Latest / Loud & Lifted / Career Growth For Women: Reinvention, Roadmaps & Leading Through Change — with Sonja Price

Transcript

Career Growth For Women: Reinvention, Roadmaps & Leading Through Change — with Sonja Price · Loud & Lifted

0:00
Welcome to Allowed and Lifted, the female leadership
0:02
podcast where we trade fluff for practical tools.
0:05
Today, we're surfing change with Sonia Price.
0:07
If you've ever felt the pull to pivot or your
0:10
company keeps shifting under your feet, this
0:12
episode is your roadmap. Sonya breaks down why
0:15
reinvention is translation, not tear down, how
0:19
to build a start today career roadmap, and the
0:23
nervous system reset that helps you show up with
0:25
executive presence when it counts. We're also
0:28
reframing job hopping as upward momentum and
0:30
talk about performing one level up so the promotion
0:33
becomes the obvious next step. Grab a notebook,
0:36
you'll leave a scripts checklist and one action
0:38
you can take before the end of the day. Let's
0:41
get from victory to visionary together. Sonya
0:52
Price, welcome to Loud and Lifted. Thank you
0:55
so much for being here today. Thank you, Betsy.
0:59
It's such an honor to be on your show. start
1:02
this conversation, let's talk about you and let's
1:05
talk about your story and how you really reinvented
1:08
your career through the years. Oh boy. Okay.
1:11
Well, I have reinvented myself. a handful of
1:15
times. And, you know, I started right out of
1:19
college many, many years ago. I worked for a
1:21
startup and I kind of fell into the role of a
1:24
product manager, product manager slash usability
1:27
test engineer. And while I was working for that
1:31
startup organization, I really observed and analyzed
1:35
the leadership of the organization because we
1:37
got several rounds of funding. And each and every
1:40
time that we hired a new leader or a new team
1:43
member, the culture and the team dynamics would
1:46
shift overnight. And that got me really interested
1:49
in what makes great leaders and what makes bad
1:52
leaders because I saw examples of both. And so
1:56
I went back to school and I got a master's in
1:59
leadership and organization development. And
2:01
then eventually use that to shift into completely
2:06
different career and got into consulting. Really
2:11
loved that I was doing change management consulting.
2:14
However, I always had this entrepreneurial pursuit.
2:18
And so I started a few companies on the side,
2:21
including my own tech company, where I was the
2:24
leader. And I got to learn a lot about what does
2:27
it mean to be a good leader myself, you know,
2:30
and probably did it wrong, you know, some of
2:33
the time, but also, yeah, but you know, you learn
2:35
through failure. And I think, you know, always
2:38
having people's best interests at heart, I think
2:42
you can fail, and you can make bad decisions.
2:45
But as long as you take care of your people and
2:47
you own your mistakes and you know how to bounce
2:51
back from that, you know how to be resilient,
2:53
I think a lot of people can be really forgiving
2:55
and I think people follow authenticity. But I've
2:59
continued on in consulting. And then I started
3:03
another business, and I did a career coaching
3:06
practice, a leadership development practice.
3:10
And now I'm primarily focused on team development
3:13
and working with senior -level leaders, helping
3:16
them understand how to navigate change and how
3:19
to address all of the challenges that come along
3:22
with that, both at a personal level, but also
3:25
from, you know, leading change and orchestrating
3:29
environments and cultures and workplaces where
3:31
people really want to be a part of it. Oh my
3:34
gosh. So if you think about how that has come
3:36
in this big full circle moment, right? Like you
3:38
had these different career paths that you went
3:40
down and you created a lot of change for yourself.
3:45
And now you're helping others deal with change.
3:48
And I guess my first question is, you know, how
3:50
have you learned to embrace change rather than
3:53
fear it? Because a lot of people do fear change.
