Do the “extracurriculars” at work matter? I don’t think they do. But read on to see what I mean and why. When I left Cisco the first time in 2017, I was burned out, fried, and disillusioned. I did it all. Did all the things, all the extras, all the work. And when I started coaching full time in 2017, I saw so many working women, mothers, strivers with talent… who were doing all the things too. They were organizing the team events. They were ensuring birthdays were remembered. They were ensuring people were included. They were throwing the baby showers, planning the happy hours, celebrating the milestones, organizing the conferences… they were the glue. And you know what I learned? None of it matters. Sure, sure… it does matter to the people who need to be seen, who enjoy the time with team, who participate without any effort… It’s a “nice to have” in corporate America that is undervalued as what actually drives company and organizational culture, but under valued all the same. No one wins awards for consistently ensuring give back events are planned. No one gets promoted because they saw the need of bringing the team together and making it happen. A friend has a great perspective on this “work,” she says that “these are the extracurriculars you do in high school to pad your application. But are they an indicator of true success? No.” So… if you’re doing all the extras that are not in your actual job description, ask yourself why you’re doing it. Is it for you, personally because you value those behaviors? Or is it because you’re padding your resume thinking these activities are what will differentiate you against the pack? Spoiler alert from 3500 hours of full time career coaching: They don’t. Know your why, know your worth, and figure out what you’re really being judged by in your role. #corporate #workingparents #extracurriculars #unaskedforwork #aboveandbeyond #paddingtheresume #competitive
Katherine Peters’ Post
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If the person who told me this ever asked me to admit it, I'd never owning up to seeing their perspective 10 years later. They said to me, "Why bother having high expectations of people? You'll always be disappointed." I was shocked, in their office, aghast. "How does that make any sort of leadership sense?" They said, "Low or no expectations, and you'll always be surprised and never disappointed." At the time, I thought that was a terribly bleak and sad way looking at life... now that I'm more weathered and beat down by the tumult of life, I see how preserving and centered the perspective is. Instead of even having those expectations you release them and let people show up and perform as they will. Unfortunately, even though I empathize with the perspective I have a harder time adopting it. Because my expectations of myself, and of others, is often exceedingly high. I expect people to show up and bring their best. And the Coach inside of me says "people will come as they are, accept them in whatever way they arrive, wholly." As a manager, that balance is harder to achieve. The person who shared this nugget of advice 10 years ago was my manager, and they always were surprised when I showed up. As an employee, I hated that. I wanted them to believe that I could be better. The challenge of being a manager isn't in the promotions, focal cycles, cheering people up, or dealing with feedback... it's in the delicate balance of accepting the people you work with as they are, while also helping them see what they could be if they wanted. And then being there with them as they choose to go there. Manager as Coach is what you'd call it. Managers out there, what do you think makes a good "manager as coach?" Everyone else... what do you need your manager to be for you? #management #leadership #expectations #randomthoughts
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Just a cool thing to share today! #nerds
Disney’s most prolific inventor, Lanny Smoot, is behind some of the company’s most-advanced technology, including its iconic lightsabers. (Corrects and updates an earlier post that incorrectly spelled his name as Larry.) 🎥 Watch the full video: https://on.wsj.com/4c5vrBM
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I started my career as an engineer, even before Cisco I was troubleshooting, adapting, and solving technical problems with scrappiness and tenacity. This weekend I was humbled by a troubleshooting miss: Always check the physical layer first. Networking 101 in the OSI (Open Systems Interconnections)- check the physical layer first. Are all your cables plugged in? Are they plugged in all the way? Is there dust or some other barrier impeding the connection? Is your device grounded? Are there barriers in your remotes? We had an AV problem this weekend where out AppleTV OR our receiver would force the volume all the way down or all the way up on its own. I jumped to software, to data sync via hdmi, input on the tv, reboots, full power downs and resets… Before I looked at our appleTV remote and said… hmm. There’s no force disconnect on the remote. I needed a faraday cage or to get it out of range. Into the microwave it went! And guess what- problem resolved itself. I jumped layers in the model and went to application, transport, data… before checking the physical and then to the remote. The skills I honed as an engineer will always apply to my life; whether networking or process or anything on between. You start simple with the most basic of questions to resolve your problem before adding in complexity. Is it on? Is it plugged in? Is it plugged in with the right cable? Humbling lesson this weekend that sometimes we forget the process and waste time… but now my kids can continue watching The Dragon Prince on Netflix ! (Highly recommend btw) Also a gentle reminder to go easy on your tech support teams- they’re trained to start simply and add complexity because they know… that sometimes your monitor is not actually plugged in or you need a usb-c cable and not a usb-a/c adapter cable. #themoreyouknow #engineering #osi #lifelessons #av #workingparent
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Forming- Storming- Norming- Performing: Tuckman’s stages of group development. If your team isn’t gelling or taking the time to walk through these phases, things are going to break. A leader cannot expect their team to jump to high performing without spending adequate time in earlier phases. More on this next week, but I’m curious to know, do you think teams just magically perform? What needs to happen for you to feel like your team is high performing? #highperformance #tuckman #groupformation #teamdynamics
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I had forgotten just how much early in career folx light up my life. Until last week, when I was working in a common area in the Cisco RTP campus, and a random dude asked me if I happened to know where the massage chair was… You cannot help but laugh at the random stuff that rolls through these halls sometimes, or the fact that I had found it just hours earlier(occupied!) Cutting to the chase, our 10 minute side convo turned into a connect this week, and my call with them was the highlight of my day. Questions like how you sustain a long career in corporate, how you network, how to prepare for a layoff even if you’re not laid off, and how to weather boredom in role were some of the topics we covered… And it was life giving. It’s amazing what a little in-office time gives you, and allows you to give back energetically! Because as much as there are financial gains and productivity gains and social gains to being “in office” or hybrid, it really comes down to energy. What you give is what you get served back, and it’s rewarding to see it come back. I’m not sure if we’ll evolve to mentorship or what, but I can tell you I am loving the vibes and energy from these interactions. If you’re not mentoring someone early in career, you’re missing out. If you don’t think youth has its benefits to your career, you’re misguided. Everyone has value regardless of tenure; we get different things from different people across our career, and the concept of reverse-mentorship is critical to leadership development. If we’re not learning as much as we’re teaching/mentoring… Then we’re just pundits and the worst kind of advice givers. #leadership #leadershipdevelopment #corporate #mentorship #reversementorship #hybridwork
