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How can women build executive presence  and get sponsored (not just mentored) into leadership roles

In this interview with Lenetra King :

Introduction:

  • Discussing the challenges faced by women of color in the workplace, especially in leadership roles
  • Highlighting the importance of building executive presence and showing up authentically

Building Executive Presence:

  • Defining executive presence and its components
  • Tips and strategies for building executive presence, including communication, appearance, and gravitas

Showing Up Authentically as a Person or Woman of Color:

  • Addressing the pressure to conform to workplace norms and expectations
  • Discussing ways to stay true to oneself while still being professional and effective

Teaching Others About Our Culture at Work:

  • The importance of educating colleagues about one's culture and experiences
  • Suggestions for how to share cultural knowledge and create a more inclusive workplace

Building an Inclusive Culture:

  • How organizations can promote diversity and inclusion
  • Strategies for creating a welcoming and supportive workplace culture for all employees

Finding Sponsors and Gaining Visibility:

  • The difference between mentors, sponsors, and advocates
  • Tips for finding sponsors and becoming visible to decision-makers

Women Need Sponsors, Not Just Mentors:

  • The benefits of having a sponsor, particularly for women of color
  • How sponsors can provide career advancement opportunities and support

Taking Calculated Risks and Building Strength in Your Network:

  • The importance of taking risks and stepping outside of one's comfort zone
  • Strategies for building a strong professional network, including attending conferences and events, and leveraging social media

Conclusion:

  • Recap of the key takeaways and actionable strategies for building executive presence, showing up authentically, and advancing in the workplace as a woman of color.

Lenetra King is the CEO of Watch me Excel and  has just published her first book "Unwritten Insights".  She is a Health Care exec with over 15 years experience in senior leadership roles across various states and health care systems.  As an executive coach

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I'm a former tech executive, a podcast host and an entrepreneur. I work with Universities on Organizations to transition students to the corporate world and building successful leadership pipelines ensuring a healthy financial future.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sirisha (00:57):
today's conversation with Lenita King, who is the CEO
of Watch Me Excel, an executivecoach and a healthcare exec over
15 years experience.
is about how to have executivepresence while still being your
authentic self.
What can you do to have asponsor and the distinction
between mentors, advocates, andsponsors.

(01:18):
I'm really excited to haveLenita King who is joining us
today.
She's actually very busy becauseshe's just getting her book
published on February 1st.
She's the CEO E of Watch MeExcel and has a lot of executive
experience in the healthcareindustry for the last 15 years
as A C E O mvp, she works withexecutives and senior leaders on
executive coaching and gettingthem to the c.

(01:40):
Nitra, thank you for being here.
I'm really looking forward totoday's

Lenetra (01:43):
conversation.
Thank you so much for invitingme.
I'm happy to be here.

Sirisha (01:46):
So let's get started.
I know we, when we werechatting, we were talking about
executive presence.
I usually ask people where theycome from and what they built
up, but let's really start withyour book, where you are today,
and we can weave your backstoryin as we go through the
conversation.

Lenetra (02:00):
So I'm so excited about my book.
I've got a copy right here, ofcourse, would love to be able to
show it to you.
So my book is called UnwrittenInsights, A Career Playbook for
Leaders of Color.
And I'm so super excited aboutthis work because it's really a
combination of.
So many different things that Ilearned throughout my career
journey.

(02:21):
You talked a little bit about mebeing in the healthcare
industry.
So my entire career was spent inhealthcare and the last 15 of
those years I was in seniorexecutive roles in hospitals
around the country.
So I joke with people, fourdifferent hospitals, four
different states, and I startedwhen I was five But it was
really, this book is acombination of not only some of

(02:44):
the things that I experiencedand observed, but I also did a
lot of research around some ofthe leadership competencies and
capabilities that it takes.
For one to be successful workingin corporate America.
And I did some interviews withleaders of color in a variety of
different industries.
So I'm so super excited aboutit.

(03:05):
It comes out February 1st.
You can pre-order now.
So it's on Amazon and I'm justsuper excited to be able to
share some of these things withother leaders.
Professionals of color, evenallies in the workplace to be
able to help people amplifytheir capabilities, show up and
have career and leadershipsuccess.