3:57
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, from a personal
4:00
perspective, you know, switching careers, it's
4:03
really not about starting over. And I think a
4:05
lot of people think, oh, I want to do something
4:07
totally different, but then I'm going to have
4:09
to take this huge step back. And I think that's
4:11
the wrong mindset to bring to it, because I really
4:14
think that it is about bringing your full toolkit
4:17
with you into a new arena and knowing how to
4:22
market and position yourself. effectively for
4:26
the roles that you want to land. So many, many,
4:29
many skills are transferable. However, depending
4:32
upon the field, the industry and the organization,
4:37
they call those skills something slightly different.
4:40
So if you can learn how to shift your jargon,
4:42
shift your mindset, shift your language and know
4:45
how to talk about yourself effectively, then
4:48
I think, you know, that That truly is some of
4:51
the secret sauce of being able to successfully
4:53
shift careers without feeling like you have to
4:56
start all over, take a huge step back. That makes
4:59
sense. And you know, in previous episodes, we've
5:01
talked about things like career security over
5:04
job security, right? Like your job might not
5:06
be secure, but your career can be stable, but
5:08
also from a brand perspective and that personal
5:10
brand. So as you were going through these different
5:13
roles, how are you building your personal brand?
5:16
Oh, Well, such a great question. You know, there's
5:19
always this sweet spot between what are your
5:22
passions or what do you want to do? What is your
5:25
skill set? And then also what is the market demanding?
5:29
And I think we oftentimes will kind of over -index
5:33
on one side of that, right? We'll say, oh, this
5:36
is what I'm passionate about. This is what I
5:37
want to do. But then we fail to do the market
5:40
research to say, well, Is that actually a viable
5:43
career? Are there plenty of opportunities out
5:45
there? Who is hiring for it? What do they pay?
5:48
Will that afford the kind of lifestyle that I
5:50
want to have? Does that give me enough resources
5:52
to care for my family and do all the things that
5:55
I want to do? Or vice versa, people say, well,
5:58
I'm just going to go after the highest paying
6:00
role or I'm going to go after, you know, what
6:02
is most available. And again, there's nothing
6:05
wrong with that. But if you're lacking the passion
6:08
or the motivation to do it, then is it just going
6:11
to be a slog every day? Like maybe you can land
6:14
a job doing it, but then are you going to, you
6:16
know, three months, six months, a year into it,
6:18
are you going to be like, oh my God, why did
6:20
I choose this path? Maybe it's time for me to
6:22
start over again or, you know, reevaluate and
6:25
reconsider something else. So that ever happened
6:28
to you? Did you ever make a change or a change
6:31
happen to you? And then you were like, oh, wow,
6:32
why did I do that? Yes, actually. To be totally
6:37
authentic, you know? And I think this is part
6:40
of growth and living life. Like things don't
6:43
always turn out the way that we want it to. So
6:46
when I went to school for leadership and organization
6:50
development, and when I initially went to school,
6:52
I was like, cool, this is going to be so great,
6:55
so easy. And as soon as I get this fancy degree,
6:59
companies are going to be lining up to hire me.
7:01
However, I didn't really know that there were
7:04
several different facets inside of that very
7:07
broad category. Like, what does that even mean,
7:10
leadership and organization development? And
7:12
so then I went on a journey of researching like,
7:14
well, what does, you know, do I want to get into
7:18
training? Do I want to get into executive coaching?
