Latest / SisterSmart Leadership / 8: Uncovering Your Inner Desires to Find Your Dream Job with Charissa

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8: Uncovering Your Inner Desires to Find Your Dream Job with Charissa · SisterSmart Leadership

• 0:00
  Jill Avey: How do you know if you should stay at your current job
• 0:02
  and try to work things out when things aren't quite working the way
• 0:05
  you want them to, or whether it's time to move on to another role?
• 0:08
  This is the exact same question that our client Charissa was facing when she
• 0:13
  joined the Sisters in Leadership Program.
• 0:15
  So I'm so excited for you to meet her today because she was able to take
• 0:19
  what she learned in the program and leverage that to get her dream job.
• 0:23
  Her journey is much like many of my clients who come into the program and
• 0:27
  they're wondering, should I stay here and try to work things out or should
• 0:32
  I leave and start somewhere new?
• 0:34
  Now, I always counsel people to get into the program a bit before
• 0:38
  they make that decision because the leadership skills that you learn in
• 0:42
  the program can drastically change your experience in your current job.
• 0:46
  And getting a new job is always like buying a new used car: you
• 0:49
  know it has problems, you just don't know what they are yet.
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  So sometimes making that leap is the best thing to do and once you get
• 0:56
  into the program a bit, it will make that decision so much more clear.
• 1:00
  So join me and we're going to talk to Charissa and hear all about her
• 1:04
  journey and how she got into her dream job and the surprising things
• 1:09
  that she found once she got there.
• 1:10
  I'm Jill Avey, a career success coach, and this is Sister Smart Leadership, the
• 1:16
  show that explores how women can rise from director to vice president and beyond
• 1:20
  by fully leaning into their feminine energy as their biggest advantage.
• 1:24
  Let's get you one step closer to the recognition and promotion you deserve.
• 1:29
  Jill Avey: I'm so excited to introduce Charissa to you today.
• 1:32
  She is a client that has just finished up her journey with Sisters
• 1:36
  in Leadership and she wants to share a little about that with us.
• 1:40
  Charissa, could you tell us a little bit about your journey from where you started
• 1:45
  with Sisters to where you are today.
• 1:48
  Charissa: Sure.
• 1:48
  Thank you, Jill.
• 1:50
  Yeah, it was very fortuitous that I started working with Jill and with
• 1:55
  Sisters in Leadership at the time that I did because throughout the
• 1:59
  course I actually started to make a transition to look for a different role.
• 2:04
  And I feel like the program really helped me think through my approach
• 2:14
  and guided me in a direction that I think resulted in a far better fit for
• 2:18
  me in terms of my next career move.
• 2:21
  Partly that was helping build my confidence through the community
• 2:27
  that's created in this forum with other women hearing their experiences,
• 2:32
  taking some of the fear out of transitioning to a new role based
• 2:38
  on some of their feedback and input.
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  I'd been in my previous position for 14 years, so it was significant to really
• 2:48
  start thinking about making a change.
• 2:50
  And of course, there's a lot of things that try our confidence
• 2:54
  during that time as we're really evaluating where do I bring value
• 2:59
  and what do I want to do with my life and will someone want me out there?
• 3:03
  All those things.
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  So, It helped to really have that system of support.
• 3:10
  And then through the process of workshopping and going through the
• 3:13
  modules together I found what I took away was a much stronger sense of
• 3:20
  confidence, but really what that led to was clarity on what I wanted
• 3:26
  to actually do in my next role.
• 3:30
  And what I was able to do was really sit down and basically write a job
• 3:36
  description of what I wanted to do, how I wanted to influence, what I thought
• 3:40
  about what I wanted my day to look like.
• 3:42
  And I started talking to people and eventually I found an organization
• 3:48
  that was very open to the idea of crafting a position together.
• 3:53
  In my previous role, I was a vp.
