Who Are Your Key Supporters on Your Career Journey

The first place to look is like, who's on my board of directors? Right? Do I have mentors? Do I have advisors, friends? It might be your boss, like if you're in a good situation. Who are the people that have a seat at my table that I can go to with this and talk through what I'm experiencing and some of the things that I'm thinking about? And the thing that we tend to forget is we're not the first ones to walk this path. Most people that have a successful career have had some twists and turns, have had some times that were less motivating to them than others. And if you're sort of clear on what's going on, or even that clear on what you need from them, it might be a situation of, I'd really like to just process this with you so I can try and figure out what's going on. Great. Or I'm thinking that there's one or two things that I'd like to solve for. Can you help me do some problem solving? Think a bit about what you need at that time. Think about who it is on your board of directors that can best— and get active about it. It's very unlikely that the problem that exists in the world can be solved in your head. You gotta engage.

I love that. And I even want you to drill into, because this could be the first time those listening and viewing this is hearing about a board of directors. What do you mean by that? I don't own my own company. Yeah. So what do you do with your clients as around formulating that board of directors?

Yeah, I love that. It's— I mean, you deserve this. There are different stakeholders in your life that are engaged that want to help you, but it's in different ways. Like, you may have a fantastic boss that is committed to your development and will do a lot of things to provide you the resources you need and whatever. It doesn't mean that's the person that you want to talk to about your innermost thoughts. You think about who else is in your world that can provide that sort of advice. It might be somebody you went to grad school with. It might be a colleague that you used to work with or you currently work with that you have that trusted relationship with. So think about what it is you need, and then you think, who are the stakeholders in your— provide that? And having advocacy is really important too. That's really different than mentorship or whatever. Your advocates are the people that will go to bat for you, people that will take action on your behalf. And you don't necessarily go to those people when you're not sure you like what you're doing anymore. So you just have to be a little strategic even about that. What is it that you need and who in your world can help provide that?

And what are your cautions around who they select?

Hmm, great question. Well, I have, I have always kept the list close. So I've had what I call my holy smokes list, and I really don't call it quite that, but I don't like to swear on podcasts. So my holy smokes list is a very small group of people that when I feel like holy smokes, I don't know what I'm doing, These are the people that I can call and be vulnerable with. You want to keep that list close. You want— those are the people that you really trust. And then beyond that group might be people that you don't necessarily open the kimono entirely to. You may share with them what you're thinking from a business perspective and ask their business advice. Like, they're hugely valuable in that space. That doesn't mean they're entitled to your innermost thoughts. Right. So you just have to be selective with who it is that you need in your world. And I would say too, Bernadette, one thing is we tend to hold ourselves back thinking that we can't ask people for help, we can't ask for advice. Most people are really happy to help other people. It feels good. You want to do it. It comes back to you. Corporate karma and all that stuff. So don't hesitate to ask. People have agency. They can say yes or no.

Right.

But don't hold your— don't make the decision for them that they're not willing to help you. Let them decide for themselves.

And if you're not asking, it may come down to confidence and feelings of deserving and self-worth. And those are things that you can help them with, correct?

Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, we, yeah, we get in our own way.