Control Your Career with New PayTech Women Executive Academy
Monday, June 13, 2022
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Posted by: Anne Mendenhall
Kara has a successful career she is proud of. She had been promoted, and had built good relationships in her organization. And yet, she felt like she was still missing something. At times, she heard that critical voice in her head telling her she didn’t deserve the praise or promotion. At times, she doubted herself and the extent of her knowledge, which held her back from speaking up in meetings. We have all had moments of self doubt, feeling in over our heads, or not knowing how to approach a challenge or difficult person. Many of us understand exactly where Kara is coming from. The good news is that we don’t have to just accept it. We can take the reins on our careers and make a change. We can take command. Kara wanted to make a change. She wanted to take the reins. Kara took advantage of the opportunity her organization offered, the Women’s Executive Academy. She initially was concerned whether she had the time for this program and community. How could she invest the time, money, and focus? Why would her company invest in her? The thoughts and doubts raced through her mind. At the same time, Kara’s mentor nominated her for a cohort-style leadership development program. Kara had worked with a coach before, and had a great experience with her. Maybe she would call her. She didn’t want to admit or share her self-doubts with others. That would be too embarrassing. She didn’t want her colleagues and peers to know her insecurities and challenges. But the program was intriguing, and her mentor spoke so highly of the experience. Following several conversations with her mentor, Kara submitted her application for the Academy. And was accepted. This was a pivotal moment in her career. By the conclusion of the program, Kara felt lighter. Her confidence was consistently at a higher level. Her stress levels were lower. Most importantly, that critical voice in her head was much quieter. The program offered Kara different perspectives and experience than working one-on-one with a coach as she had previously done. She built relationships with peers. She had the brilliance of the executive coach leading the program, and the wealth of knowledge from her colleagues and peers in the room. It was a completely different experience than anything she had done in the past. This program gave her the best of both worlds. Kara’s challenges and self-doubt were normalized in the group. She was aligned with her peers who were either experiencing similar challenges, or had been in her position before. She posed these issues to the group, met with other participants outside the regular group sessions as her sounding board, and partnered with her coach to challenge her thinking patterns. As a result, change came for Kara. This combination of coaching, training, and relationship building with her peers forced Kara to get out of her own way. She shared her learnings with her team and peers. Kara’s boss noticed her taking the lead more often. She developed a unique presence that allowed her to stand comfortably tall. She found herself taking the time to intentionally communicate verbally, and non-verbally, in meetings and all her communications. Kara shifted her focus to the high-value tasks, so she was seen and heard by the ‘right’ people. She felt less drained at the end of the week because she was handling miscommunications and potential drama in effective ways. Kara stopped sweeping her fears aside. Upon reflection, Kara loved having the dedicated and uninterrupted time each month to focus on herself and what she wanted out of her career and life. A year after the program concluded, Kara’s deliberate practice and focused attention has created sustainable changes to her days and year. She continues to meet on a monthly basis with her peers - usually over breakfast at their favorite diner. Kara’s boss, Jenny, noticed the changes too. The investment in her spread throughout her teams. She took on additional responsibilities, breaking down silos as she built relationships across the organization. Kara now sees the unique value each of her direct reports contributes, and relies on them rather than trying to do everything herself. Jenny noticed her focusing more on innovations and problem solving, rather than executing. Both Kara and Jenny recognize the investment of time and effort has paid off tremendously. Obviously for Kara and her happiness, but equally so for the team and organization as a whole. This is the power of building community with peers and coaches. We know that many women experience impostor syndrome, feel ineffective or overwhelmed as they navigate their careers or have not been able to influence colleagues and customers as they would like. We can be concerned about our effectiveness and potential impact on our teams and organizations. Which is why we have built the PayTech Women Executive Academy, an exclusive program designed to prepare you to lead with ease, perform at your peak, influence those around you and positively affect your organization. One high-impact approach to developing influential women leaders is through in-depth learning, practical integration and coaching done in a cohort-style format. In this intimate design, women leaders develop a deep bond as they learn from and grow alongside one another. The leaders of this program are executive coaches and trained facilitators – they create a safe space for conversation and collaboration inside and outside of the sessions. Challenging and motivating these leaders is a key component to leader growth. The facilitators understand how to build a community with longevity that complements other programming and extends far beyond a webinar or annual event. The facilitators are Julie Holunga and Stephanie Polen – see pages 9 and 10 for information on the facilitators. Register for upcoming June 21 webinar, Elevate Your Career: How To Intentionally Build Relationship Capital, featuring the faciliators of the Academy, Julie Holunga and Stephanie Polen. This event, free for Wnet Members, will offer an overview of the Academy in addition to providing strategies to use your community to build your career.
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