by Heather Plett | Mar 11, 2009 | fearless, Leadership
(This is part of my “fearless” journey. Earlier posts can be found here, here, here, here, and here.)
I’ve been thinking a lot about leadership lately. I had a great (though way too short) conversation with my friend Susan yesterday about what it takes to be an authentic leader. Susan was my boss several years ago and has been my friend ever since. (She told me that the day I walked in for the interview, she knew almost instantly that we would be kindred spirits and that she HAD to hire me.) Now we’re both bosses (in different organizations) and struggling with many of the same issues.
Susan and I have had similar experiences recently where we discovered that sometimes, to be good leaders, we have to take a big risk and allow ourselves to be vulnerable and exposed. Vulnerability is not normally associated with strong leadership. In fact, when we become leaders, we assume that our role is and will always be to be the strong one in the group. After all, a leader shouldn’t let weakness show, should they?
But sometimes, our greatest break-through comes the moment we admit to our team “I don’t have this all figured out” and then ask “can you help me?” After a long and often difficult road with my team in the last few years, that’s what eventually worked for me back in January. I had to be willing to say “look – this isn’t working and I feel like I have failed because I’ve tried everything and I no longer have any idea how to make it work” before they softened their stances and finally contributed meaningful ideas to an otherwise rather stagnant circle. It was a risk (because admitting my weakness opened the door for them to point out even more weaknesses), but it was worth it in the end.
It’s kind of counter-intuitive, but there’s wisdom to it, and I have to keep learning and re-learning it. Admitting weakness can be the most effective way to open the door to strength. (Rather biblical, isn’t it?)
by Heather Plett | Mar 9, 2009 | Uncategorized
I took a sick day today. I think my body is just plain worn out. At first I was just going to sleep a little longer than usual and then go in to work late, but I rolled over in bed (after calling the office) and the next thing I knew, I woke up and it was after 10:00. I don’t know when I’ve ever slept that late, but clearly I needed it. I’m awake now, but still feeling pretty groggy and worn out and a little achey, so I’ll just spend the day in rest mode.
There are some fun and exciting things happening these days, and maybe it’s taking a toll on my energy level. Today in the Winnipeg Free Press, I was named as a “Manitoba Mover” because of my award. Really? Me? A mover and a shaker? Wow! I’m certainly not feeling much like a “mover” today! And on every other day? Well, mostly I just feel like I’m doing my job the way I’m supposed to be doing it and not a whole lot differently from the way other people in similar positions are doing their jobs. I’m trying to write my speech for the gala luncheon (they want me to talk about some of the unique and successful ways I’ve communicated), and I’m having trouble figuring out what I do that might be noteworthy.
I’m also preparing to speak at this conference in Toronto in June. I’ve done lots of speaking engagements in the past, but this is the first time I’ll be flown in to be a conference speaker at a North America-wide conference. It feels like I’m “kickin’ it up a notch” so to speak.
I’m on a little high of excitement over all of this. Unlike many people who say they fear death less than speaking in public, I actually really, really enjoy public speaking and I’ve been wanting to do more of it. It gives me really great energy and confidence – at least when I feel like I have something worth sharing. I especially love it when people come up afterward to engage me in conversation because something I said really stuck with them and they just felt the need to explore it more with me.
When I started this year out with “fearlessness” as my theme (which, I realize, should probably be “courage” rather than fearlessness, since it’s more about moving through the fear than abolishing it altogether), I tried to be honest with myself about what things I wanted to do more of if I had the courage to ask for the opportunities. Public speaking was one of those things. I admitted it to myself (and to god), and then the opportunities started to show up without me having to look for them.
But there’s a down side to all of this, of course. It’s the expectations and new “standard of excellence” I’m setting up for myself. How do you top “communicator of the year”? Do I now have to become “communicator of the decade” to feel like I’ve arrived?
When I sent out the press release about my award, one of the board members said, jokingly, that they’d be expecting even more from me now… and that’s what I’m afraid of. What does “more” look like? And what if everything I try this year is a miserable failure? What will people think of me then?