7:21
Do I want to get into Change management, you
7:25
know or then even inside of consulting you could
7:27
say consulting. What does that mean? There's
7:29
so many different endeavors, right? So based
7:31
on my research at the time I studied it based
7:34
on what paid the most and what I thought that
7:36
I could qualify for and I ended up getting a
7:39
few different jobs and change management and
7:42
You know, I learned a ton. I really did learn
7:45
a ton. So I have zero regrets about doing that
7:48
But what I found is that it it it actually really
7:51
was not the right fit for me because it was just
7:54
so chaotic, like really chaotic. And being an
7:59
external consultant, sometimes it's really hard
8:01
to have the level of influence that I really
8:03
desire to help create the change that these organizations
8:07
were asking for. And so, you know, I learned
8:10
a ton, but ultimately what I realized is that
8:13
what I really loved at that particular moment
8:16
in time was coaching executives and how to help
8:21
them think about the change and how to help them
8:22
lead the change. So instead of being a consultant
8:25
where everyone was looking at me and saying,
8:27
you do it, you do it, you lead the change. But
8:30
you know, there's many, many, many different
8:32
aspects of change management. And it's part of
8:34
what makes it so interesting, but part of what
8:36
also makes it so overwhelming is that there's
8:38
many different many different juggling acts of
8:40
like, oh, we got to be paying attention to this
8:43
and what's going on with these stakeholders and
8:44
is everybody enrolled and da da da da da. But
8:47
I realized that it's actually the leaders who
8:49
need to be the most involved and they need to
8:51
be the one leading the change. And that's what
8:55
I loved the most was actually coaching executives
8:57
and senior level leaders to know, OK, hey, this
9:00
is your organization. This is your team. Let's
9:03
help you craft the narrative and let's help you
9:05
overcome the challenges. inherent in this for
9:10
you, but really we need to help you be in the
9:13
limelight and people need to be hearing from
9:15
you because it's ultimately you who they're going
9:18
to follow. That's so true. It has to be coming
9:21
from internally the people who are going to be
9:24
still there next year. So when you're working
9:26
with these leaders, because there is this concern
9:29
over uncertainty and just not knowing what's
9:30
going to happen. And as a leader, you got to
9:32
be able to deal with it, whether it's change
9:34
that you agree with or not. But how do you get
9:36
leaders to reframe that change as an opportunity
9:39
versus a risk in getting them on board to help,
9:41
you know, sell it to their team, essentially?
9:44
Well, you know, I think I've kind of over time,
9:46
I've learned that the best leaders don't resist
9:49
change. They learn how to surf it, because change
9:54
is a constant, it's always going to be happening.
9:57
So if we think of change more as a wave, and
10:01
help people know how to surf that wave and not
10:05
wipe out in the process, then how do we work
10:11
with these folks to help them understand that,
10:15
look, this is always gonna be happening. Even
10:17
though we have this big, huge change initiative,
10:20
it might last 12 or 18 months or however long
10:22
that this large scale enterprise -wide change
10:25
might happen, but it will continue. You know,
10:29
it will continue to move on. And if it's not
10:30
this, it's something else. And so how, how can
10:34
we help people overcome that initial resistance
10:38
to change and actually develop the skills to
10:41
just know like, Hey, this is kind of a normal
10:43
part of life and, and who you are and how you,
10:47
how you engage with it and how you show up and
10:50
your presence inside of it really matters. And
10:53
to, you know, help people understand that. Like
10:56
our nervous systems are a huge component of this.
10:59
And I think this there's a lot of new science
11:01
around this. And this is a personal area of curiosity
11:04
for me now is how do we help everyone be able
11:09
to calm our nervous system so that we can handle
11:12
the challenges that show up for us on a day to
11:15
day basis, because it's always going to happen.
11:18
But how do you know how How do we surf this and
11:21
how do we think of it as a wave and not just
11:23
like, Oh my God, this complete chaos and just,
11:25
you know, this, this wipe out that, that really
11:28
causes people to withdraw and not even want to
11:31
engage at all. I love that analogy of surfing
11:34
and waves because that is so true. It's going
11:37
to come and go and it's not going to stop, right?
11:40
Like just like a wave to keep coming. Sometimes
11:42
they're bigger and sometimes they make a bigger
11:45
impact than you anticipated, but that makes so
11:47
much sense. And that happens in our personal
11:49
lives too, right? So I think sometimes we forget
11:51
that that people have stuff changing in their
11:53
personal lives as well as professionally. And
11:55
you're trying to balance lots of waves coming
11:57
in at one time from different directions. The
11:59
neuro system part is interesting. So is there
12:02
anything in like layman's terms that we could
12:04
understand of how we can help control that personally?
12:09
I mean, as simple as doing some deep breathing.