Sirisha (03:27):
Very important.
I'm glad you called out allies,because it's not just for people
who are in the space, but forothers to be able to support
them.
So gimme some key lessons, likethat people would take away, not
only to be allies, but people ofcolor, who I'm part of as well
on how to the executive presenceor to really grow and advance in
their career..

Lenetra (03:46):
Executive presence is one of those things.
That's interesting because Ifeel like it is so very
subjective.
Everybody has a different ideaor a different definition of
what executive presence actuallyis.
So one of the things that I liketo do is start out with a
definition of what is executivepresence, and one of my favorite

(04:06):
authors, her name is Sylvia AnnHewlett actually talks about
this.
Of executive presence.
And she defines it as a dynamicmix of three elements.
And those three elements are howyou look, how you act, and
really how you show up.
And I would add to that inaddition to those three things,
it's your confidence, it's yourcharisma, it's your ability to

(04:29):
be able to show up, looking thepart, being ready to play the
game.
But it's also how other peopleperceive you.
It's a part of your leadershipbrand, your personal brand.
And I spend so much time talkingto people about this topic of
executive presence because Ifeel like as a woman of color,

(04:50):
We are judged much more harshlyaround executive presence and
when we have missteps.
And I just think it's such animportant element to talk about,
especially if you're in thatcorporate arena or regardless of
where you are.
If you're looking to be able toelevate your career, your
leadership career, getting to aleadership role or get into an

(05:11):
executive role, you have to havethat presence.
People have to perceive that youare someone who.
Looking the part ready to playthat game and that you can do
it.
And they're basing that off ofhow you show up, your
confidence, your charisma, howyou're driving results how
you're acting, how you'reengaging with other people.

(05:32):
So as I think about executivepresence, those are all of the
characteristics that I wouldlike for people to really think
about with their own.

Sirisha (05:41):
you brought up something that, especially since
your book is also written topeople of color, how you show
up, how you look, how you dress,how you sound.
There is no one way to do that.
It's very nuanced and.
everything research shows,right?
The workplace culture is verymonochromatic and that's the
struggle with trying to, whenthey talk about DEI it's not

(06:03):
just about that.
It's, it was never built forcolor in all its glory.
And how do you show up, it'sjust tussle I struggle with, and
I think a lot of people do, isbeing your authentic self and
still showing up asprofessional.
Still being heard and seen withyour own insights and inputs,
and how do you navigate thatsort of narrow space?

(06:25):
It is quite narrow, and how doyou widen that space?

Lenetra (06:27):
I'm glad you asked this question, and it's something
that I personally struggled witheven in my own career, because
on one hand, I want to be ableto express myself authentically
and show up in a way that'scomfortable for me.
However, in so manyenvironments, people struggled
with that.
I struggled with that because Iwanted to have the look.

(06:49):
Be able to subscribe to thatlook and still have people think
that this is a person who hasleadership or executive
potential.
And I feel like in someenvironments, when you go
outside of that box, thenperhaps you're no longer on the
list of someone who can beconsidered for a leadership
role.
So what I would say to people ishave the courage to be who you

(07:12):
are and show up authenticallyregardless of how you express
yourself.
But you have to know yourorganization's culture.
You have to know yourleadership.
You have to know what thoserules are and if you desire to
step outside of that box, Ithink you have to be aware of
those consequences and thoseramifications if there are

(07:33):
consequences and ramifications.
But I think about some of theconversations that I had even
when I was interviewingexecutives for the book and one
of them is about our hair, womenof color and our hair, the way
that we choose to wear our hair.
I'm sure you're aware of theCrown Act.
And all of the work that's goneinto the Crown Act around

(07:56):
ensuring that women from ethnicbackgrounds aren't discriminated
against in the workplace basedoff of how they wear their hair.
And I was having some veryinteresting conversations with
people who decide, and justtoday I'm wearing braids who
decide to wear braids or decideto wear ethnic attire in the
workplace.
And what I would say, have thecourage to do that because we

(08:20):
shouldn't have to deethethnicized ourselves in order to
appear more professional andthat doesn't take away from our
professionalism.
And I will be so glad when weget to the point in many
environments in organizationswhere this isn't a conversation.
How we wear our hair or how wedecide to show up or not show up

