Diversity Woman Magazine

FALL 2015

Leadership and Executive Development for women of all races, cultures and backgrounds

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22 D I V E R S I T Y W O M A N Fa l l 2 0 1 5 d i v e r s i t y w o m a n . c o m We Mean Business > We Mean Business DW: A lot of minority women, in particu- lar, struggle with bringing their authen- tic selves into the workplace. How do women get past their fears of letting their diversity show? TP: It takes confdence, courage, and mastery of your craft to be able to do it efectively. It also takes building rela- tionships. When you have earned trust through your relationships and through consistent, demonstrated stellar perfor- mance, you have also earned grace. So the faws that I have, that I used to be so fearful of anyone seeing, I now embrace and they are a part of my package. I don't run from the fact that I may talk too fast while presenting or I may have worn a red suit in a sea full of blue and black suits. I will be granted grace on those things be- cause of the value-added contribution I make in other areas. DW: How important are relationships to succeeding in the workplace? TP: Relationships are staples to any suc- cessful career, in any capacity. Without them, you can't grow. You will be stag- nant. Your advancement depends on it. Many times, relationship currency will outweigh performance currency, so it would be wise to invest in building and maintaining strong relationships. DW: What advice would you give women for building healthy, rewarding profes- sional relationships? TP: Be vulnerable. It requires give-and- take. Tat is not always easy. We need to have a strategy, and that strategy should include an intentional daily action item to build and maintain relationships. Make a phone call, invite someone for cofee, listen to what people tell you in- terests them and ask one question about it. Ask people about their weekend. Ask about their kids or their vacation. Te key is consistency. You don't have to have an extensive dialogue with someone every day in order to connect with them. But you do have to be consistent with your intentional touch points in reaching out to them. DW: How important is it to be authentic when building professional relation- ships? TP: Anyone can tell when you don't have an authentic interest in somebody, and it's just for your own gain and beneft. I think you have to be selective and inten- tional. You don't have to know everybody, but you do need to fgure out whom you need to know to help you get to where you want to go, and what you can ofer them. It's a two-way street. DW: What led you to create AAWLN? TP: Troughout my career, I have many times been the only African American fe- male executive in my circle day-to-day at work. I would look for mentors and spon- sors who look like me, and there weren't many. I learned a lot of lessons through trial and error and stumbling my way through, versus having a guiding hand on my shoulder to help me navigate through new experiences. Having the perspective of other women of color with like expe- riences would have certainly helped me. Since I struggled to fnd it in my day-to- day, I decided to create it for myself and others. AAWLN gives African American women a safe place to cultivate their pro- fessional development, and it provides a level of support that is missing in a lot of organizations. DW: How do you inspire your team? TP: By being the example of what the bar should be. I don't ask anything of them that I am not willing to do myself. At the core, the inspiration comes from the trust and belief in who is leading. You have to connect with something in people for them to want to follow you. I think my team connects to my authen- ticity, and they know my authenticity from seeing me demonstrate it in my in- teractions with them. DW: What advice would you give wom- en who want to ascend in their careers? TP: Tey should work on being as self- aware as possible, identify their skill gaps, develop a plan to address those gaps, and then work the plan to create the habits that will ultimately assist them in reaching their goals. Tey should iden- tify their own personal "board of direc- tors" to help with this—mentors, trusted advisers, colleagues, friends, people who will tell the truth and who have a vested interest in seeing them succeed. DW: How important is it to stay true to your own path? TP: All of our journeys are diferent, as they should be. I believe our lessons are customized along the way so no one will ever take the exact same path as someone else. We each have our own yellow brick road. Finding that frst brick on the road is the toughest step. After that, things start to fall into place. Trust the process. Trust the journey. Don't give up. Te jour- ney won't be perfect; however, it doesn't have to be perfect to be useful. DW Tamara E. Holmes is a Washington, DC– based journalist who writes about diversity and careers.

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