by Laura Weldy | Jun 17, 2022 | Uncategorized
Being a great leader is a moving target – our definition of success as leaders is constantly evolving as the workplace changes. The problem most leaders encounter is staying still and not adapting to those changes efficiently. So what makes a great people leader in 2022 that might not have been the case before?
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Great leaders value personal connection with their teams and they’re able to foster that connection effectively. Gone are the days of “hands off” leaders who don’t want to be part of the work their team is doing.
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Great leaders overcommunicate and vary their communication style to meet the needs of their team. Repetition ensures everyone’s on the same page, so strive for consistency through email, verbal and implied communication.
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Great leaders see unexpected challenges or course corrections as opportunities for the team to tackle together, not inconveniences that could have been avoided. If they treat challenges as mistakes, they’re more focused on blame than on problem solving.
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Great modern leaders working in a busy world are able to honor structure & team first, before anything else that is seeking their attention. Inbox zero, uninterrupted time ‘in the zone’ and cross department coordination must come secondary to supporting your team. Creating and adhering to a structure is what will ensure the team succeeds.
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A great leader doesn’t assume themselves to be the expert, and instead asks more questions than they answer. This isn’t about withholding information, but enabling your team to think through their challenges and generate their own answers. It’s also a great way to allow team members to shine by chiming in with their ideas.
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A great leader is committed to developing the ability to coach others to success quickly and efficiently. While coaching can seem inconvenient, it is absolutely critical to team engagement and success – and it’s 100% possible to do efficiently.
Much of these qualities require self-awareness and the confidence to embody your unique approach to leadership, rather than trying to mimic the behaviors of other leaders. If you’re nervous about doing things differently as a leader in a traditional business, just remember that sticking out as the unusual leader is simply the first step toward standing out as a remarkable performer.
If you need help with any of the above qualities, that’s normal! You’re often not taught how to be a successful leader simply because your title has changed. It’s like the company expects you to just know what you’re doing.
That’s why I do what I do! I’m here to help women like you become powerful modern leaders in the workplace while staying true to themselves (and making it all intuitive). If this is you, send me a message here to let me know a bit about what your current workplace challenges are and I’ll help you brainstorm how coaching can help you up-level your skills and experience at work this year.
by Laura Weldy | Jun 10, 2022 | Uncategorized
How many times have you been asked at corporate events about your leadership style? It’s a broad question and it’s trickier than you’d think to answer effectively. Women leaders may struggle even more than their male counterparts because so much of the research and writing on leadership has been male dominated until fairly recently.
If you want to feel authentic and confident in your leadership approach, you need to not just accept but embrace your unique approach and perspective instead of trying to fit in.
That’s why I created the Personal Power Code. Unlike other personality assessments, the Personal Power Code is designed to help women specifically understand their worth in the workplace and how to leverage it effectively. Click here to learn your Personal Power Code!
Let me quickly break down for you the 5 core components of the Personal Power Code. Each category is based on two things: the leadership qualities that companies are seeking in the modern workplace and the strengths many women leaders develop in their careers.
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Influence: How does your energy impact others? If you want to influence the room around you you need to understand which approach is most compelling and authentic to you.
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Impetus: What inspires you to get engaged and solve problems? Understanding your inner motivation gives you more control over your energy and workload.
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Decision making: How do you make the dozens of choices an hour that you’re required to make? Pinpoint the deciding factor and you can eliminate hours of stress and self doubt.
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Impact desire: How do you want to be seen as a leader? Understanding how you want to serve others from the beginning of your career gives you clarity on how to reach that goal.
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Creative style: When do you do your best work? Stop relying on moments of motivation and inspiration and instead tweak your schedule and priorities to reflect how you do your most brilliant work.
Did any of these components surprise you? You’ll notice that they’re all focused on understanding your self because self awareness is a critical component of excellent leadership. Once you’ve learned how to manage yourself to excellence you can begin to manage others powerfully as well!
by Laura Weldy | Jun 3, 2022 | Uncategorized
Quick question for all the managers out there: Are you a Builder or Inspector?
Builders work alongside their teams to create incredible results and a safe, healthy environment. Their biggest goal is creation of results. Inspectors are hyper-focused on the deficiencies they see in their team – commenting on missed opportunities and how to make improvements. While they’re well-meaning AND the most common type of manager, Inspectors can quickly alienate their team members. Why? They’re dialed in to everyone’s weaknesses at the expense of their brilliance.