(08:42):
should not detract from ourability to go into an
organization, build trust, buildteams, drive results, and have a
demonstrated track record ofsuccess.
But does that happen?
Absolutely it happens.
And what I would say to that isyou just have to, be aware of
your environment be aware ofyour culture, but I think you

(09:03):
also have to be brave enough toshow up as your authentic self.
And I'm so glad that there are anumber of organizations around
the country, around the worldwho are having these
conversations.
About DE and I, but alsobelonging and helping their
employees to be their mostauthentic selves, helping their
leaders to be their mostauthentic selves, regardless of,

(09:26):
how you decide to wear yourhair.
So that's just something that Iwould throw out there.

Sirisha (09:31):
You said it so well.
It's spot on because there's acouple of things that struck me.
This is important, for everyonewho's listening, you have to
start almost from day one.
What research has shown that iswhen senior leaders, when
they're growing and they decide,I'm going conform in the
beginning, and then I'm gonnashow up as my authentic self.
When I hit, say the senior levelor the C suite level, they

(09:53):
actually find it quite a bitmore challenging to do that
because they're more confined.
So you almost have to startright from the beginning on
however you want to stay thecourse, rather than try to pivot
suddenly in the middle of it.
And the other thing is whenyou're talking about bringing
yourself.
So I'm originally from India, sofor certain festivals, like with
Diwali at work, a bunch of us,we wear our ethnic attire, we

(10:14):
take sweets.
We actually celebrate in thisbig meeting in the room.
Yes.
And over the years, it's becomesuch that our colleagues know we
celebrate it.
So they have also joined us inwearing the clothes and taking
pictures with us.
So it's an opportunity for us toeducate people, right?
You cannot expect someone elseto understand it because they've
never seen it.
In all fairness, it behooves youto own it as much, to educate

(10:37):
them, to show them a differentaspect other than what they see
on tv, which is a very small,curated, singular perspective on
things.
So there's, you could invitethem, go out, maybe they come
home, but so many places.
So it's become a opportunity totalk about it, to get dressed,
to invite them, lot ofcorporations.
Employee resource groups orbusiness resource groups?

(10:59):
Yes.
So instead of you just attendingfor your own resource group,
take your colleagues with you,take some friends with you, they
get to try the food.
You could even do lunches whereeach of you try different
cuisines.
Those are things I've tried andit really works out.
And in one instance, duringCovid in our group, what we did
is we shared about ourbackground, where we were
visiting and food and locationsbecause that gave a different

(11:22):
perspective for people tounderstand.
Cuz no matter what programs arenever going to cover it other
than someone's lived experience.
So a way to really showcase thatis, is a great way to get
integrated and belong as yousaid..

Lenetra (11:34):
And I think that's so true, and I love to hear that
you work at an organizationwhere they do have those
affinity groups or businessresource groups or employee
resource groups.
They go by so many differentnames, but I think those are
perfect opportunities fororganizations to really curate a
culture where people feel likethey can show.

(11:55):
And they belong because so manypeople struggle with that.
Regardless of, whether you'refrom India, whether you're from
the continent of Africa, whetheryou were born right here in this
country, but if you are,considered whatever different is
for that environment.
There are some people whostruggle with that and kudos to

(12:15):
the organizations who are reallystepping out there and doing
everything that they can to helptheir employees feel like they
belong.
Because, as I say, it's onething for you to have a more
diverse culture, for you to havean inclusive culture, but you
have to take that next step andreally help your leaders.
And help your employees feellike that's a place where they

(12:37):
belong.
And when you're having thosecultures, where you're
celebrating various cultures andvarious ethnicities and various
backgrounds, those are sometremendous steps that
organizations can take to trulyhelp people feel like they
belong and that they can show upauthentically.
Because when we show up,Authentically and we're able to
express ourselves, then we'remuch happier.

(12:59):
We're much more engaged, we'remuch more productive, and we can
do all the things that ourorganizations want us to do.

