Leadership Bio

I have been leading without authority as long as I have been able to. I think one of my earliest memories is leading my parents to the conclusion I should be allowed to spend many hours on the internet (back when it was dial up and Netscape Navigator was the primary web browser) Shhhh zzzzz buzzzz shhhh "You've Got Mail" (if you know, you know, feel free to ask me if you don't).

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Fast forward a few years, like 25+ years, I have gained incredible experience and learned (continue to learn) a lot from incredible and not so incredible leaders before me (as well as from myself). From a management perspective, it is very similar that I have learned what a good manager does and does not look like. I don't always get it right, but I always give my best and I am constantly reflecting so I can continue to improve my best.

Here are some of my leadership & management strengths, a little bit of how it that strength came to be on this list and what I believe it fuels/enables.

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• Being calm & effective in stressful/scary situations

  • This roots back to my childhood and applies to me in and out of work. From a professional standpoint I believe this strength was born out of teaching skiing (I taught for 8 seasons).

  • Later it would be refined as I was the first responder and communicator for many IT "fires". I would be the face/voice of the situation. This would allow those more technical than me to work the situation and those impacted to understand and feel cared for. One of my favorite duties was being the "IT advocate" at a law firm. This was probably one of the places I best sharpened my ability to clearly articulate what, why and what's next to senior leadership, and vice versa, to technical experts. 

  • In the heart of my technical career, I would be both the fixer and the communicator, furthering this strength. Side note, I worked for several small companies and wearing multiple hats was commonplace.  ​​

  • It is pretty common for me share a lighthearted joke to help lessen the stress. Kind laughter [for me] is key to thriving in stressful situations. 
     

• Shifting my lens from mine to yours and helping craft a new "our" lens

  • This roots in my natural ability to be empathetic and my love of being on a team, i'm a "we" person!

  • I believe in starting a situation from where other people are at. At times this can be exhausting, and I have to check my energy levels. That said, when I am good working order this strength is a critical success factor when building a community. 

  • Over the years I have worked (and continue to work) on understanding this innate ability. As a leader and/or manager this strength is powerful when bringing together different people and helping us become a high performing team. 

  • This strength also enables me to see potential in almost all scenarios and paired with other traits I am able to quickly triangulate and see connection points. 
     

• Being an influencer without authority

  • Much of my leadership experience has come without having the authority to dictate, and I believe that is where this strength has and continues to be built. Professionally speaking I think strength was born was when I was traveling around the country doing software installs in medical settings and troubleshooting common connectivity issues. I quickly taught myself to be confident, kind, and making people feel seen and heard while at the same time navigating them towards a way of working that got us to the desired result. Side note, my style of IT support was/is a human centric, often helping them work a different way was the best fix. 

  • I also hold my integrity in extremely high regard, and I believe this also fuels this strength. End of the day, as long as I am walking my why and also giving my best self, creating a solution that is good for all is natural for me. Being a trusted partner means a lot to me and it should to you too. 
     

• Visible Vulnerability

  • I grew up with a lot of uncomfortable experiences, and I joke (and believe) that my anxiety enables me to be naturally vulnerable. I have diagnosed generalized anxiety disorder, I am dyslexic, I have ADHD and I live physical pain every single day. While I am out but not open about these things, I do know they are in-part great contributors to my superpowers. 

  • I believe in intentionally sharing my stories with the intent of creating a safe place (aka, psychological safety). I have had this modeled (and I have had the opposite as well).

  • It is important to check myself (and make sure I am sharing for the right reasons) and when I do it creates this place where people can show up, and when people show up, creativity, innovation and amazing next outcomes result.
     

• Failing/Falling Forward ​

  • It is common to hear me talk about my failures, or as I recently heard and like, my falls. In fact, that is the word I use now, falls. 

  • Through a lot of hard work (that is forever on-going), I am incredibly good at falling (failing) forward and I strive to embed this into leadership and management style so others can be open about their falls too.

  • This strength enables me to create accountable culture and as long as we are careful to leave blame out, it brews trust and enables us to be more creative, more innovative and collectively go from good to great to incredible!
     

• Crossing the finish line

  • I am not entirely sure how this strength came to be, except that I do not like things partially complete. I have been named the closer in more than one job and one of my top voted superpowers is getting things done [well]. That said, as this relates to my leadership and management strengths, and building on the above, I can and will push, pull, and if needed crawl us over the finish line. 

  • I am not a perfectionist (though at times I role play that I am one) and it was in my masters program where I learned about the importance of sustainable vs. optimal, and that embracing "good enough" is a critical success factor to crossing the finish line. 

  • A solution is not a solution unless it fits the need, and no matter how good a solution is, if it cannot be used because it is not done (enough), it is not a solution. ​