We have a major crisis in management in 2022 – under-resourced managers. In the modern workplace, employees are usually moved into management roles because of their own performance metrics and not because they desire to lead and develop others. They default to an inspector style of management because it’s all they know – comparing the performance of the team to their own history of success.
What if instead of developing performance improvement plans and giving repetitive feedback on how you want your team to change…you started highlighting how they can use their unique gifts more intentionally? This is the idea behind the Gallup Strengthsfinder system that’s been massively popular in the workplace over the past 20 years. But it doesn’t need to be so complicated.
I simply call it the Serena Williams mindset shift: giving yourself and the team permission to ONLY utilize their gifts (like Serena’s gift at tennis), rather than spending their valuable time and energy becoming more of a well rounded employee. They’ll enjoy their work more, find innovative ways to operate, and create better results.
If you’re wondering when to use these two approaches, I recommend being a Builder in stretch windows and Inspector during work plateaus.
If you’re curious what your unique leadership strengths are and how to lead via example, you need to take the Personal Power Code. Unlike other personality assessments, the Personal Power Code is designed to help women specifically understand their worth in the workplace and how to leverage it effectively. Click here to learn more.
by Laura Weldy | May 13, 2022 | Uncategorized
Many of the high achieving women leaders I work with are getting back into the swing of semi-regular work related travel. I know that work travel isn’t always glamorous, but after a few years of being homebound many of us are excited for the opportunity to be on the move again!
Benefits of work travel
Beyond the change in scenery that work travel offers, there are several professional benefits to taking a work trip as a woman leader! Work trips offer you a chance to network more authentically as you meet distant coworkers in person, and at curated company sponsored events. Think ahead of time about who you can connect with and how. Traveling for your corporate job also gives you a chance to work more efficiently and effectively, and allows you to build your personal brand and authority as a leader as you build the networking connections and solidify your ability to build rapport.
Of course, frequent work travel comes with challenges for women leaders too: the mental work of planning your arrival and departure can be draining, strategically packing work appropriate travel outfits, falling behind in your inbox as you change time zones or lack WIFI, and feeling obligated to work longer hours than usual – all of these can be challenging. However, the most common complaints I hear from corporate women regarding work travel are the personal ones: being away from kids and partners, feeling disorganized and out of sorts due to a loss of their routines, and increased stress levels.
Work travel hacks for corporate women leaders
The good news? I’ve worked from all over the United States for the past 6 years as a women’s leadership coach, and have learned how to do so in a way that keeps me at the top of my game for the clients I meet with at my final destination. I have six hacks that I use to stay balanced and energized on my work travel trips – and I’m excited to share them with you!
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Pack a soft carryon. This one is simple – while it’s tempting to use a hard shelled rolling suitcase, carryon only travel has become more popular and you’re likely to end up having to check your bag at the gate. I hate waiting at baggage claim and I don’t like being separated from my bag (let alone risking losing it before a speaking engagement!), so I use a soft sided carryon that can be squeezed into an overhead bin more easily!
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Bring fewer outfits than you think you need. While you want to look polished and put together, you likely won’t have as much time as you think to change outfits between events. I recommend laying out all of your outfits for day and evening and then cutting at least 2 full outfits out – you can rewear something or rearrange existing pieces of your outfit again. Hot tip: sticking to a three color color palette will make this even easier! I love black, grey and a light blue for a chic look.
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Establish portable routines. If your morning routine revolves around your comfy sofa and other creature comforts at home, it’s hard to recreate that on the road! Instead, focus on establishing a morning routine that happens in your notebook – may I suggest the RISE method for the morning? When you’re on the road, STICK TO THE ROUTINE. Make it an alarm reminder if you need. This consistency of morning and evening routines will help you feel grounded and present.
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Keep a notebook by the bed. If you have a hard time falling asleep in an unfamiliar hotel room and find your mind racing, keep a pen and notebook on the nightstand. You’ll likely have lots of thoughts that you can jot down – some of my most genius business ideas have surfaced this way! Plus this way you avoid scrolling on your phone, which makes falling asleep even harder.