Sirisha (13:06):
Absolutely, there's the organization and the culture,
but I think we own it as muchourselves.
So each of us can take that stepto bring people together and,
celebrate together thedifferences and the things that
are common amongst us to moveforward.

Lenetra (13:18):
Absolutely right.
I think there's, you said itperfectly, it's two sides to
that.
It's what is the responsibilityof organizations and senior
leaders in those organizations,and then what is our
responsibility.
So I think if both sides aredoing their parts, then we'll go
so much further in terms of allof these conversations and
really having strong focusedenvironments where people are in

(13:42):
diverse inclusive environmentswhere they feel like they
belong.

Sirisha (13:46):
So when you talk about executive presence, we cannot
forget the importance of havingmentors and sponsors and
advocates.
So what do you do to bring thosepeople?
Like I've had a lot ofconversations around mentorship
in the podcast, but not a lotaround, advocacy and
sponsorship.
So how do people find theindividuals who are gonna
support them.
And sometimes, most often Ithink you don't have visibility

(14:06):
to who is supporting you.
So how do you build thatrelationship

Lenetra (14:10):
If you want to have your senior leaders or someone
who's a couple of levels aboveyou to take an interest in you,
then I would say there's a fewthings that you know you should
do in terms of that checklist.
The first one is really focusingon articulating what your value
add is to the organization.

(14:31):
So it's understanding theorganization's strategic
priorities.
It's understanding what yourboss's priorities are.
You know what's on your leader'splate, and what helps that
person to drive results for theorganization.
And as you come into theequation, your ability to be
able to articulate, here's myvalue add, here's how I'm

(14:52):
driving results, here's how I'mhelping the organization be
successful is important.
I think the other part of thatis being aware of your brand and
knowing what differentiates youfrom everyone else and starting
with your personal brands, yourleadership brands, and that is
how people are going to know whoyou.

(15:12):
It's how you're able todifferentiate yourself in the
workplace, but it's also how youshow up.
It's how you drive results.
It's how you do all of thethings that you have to do.
And then I would say it's aboutnetworking and it's about
cultivating those relationshipswith people at multiple levels
of the organization and not justgetting the people who have the

(15:34):
titles, the people who have thetitles are very important.
So you want to focus in what Iwould call those big three
buckets.
Curating a relationship withyour boss your peers and your
colleagues throughout theorganization.
And then your direct reports ifyou are a people.
And other stakeholders who werein the organization and, just

(15:55):
investing that time and thatenergy and building true solid
relationships with people acrossthe organization.
So as you think aboutarticulating your value add, did
you think about your brand?
Did you think about cultivating.
Your network, it's alsodemonstrating potential, right?
It's demonstrating thatpotential that you are ready to

(16:17):
go to that next level.
And so as you're intentionallyfocusing on all of those things,
what's your plan?
What's your strategy to be ableto do that and going after it?
And I think if you think aboutit in those ways, and you may
not have picked up on this, butI had it in a, B, c, D format.
So that as I'm sharing withother people, I can keep that

(16:39):
straight for myself.
But I always, I kind of sharethings in that A, B, C or a B,
c, D format, just as a strategyfor people who want to get
noticed by their senior leadersor who want to get noticed by
their senior managers in theorganization.
And I would always say that ifyou want to get noticed, it is

(16:59):
about doing a good job in thejob that you're in today and
really focusing there, but alsofocusing on some of those other
key characteristics about theorganization and focusing on the
right things for theorganization, having those
relationships and just doing allthe things that you have to get
noticed.

Sirisha (17:20):
In some sense trying to figure out how to get
sponsorship.
You are actually providinginsight for them to understand
what you bring to the table,what your contribution is, how
you can help them address someof the key points for the
organization and move forward.
Because sponsors are people whoare going to talk about you when
you're not in the room, and youneed to be able to have them
everywhere.

