All right , lady Leader , welcome back to another episode of the Leading Her Introvert Way podcast . I am Dr Nicole Bryan and I help Black introverted women land their next senior leader role , become elite executive leaders and build wealth through their careers without becoming addicted to work . So before we get started today , I wanted to do a shout out to one of our wonderful , wonderful listeners . I'm going to call her Ms Monroe and I just loved this review that she gave us and I wanted to give her a shout out . So Ms Monroe said wow , was my first thought after five minutes in this podcast is groundbreaking . For me , as a Black woman currently navigating these spaces , this is confirmation that I can be authentically myself and I don't need to shift to fit someone else's version of or for me . My introvert nature makes me more visible because when I speak , everyone else listens , can't wait to catch up on all the other episodes . That's right , ms Monroe , you are exactly right and I am so thankful for your review and I just wanted to make sure that I shouted you out , said thank you and definitely encourage you to catch up on this . A lot of good , rich content . We are currently at episode 86 . So , dating all the way back to episode one . I think you will get a lot out of the podcast . So be sure and go back and listen . Before I move on , I will say if you are currently listening to this episode and you have been getting value out of other episodes , then let us know , drop us a note , just like Ms Monroe did . Go on Apple Podcasts . You can go on any of the podcast platforms and let us know what you enjoy about the episode . Let us know any takeaways that you're getting and leave a five-star review for us Every time you do that . It helps us reach even more Black , introverted women who need to hear this content .
All right , so let's go ahead and move forward into today's topic . So let me paint a picture for you , lady leader . You are sitting in your promotion interview . You know the one You've been preparing for weeks . Your resume is perfect , your examples are solid , and then they ask the question why do you want to move up into this senior leadership role ? You hear that question and you sit up straight , you make eye contact and you say , with all the confidence you can muster I really want to make an impact , I want to make a difference in this organization . The interviewer , he or she nods and smiles . Sounds good , right , sounds exactly like what they want to hear from a future leader .
Speaker 1But here's what I need you to understand and this might sting just a little bit leader that answer might be the very reason you didn't get the job . Or , if you use that answer in the future , it may be the reasons you don't get your promotion . I know , I know you're probably thinking , dr Nicole , what are you talking about ? Of course I want to make an impact . That's what good leaders do and you are not wrong . But stick with me for the next few minutes , because I'm about to show you why this thinking , this kind of impact illusion that you are dealing with and you're carrying it , might be actually the thing that's keeping you stuck in your current role instead of propelling you into that executive suite where you belong .
Speaker 1Now , before we go any further , let me ask you something . How many times have you said those exact words ? How many times have you said those exact words ? I want to make an impact or I want to make a difference . If you're like most of the ambitious , introverted women that I work with , you've said it more times than you can actually count . You've probably said it in interviews , in performance reviews , when people ask you about your career goals , when you're talking to family and friends , and it sounds noble , right , it sounds very purpose-driven , it sounds exactly like what leadership wants to hear from someone who deserves a bigger role . But here's the thing when someone presses you for details , what happens when they ask you what kind of impact do you want to make ? Who do you want to impact specifically ? What kind of impact do you want to make ? Who do you want to impact specifically ? How will you measure it ? What systems will you change ? Do you , lady leader , have a clear , concrete answer to those questions ? Most of us don't . We go completely blank and we start stumbling around with vague statements about helping people and making things better . And that's when I realized the real issue
. Making an impact has become our safe answer . It's become the thing we say when we want to sound leadership ready , but we haven't actually done the deeper work of thinking like an executive . Here's what's really happening . This focus on making an impact keeps us focused on doing good work instead of leading strategic change . It positions us as helpers , not leaders . And , lady leader , there's a big difference between the two . Now let me bring my psychology background into this for a minute , because there's a reason why we default to this impact language , and it's not your fault .
