Leading Women In Tech Blog & Podcast - Page 26 of 31

022: You, your team and Pandemic burnout

Back in October, I hit a wall.
A pandemic wall.

For the first time since March, I cried because the pandemic was impacting me personally.

That might seem odd – I mean haven’t we all had a good cry from time to time between the start of the pandemic and now?

Well for me, I’d started the pandemic with the intention for optimism and a truckload of self-care. So although I’ve cried – because hey I love a good cry (zero judgment if you do too!), up until October it had not been about me. It had been about other people hurting, the lives lost, the fact that people had to put their lives on the line to take care of us. I cried that people had to put their lives at risk to get heard because of the injustice that has meant we are finally listening as a species to the BLM movement – that they had to demonstrate in a pandemic to make the world wake up to something truly horrific.

But I hadn’t cried about me. Until October.

And then I hit the 6-month wall.

So today I’m taking the lid off how we are all feeling about the pandemic as we are now more than 7 months into something that is here with us for a good long time to come. I’m sharing with you what you need to be doing for yourself, and for your team as a leader. And I’m sharing a whole lot of love in your direction too.

So if you are hitting a pandemic wall this one’s for you, my love. Because yes, you may well be a leader in tech. But you are also a human experiencing a crisis. And remember: you are a human, even at work!

021: The 5 key components to unleash powerful networking

As the nights draw-in (at least in the northern hemisphere), it feels like it is time to embrace our inner hermits, give in to the new social distancing norm, and just give up on networking for the rest of the year. Just turn up to work (in person or virtually), mooch about, get stuff done, and go home (or close the laptop).

But we all know that networking is key. We all know that networking opens doors. And yet, the old boys network standard where you go golfing, or those networking events are just a bit meh. If that’s what it means to network, then, at least for the rest of the year, we’ll leave it to that old boys club, right?

Wrong. Networking doesn’t have to be icky. But most people miss what networking really is. We know it’s a good thing in principle. But we resist it. We know it opens doors, and yet, we go about it wrong.

Today I’m sharing with you what is really going on with effective networking. Why the old boys network works, and how we can use that knowledge to build a great women’s network, or whatever your network needs to be. I’m talking about the 5 components that mean it isn’t uncomfortable and instead open doors for you and for others. And when you learn how to get this right, it isn’t icky and uncomfortable. It feels good.

Want to know how on earth networking can feel good? Let’s dig in and go to the show.

020: My journey to the corporate tech C-Suite (and why there is not one way to get there)

Are you ready for the C-Suite?

Ready to have more influence, and help make your team or organisation make better decisions?

Are you itching to build a better way, lead more effectively and get your opinions heard in a meaningful way?

I’ve been there.

In 2016 I was desperate to make real change and have a positive influence. But I was stalled in my career. I felt stifled, and held back.

Four years on I’ve worked in the C-Suite, led an international charity spanning 65 countries, influenced the Supercomputing industry for the better and now run my own business. And today, I’m lifting the lid on what I did to get here. Spoiler: it’s not what you might think!

So let’s dig into my story…

019: The power of data-driven decision making with Linda McIver

Are you wondering if you have enough, or the right data for your decision making?

As we rise up in our leadership careers, the one defining feature of all leadership is that we make more and more decisions. But how we make those decisions is crucial.

In today’s Leading Women in Tech podcast I’m interviewing Dr Linda McIver, the founder and Executive Director of the Australian Data Science Education Institute on the power of data driven decision making, her three principles for making decisions, and the danger of confirmation bias when we use data. We dig into everything from decisions in organisations to decisions about COVID, and of course, we can’t help but touch a little on decisions around building an equitable, diverse and inclusive workforce.

So let’s dive in.

018: Building deeper network connections while being 100% virtual

Building connections has always been important for creating opportunities, opening doors, seeing what is possible, and even pushing through self-doubt and building our motivation.

But for many of us maintaining connections during a period where all or nearly all interactions are virtual, is hard work.

Creating new connections, whether they are new professional connections or new friendships ? Sounds like something impossible!

I’ve said it before, and I think it is time to say it again: it can actually be easier than in-person. But it does require conscious reframing of the tactics we used before the virtual-first approach…

And bonus: that wall you may have recently hit after 6 months of social distancing, the act of active connection, even if it for primarily professional purposes, can be just the thing you need to get unstuck once again.

So if you know you need to kick-start your networking again, or that you’d love to feel less isolated, but dread getting going, today’s podcast is for you.

Let’s dig in!
Are you wanting to build real personal resilience, so that you feel confident with those difficult conversations, instead of feeling anxious, exhausted, overwhelmed, and on the verge of burnout?

Perhaps you are an ambitious change-agent, motivated to inspire others into a better way of doing things. But finding the time and energy to get the buy-in you know you need is, well, exhausting.

Are you left feeling overwhelmed, drained and depleted?

Perhaps you know the theory of leading, but it doesn’t seem to play out that way for you, and management seems to take up all your time, so you deciding to stick with the tech role you started with, despite your desire to influence and create positive change.

If you are ready to be full of confidence and be that influencer you crave, then I have one thing you need to know. The one thing that is not talked about enough when we are taught about leadership or leadership is ‘shown’ to us by those above. This one thing: it is the glue that makes great leadership happen.