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Utilize the hotel lobby. Hotel rooms are often pretty uninspiring, so if you’re looking to log a few hours of remote work head to the hotel lobby! Most hotels spend time and energy making their lobby an energizing, inviting space – plus, you can benefit from the added focus that comes from body doubling!
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Pack snacks everywhere. This seems silly, maybe – but there’s nothing worse than feeling hungry when you’re traveling and don’t know where the next food options will be. I have a designated pocket in my workbag for a few powdered coffee packets, some beef sticks that don’t need to be refrigerated, coconut oil packets for bulletproof coffee on the go, and always something sweet!
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Pick an energetic hygiene tool and use it (even when you don’t want to!) Whether it’s meditation, tapping, affirmations, or free journalling, it’s essential that you give your energy a bit of added attention. Block five minutes out at the beginning and ending of your work day or during a travel commute window to reset your nervous system in one of these ways.
Did any of these tips make you excited for your next work trip? Need help strategizing how you can show up powerfully for a future presentation or offsite meeting? Email me directly at laura@lauraweldy.com to discuss how leadership coaching can help!
I offer professional coaching for rising women leaders in the corporate world, with a focus on helping them overcome lack of confidence via professional coaching, virtual coaching, invitation only masterminds and powerful online courses. If your goals for the year include confidence in the workplace, let’s talk! I’d love to help you build an action plan for success. Click here to apply for a free coaching consultation with me directly!
by Laura Weldy | May 12, 2022 | Uncategorized
We’ve been hearing a lot lately about the challenges women face in the workforce in 2022. I even wrote a blog detailing some of this for you – click here to read!
Do companies need to address these challenges and give their women employees the resources they need to succeed? Absolutely! Does your company culture need to shift in response to the pandemic’s influence on the working world? Without a doubt.
But I’ve observed an interesting trend with my clients lately and I think it’s worth addressing. Despite the challenges of balancing work and life, despite imperfect company culture, despite leaders who don’t always rise to the occasion – many women leaders actually LOVE their career.
What sets ambitious women apart in the workplace?
I call this subset of women the achievers. Achievers set big career goals for themselves and actually thrive in fast paced roles. They find a lot of satisfaction in meeting milestones, and their career is their primary place to find that satisfaction! They enjoy the mental challenge, they thrive working in a group, and while they love their job…they might not be saying so out loud.
Many women don’t want to be labelled “too ambitious” at work
Why?! Shame and judgement. In other words – they are afraid they’ll encounter the more interpersonal impact of the ‘ambition penalty’ women face in the professional world that sociologists and researchers have studied for years.
You’d think that by 2022 this would be a phenomenon of the past. But more and more, high achieving women who are true leaders in the workplace are being judged for how much they enjoy their job. With the popularity of selfcare trends, overwhelming levels of burnout and a cultural separation of work and personal life – it’s become ‘unpopular’ to be a woman who loves her work.
But high-achievers, take heart: you’re allowed to love your work. There are a million reasons that your career can serve as a very fulfilling part of your life!
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You’re not a bad mom if you enjoy the mental stimulation of your job and the break it gives you from parenting.
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You’re not a bad feminist if you enjoy working overtime because you find your output satisfying.
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There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a job that requires lots of travel and enjoying your solo time in a new city.
The best thing you can do for yourself is to give yourself the things you need to be the best version of you. If that includes enjoying your career, I support you! I think there are always ways that we can be healthier in our relationship to work but I love having clients who love their jobs. Celebrate your ambition!
Ambitious women leaders are highly valuable
Your ambition is also your superpower at work, so don’t be ashamed of admitting you have big goals and aspirations. According to Harvard Business Review, there was a study in 2014 that showed:
Women with two years or less of work experience slightly led men in ambition. But for women who had more than two years on the job, aspiration and confidence plummeted 60% and nearly 50%, respectively. These declines came independent of marriage and motherhood status, and compared with much smaller changes for men, who experienced only a 10% dip in confidence.
In a time where companies around the world are desperately seeking to diversify their leadership teams, your ambition is like lightning in a bottle. Anyone who is a high achiever AND makes it over this two year hump while still desiring to grow in their career will be in high demand. Use that advantage!