• 3:55
  I was certainly in a great position, but what I really wanted to do was move
• 4:02
  from that role of influencing change, which is really where I was, to a role
• 4:08
  where I could really direct and really immediately see some of the change in the
• 4:14
  area of my expertise come to fruition.
• 4:17
  So through that process of really thinking through what I wanted, having
• 4:22
  the confidence that I could get what I wanted, putting that to paper,
• 4:27
  I was able to find an opportunity where they were very open to that and
• 4:32
  wanted to explore that same thing.
• 4:35
  So it was a fantastic transition for me with all the great things about
• 4:39
  getting a promotion, making more money, better benefits, work life balance,
• 4:43
  all those things came with the job, but, I think most importantly it was
• 4:50
  truly defined by, you know, what I, I really wanted to do and I was able to
• 4:56
  get that clarity through this program.
• 4:58
  Jill Avey: That's really great.
• 4:59
  And tell us about what kind of work you're doing now
• 5:02
  Charissa: Yeah, so.
• 5:03
  My title is Strategic Growth and Development Director for an organization.
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  I work in the AEC industry.
• 5:12
  Architecture, engineering and Construction industry.
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  So mainly I work with engineers, planners folks that are planning and
• 5:20
  designing infrastructure improvements.
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  My organization's about 800 folks right now, and we have about 13 offices
• 5:28
  mostly in the Western United States.
• 5:31
  What really appealed to me about this organization was that we're
• 5:35
  very much at a kind of a cusper, a turning point in our growth.
• 5:41
  It's a very stable organization, and so they're really thinking strategically
• 5:47
  about how we can grow now to prepare us for the future when we continue to hire
• 5:53
  and how we can build our foundational systems and process and thinking and
• 5:58
  culture to support our continued growth.
• 6:01
  So I'm coming from a place where those kinds of decisions and direction was
• 6:08
  really set at a much higher level because it was a much, much larger firm and
• 6:15
  there was creativity in implementing that direction on the ground where I was.
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  But overarching direction of the organization was certainly
• 6:25
  far beyond my control.
• 6:28
  And now, making this decision to move to more of a mid-size firm, I'm
• 6:34
  really more at the forefront and at the table with the COO, who I report
• 6:41
  to and the CEO, having these really strategic in-depth conversations
• 6:47
  about what our future looks like.
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  And I love that.
• 6:51
  One of the things that I really appreciate about my current role as well is I feel
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  like one of my strengths as a leader is being very empathetic and sensitive and
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  thoughtful about how change and growth impacts Employees and people and how
• 7:11
  we communicate that change and how we support people and how we really make
• 7:15
  it resonate with them as individuals.
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  And I feel like this organization is very aware of the importance of that kind
• 7:25
  of work in change, that change can't be dictated especially in a mid-size firm,
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  because you need a lot of people to feel like they have ownership of that.
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  We can't afford to lose folks because they're confused and
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  don't understand the direction or whatever that might look like.
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  So it's really exciting to be in those conversations in my new role.
• 7:50
  Jill Avey: Well that's great.
• 7:51
  tell me a little bit about how it went when you first got the role.
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  It was a whole new position for you.
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  You hadn't changed roles in 14 years and so how'd that go?
• 8:03
  Charissa: Yeah, that's a great question because there's so much work and
• 8:07
  excitement leading up to the transition and then it was really interesting
• 8:13
  realizing that I was going to need to tap into different leadership skills
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  than I had in the past because I was coming into this organization , in
• 8:23
  a role that didn't exist before.
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  It's an organization that is very secure.
• 8:28
  They have a lot of Folks that have been around many years and here
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  I was coming in to say like, Hey, let's change, let's shake things up.
• 8:36
  And I'm only six months into this role, so believe me, it's still on ongoing.
• 8:42
  But I very much have had to have some conversations with myself because
• 8:48
  I'm not everyone's favorite person to have around anymore, or I'm
• 8:53
  not seen as like that go-to person to, to bring into a conversation.
