It's lonely at the top.
I know.
I feel I have to set the example. Be strong. Have all the answers.
Who gets me with all my ambitions and all the things I want to do? Very few.
This monthly roundtable may be supportive of you if you have:
Do the personal development work you aren't doing anywhere else.
Why is this important?
Self-awareness is key at this level of leadership. Let us be the hard (or soft) mirror you need.
Surround yourself with a group of intelligent, motivated, and deep thinking women who will support and celebrate your success.
Why is this important?
Sure, we have friends who mean well. We have work colleagues who lend an ear from time to time. But, it's incredibly powerful to have an independent advisory board that can be objective and confidential in addressing your challenges OUTSIDE of work. This is your new professional team for the next 12 months.
It is one thing to think about your challenge. It is one thing to write about your challenge. It takes the accountability to the next level when you have to articulate it out loud in a trusted space.
Why is this important?
If you didn't have to show up and report on the progress of your goal, it would be incredibly easy to keep 'kicking the can' down the road. It's also easy to keep stewing over the goal and never get any ideas on 'the next action step' or 'why we even want it.' This is where accountability is key.
Divya Tandon, class of 2022, talks about how much the accountability meant to her meeting her goals.
She has been an owner and operator of 300+ multi family Class B and C units. In year 2 of working with me, she's made a MUCH bigger goal.
Jan. 8th
Feb. 12th
Mar. 12th
Apr. 9th
May 14th
Jun. 5th
* Other dates will be updated
I will start the 90 minutes by asking about a recent 'win.'
We, as women, often brush past the 'wins,' never stopping to celebrate. We just move on to the next challenge.
Then, in a round robin fashion, I will ask each woman to share a challenge. This also lays out the welcome mat for 3 people from the group to weigh in with potential solutions, from their own lived experience.
Nidhi Sinha, Class of 2022, is Global Head of Public Relations for BCG. She and I worked together to make the business case to her CEO.
In year 2, she is thinking about the culture she is creating for her team.
“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”
--- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
My name is Joya Dass. For 20 years I was a news anchor on major networks. I told stories about the companies you needed to care about.
Today I head up the Women’s Leadership Lab. I put on my journalist hat and ask the hard questions to help women tell stories about themselves. I drive leadership programming with an element of adventure.
See retreat in Marrakech
See retreat in Croatia
If you genuinely want to become better, you must surround yourself with people who will hold you to a higher standard than you currently hold yourself. You want to be around people with a higher and better vantage-point than you have, so that you can quickly learn from them.
Your level of talent and “potential” are irrelevant if you’re surrounded by people who don’t help you realize it.
---Dr. Ben Hardy
"I firmly believe you never should spend your time being the former anything."
-Condoleeza Rice
“If we didn’t have ambition—some big goal we are after—how would we know what little things, what distractions, to say no to?”
—Ryan Holiday