Don’t ask for permission. When asked what one thing she would advise those who want to lead, Kathleen Vignos, director of engineering at Wired, said stop asking for permission to do things already part of your job duties. And despite more than two decades in managerial positions at The New York Times, Wired, and elsewhere, Hayley Nelson, general manager, media, at NewCo (publisher of this newsletter), said the urge to ask politely for permission runs deep. She still has to self-edit it. Her advice: Plainly state the facts and your recommendations.
There is no wise, seasoned veteran to lift you up and pass on wisdom. “All those wonderful mentors we’ve heard about don’t exist,” said Leah Norris, senior VP of product management at Recurly. “Nobody’s that wonderful. Mentorship is about learning and you have to be open to the idea that every person you meet can help you.” And Sarah Schaaf, head of community at Imgur, said she never found a single person to guide her. “I set up one-on-ones with every other person on the leadership team at Imgur, I meet with my friends who are leaders at their companies, and I crowdsource my mentorship and learn everything I can about everybody,” she said.
Failure is OK. We all get lost sometimes. Sometimes men do a better job of acting like they know the answers, but chances are they’re just as clueless as you are. You may believe you have the worst idea in the room, Schaaf said, but then other people open their mouths and you find out that you don’t. Norris said she learned early on to developthick skin so she could both receive constructive criticism and accept failure. Convert each shortfall into a lesson that teaches you how to do things differently next time.
Ignore the glass ceiling. “I’ve been able to move up so quickly in my career because I don’t see a ceiling. I don’t see challenges. I only see opportunity in front of me,” Norris said. “If I want a promotion, if I want a raise, if I want to take on responsibility, the only thing standing between me and that opportunity is myself. There’s no external influence I can’t overcome. And if you do find an external force, find your way around it.”
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Photo Credit: Khari Johnson
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