I offer professional coaching for high potential women employees in the corporate world who want to move into leadership positions. With a focus on helping women overcome lack of confidence via professional coaching, virtual coaching, invitation only masterminds and powerful online courses. If your goals for the year include confidence and authority in the workplace, let’s talk! I’d love to help you build an action plan for success. Click here to apply for a free coaching consultation with me directly!
by Laura Weldy | Mar 4, 2022 | Uncategorized
Why is impostor syndrome such a big deal for women leaders? Probably because it feels like a nearly universal experience.
There are a ton of reasons women seem to be more susceptible to impostor syndrome:
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Women are typically socialized to be more accommodating and inclusive than men, which can trigger feelings of being an outsider when in a room of leaders who are more focused on direct communication and progress.
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Women are statistically underrepresented in leadership roles, which can create that feeling of “otherness.” In fact, McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace 2021 Report tells us that women are actually less represented in leadership positions than we have been in years – so we have some catching up to do.
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Women are questioned more often than men & often criticized for personality traits rather than skill sets or objective performance. For example, a direct communicator that is a woman is more likely to be told they’re “harsh” or “bracing.” Men who communicate directly are typically praised for being efficient and clear.
The good news? Impostor syndrome is fixable! The best place to start is with defining your personal brand. Having a clearly defined personal brand gives you grounding in who you are and creates expectations from others. Without a clear personal brand, you leave yourself more open to these vague critiques. If you’re looking to begin defining your personal brand, start with identifying your personal and professional value sets, your expectations for self and team performance, and the “executive presence” energy you want to bring into every room.
by Laura Weldy | Nov 29, 2021 | Uncategorized
Generally speaking, we know what our personal values are.
We may not have written them down, but we know that we value things like honesty, safety or communication. Why then, do we rarely ask ourselves what our professional values are? We spend a good portion of our lives working, and knowing our professional values can help us to prioritize, work more effectively, and stay engaged with our work for sustainable career fulfillment.
What I find with my clients is that it is common for 1-3 of your top five personal and professional values to overlap. This is a positive sign that the role you’re in is a good fit for you. What’s not a great sign is when you feel that those values aren’t actually being honored or fulfilled by your managers, yourself, and your coworkers. This creates the feeling of dissonance, or internal conflict, that leads you to feel unsatisfied with your work.
If you’re wondering what your professional values can do for you, consider the calendar exercise. I would encourage you to review your google calendar from the past week objectively. If someone that didn’t know you saw what was on your agenda, what would they think you valued? If there isn’t enough on your calendar that represents what you value, consider adding it as a means of prioritizing that work and play first. You’ll immediately start to see shifts in how you spend your time, and how easy it is to stick with the schedule when it’s value driven.
As a side note, if you struggle to connect your daily work to ANY of your values – think creatively.
How do you conduct your relationships with your coworkers? With your boss? What tasks do you prioritize? How do you share feedback? How generous are you with your insights and information?
You’ll start to see themes emerge!
I offer professional coaching for rising women leaders in the corporate world, with a focus on helping them overcome lack of confidence via professional coaching, virtual coaching, invitation only masterminds and powerful online courses. If your goals for the year include confidence in the workplace, let’s talk! I’d love to help you build an action plan for success. Click here to apply for a free coaching consultation with me directly!
by Laura Weldy | Nov 15, 2021 | Uncategorized
I’ve been shouting from the social media rooftops for years now that women are just as capable as men of being powerful leaders in the workplace. But there’s some research that shows that women may actually be more equipped for modern leadership expectations than men are.
Modern leadership in the workplace is all about communication, empathy and modelling excellence. It’s a constructive, interactive process that prioritizes employee engagement in order to facilitate results, rather than focusing on results at the expense of employees.
A few facts you may not know:
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Women are actually rated as more proficient than men in major leadership skills by both men and women – but are promoted far less.
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Women are socialized from a young age to create harmony in groups and to promote inclusion with their language and behaviors. These skills are invaluable when leading large teams and departments.
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Women are incredibly social and communicative (this is a generalization, of course – but throughout their lives, women are rewarded for these behaviors more than men) which I would argue actually makes most women more intentional about their communication approach and skills, as a leader must be.
So if you’re a rising woman leader in the corporate space, I want to encourage you this week to stop focusing on improving your perceived inadequacies as you try to fit in with the men in your company. Instead, focus on playing up your strengths and using those to lead with full confidence that you’re at the forefront of new leadership.
Did this article help you reframe your own leadership abilities? I’d love to know. Email me directly at laura@lauraweldy.com and let me know how you’re seeing new value in your skill set!
