So you REALLY want to be a better people leader—or want to grow more effective people leaders across your organization—but it all feels so darn complicated these days, right? Hybrid workforces. Increased demands on pay and time off. Turnover turbulence. Economic headwinds. Fill in your company's crisis du jour here. 😱 I help leaders create fresh solutions to people problems, especially when it comes to retaining and motivating their best people. In a nutshell, I help you help people stay—and grow, and thrive. And when your people grow, you do, too. **Please know you're not alone. I see you, and I can help. One way to start is to sign up for my weekly Insider strategies and stories—ideas I only share with my private clients and with you directly in email. **
do others have outdated perceptions of you?
|
I remember the feeling so well, Reader . . . (cue the wayback machine) I'd just closed a $1MM+ consulting deal with the mercurial but powerful EVP of HR at my client's Fortune 50 company. It was the biggest contract in our region to date that didn't involve software--just services. MY team's services--communication and change management. Services no client had paid us a million buckaroos before to do. The traditional sales leader hadn't wanted to be involved. "A" (that's what we'll call him) had turned down every opportunity to join my meetings with the client (he didn't like her and honestly, nor she him). He didn't want to actively participate behind the scenes as my team was crafting the pitch and mapping out pricing. That's why I remember him standing in my doorway after the win was announced, battering me with questions along the lines of "How in the world did YOU win this work?" I was dumbfounded. If I'm honest, I was insulted. But after talking it through with my coaches and mentors, I realized one important fact. "A" saw me for who I'd been when I started--not who I'd become. Like many of us, I started as a tag-along, a learning sponge, a do-er. But I'd built myself to be someone people wanted to tag along with, to learn from, and to lead others to do the right things. Stories like mine—and maybe yours—are why I was proud to co-write this recent article published in the Harvard Business Review blog: Read "When Your Colleagues Have An Outdated Perception of You" (If you don't already have an HBR.org account, you might have to sign up --it's free. If you can't access it then, hit reply and tell me so I can send it to you another way.) How about YOU, Reader? Ever feel like others see you as you were, not as you are? I'd love to hear your stories and what you did about it. Just hit REPLY --I read every single note from this community, and I work hard to reply to as many as I can. As you'll see from the research in the article, changing perceptions isn't always easy, but it can be done. As I wrote about in my book, you don't have to leave to make a change that matters. So let's keep soaring! Always, Darcy P.S. I co-wrote this article with my friend and colleague Sarah Mann, who has this cool tool called the Leadership Fluency Framework. It's an exercise to help you lead fluently and live powerfully--and it's free when you sign up here.
|
Darcy Eikenberg, PCC
I help leaders how to help their people stay & grow in the new world of work
So you REALLY want to be a better people leader—or want to grow more effective people leaders across your organization—but it all feels so darn complicated these days, right? Hybrid workforces. Increased demands on pay and time off. Turnover turbulence. Economic headwinds. Fill in your company's crisis du jour here. 😱 I help leaders create fresh solutions to people problems, especially when it comes to retaining and motivating their best people. In a nutshell, I help you help people stay—and grow, and thrive. And when your people grow, you do, too. **Please know you're not alone. I see you, and I can help. One way to start is to sign up for my weekly Insider strategies and stories—ideas I only share with my private clients and with you directly in email. **
I'll often admit to asking for forgiveness instead of permission, Reader. Maybe you're the same way. So I'm always surprised when I talk to someone who's waiting for permission to do something they know is the right thing to do. I get it--doing what we know is right can feel risky in a world where not everyone agrees on "right." Our relationships—especially in a remote and/or time-strapped workplace— can feel easily crackable if we unintentionally injure or insult someone. 😳 So we tend to...
Recently, Reader, you might have seen my article in the Harvard Business Review offering strategies for when your colleagues have an outdated perception of you. (Read it here if you missed it--may require a free sign-up). Misperceptions about what you can do can cause you to miss out on new projects and be stuck in things you've done forever, which can get boring fast. But what if others are just forgetting or overlooking how you can help? In today's wild world of "who's working from where...
"But I don't see anything," my mom thumbed into the group text as I announced the eclipse had begun. "PUT YOUR GLASSES ON!" typed both my sister and I simultaneously. As I patiently watched the sun turn into Pac-Man-esque shapes during the moon's partial blockage, I started thinking about the word eclipse. Beyond its celestial meanings, to be eclipsed can mean losing power or significance. Which got me thinking about what we might need to eclipse in our day-to-day lives right now. I mean, we...