12:14
Really truly like that that is the most simple
12:17
thing is just come back to the breath Take ten
12:20
deep breaths take some time You know, I I use
12:23
insight timer if anyone is familiar with that
12:26
and depending upon how much time that I have
12:29
You know if I if I feel my nervous system starting
12:31
to ramp up if I have time in between meetings
12:34
I go and find a quiet space and I'll put it on
12:37
for five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes. I generally
12:40
don't have time for more than 15 minutes, but
12:43
I do recognize that if I just take that time
12:46
and space to myself, close my eyes, get internal
12:50
and really just, you know, saying whatever I
12:53
need to say to myself of, you know, sometimes
12:56
I can be very authentic here. Right. But sometimes
13:00
it's just a matter of like. connecting with our
13:02
inner child because that's usually who's screaming
13:05
in the background and our thought process is
13:08
so crazy. that were like, I need to do this and
13:11
I got to take care of this. And these emails
13:12
need to be answered. And so and so wants this
13:14
from me. But actually just slowing down and being
13:17
in our bodies, I really, really, really believe
13:21
in the power of embodiment practices. And I really
13:24
believe that this is a secret key for all of
13:28
society as we move forward is to learn how to
13:31
calm ourselves down. and to actually speak to
13:34
that inner child. I feel a little bit funny saying
13:37
this on this business podcast, but really just
13:40
touching base, connecting with your heart, putting
13:43
a hand on your heart, putting a hand on your
13:45
gut, your abdomen, and just connecting with that
13:48
little one and being like, look, I love you.
13:51
I got you. I got you. Like, there is no challenge
13:55
greater, you know, there's no challenge that
13:57
we can't get through. And I, I will care for
14:00
you. I got you. I'll take care of you. And, you
14:03
know, whatever these emails are, whatever the
14:06
boss is screaming about, whatever's going on,
14:08
it's okay. It's okay. And I, I'm in control here.
14:13
I've got this, I'm going to take care of this.
14:16
And, you know, one of my mentors, very early
14:19
on in my career, and I love this, she said to
14:22
me, You know what, Sonya? If you don't answer
14:25
all your emails today, no small children will
14:28
die as a result of it. It's like, oh, right,
14:32
right. And we have that lizard brain back there
14:36
that thinks like, oh my God, this guy is falling.
14:39
If I don't take care of this, the tiger is going
14:42
to jump on me and eat me. That's not true. It's
14:45
not true. It's not true. Need a little perspective
14:48
at time because you're right, most of us are
14:49
not dealing and sometimes that mission critical
14:52
that it's not going to be there tomorrow or anything
14:54
detrimental is going to happen to anybody else.
14:56
So I think that's so important. And I love the
14:58
breathing aspect, right? I think that's something
15:00
that we don't take time to do. And I go to yoga
15:04
and a lot of times in the beginning, they have
15:05
like a mindfulness part where you have to sit
15:08
there in silence and breathe and try to not think
15:11
about anything. I think about everything, but
15:13
it's hard. because we're constantly going and
15:17
we're constantly overloaded. So to have to sit
15:19
there and just breathe and listen to your breath
15:22
and try to keep your mind clear, I don't know.
15:25
I don't know if it's getting any easier, but
15:27
at least I feel like I'm thinking less stuff,
15:28
but it's a good reset. And to do that any time
15:32
during the day when you feel like you're a little
15:34
going crazy, I think that's just a good thing
15:37
to focus on. And that's, I said, I joked about
15:40
the layman terms. Well, yes, we can all do that.
15:43
We can all sit there. We can all take deep breaths.