I offer professional coaching for rising women leaders in the corporate world, with a focus on helping them overcome lack of confidence via professional coaching, virtual coaching, invitation only masterminds and powerful online courses. If your goals for the year include confidence in the workplace, let’s talk! I’d love to help you build an action plan for success. Click here to apply for a free coaching consultation with me directly!
by Laura Weldy | Nov 8, 2021 | Uncategorized
Your career isn’t something that passively happens to you.
Instead, your career should be a relationship that you’re proactively managing, just as you do the other relationships in your life that help you thrive. My favorite tool to help my leadership clients take control over their career and start creating the milestones they’re wanting is to practice reverse engineering.
I find that thinking about a problem from the same perspective without finding results is frustrating and exhausting. So when it comes to setting career goals, I encourage all my clients to develop a new perspective by literally thinking in reverse. Here’s how!
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Start with the goal. Spend some time clarifying where exactly you want to be in 6 months. What would you like to have accomplished in your role? What kind of feedback do you want in your annual review? How would you like to feel differently at work and at home?
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Assign a benchmark that will help you measure your success, beginning with month 5. Ask yourself – in order to achieve x by month 6, what would I need to have completed by month 5? Repeat the process working backwards until you’re at month 1 and know exactly where to start.
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The key to making this plan actually happen is consistent check-ins and accountability. Add a 15 minute meeting with yourself every Friday morning to sit down, compare your monthly progress with the planned deliverables for the month, and make any needed adjustments. You’ll likely find that some goals will need to be extended or shortened, or that an alternate approach is needed. But as everyone knows – the first draft is the toughest. Get that 6 month plan down on paper and the tweaking process will feel much more simple.
I spend a portion of each Powerhouse day doing this exact process with my clients. Powerhouse is my one day leadership incubator designed to help rising women leaders create a plan and execute it confidently as they shift into true career leadership. Learn more and apply here!
I offer professional coaching for rising women leaders in the corporate world, with a focus on helping them overcome lack of confidence via professional coaching, virtual coaching, invitation only masterminds and powerful online courses. If your goals for the year include confidence in the workplace, let’s talk! I’d love to help you build an action plan for success. Click here to apply for a free coaching consultation with me directly!
by Laura Weldy | Nov 1, 2021 | Uncategorized
What does mindset really mean when we talk about leadership?
Mindset sounds like a buzzword that doesn’t mean much – but the truth is that your mindset is everything when you’re leading a team. You can have a great attitude and excellent leadership skills, but without the right mindset, your team and its results are limited.
Mindset isn’t just your perspective but a combination of your perspective, approach and most importantly your expectations.
When one of my clients has a team that’s underperforming, I immediately want to learn more about the mindset of the leader. Specifically, I’m watching for these three assumptions in how they speak about the team’s performance – and that assumption will often point me in the direction of what must change in order to get the results they desire.
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Assuming that repeated success is a given. Our team created amazing results last time – so we assume the same will happen with this project. This assumption leads us to cut corners on the systems and processes, under-support our personnel, and overlook analysis that could help us understand why they succeeded last time. Don’t check out just because your team has handled a similar project in the past.
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Assuming that the team is motivated by one thing without asking. It’s normal for us to make educated guesses on how to get our team to perform better, based on previous results. That’s what leadership often boils down to! But we must stay present to the fact that everything from personal life to season of the year can impact our team members’ motivations and workload capacity. Asking them how you can support them and keep them motivated will get you further than assumptions.
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Assuming that someone specific will underperform. Every team has varying levels of dependability and skill sets. However, I challenge you to not assume that a specific team member or members will underperform. If you expect little, you’ll inevitably receive little in return – and you’ll end up taking on more of the work than you must. Instead, partner with each team member to ensure they have a process for the results you need.
Have you made these assumptions as a leader before? What would happen if you took a different set of assumptions into your next team meeting?
My name is Laura Weldy, and I’m a women’s leadership coach. I help women in the workplace become confident leaders by tackling their mindset head on so they can think like a leader before they have the job title. I do this through professional coaching, virtual coaching, small group masterminds and powerful courses. If you’re looking to become more successful and fulfilled at work, let’s talk! I’d love to help you build an action plan for success. Click here to apply for a free coaching consultation with me directly!