Speaker 1As Black women , many of us were socialized from a very young age to be the ones who fix things , who supports others , who serve . We were taught that our value comes from how helpful we can be , how much we can carry for other people . So when we enter corporate spaces , this translates into being the reliable one , the person who gets things done , the individual who swoops in and saves the day and who makes sure nothing falls through the cracks . And psychologically this serves some important functions for us . When we're dealing with people-pleasing tendencies , we think if I help everyone , they'll value me . When imposter syndrome kicks in , we tell ourselves I belong here because I'm useful . And when we're feeling insecure about our place in the organization , being helpful becomes our control mechanism . If I'm essential , I'm safe . But here's the thing Executives don't get promoted for being helpful . They get promoted for being strategic . And that is a hard , hard pill to swallow for those of us who have built our entire professional identity around being the person who makes things better for everyone else .
Speaker 1So let's talk about how this impact mindset actually works against you , even though your intentions are good . First , it keeps you in doer mode . When you're focused on making an impact , you end up focusing on tasks that make you feel useful . You say yes to everything because it feels impactful . You volunteer for projects , you stay late to help colleagues , you become the go-to person for anything that needs fixing . And what happens ? You become indispensable in your current role .
Speaker 1But here's the catch when you're indispensable , where you are , leadership can't imagine promoting you out of that role . You've literally made yourself too valuable to promote , and you know what exactly what I'm talking about , particularly if you are the person who your direct manager , your supervisor , your leader , relies on you to get everything done . Yes , in that moment you feel valued . Right , because they are completely reliant on you . But if you think about the flip side of that , they will never want to let you go . They won't want you to lead their team . They won't want you to get into another leadership role , because then who the hell is going to do the work ? Who are they going to be able to rely on ?
Speaker 1Second , making an impact is too vague to be strategic . Leaders at the executive level need to see return on investments . They need to see metrics . They need to see return on investments . They need to see metrics . They need to see business outcomes . They need to understand how your contributions connect to the bottom line , to being a competitive advantage or to long-term
organizational success . But making a difference doesn't translate to budget conversations . You cannot build a business case around good intentions when you're sitting in that room with other executives who are talking about market share and revenue growth and operational efficiency . I wanna help people just doesn't carry the same weight and it's not as if your desire to help people isn't important , but what it is not is it is not measurable and it is not tied to the things that a company desires . A company requires which is hard , tangible business results , revenue , market share and things of that nature . The third thing is that it positions you as a support player .
Speaker 1When you talk about making an impact , you're often talking about supporting other people's visions , about being the person who helps execute someone else's strategy . You become the person who executes , not the person who decides . You're seen as tactical , not strategic , and tactical people do not get promoted to executive roles . Let me give you some real talk examples of what I mean when you say I want to mentor young professionals . Senior leadership hears I want to help people right , not executive material . When you say I want to improve team morale , they hear management concern , not strategic thinking . And when you say I want to make our processes better , they hear operations , not vision . None of these things are bad . They are all very important , but they don't position you as someone who thinks like an executive . So what's the solution ? How do we shift from this impact mindset to something that actually gets us promoted ? Well , we need to make three key shifts in how we think and talk about our career goals , in how we think and talk about our career goals .
Speaker 1Shift number one move from impact to results . So , instead of saying I want to make an impact , try something like I want to drive revenue growth by improving customer retention through strategic team development . See the difference . The second statement is specific . It is measurable and it connects directly to business outcomes that matter to executives . Shift number two move from helping to leading . Instead of I want to help people succeed , try I want to build systems that scale talent and create sustainable competitive advantage . You're not just helping individual people anymore . You're thinking about how to create systems that multiply success across the entire organization , and it doesn't matter if your organization is five people or 500,000 people . Shift number three move from fixing to innovating . So instead of I want to solve problems , try , I want to identify market opportunities and position our organization for future growth . You're moving from reactive problem solving to proactive , strategic thinking .
Speaker 1Okay , so now you might be thinking okay , nicole , I think this makes sense . I get it right , like I know exactly what I mean when I say I want to make an impact , but I can see how that is not translating to other people , to any of the audiences that I'm saying it to . So what the hell do I do about that ? I'm glad you asked . I'm glad you asked this , okay , so I'm going to give you four different ways for you to think about and shift from an impact to a strategic way of positioning yourself , and what I want you
to do . If you haven't already , if you haven't been taking notes and I want you to break out your pen and paper right now or if you take notes in a journal , or if you take notes on your phone , now is the time , because what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you a series of questions that you can ask yourself every time that you are taking on a new goal or a new project or a new opportunity , you are going to want to ask yourself these questions , because the answers to these questions will give you exactly what you need to move from this kind of general and vague impact impact mentality to specific , measurable deliverables and results that you can share with your team members , your colleagues , leaders , your boss and executives . Okay , all right .