15:46
I love that. That's very interesting. We can
15:48
actually do it together, which I would love to
15:51
add this here is that, you know, oftentimes we
15:53
think that self -care needs to be done alone
15:57
in silence. But we can all care for ourselves
16:00
and we can do it collectively. And I will tell
16:03
you that this is a practice that I've incorporated
16:05
in the work that I do with teams. And when we're
16:08
going through strategic planning sessions and
16:10
talking about big change and all these things,
16:12
I can feel it in the room. I can feel everybody
16:15
starting to ramp up. And so sometimes I'll just
16:18
say, hey, it's time for a break. Everybody go
16:20
get a drink of water, get a snack. you know,
16:23
if you need to make a phone call, like do what
16:25
you got to do, but be back in 10 minutes or however
16:27
long, you know, 10, 20 minutes, however long
16:29
we have time for. And then when we come back,
16:31
I will actually start the meeting with some breathing
16:34
exercises and help everybody just calm down and
16:38
be at the same level with each other, um, as
16:42
much as possible. Right. And you better believe
16:45
that that creates such a different dynamic in
16:48
the room. And if you can get everybody to calm
16:51
down, and just like, you know, bring it back
16:54
down, get everybody on the same base level together.
16:57
People will think more clearly. They will listen
17:01
to each other more effectively and and be less
17:04
likely to jump all over each other and be like,
17:07
yeah, but blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And so
17:09
and it's funny, you know, some of these these
17:12
large scale projects that I've run when it all
17:15
comes down to the end and I say, hey, you know,
17:17
asking for feedback, asking for areas of improvement.
17:21
consistently, I always hear, oh my God, I loved
17:25
it when you made us breathe together. And it's
17:28
like, it's that simple. It is that simple. So
17:31
I offer that to anybody who's listening and it
17:35
doesn't matter if you are the decision maker,
17:38
the one in charge. If you're in a meeting and
17:41
you see it ramping up, is that something that
17:44
you might feel comfortable requesting for everyone?
17:47
You know, and if you're a project manager or
17:49
product manager or whatever, could you actually,
17:51
if you're leading a meeting, could you start
17:53
it that way? Just say, Hey, Hey, you know what?
17:55
I'd like to try something new and different today.
17:58
Let's all take 10 deep breaths together. And
18:00
it might seem scary, but I bet you that you'll
18:03
get feedback. People will come to you and they'll
18:04
say, wow, that was really cool. I love that you
18:07
did that. Oh, and you know what? That's probably
18:09
one of those things. Maybe the first time people
18:11
are like, what's going on? Then they'll realize
18:14
how great it is. And it's funny, I think about
18:16
how I yelled. It's not really, but on a volleyball,
18:20
right? And they're all intense and they're all,
18:22
and you're like, just take a deep breath. Like
18:24
just, you know, so it's funny that you do think
18:26
about that, especially in sports situations,
18:28
but like, let's think about it from a professional
18:30
situation. That's great. Is there anything else
18:33
from a mindset tip or trick of how to deal with
18:37
change when you're on the receiving end, whether
18:38
you're the leader or you're just an employee?
18:41
What else do you suggest when you have to deal
18:43
with change? Well, I think that You know, leading
18:46
through change is really about courage because
18:50
it is scary. No one wants to change. We all resist
18:54
change, no matter how big or how small that it
18:56
is. And especially in organizational life, when
18:58
there's large change happening, everyone's scared.
19:02
They're terrified that they're going to lose
19:03
their job and they don't know what's coming.
19:06
They don't know where they're being led to, what's
19:09
going to happen next. And so I think, you know,
19:12
it really is about courage. It's not about, I
19:17
mean, it is about checklists and making sure
19:19
that we're getting things moving forward, but
19:22
that's the management of change. Managing change
19:25
is about checklists and project tasks and all
19:29
of the different things that need to be accomplished
19:32
and checked off to get us to the end product.
19:38
But leading through change is really about having
19:41
the courage. to be a leader and to have the presence
19:45
and be someone who people want to follow. And
19:49
sometimes that means being authentic and maybe
19:51
that means speaking up to say, you know, this
19:54
is a big change and I'm kind of scared of it
19:57
too. But here's how we're going to get through
19:59
it together. You used two of my favorite words
20:02
is courage and being authentic. And I think that's
20:05
so important from a leadership perspective. So
20:07
I love that you've mentioned that actually more
20:08
than once because it is, it's important. And
20:10
that's what builds great leaders and that trust
20:12
with your team. So let's switch gears a little
20:15
bit because you like to talk about career mapping.
