from those failures.

“Step up to the risk of leading, whether or not you have the authority “Step up to the risk of leading, whether or not you have the authority. Leadership is risky — embrace it. Try and do new things, fail, recover and eventually succeed.” — Jody Mahoney, SVP Business Development and Industry Partners, Anita Borg Institute

Be a practical visionary Be inquisitive Take ownership Take risks Be a practical visionary Put the team first Have a passion for change and improvement. Develop a clear vision and be able to see the end result. Clearly communicate your vision to others, and explain why it matters. Create energy, excitement, and unity around the issue. Understand where your priority fits with other priorities. Be action oriented, keeping an eye on your vision as you drive it to resolution.

“Great individual contributors look out for the whole team “Great individual contributors look out for the whole team. They take folks under their wing.” — Kimberly Scardino, Global Controller and Chief Accounting Officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance

Be a practical visionary Put the team first Be inquisitive Take ownership Take risks Be a practical visionary Put the team first Don’t be a lone ranger. Build trust and engagement. Have patience with others, and be humble: No one knows it all. Be transparent about what’s happening behind the scenes. Give credit to others. Call out people who do great work. Develop the ability to work with different personalities. Enlist support from decision-makers and advocates.

— Tracy Cote, Chief People Officer, Genesys “Listen to people. Really listen — not just with your ears, but with your eyes and your instincts. Understand their motivations and you will understand how to motivate them.” — Tracy Cote, Chief People Officer, Genesys

Leading from where you are Be inquisitive Take ownership Take risks Be a practical visionary Put the team first

If things go off-track: Return to the list of five skills. Assess which one is missing, and take action.

See yourself as a leader now. Leadership is an action, not a position. — Dr. Cindy Pace

Going for a Promotion

What’s the easiest way to get a raise or a promotion?

Accenture surveyed 3,400 executives in 2011. 37% had asked for a raise, promotion or job change. } Of those that asked, 65% said it helped. Women overall were somewhat less likely than men to say they have asked for pay raises (44 percent versus 48 percent) and promotions (28 percent versus 39 percent) Reinvent Opportunity: Looking Through a New Lens, Accenture’s 2011 survey of 3,400 business executives from medium to large organizations across 29 countries. 37% had asked for a raise, promotion or job change “Reinvent Opportunity: Looking Through a New Lens,” Accenture, 2011.

What happened when people asked for a raise? In the overwhelming majority of cases, people who ask for a raise are at least thrown a bone. And in a significant number of cases, folks who ask for a raise actually get more money than they were expecting. - CBS News MoneyWatch, March 9, 2011 http://www.cbsnews.com/news/easiest-way-to-get-a-raise-and-promotion/

What happened when people asked for a promotion? 10% of the time, nothing happened. 5% of those who asked for a promotion got new responsibilities instead. 10% got a new role, but not the one they asked for, and not a promotion. 42% got the role they asked for. 17% got a new role, and it was a better one than they'd hoped for. 59% of people who asked for a promotion got one! - CBS News MoneyWatch, March 9, 2011

LinkedIn surveyed 954 professional women in 2013. } 75% of women who asked for a promotion got one. Today’s Professional Woman, LinkedIn’s 2013 survey of 954 professional women. “Today’s Professional Woman,” LinkedIn, 2013.

What’s the easiest way to get a raise or a promotion?

R

1. Don’t underestimate your READINESS.

Don’t underestimate your READINESS On a scale of 1 to 10, how capable do you think you are of performing that job today?

An internal study at HP found: Women will apply to a job when they believe they meet of the job requirements. Men will apply if they think they meet just of the requirements. 60% 100%

1. Don’t underestimate your READINESS.

1. Don’t underestimate your READINESS. 2. What are the REQUIREMENTS?

Senior Software Engineer

What are the requirements? I am interested in becoming [name the role]. What are the requirements? Listen, then paraphrase back: If I understand correctly, the requirements to become [role] are a, b, c, d. Check that you have their agreement.

1. Don’t underestimate your READINESS. 2. What are the REQUIREMENTS?

1. Don’t underestimate your READINESS. 2. What are the REQUIREMENTS? 3. Is now the RIGHT TIME? R

The right conversation can be held at the wrong time (for example, when your boss is in bad mood or the person you're talking to is the wrong person.) It doesn't matter how good your request is if you do it at the wrong time. Timing is everything. — Donnell Green Global Head of Talent Management and Development, BlackRock.

When is the wrong time to ask? When is the right time to ask? Is now the right time? When is the wrong time to ask? When is the right time to ask?

1. Don’t underestimate your READINESS. 2. What are the REQUIREMENTS? 3. Is now the RIGHT TIME? R

1. Don’t underestimate your READINESS. 2. What are the REQUIREMENTS? 3. Is now the RIGHT TIME? 4. Make your REQUEST.

Make your request I understand the role requires a, b, c. I believe I am the ideal candidate for this position because x, y, z. Check for their agreement. What are our next steps to move forward If you sense any hesitation: Is there any additional information you need, to consider me as the ideal candidate for this position?

Additional tips Know what you want Know the trade-offs you’re willing to accept Know how the other person absorbs & digests information Make it easy for them to say “yes” Don’t take “no” personally Think through the “no” and continue to move conversation forward If necessary, ask to follow up at a better time. — Patricia Bovan Campbell

Personal Action Plan

Feedback Survey

Thank you Thank you to Nayla Nassif, Lena Shuhart, Sanyogita Kalavade, Mercedes Hernandez, Deborah Blake and NetApp WIT for making our time together possible.

This presentation is available at BeLeaderly.com/nov7

with everything you’ve got. Lead from where you are with everything you’ve got. — Tara Jaye Frank