• 8:58
  And I think I knew that going into that role and I wanted that challenge because
• 9:04
  it kind of taps into a different part of me that's like, I can do this, I can,
• 9:08
  Build these relationships and tackle this.
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  And it was kind of a new challenge that I wanted.
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  But I've had to call in some of those leadership skills and communication
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  skills and patience with myself and with others as we try to learn how this
• 9:25
  position brings value and isn't, Scary, or I'm certainly not here to, to change
• 9:33
  everything up and make everything harder or whatever that those beliefs might be.
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  So that's been a little bit of a challenge to work through.
• 9:41
  Because I certainly, I, I assume I'm like most people, I want people to like
• 9:45
  me and I want to bring value to my job.
• 9:47
  I'm really grateful that I came into this role with the confidence that, I
• 9:52
  had and that foundational confidence because I've had to tap into it quite
• 9:57
  a bit, navigating this new position.
• 9:59
  Jill Avey: and you did the PQ bootcamp right after you started too.
• 10:02
  Was that helpful for you?
• 10:03
  Charissa: It was, what I think really resonated with me is learning about my
• 10:09
  saboteurs and even going through the exercises of practicing how to respond
• 10:16
  to those saboteurs and I was probably aware of the saboteurs I had and some of
• 10:21
  that swirling, but getting the clarity, really clearly black and white here.
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  Here's what those saboteurs are.
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  Here's the purpose.
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  Here's some of why they're there.
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  Here's where they come from, and I shouldn't say the purpose, but maybe the
• 10:36
  objective of that saboteur, understanding that helped me really implement specific
• 10:43
  changes to, move around them essentially.
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  I don't look at it like I have shut down a saboteur.
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  They are part of who I am.
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  But it's more I think I've learned to leverage the strength of being,
• 10:59
  say, a hyper achiever and recognize when that saboteur is not helping me.
• 11:07
  That was particularly helpful for me going through the program.
• 11:12
  Jill Avey: I love the saboteur work that we do because it's really empowering
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  and it, it really helps unleash people into their strengths versus having that
• 11:21
  inner critic voice always going on and kind of beating you down, you know.
• 11:25
  Know,
• 11:25
  Charissa: right, right.
• 11:26
  Jill Avey: beautiful work.
• 11:28
  Charissa: one realization I had that was really interesting is without the
• 11:33
  saboteurs, you wouldn't necessarily be where you are in your career or
• 11:39
  whatever your goals might be, but through understanding them, you
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  say, thank you, I'm moving on now.
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  They don't need to continue to be a part of who you are as a leader
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  or a colleague or a friend, or in whatever capacity that is.
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  Jill Avey: Yeah, because the saboteurs will get you to achievement.
• 12:01
  But they don't get you to achievement with happiness and
• 12:03
  Charissa: Yeah, exactly.
• 12:04
  Jill Avey: and feeling good about it.
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  It's sort of this, ugh, I, I have to, I'm, you know, I've got to kind of feeling.
• 12:11
  Charissa: Yeah.
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  Right.
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  And that that kind of brings up a good distinction that I was able to put
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  on paper when I was thinking about what I wanted my next role to be.
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  and it's, what kind of leader do I want to be?
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  And being confident enough to say I don't need to be in the know on everything.
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  I don't need to be the producer of, a document in order to bring meaningful
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  insider or work to an organization.
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  There's a little bit of that when self-doubt comes in, there's a little
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  bit of that feeling like I'm being left out or someone might come in and have a
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  better idea or whatever that might be.
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  And I am human and have processed those thoughts many times over.
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  But I think could recognizing like this isn't part of who you are any
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  longer, it isn't your day-to-day, it's not how you define yourself.
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  And then being able to take that definition and put it into a job
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  description and make it reality was really exciting and great end result, I think.
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  Jill Avey: Yeah, you left behind the rest of the doing, then
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  really stepped into your lead.
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  Charissa: Right.
• 13:20
  Jill Avey: Yeah.