20:18
So tell us what that is and why it's important.
20:22
Oh, yeah. One of my favorite topics here. So
20:26
I love the concept of having a career roadmap,
20:30
right? So when we work inside of organizations,
20:33
we have product roadmaps. We have, you know,
20:36
big plans that we work from, that we step back
20:40
and do market research and take time to evaluate,
20:43
like, what's next? Where should we be investing
20:45
our time, energy, resources, et cetera? However,
20:48
what I found over many years of working with
20:50
professionals is that very few people actually
20:53
take the time to step back and consciously think
20:57
through the plan of what's next for them. And
21:00
so I highly encourage people to do that. Like,
21:03
take that time, do the strategic planning for
21:05
your own career and treat your treat your career
21:09
as if it was a project. Right. So step back.
21:14
Think about what have you done? What do you enjoy
21:16
doing? What gives you the most meaning and fulfillment
21:19
in your career? And what skill set do you want
21:22
to carry forward? And then how can you apply
21:25
that and leverage those skills to move into something
21:29
else? And that could mean that could just mean
21:32
getting promoted and going to a higher level,
21:35
a higher title. Maybe it means becoming a domain
21:38
expert and kind of niching down and. becoming
21:42
an expert in a specific technology or a certain
21:45
industry, but really thinking through. Where
21:49
are you right now? Where do you want to go? How
21:52
many more years do you have left before quote
21:55
unquote retirement? And maybe what might you
21:58
want your life to look like even after you retire,
22:01
right? Because I find so many people say, oh,
22:04
I don't know if I'll ever retire, but I'll probably
22:07
shift into doing something else. So what is that
22:10
something else and what can you be doing to prepare
22:13
right now? Not just for your next steps throughout
22:17
your, you know, official working career, but
22:20
then what else might you want to do in the future?
22:22
And inevitably I always talk to people who say,
22:25
you know, I think at some point in time, I'd
22:27
really love to be on a board or I'd like to get
22:30
into teaching or I'd like to open my own consulting
22:33
practice or become a coach. Well, you know, unfortunately
22:36
those things do not happen overnight. And so
22:40
it's really good to be thinking about, okay,
22:42
well, Where do I want to go? What compensation
22:45
is possible? How does that help me get to my
22:49
end goal of my financial goals and actually setting
22:52
me up for a long term future? And then also what
22:55
else might I want to do after that? And what
22:58
can I be doing right now to One, build the skill
23:01
set to help me be eligible for whatever might
23:04
come next and next and next and next. And actually
23:07
thinking about it as a long -term trajectory
23:10
and how does everything feed into the next thing.
23:14
And so developing the right skill set, but also
23:17
developing the right network. And I think that
23:20
that's something that a lot of people just don't
23:23
really think about. And so... knowing where you
23:27
want to get to eventually and who can help you
23:30
along the way and making sure that you are nurturing
23:34
those relationships and building new ones. Like
23:37
if you don't already have the right people in
23:38
place, who do you need to have in your network
23:40
who can help open up doors for you and help you
23:44
have, you know, that longevity and long -term
23:46
success to carry you through? Yeah, that is so
23:49
true. I can't agree anymore with the whole network
23:52
and your circle and just who you know because
23:54
that's let's be honest how people get jobs and
23:57
that comes up a lot of you know who's in your
23:58
circle because that's how someone's gonna recommend
24:01
you or say I know this is available and them
24:03
knowing that you're interested in that so I think
24:05
that's huge and I think the interesting when
24:07
you go back to now that I'm 20 ish some years
24:10
in my career your goals sort of change along
24:13
the way right like what my goals were for my
24:15
career when I was 22 versus 32 42 it changes
24:20
and I don't know if I ever was looking ahead
24:23
And I think a lot of times we get stuck on titles
24:26
and it's not about just titles, right? Like it's
24:28
about what makes you happy. But, you know, how
24:31
do you get someone to focus on? Because I think
24:33
of that, you know, people through the years,
24:35
especially women who are like, well, I want to
24:36
be a director and be a vice president. I want
24:38
to be a CEO. OK, that's great. But why? But like
24:41
what's going to get you there? So how do you
24:44
kind of balance that like not getting so hung
24:45
up on titles, but more about the path and those
24:49
other short term or long term goals that you're
24:51
trying to achieve? it's important not to get
24:53
hung up on titles and that that does give us
24:57
a guidepost to to go towards right and so if
25:00
you do want to go after more senior level leadership
25:03
roles what i have found is that those who are
25:07
already performing at that level are generally
25:09
the ones who get the promotion so you know if
25:13
you do want a director vp c -suite type of role
25:16
you need to get really clear on What is the skill
25:20
set that's getting exercised at that level? And
25:22
how does that differ from what you're doing right
25:24
now? And it really does require a very different
25:28
mindset because the higher up the ranks that
25:30
you go, the more strategic that you have to be.
