Learning to Lead Getting in Alignment

how many of you

have been fired show of hands

okay because i was afraid it was just me

okay

so in 2014 i finished grad school

and i got an amazing opportunity

in a big city at a large international

pr firm

and about six months after getting that

role

i was fired and i i went through all of

the things that folks typically go

through the embarrassment

and the shame and the sadness and the

self-doubt

and the frustration and that’s typically

what we go through

when we feel that we failed

luckily it didn’t take me long to

rebound

a few months and about a year after that

rebound

i landed at an organization that i’ve

been with for the last

five years i was recently

selected to serve as the executive

director of that organization

i am the first person of color and that

role and the first

black woman to serve in that position

but 2014 was an inflection point for me

in my personal growth and development

what it required me to do as

often happens when we have a setback is

to be introspective

is to understand what works for me

and in this process and in that journey

what i developed essentially was this

foundational um aspect if you will

a toolkit lessons in leadership

and first it really started off as how i

wanted to be engaged and

invested in as an employee and over time

it developed into what i would call a

leadership vision

how i wanted to show up for myself

and others if given the opportunity to

lead

so there are five lessons or my five

nuggets

as i call them

the first is creating opportunity the

second

is building trust giving grace

the third is building your own personal

board of directors

the fourth is advocating for self and

for others

and the fifth seeking growth

now this sounds really great but with

all tool kits you have to have a really

good tool box and that’s a foundation

and that foundation for me was getting

in alignment

and what getting an alignment looks like

typically we say is

all the things that we want right it’s

the blue sky

but it is equally as important to know

the things

that you want and it’s it is to

understand the things that you don’t

want

and the things that don’t work for you

and that’s what i was able to do in this

process

is to get in alignment and understand

what worked for me

what environment could be created so i

could thrive

and hopefully help create an environment

where others

could thrive so

the first after you get in alignment

after you build your foundation

is creating opportunity recently

someone shared with me when opportunity

knocks have your bags packed

when opportunity knocks don’t say wait

let me go pack my bags

be prepared as i shared with you i got

an opportunity

after i rebounded and that opportunity

was in montgomery alabama

i was living and working in chicago

illinois illinois is my home state

and if i could have told you how many

people told me not to come to montgomery

alabama

but i knew what worked for me

it was important for me to be in a space

with historical context

that impacted this country and the world

to be a part of something

greater than myself

to be in community i had to know

what worked for me i had to acknowledge

what opportunity i could take on

and that’s what i did

the second is building trust and giving

grace

building trust comes with intention with

consistency it’s not a flash in the pan

and how that translates into the

workplace is creating synergy

cultivating people understanding what it

takes for them to expand

and when we stumble and we mess up and

we fall and we skin our knee

to make sure that you are accepting

people with compassion

and understanding and understanding that

those falls and those stumbles

are a part of the greater process

and a part of our personal stories that

part is the grace

the third piece is building your own

personal board now it’s

critically important to understand that

this board should be composed

of mentors and sponsors and people who

are going to hold you accountable

find your tribe find the folks that are

going to tell you

honestly the things that you don’t want

to hear

and sometimes it will come with kindness

and other times it may seem a little

harsh

but it makes our backs strong it

fortifies

us it allows us to grow

i’ve been so fortunate to have

great folks on my personal board in the

formative years of my professional

career

a vast diverse group of individuals but

the

black women who are unabashedly honest

with me

who show up from me who tell me honestly

the things that i need to hear

who invest in their communities and

their families

they are the critical aspects of the

board

for me and i am eternally

grateful for them

the third piece

is making sure you

advocate for yourself

and for others

now in this

time of socio-political shifts

where we are understanding what advocacy

means

and what allyship means we must

first understand how

to show up for self how to ask for the

things

that we need and to get clear on those

things

to understand how to navigate

and shift

but first we must as always be

in alignment with self and once we’re

able to do that

we can speak up for ourselves and we can

speak up for others when they are not in

the room

boldly and ambitiously because that

is how change happens

now the last and final

piece in in all of this is

seeking growth

langston hughes writes life isn’t always

a crystal stare

and we will have our own set of

challenges

we will have setbacks we will have

obstacles

and sometimes it will be difficult to

navigate those things

but in all of those things

they are growth spurts and in every

growth spurt

you get to a different level and you can

see a little further

understand that all of this is part of

the process

of getting an alignment of learning your

lessons

of creating your toolbox

and the essential things that place you

exactly where you need to be

thank you