(17:41):
What I've realized over time,and I think this is from my own
experience in conversations witha lot of people, is often
they're going to be the peopleyou don't expect necessarily to
be speaking on your behalf.
And I found that to be the casewhen I've, I had a career break
and I came back and the personwho was advocating and asking me
to come back was, I had a verybrief interaction with them like
a few years before.
So you never know who thosepeople who are going to be

(18:03):
talking about.
and sponsored in some ways,doesn't have to be this one
person, right?
It's a network, right?
Like you said, peers,colleagues.
It's like this web network ofeverybody who's going to have a
conversation at a different,could be about a project.
It could be about a teamleadership, it could be about a
new role, maybe even attending aconference outside.
That gives you insight.
So it's about being true tobringing value, not about just

(18:25):
checking a box saying, okay, Imade this connection.
I made this connection of thistitle, but really about
providing value for them and foryourself as.

Lenetra (18:33):
Absolutely not just checking the box.
I think you have to do thethings, but you have to do more
than just check the box.
And I would even say in terms ofthis conversation around
sponsorship, to me, as I thinkabout mentors, Sponsors and
advocates.
I think that they are verydistinct and different.
So as I think about a sponsorand what a sponsor is and how a

(18:55):
sponsor can open that door foryou, in my eyes, it's always
going to be a person who hasinfluence in the organization.
They are a decision maker at thetable in terms of being able to
talk about responsibilities,high visibility projects,
promotions, but also.
Because having a sponsor who canhave a conversation about

(19:18):
promotions and compensation arevery important.
And typically that's not goingto be a person who's a junior
level or who's at the juniorlevel in the organization.
So sponsors.
To me have to be someone who ishigh enough and influential
enough in the organization to beable to call your name out in a
room full of opportunities.

(19:39):
They have to be someone who iswilling to risk their
relationship and their ownpolitical capital on you, right?
As junior talent.
And then as I think aboutsomeone who is an advocate is
someone who can be anyone in theorganization.
You've worked on a project.
It could be the project manager,project director.

(19:59):
Pick a title, but it's someonewho.
regardless of where they are inthe organization, they can be an
advocate for you.
If you're someone who, again,has that demonstrated track
record of success, you wantmultiple people in the
organization who say, Hey, I'vebeen on a project with this
person, and she's amazing.

(20:20):
She always gets it done.
She always drives success.
She's a great communicator.
She shows up with executivepresence.
Whatever those competencies arethat someone can speak about,
you.
That to me is an advocate.
And then a mentor really issomeone who, regardless, again,
of where they are in theorganization, there's someone
who can give you advice orguidance or any type of support,

(20:44):
whether it's a project, yourcareer strategy, workplace
conflict is some of thosethings.
So I think making thatdistinction between mentors,
advocates, and sponsor.
Are very important, and I dothink especially because we're
talking about women and we'retalking about women in their
careers.
Women tend to be over mentoredand unders sponsored.

(21:07):
And there's research that's outthere that talks about how when
women go and they search formentors and they search for
various people to help supporttheir careers women.
And organizations should bedoing more to actually sponsor
women and not just mentor them.
Because when women aresponsored, when people of color

(21:28):
are sponsored, their engagementtends to be higher.
Their retention with theorganization tends to be higher,
and there's so many more doorsthat are open to them.

Sirisha (21:38):
You are absolutely right.
Lot of organizations havementoring programs.
I don't say that you have tohave a sponsorship program as
such, maybe cuz it's a bit hardto make it like an official
program.
But it has to be something thatthe HR and the executive teams
are looking at on who to be,promoting, who to be, making
sure they have the rightprojects, the right visibility.

(21:58):
because even if you're talkingabout compensation and getting
promoted, you have to haveaccess to the right projects and
the right forums to be able toget it.
And that's what I see right.
When a lot of conversation, alot of research shows that.
It's access to opportunitiesthat actually provides a
challenge.
It's not that the, there's nodeath of capability or being

(22:18):
able to do it.
Okay.
There's some part, theconfidence that we may all
struggle with the impostersyndrome and stuff, but leaving
all that aside, if you giveaccess and provided them saying,
I'm giving you access because Iknow you can definitely do such
an amazing.
That already means they're goingto do, because they already
stretch themselves so much.
Especially women of color.
There's so much that they'regoing to give.

(22:40):
So you have to be able to givethem that and provide that space
for them to show up and do thatwork.