25:33
And the more that you need to learn how to not
25:37
only solve problems, but identify the problems
25:40
to begin with. And sometimes that means, you
25:43
know, just sometimes that means knowing how to
25:46
analyze data. or how to do market research and
25:49
how do you know what's coming next and what do
25:54
you need to do to learn how to chart a new course
25:58
because that's what happens at that senior level
26:00
leadership role is that they are very strategic
26:03
and they're thinking of what comes next, what
26:06
comes next and they're usually several steps
26:08
ahead of where. where their team is in the implementation
26:13
of things. And so when people first get into
26:15
management, first, it's learning the people management
26:19
skills and knowing how to move from a technical
26:23
person, from the one doing, from the one being
26:26
a doer to becoming a people manager. But then
26:29
the more and more and more that you rise in the
26:31
ranks, it's more so about, OK, well, what's coming
26:34
next? And how can I be far ahead of the curve
26:36
so that we can help? you know, leaders of leaders
26:40
and leaders and leaders and leaders, that trickle
26:42
-down effect, how do we help that implementation
26:45
plan, you know, get built in throughout the entire
26:49
organization? No, that's so important. And because
26:52
to your point, you can be really good at, it
26:55
can be very technical. So maybe you're a really
26:57
good salesperson, right? And your numbers are,
26:59
you're killing it. So what happens, you're not
27:01
promoted. That person may not be good with dealing
27:05
with or managing people. So it's a whole different
27:08
skill set. And then to your point, the strategy
27:12
comes as you continue to climb. So if that's
27:15
your path that you want to take, it's building
27:17
those skills as long as you're going along the
27:20
path. Because I think we probably all can think
27:22
of somebody who's been promoted because of their
27:25
skill and that wasn't because they were going
27:27
to be a good manager or leader. And that's tough.
27:29
So that doesn't mean for everybody. A lot of
27:31
times people can grow and learn, but it's kind
27:33
of identifying that early. So you can have that
27:35
right. path. And one other thing that I will
27:38
add that's also very important if I may add this
27:41
is that it's not just about developing the skill
27:45
set but it's making sure that you're producing
27:47
results and that the right people know about
27:51
your results because and that is your job as
27:54
a professional is to make sure that you're getting
27:56
exposure for your results and that you know who
28:00
are the key people inside the organization that
28:03
can make the decisions to help promote you and
28:06
give you new opportunities? And do those people
28:09
know who you are? Do they know what you're capable
28:12
of? And are you and do you have a good relationship
28:15
with them? Where when a new opportunity arises,
28:18
you're the first person that comes to mind that
28:20
says, Oh, you know who should lead this? Is this
28:24
person? Right? Oh, my gosh, I just want to be
28:26
upfront to everybody. I did not pay you to say
28:28
that. That is one of my favorite things to talk
28:30
about. It comes up and almost every episode,
28:35
but it's pie and how your performance is table
28:37
stakes. It's a foundation. You need to be good
28:39
at what you do. But then it's your image, how
28:41
people describe you, your brand, and then exposure.
