Exclusive Trusted Magazine Q&A with Jass Malaney , Founder & CEO @Elevated Leadership™
How could you describe your career path in few words?
My work journey started at age 19, as an Intern at The World Bank. Soon the division I was in got funding to grow to a satellite office and I was lucky to be in the right place. We grew the team and so I was leading my team at Age 23. My bosses gave me assignments to stretch and grow. These opportunity to work with world renowned Economist helped shape my understanding of Organisational systems, people management. I moved to Singapore 27 years as a trailing spouse and worked as a Management Consultant to help companies in trouble become profitable. In 2002, I started my career as a Professional Coach, which allowed me to use all of my learning and experiences to help elevate and add value to individuals, teams and organisations.
I believe on going education and experiences enrich our lives and help us to make informed choices.
While I was working I continued to take up higher studies abd grow myself. During the Pandemic I completed a Post Grad Course on Innovative Digital Management to stay with the future trends.
My learning journey continues to help me grow.
Based on your experience, what’s the key success factor for a female leader / manager?
Professional women are high-achievers and they have achieved these positions with continuous professional development and by overcoming challenges, yet they continue to experience issues to go to the next level. Are you dealing with overcoming personal insecurities? Are you actually self-sabotaging your own growth?
Here are a few ways that women leaders can become more self-aware and learn simple ways to stop self-sabotaging their own growth and create career and business success.
Women leaders are excellent multi-taskers, this can work both as a strength to accomplish a lot – and also as a big risk factor where they overthink getting things done.
Moving Towards a solution:
Find a group of peers, and mentors and create a support system that allows you to bounce off ideas before embarking on a new project. Have a team with whom you can delegate parts of the tasks. This will help you to assess your decisions from several aspects instead of trying to do it all on your own and going into over-analyzing. Follow this engagement by creating accountability and a timeline for others and yourself to ensure results.
Women leaders tend to play safe and stay in a comfort zone. While they aspire to be in senior roles or grow their business, yet when it comes to viewing themselves to meet the job expectations of a senior role, they downplay their achievements, or have a negative self-assessment that holds them back. This is usually in the form of a negative narrative or self-talk, where they are saying things to themselves - like “I am okay where I am” or “I am fine”. This kind of self-talk creates limitations to the way they think about themselves which results in them continuing to play safe or staying in the fear zone, instead of taking the chance with a leap of faith. This follows them to the way they make decisions at work.
Moving Towards a solution: Women leaders can become self-aware of their own narrative. If they consciously change their narrative with positive affirmations to start believing in themselves, they will feel empowered. I recommend creating visual and digital reminders which will constantly help to build the new empowering statements they say to themselves. Over a period of time, they will become their own best friends.
Women leaders take longer to rebound from facing hurdles. The faster one can bounce forward after a failure, the easier it gets to take the learning from the experience.
Moving Towards a solution:
Women leaders learn to keep an eye on the rewards and end results, and get stalled when the first few hurdles come their way. In assessing the risks, one can find alternatives to every challenge faced. Allow yourself to go with the gut feeling, taking courageous and calculated risks. Think big picture, and allow yourself some slack to face failures too. We rise higher after a fall. Create a treasure box where they keep their Certificates, Awards, Recognition, and testimonials and keep track of the great things they have achieved. These can be visited regularly, especially on days when self-doubt creeps in as a constant reminder to applaud themselves for all of their achievements and the difference they make to others.
Women leaders who avoid the limelight miss the opportunity to position themselves for senior roles. In today’s digital era, every leader is their own brand ambassador and when they do present themselves with conviction they show their Executive Presence.
Moving Towards a solution:
In the past, we fitted into a mould to stay humble, not to brag about ourselves, and that your work has to speak volumes to get noticed. In today’s Digital world, those who share about their achievements and experiences get noticed.
Women Leaders who network, accelerate their career opportunities. When they have conversations that are beyond their jobs, they gain valuable industry knowledge and insights to enable their own growth. When women feel valued, engaged, and connected they contribute to the success of those around them.
Moving Towards a solution:
Learning never stops, Women leaders who have a keen interest in diverse topics tend to make far better decisions. What one learns depends on your area of interest or related to your work and consistently finding time to update yourself helps. Make learning an essential part of your leadership. Topics that are current, get curious and find ways to know more about them so you can have your own opinions. Knowledge gained this way brings a sense of confidence.
Women leaders cannot have it all. Women leaders are making choices to establish their careers first and tend to get married later and this affects their decision to have children. The years that the women leaders are stepping into motherhood are also the years when they have to put their careers on hold or held back from being promoted.
Moving Towards a solution:
Women can be as ambitious to strive ahead in their careers. When they are clear about their own career strategy, they must share and get the full engagement and support of their family, especially of significant others like their bosses and HR. This will help to evolve a balance in the way the women leader establishes the support system for the upbringing of the children at home and be present at work without feeling guilty. When it is time for promotions, they are equally considered as they meet the criterias for the role.
Women of the 1800s had the motto - Lift as you climb. When women are in a position of influence, they could champion and encourage other women to get to the next step. The most powerful women evolve, innovate and inspire others by leading by example. Be a role model and influence others around you, add value and create an impact beyond your job roles. The sense of achievement will be worth it!
The new Motto for this century - Elevate each other!
Let’s continue to elevate each other.
A question to ask yourself would be where do you need to speak out, or make a stand and be bold, despite the controversy and beliefs that are holding us back?
Are you ready to begin rooting for yourself?