Lenetra (22:46):
Yes, absolutely.
It's about providing that spaceand providing those
opportunities for people whodon't even know that those
opportunities exist or who maysee a room full of opportunities
and they do know that theopportunities exist, but they
need someone on that sponsorshiplevel to be able to help them to

(23:07):
access it.
And I just think the.
We're having these conversationsabout people willing to be
sponsors and sponsoring otherindividuals in the organization.
The more doors of opportunitythat are going to open up for
more women for more people ofcolor to be able to advance and
not just get to the managementlevel, but get to higher level

(23:29):
leadership and then executivepositions.
Absolutely.
Executive positions and I thinkboard positions, that's, there's
a

Sirisha (23:36):
lot of conversation.
Interviewed Julie Abrams Castro,and she talks about women in
board positions, right?
Because Now you've got the powerand you've got the money.
Now you have tove the influenceand the power to create space
for yourself, but for the otherswho come behind you, it's really
about.
owning it and executing on it,not just having it.
So how do you move that boundaryforward?

(23:56):
Because we all have to do itthat way.
That's the only way we are gonnabe able to move faster rather
than waiting for an organizationto drive culture change.
It's it goes back to thatoriginal discussion, right?
What can we as individuals dowhile we are waiting for massive
ships to steer the.
But you can captain the shipyourself and steer it a little
bit,

Lenetra (24:14):
so yes.
And you can captain that ship.
You can.
You know what I like to say isbeing on the offense in terms of
your career and yourprofessional development plan,
and it's great when people tapyou for opportunities or is
great when your leader comes toyou and says, Hey, I have this
opportunity that I want you toconsider, but how are you?

(24:36):
In the offensive seat in termsof truly taking control, having
a vision for your life, having avision for your career, knowing
where you want to be, two years.
I think we used to talk aboutplanning five years and 10 years
down the road, and that'sprobably a little bit more
challenging now, but just havinga really clear vision about

(24:58):
where you want to.
and then what's going to be yourplan to help you get there?
Whether it's additionalexperiences, whether it's
additional skills andcapabilities that you need to
figure out how to gain, but whatare those things that you need
to get you from here to there,and what's going to be your plan
to help you get there?

Sirisha (25:17):
very true.
This conversation I thinkthere's no end to it.
I would love to spend a lot moretime, but I know we have you
have an event to get to as well.
So this is a question I askevery guest.
What is the advice you wouldgive your 21 year old self?

Lenetra (25:31):
Oh my goodness.
The advice that I would give my21 year old self, I would say
that first of all, be willing totake risks, be willing to take
calculated risks, and go outthere and try something.
And every single thing you'renot going to win at every single

(25:53):
thing is not going to be asuccess.
But take those calculated risksin your life and in your.
One of the things that I wish Ihad done was had more
international experienceswhether it was internships or
even, spending some time inanother culture and another
country earlier in my lifebecause I just find that, people

(26:14):
who had those broad experiencesand they just know so much about
what's going on in the world.
It just really shapes and itcolors how they think and who
they are.
So I wish that when I wasearlier in my life and earlier
in my career, I would've hadthat courage to step out of the
box and do that.
I would say something else ishaving more of that courage to

(26:37):
express myself moreauthentically and regardless of
the environments and regardlessof the organizations knowing and
understanding what that lookedlike for me and how I could be
comfortable doing that and stillbeing able to have the career
trajectory that I did.
Then I would say lastly,Investing more time in building

(26:59):
relationships, and I think forme personally, just knowing the
value of having true, solidrelationships with people
around, in different departmentsin the organization.
Around the country, around theworld, and I just don't think I
put a lot of value on thatearlier in my life.
Yes, going to college and youhave friends from college, and

(27:21):
you have friends from graduateschool, but really what can you
do early in your life to trulyset yourself up your entire life
around investing in true, solid,authentic relationships?
Because everything that we do isaround.
And so your ability to be ableto connect and engage with

(27:42):
people and build really solid,long lasting relationships are
just so important.
And I feel like for me, I didn'treally understand or really put
any credence around the value ofrelationships until much later
in my career and then much laterin life.
And I feel man, I do nothing.

