Leadership Ladder

This was a tough one today. In this #3NoMoreThan5 in 5 I wanted to share some reminders that my accountability buddy, Terry, shared with me.

It was something I needed to hear and it was something that I thought would be helpful for you out there if you are finding yourself in a space where, like me you’re not feeling like you’re accomplishing what you should as quickly as you want or in the way that you had hoped.

I was sharing this with Terry, we chat every 2-3 weeks or so, we check in. She is also exploring solo-preneurship. She is building consulting practice and I’ve shared with her my dabbling here in blogging, vlogging, also building my Connective Space workshop and actively marketing that. I was sharing with her how  having been in the corporate world I loved having a team who could help me put stuff together, who had expertise in areas I didn’t and together collectively we could crank stuff out. And I don’t feel like that right now. I get frustrated with myself and disappointed with myself.

And she shared #3NoMoreThan5 things that I wanted to pass on to you because I guess in my brain I knew this to be true and frankly I’ve probably said some of this before, I just needed to be reminded.

The first one was, if you don’t say it out loud it doesn’t exist. I loved that she shared that with me because she asked me what are the things you accomplished this week? Or the 2 weeks since we’ve spoken? I said I don’t feel like I accomplished all that much. I had a call with an old friend of mine who is now a professor. She invited me to do a video interview for her class, so that was kind of fun! I spoke with another connection who was just promoted to Chief Diversity Officer for her law firm, so not only is she handling cases, not only is she a partner, she’s now also handling diversity initiatives for her firm. I’m still trying to put together some blog posts. I’ve had a few phone calls, great networking opportunities, but they’re not really coming into fruition in terms of potential clients.

And she stopped me and said, “Mylene, are you hearing yourself? Don’t discount those actions, those activities, as nothing! Those are things you have accomplished each day. Take a minute to appreciate that. Take a minute to reflect on that. And know that each activity, each step is a step forward.”

It took me a minute to absorb that, to embrace that and go “you know what, it’s okay if it doesn’t happen the way that I am used to having it happen!” It’s okay that I’m not moving as quickly as I want. It’s okay that there are going to be times that I feel less than. As long as I put one foot in front of the other, as long as every day I make an effort (a good faith effort!) to do my best, then I am right where I need to be. But that’s so different for me coming from the corporate world where you have a path, you have a direction that’s put in front of you.

So I wanted to share with you for those of you that might feel stuck, that might feel like you’re not accomplishing when you’d hoped to, take a minute to say it out loud. Saying it out loud makes it real. And by making it real, you can appreciate it, you can acknowledge it, you can build on it.

So, that’s my #3NoMoreThan5 for you today. And I hope that it’s something that’s helpful! Until next time! Cheers!