28:45
If nobody knows what you're doing, then it doesn't
28:47
matter. So I love that that keeps coming up over
28:51
and over again on these episodes, because I think
28:53
that just reinforces how important that is. So
28:55
I did not pay you to say that. Thank you for...
28:58
You're welcome. Well, I mean, I'm glad. I'm glad
29:01
that you reiterate that because it is so important.
29:04
It's it's crucial. It's crucial. And I think
29:07
most people are so buried in the weeds of what
29:09
they're doing on a day to day basis that they
29:11
forget to stop, put their head up, look around
29:14
and say, OK, what else is going on and and who
29:17
do I need to be connecting with and who needs
29:19
to know about what I'm doing? And that that networking
29:21
piece has been proven time and time again that
29:24
that is one of the biggest reasons why people
29:27
accelerate success in their career. No, it makes
29:30
sense. So this has been amazing. Do you have
29:32
any other parting advice for us, whether it's
29:35
from the career mapping or from dealing with
29:37
change? I mean, I would say that, you know, change
29:41
is inevitable. No matter what kind of change
29:44
that we're talking about, whether that's organizational
29:47
change, career change, family change, community
29:52
change, politic change, like everything, you
29:54
know, change is inevitable. It's happening around
29:57
us. all the time. However, you know, suffering
30:01
is optional. And it really truly is our mindset
30:06
and what we bring to it. And I speak firsthand
30:09
from experience here that, you know, sometimes
30:13
it's easy to kind of get into maybe more of a
30:16
victim mentality of saying like, Oh, my God,
30:19
why is this happening? The sky is falling. There's
30:21
too much. I just can't handle it. But how can
30:25
you rise above that in yourself and move from
30:30
victim to more of a visionary stance of, okay,
30:35
you know what, this change is happening. However,
30:38
what is within my control? What is within my
30:41
influence? What can I do? Who can I talk to?
30:44
Where do I want to go? And what will help support
30:48
me in doing that? And just thinking through all
30:51
the layers of systems is like, first, it starts
30:54
internal, right? So all the things that we talked
30:56
about before is that like, if you do feel challenged
30:59
by the changes that are happening, what can you
31:01
do to care for yourself so that it's not as scary
31:04
as it actually seems? Because it's not that scary.
31:08
We're all moving through this day by day, moment
31:11
to moment, and we're getting through it, and
31:13
we will always get through it. But how can you
31:16
rise above that to be more strategic and more
31:20
conscious of what's happening around you in a
31:24
way that you can take action that truly matters
31:27
and that will set you up for the long -term success
31:30
that you desire? I love that. That was such great
31:34
parting words. Tanya, thank you so much for being
31:36
here. If people want to connect with you or find
31:38
out more about what you work on, where can they
31:40
find you? Oh, thank you, Betsy. Please come to
31:44
my website, infiniteleaders .co. That's infiniteleaders
31:48
.co. Come check me out. I'm also on LinkedIn
31:52
under Sonya Price, S -O -N -J -A. And launching
31:54
a new podcast soon. I am. Yes, yes, yes. I'm
31:58
launching the Infinite Leaders podcast, so please
32:01
come check that out as well. Awesome. And we'll
32:03
link everything from the Loud and Lifted podcast
32:05
too, so make sure you get them in the right spot.
32:07
Thank you so much for being here. Thank you.
32:10
Thank you. This is really fun. Quick recap. Translate
32:12
your toolkit. Pair passion with market reality.
32:15
Regulate your nervous system and make your wins
32:18
visible. If this lifted with you, share it with
32:21
the women you're rooting for and hit follow.
32:23
Change is inevitable. Just keep surfing the wave.
32:26
For more tools, tips and tricks, follow us on
32:28
Instagram. Until next time, stay loud and stay
32:31
lifted.