Curious? Let’s go to the show.

017: The one truth about leadership that no one talks about

Are you feeling stuck with how to handle those difficult people at work? You know, the people who seem to always put roadblocks in your way. And after 10 roadblocks you are wondering, surely this cannot be accidental. The people who are resistant to your ideas and make life problematic for everyone in the team.

Are you wanting to build real personal resilience, so that you feel confident with those difficult conversations, instead of feeling anxious, exhausted, overwhelmed, and on the verge of burnout?

Perhaps you are an ambitious change-agent, motivated to inspire others into a better way of doing things. But finding the time and energy to get the buy-in you know you need is, well, exhausting.

Are you left feeling overwhelmed, drained and depleted?

Curious? Let’s go to the show.

016: Decision making to up-level your leadership

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Do you ever feel like you are drowning in decisions. Demanded to choose between things minute to minute, hour to hour? By the end of the working day are you so done from decision making that you can barely handle choosing what to do about dinner?

The job of a leader, is above all, making and communicating decisions. Providing clarity on focus, direction and exchanging information. Reviewing data, and making informed decisions based on it. Evaluating alternatives. Prepping plans and their alternatives for critical analysis and escalation.

Decision making just intensifies as we progress in our careers.

But the one thing we don’t reallise needs to change is how we make decisions. Moving from the action based decision making in our first management roles to more strategic decision making as an executive. And what got you to where you are now, won’t just fail to get you further but could be damaging your reputation right now if you aren’t adapting to the needs of the decision-making required of you in your current role.

So what can you do? In today’s episode of the podcast I”m diving into how do you get out from under the weight of these decisions, avoid the ‘you aren’t communicating well’ spoken or unspoken criticism that is often a symptom of decision burnout, and learn how to level up your decision making alongside your other leadership skills.
Ready? Let’s go to the show!

015: Using planning to keep your team informed and motivated

Ever get frustrated that your team doesn’t know what is going on in the business, despite numerous communications from you?
Get surprised when someone tells you that they didn’t know about an important deadline that you’ve emailed out to all staff 100 times?
Find that your team isn’t working on the highest priority?

If this sounds familiar, here’s some tough love for you: even though you think you are communicating well, you aren’t. Yes, this is on you, not on your team.

So how do you get your team to listen, pay attention to those incredibly important goals and take action on them?
Well the answer definitely isn’t to speak louder or send more emails! Instead, it is time to involve them in planning.

If you are wondering how to do that without drowning in voices, ideas, conflicting priorities, or concerned that having everyone involved in planning is a waste of time, this episode is for you. I take you through a very simple recipe to get full team engagement, which for a small upfront time cost on your part can save weeks of unproductive effort and missed deadlines.

Ready to take control of Q4 and wrap up 2020 with a team filled with clarity, passionate and excitement for shared goals? Let’s go to the show!

014: Becoming a trustworthy leader and growing a culture of trust

Almost a third of employees don’t trust their employer.
As a leader, choosing to make trust a priority, can increase productivity, commitment to goals.
The flow of ideas, and the early idetnficiation of problematic situations increases because communication is becomes viewed as something to be encouraged and acknowledged, instead of feared.
And change becomes much easier. In an ever changing world, embracing trust as a priority, building it in your team, and embedding it as a principle in your organisation makes your team more comfortable with change – and as change is inevitable at all times – they are more willing to embrace a new vision.

But what can you do to gain your teams trust, create trust in the first place if it s completely absent, use your growing emotional intelligence to help eliminate team dysfunction? Ready to stop having all your ideas questioned, or your ideas and decisions undermined?

If you are wondering how to build, or repair trust in your leadership, lets dive into this weeks Leading Women in Tech episode.

013: Coaching your team in effective management

Are you actively managing your leaders?

Training them, working with them to hone their leadership skills? Helping them to figure out the road to great leadership?

Or do you just let your team of managers get on with it because you are hands-off?

If you are a hands-off manager of managers, even if that is the style of management you liked at that level, you are leaving opportunity on the table.

Despite what you might hear, no one is born a perfect leader. Some do have more intrinsic leadership skill than others, but everyone needs to develop and hone their leadership and management. So leaving your new managers to figure out how to navigate a new role as a team lead, a general manager or even a VP is a recipe for many bumps along the road or worse.
But having an attitude of ‘my door is open, come to me for help’ doesn’t work either. Remember: they feel the need to prove themselves to you, and will try their best to not bother you.

It’s time to round the square peg so you and your team of managers all up-level, learn how to effectively lead in the way that works for them, but with your guidance as someone who was there before. And hint: using team meetings which focus on exception reporting won’t achieve this growth and development.

In today’s Leading Women in Tech podcast I’m diving into how to help your managers remain autonomous, keep their new found confidence as a leader, but boost them up quickly and effectively so that you, your managers, their teams, and the entire business division benefits. It’s time to stop leaving the benefits of great management and leadership at every level of your organisation on the table, simply because you had to figure this out yourself. And instead, let’s use your emotional intelligence to help your managers become great leaders in their own right.

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