Speaker 1So every time you're considering a goal , a project , an opportunity , I want you to ask yourself these four questions . The first is around business impact , and the questions you can ask yourself are how does this affect the bottom line ? Can I connect this to revenue or cost savings or even competitive advantage ? That's the questions that you should ask yourself from a business impact lens . The second set of questions is around strategic alignment . Okay , so here are the questions for strategic alignment to ask yourself how does this support the company's larger goals ? How does it fit into the bigger picture of where the organization is trying to go ?
Speaker 1As an example of this , if the last large company that I worked for , the last five plus billion dollar company that I worked for , what they did every year they had a huge , huge planning process and every year , they had a strategic roadmap , and that strategic roadmap made it very clear what the top priorities were for the entire company . Now , sometimes my work did not directly impact those top five or six priorities , but they definitely , all the time , at a minimum , indirectly impacted those top five priorities . So what I would have to do to show strategic alignment was I would have to figure out how to connect the dots between what was on my agenda and goals to the actual top five or six company-wide strategic priorities . Right , and that's what you will need to do as well . Okay , the third set of questions that you need to be asking yourself is around scalability and systems . So the questions you can ask yourself is how does this create lasting change beyond me ? If I left tomorrow , would this initiative continue to drive results ? And the fourth set of questions is around measurable outcomes . What specific metrics will prove that this was successful ? How will I know , and how will the company know , if I've achieved what I set out to do ? When you can answer all four sets of these questions clearly , then you are thinking like an executive .
Speaker 1Okay , lady leader , as we wrap up today , I wanna leave you with a challenge the next time someone asks you about your career goals , whether it's in an interview , a performance review or just a casual conversation with your manager or someone else . Don't default to . I wanna make an impact Instead . Lead with specific business outcomes that you want to drive . Talk about the strategic value you want to create . Show them that you think like the executive you want to become , not like the helper that you've always been . Real impact comes from real influence , and real influence comes from being able to think strategically , to connect your work to business outcomes and to position yourself as someone who can drive the organization forward . You , lady leader , have so much to offer your perspective , your skills , your leadership potential . It is all there , but you have to stop hiding behind vague statements about making a difference and start showcasing the strategic thinker that you already are . The executive suite is waiting for you , but they need to see that you can think at their level before they'll invite you to join them there .
Okay , lady leader , that is a wrap for today's episode of Leading Her Introvert Way . If this episode hit home for you , I would love to hear about it . Go and drop a review on any of the podcast platforms that you currently are listening on and let me know . Give us a five-star rating . Let us know what resonated with you , what you enjoyed , and that will help us reach so many other Black introverted women who need to hear this material as well .
Speaker 1And if you are ready to move your leadership into the senior ranks of your organization and you are ready to do so in a strategic way , then let me help you . I would love to be your thought partner and your guide on the road to landing your next senior leadership position or executive position . Just go to the show notes and click the link and set up some time for us to talk . We will have a great conversation and I'll learn more about you and your background , your goals , what you've tried before , what's worked , what isn't working , and I will also share more about the work that I do , how I can support you and , as well , we will develop a customized roadmap on the actual sales call that you could follow . It's only a conversation . It will take a few minutes , but it could change your entire career trajectory . So I hope to hear from you , but in the meantime , what I want you to do is keep leading your introvert way .
Speaker 1That's a wrap for this episode of Leading Her Way . Thanks for tuning in . If you have thoughts , questions or ideas for future topics , connect and send me a message on LinkedIn and if you enjoyed today's episode , subscribe . And please take a minute to write a quick review on Apple Podcasts . Your review will help spread the word to other ambitious females so they know they're not alone and that this podcast is a community of support for all of us leading her way to the top . Remember your leadership is needed . Your leadership is powerful , so lead boldly Until next time .