For now, though, I’ll try not to worry about all that and instead, bask in the glow of the moment. For starters, I’m going to have a hot bath and listen to some good music…
by Heather Plett | Mar 6, 2009 | Uncategorized
A few random things that aren’t quite as self-centred as the last few posts have been…
1. I have become a little obsessed with desire to see this film. I was already fascinated with it months ago when I first heard about it, but now have become even more so after hosting a strong and passionate Liberian woman in my home. It costs about $300 to host a community showing of the film. This morning it occurred to me that I could probably rally enough interested women to make it worthwhile ordering a copy and planning an event. Anyone interested in joining me?
2. I want to believe in “innocent until proven guilty”, but if he is indeed guilty, I sincerely hope Rihanna has the sense and strength to walk away from Chris Brown. I don’t normally care much about the “lifestyles of the rich and famous”, but my impressionable daughters care a little too much, and they need to know that it is NOT OKAY for a man to beat a woman and then for a woman to walk back into the situation (unless he gets some good help and is truly reformed).
3. Every fibre of my being is longing for Spring! It is not healthy for me right now to be visiting blogs of people who live in places where grass is starting to grow and buds are bursting out all over. If you post pictures like that, I may have to ignore you for a month or so until it happens here.
by Heather Plett | Mar 5, 2009 | Uncategorized
I’ve sent out alot of press releases in my career, but this is the first time there’s one about me!
by Heather Plett | Mar 3, 2009 | Uncategorized
I’m not very good at dressing myself. Oh I’m fairly competent at pulling on pants and doing up my bra strap, but when it comes to picking clothes that actually look good on me and make me feel like a well-dressed, confident woman, I fall a little short in the skills department. I know what I like, but what I like and what looks good on my lumpy body are usually two different things. (Ah yes – if your psychoanalysis skills are intact, you’ve zeroed in on the problem – I’m not too fond of my overly-accentuated curves or my hang-to-the-waistline never-wear-button-up-tops boobs. So I avoid stores that remind me of that particular inadequacy. Sigh.)
I tend to dress for the lowest common denominator. 1.) Is it cheap? 2.) Does it fit? 3.) Is it a little less likely to make me look like a lumpy elephant or Dolly Parton’s saggy, less surgically modified twin than the other stuff on the rack? Lately, since we’ve been living with one income for most of the last 6 years (and kids grow out of clothes way too fast), number 1 criteria has trumped the others – it’s gotta be cheap. Approximately 75% of my clothes have come from second-hand stores, a fact that mortifies my fashion-conscious teenage daughter. (But it’s not all bad – I have lots of scarves collected from the various countries I’ve visited, so I almost always throw on a splash of colour to draw the eye away from the worn-out not-very-trendy threads underneath.)
Now I find myself in a dilemma. As you might have guessed, this “communicator of the year” thing is kind of a big deal for me – a career milestone, you might say. They’re going to present me with the award at a schwanky “gala luncheon” in a fancy hotel ballroom. This is the kind of place that will be filled with confident, accomplished business people, mostly dressed in power suits and shiny shoes. I don’t think many of them will show up in the shoes they just bought for $5.99 at Value Village (they’re great shoes, by the way!), or the blazer that has the sleeves rolled up to cover the hole in the cuff.
Since this kind of thing doesn’t happen every day, and I want to make the most of my “moment in the sun”, I want to treat myself to some new threads that make me feel good and look at least a little like what you’d expect the “communicator of the year” to look like. No, I don’t want to dress like them (I’m not a power suit and high heels kinda gal), I just want something that suits me and makes me look smart and feel confident (though still unique and a little bit funky).
So…. HELP! I need a personal shopper! I am SO not good at buying clothes for myself! I don’t even know where to begin. Usually I just rush into a store when I need something, grab whatever fits my lowest-common-denominator criteria, and rush out again (or stop for cheesecake if I find nothing and the shopping experience made me miserable – go ahead and psychoanalyze!) I wandered around at lunch time yesterday, and the racks of clothes just sort of overwhelmed me. I don’t know what colours look good on me (with the exception of turquoise – EVERYBODY always tells me I look good in turquoise), I don’t know what’s a good style for my body type, I don’t know where to shop, and I don’t know how to match tops with bottoms.
Anybody have any advice? Or a free Saturday afternoon to drag me to a store and pick something out for me?