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  Yeah.
• 13:22
  That's fantastic.
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  I'm just so impressed with how much you've accomplished and what
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  a big jump up that you've made.
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  And only you know, and not only does this organization fit you better and
• 13:30
  have this, all this potential and growth, but you're making such an impact.
• 13:34
  So there's the seven steps to promotion that we use in the Sisters in Leadership
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  program, and I was wondering if there's a certain one that was most helpful to you.
• 13:41
  Charissa: The saboteurs focus was very helpful, as I said, but I think also
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  it was, again, just perfect timing.
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  When we were really working on the initial visioning and all the exercises that
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  really took us through self-reflection and a little bit of an assessment
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  those were all very helpful to me.
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  I think through that and then through sharing in particular with the other
• 14:09
  women, I found it really remarkable but also very helpful to know that
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  many of us had some of the similar strengths or weaknesses, right?
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  Or some of the similar struggles and things that we discovered through the
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  visioning and assessing, our strengths and weaknesses and, it really helped
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  to be in a group of, strong, smart, accomplished women and know, oh, they're
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  struggling with a lot of the same things I am or some something that, that is
• 14:45
  similar or those, that kind of thing.
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  So that, that work I think was particularly helpful for me.
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  Jill Avey: I always get a kick out of it how people can be from all
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  different geographies and industries, size of company, and they're always
• 14:58
  so surprised how much in common they have with everybody else, and that
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  it's, we're all going through the same stuff , so there could be differences,
• 15:06
  but it can be so much the same too.
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  Charissa: right.
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  Because, and I think this work and your work, it really is focusing
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  on like core human dynamics.
• 15:18
  And I think another point I wanted to talk about, it's not about functioning
• 15:25
  as a leader within a certain culture or shifting an approach to meld with,
• 15:33
  a specific kind of corporate leadership culture or whatever that looks like,
• 15:36
  it's really so much about focusing on your, foundation and strengths
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  that build your personal leadership style, brand strengths which I also
• 15:54
  really appreciated about the program.
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  In many ways, good leadership really comes from how we feel about ourselves,
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  what we know about ourselves.
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  And I think everyone needs to do that kind of work, that kind of understanding.
• 16:09
  For me, it's never been about like reading a book or following a process.
• 16:13
  I mean, there's certainly value in that, but certainly the current
• 16:16
  evolution of my leadership, which has gone from very much focusing
• 16:20
  externally on how I'm leading people to, it's shifted far more internally.
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  What are my strengths and vision and where is my heart around leadership?
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  And this program really helped us look internally to build that foundation.
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  And I found that really rewarding and focused in the right direction.
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  It certainly resonated with me.
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  It's not something that I would go in tomorrow and say, "Oh I'm going
• 16:48
  to follow this model of leadership," it was I think, a deeper shift and
• 16:53
  change that not only affected my strengths at work, but, in life.
• 16:58
  so I appreciated that about the program.
• 17:01
  Jill Avey: that's great.
• 17:01
  How does this program differ from other leadership programs that
• 17:05
  your company has sponsored?
• 17:07
  Charissa: sure.
• 17:07
  So, I think this program in particular, it didn't feel like we were learning a
• 17:18
  process or steps or even like specific do this to be a good leader type skills.
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  We were really learning individually how to be better
• 17:33
  humans and thus better leaders.
• 17:35
  Through the process of kind of understanding who we are, our internal
• 17:40
  voices, whatever that might look like.
• 17:42
  For example, I was at one leadership for women program and they were
• 17:48
  talking about shaking hands firmly.
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  And I'm sure it's a good idea to shake hands firmly, but I also don't
• 17:56
  think it has literally anything to do with who you are as a leader and
• 18:02
  to me felt more like we're teaching leadership as a way to conform to the
• 18:07
  model of leadership, whatever that may be, versus thinking about being the
• 18:14
  leader that you are as an individual and bringing that to the workplace.