(28:02):
But, spend a lot of time tryingto connect and engage with
people and I wish I had donethat.
My 21 year old self

Sirisha (28:10):
There's so much gold nuggets in what you just said.
So for people who are listening,I think what we are trying to
say is between Lyra'sconversation on her 21 year old
self and everything else, Showup as yourself, look at the
organization around you and seewhat that right fit is.
That's how I look at it.
You have to mesh the twotogether, educate people around

(28:31):
you as they show up so that theyunderstand your lived experience
so you can move forward.
Be intentional about findingyour sponsors, showing the value
you bring to the organization,what you differentiate yourself
and articulating what your owngoalposts are and where you
wanna go.So that they canadvocate for you.
And I think you were veryclearly nuanced it between what
is sponsor, what is advocate,and what is mentored and

(28:52):
especially for people andleaders, allies and
organization, I think they haveto understand the distinction,
especially for women and womenof color.
Is that we need sponsors, notjust mentors.
Mentors.
We have plenty.
We need those people speaking tous, speaking for us, giving us
the opportunities to grow andbeing, taking calculated risks I

(29:12):
think is very important.
And building, we talk aboutnetworking as a very sort of
fluffy activity very often.
Yeah.
But it's about building strengtharound that network.
Yes.
So that people can, you can worktogether to move forward.
One last question.
What is the one word you woulduse to describe yourself?

Lenetra (29:31):
I've been thinking about my one word and I would
say the one word.
It's relentless.
For me it's just having thattenacity to go after things and
even when I'm told no, even whenthings fail, even when, oh yeah,
I probably shouldn't have donethat.

(29:51):
It's just being relentless inthe pursuit of.
Achieving my dreams and beingbold and coming up with what
those dreams are and my dreamsand my path now is much, much
different than what I trainedfor in terms of my career.
But it's just being relentlessand going after the things that
I want to go after to create thelife that I want to live, not

(30:13):
just for me and my immediatefamily, but also future
generations of my family.
And in order for me to achievethose things, I have to be
relentless.
I have to be tenacious, I haveto persevere, and I just have to
go after it with gusto and.
Just don't give up no matterwhat.
Because if I give up today, thenI'll be sitting in the same

(30:35):
chair this time next yearwondering why did I do that?
And now I gotta start overagain.
So that's the word that I wouldsay to you, describe myself, is
relentless

Sirisha (30:44):
amazing because you're obviously a lifelong learner as
well, so it's gonna get you tomove forward.
You don't wanna stay in onespot.
I like that.
So how can people find your bookand connect with you on your
social platforms?

Lenetra (30:57):
Yes, so people can find my book on Amazon.
So if you go to Amazon and putin the book title Unwritten
Insights it'll pop up.
So it'll be released February1st and it's in both soft cover
format as well as digitalformat.
I can also be reached via mybook website, which is
www.unwritteninsights.com.

(31:20):
Then I can also be reached onLinkedIn.
So LinkedIn is a social mediaplatform that I need to spend a
lot more time on.
So definitely connect with me onLinkedIn or via my company
website.
And my company website iswww.watchmeexcel.com.
So my company website, my bookwebsite or LinkedIn are the best

(31:41):
ways to reach out to.

Sirisha (31:43):
So if you are listening and you have more questions for
Juanita or if you have questionson her book, wanna share what
you learned from it or lookingfor even coaching, you can reach
out to her.
Thank you so much for spendingtime today.
This was a very, I think, verypoint on point, important
conversation that we needed tohave.
And I hope a lot of people takeaway important information that

(32:06):
impacts them, but for allies andorganizations also to see what
they can do to support folksaround them.
So thank you.

Lenetra (32:12):
Thank you so much for your time.
Thank you for inviting me andhappy New Year.
It was so good to see you again.

Sirisha (32:18):
I hope you enjoyed today's episode, June and every
other Wednesday.
To catch the next episode, ifyou think a friend may benefit
from this, please share thispodcast with them.
Please subscribe, and leave us areview on your favorite podcast
platform.
I would love to hear from youabout your stories and your
journey.
You can reach me on my blog,Twitter, Instagram, or Gmail at

(32:40):
Women Carrier in Life.
Until next time, this is Cerishasigning off.
Remember, there are infinitepossibilities to drive change in
career in life, which will youchoose to make a reality today.
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