Proven Not Perfect
Proven Not Perfect
Unlocking Career Potential Through Board Experience
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Shontra elaborates on the connection between board governance and corporate success, explaining how understanding the critical questions that drive leadership can lead to impactful solutions in the workplace. She stresses the importance of being proactive in networking and finding roles that resonate with one's values, ultimately transforming assignments into opportunities for growth and innovation. The episode serves as a motivational guide for early-career professionals looking to leverage their skills in meaningful ways, urging them to embrace challenges and pursue their passions with courage and clarity.
• the power of a strategic yes
• lessons from board-ready training
• translating governance to corporate value
• anticipating leaders’ questions
• early-career board service as a lever
• choosing nonprofits that fit heart and skill
• turning assignments into opportunities
Go and be great, proven not perfect
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Hey, proven not perfect. Look, I am frequently asked, what are the things that you believe set you apart in your career journey? And I want to start this conversation by bringing a nugget to you that could be very helpful. So I've talked a lot about giving yes and preserving those yeses and being really clear on no as well. Well, when you think about the yeses that you give, think about how the yeses can be absolutely exponentially valuable to you, not only for the direct assignment, but as a complement to the other things that you are doing. What do I mean by that? A yes that I gave early in career was when I was tapped on the shoulder by an external stakeholder in my career who saw something in me, perhaps before I knew that something existed in me, and said, I'd like to introduce you to the board ready program in New York City that was rolling at the time, sponsored by the United Way. A lot of resources went into identifying top talent and having that talent trained by the best. And the offer was you'll go through this eight-week program, you'll be introduced to concepts of governance, understanding leadership, understanding strategy, understanding how to learn and assess an organization and to ask critical questions so that you are in position to give critical guidance and understanding what fiduciary means, being responsible and accountable when you're in that advisory role. This is what I had the privilege to learn five years into my career. The beautiful thing was after we completed the program successfully, we were introduced to several New York City boards, nonprofit boards. And through the interview process, we were made offers on joining a board. I joined a board and it became an amazing start to my journey. I joined that board in the late 90s, and I have always been on boards ever since. I believe, even at the time when I didn't realize how that skill set was complementing what's happened in my corporate journey, I believe and have recently unpacked exactly what that is. Getting to the core, getting right down to the core. Any successful leader in corporate is a leader who is able to understand the needs of the organization, to anticipate how to support the needs of the organization with their unique offers, and they are courageous and bold in making those articulations. So let me connect some dots. Why would my board experience help me to be a valuable participant in helping the organization be successful? Well, here it is. When you sit on a board and have a governance role and you really understand how to question, now trail all the way back to actually being in an organization and being an employee. You know how to anticipate the questions that are driving your managers, the questions that are driving your leaders. And you can take those questions, that same set of questions, and start to build solutions and organize your work to be truly impactful in moving the needle. If you can do this, develop this skill set at an early phase in your career, game changing, absolutely game changing. So what am I saying? Go out, network, identify nonprofit boards that need the skills that you bring. You can do this at five years into your career. If you've been serious as a talent and you know what you know and you're building a foundation of understanding, you can offer this to a nonprofit organization that has a need to day. Trust me, okay? Trust me. And for bonus, for bonus, I'll share this with you. You're going to be exponentially great at your offer to the nonprofit if you have a heart and a passion for what they do. So don't go out just Edward scissor hands and finding nonprofit boards and signing up. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Identify what connects heart with skills and capability and make an offer and just see what I'm telling you. You're going to realize that when you change that lens ever so slightly to be on the governance end of things, asking the critical questions and understanding the why, and then you connect the dots of that skill set to being the employee and the corporation, you're going to see that when you're given an assignment, it is more than an assignment. It is an opportunity to demonstrate your skills, to know not only the work to be done, but to understand the why, the critical why. And then also to turn on that thinking to bring forward new pathways, new ideas, new offers. Go and be great, proven not perfect.