• 18:19
  I think it's timely and it's thoughtful.
• 18:22
  We bring so much value to the table by bringing our own approach to
• 18:28
  work or leading or interacting or communication or whatever that is.
• 18:33
  And we want to allow that space for it rather than saying if you follow
• 18:36
  these steps, you'll be a good leader.
• 18:38
  I just don't think that Is nearly as insightful as kind of the work and
• 18:42
  the process that we did together.
• 18:45
  Jill Avey: And it creates this leadership style that's authentic to you and who
• 18:48
  you are and playing to your strengths.
• 18:50
  Charissa: That's a great way to say it.
• 18:52
  Yeah.
• 18:52
  It's authentic to you and not conforming to a leadership model
• 18:57
  that may or may not apply to you.
• 18:59
  Jill Avey: Yeah.
• 19:00
  Charissa: What a great way to be innovative, bringing your
• 19:03
  authentic self to the workplace.
• 19:05
  Jill Avey: Like why do we have women in leadership if we're just going
• 19:07
  to take away all their strengths.
• 19:10
  Charissa: Right.
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  It completely defeats the purpose of, being a more diverse organization.
• 19:16
  If you want everyone to act a certain way.
• 19:20
  And certainly I believe we all as individuals bring
• 19:23
  different things to the table.
• 19:25
  I think women in leadership bring different perspectives and things to
• 19:29
  the table, and exactly, it's not about "everybody have a firm handshake and that
• 19:34
  makes you a good leader" , it really is bring your authentic self to the table.
• 19:39
  Jill Avey: Thanks so much for sharing your story and because I think women
• 19:43
  need other leaders to look up to, and I'm wondering if there's a woman
• 19:47
  in leadership that you look up to.
• 19:49
  Charissa: I think I am very fortunate to say there are several women in leadership
• 19:57
  that I look up to and I tend to try to be observant of others and when I walk
• 20:04
  away from a conversation or a meeting and think that was thought provoking
• 20:10
  or that was interesting or Wow, I really took some things away from that.
• 20:14
  I tend to see different strengths that people are bringing to the table.
• 20:18
  So in my experience, I've learned from a lot of different women in leadership, and
• 20:24
  I am so grateful because there's been so many opportunities for me to say like,
• 20:30
  wow, that person really has a strength in communication or that person really knows
• 20:37
  how to inspire a team and let me think about like, how did they go about that?
• 20:41
  There's a particular female leader I'm thinking of that has this great
• 20:46
  way of being curious and questioning while simultaneously being directive.
• 20:53
  So I've really actually thought through what are the skills and things that
• 20:56
  she's bringing to the table to allow her to do that very effectively.
• 21:01
  So she's creating change and setting direction, but in a way
• 21:06
  that is very inclusive and bringing others along in the conversation.
• 21:10
  And I find those kinds of things very inspiring.
• 21:13
  I will think about them, I'll think about how I can apply them.
• 21:17
  I think I've been fortunate to have kind of a group of female leaders
• 21:21
  in my life that have really inspired me along the way, encouraged me,
• 21:27
  helped me develop skills it's been a
• 21:29
  Jill Avey: like you have a group of women that kind of make up your
• 21:33
  inspiration versus just one that Yeah.
• 21:36
  Charissa: Yes.
• 21:36
  Jill Avey: That's wonderful.
• 21:37
  Thank you again for, sharing your story today.
• 21:40
  If you found Charissa's story inspiring or helpful and you're watching on YouTube,
• 21:45
  please let us know in the comments which parts you like the most, and if you'd
• 21:49
  like to hear more about the Sisters in Leadership Program and how it might work
• 21:53
  for you, download my private podcast this seven step passport to promotion on
• 21:59
  the sister smart.com website, and we'll put the link below in the show notes.
• 22:03
  And if you want to dive deeper into women's leadership and learn how to
• 22:08
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• 22:11
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• 22:13
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• 22:17
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• 22:25
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• 22:33
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