Know Your Strengths, Trust Yourself More | Jocelyn Guite

What if the key to moving through self-doubt isn't fixing your weaknesses, but better understanding your strengths?

In this episode of Court-side Conversations, I sit down with my longtime friend Jocelyn, an HR leader with more than 15 years of experience across multiple industries.

We talk about:

• How Clifton Strengths changed the way she views herself and others 
• Why asking for help is a strength, not a weakness 
• The role self-doubt played when she first became a manager 
• How she learned to leverage her natural talents instead of fighting against them 
• Recognizing when it's time to leave a manager or environment that no longer serves you 

Plus, you'll hear a few unexpected leadership lessons from Pitbull. 

If you've ever questioned whether you're qualified, capable, or ready, this conversation is a reminder that you may already have more than you think.

Pull up a chair, grab a drink, and join us Court-side.

Connect with Courtney
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About the Podcast

Court-side Conversations is a podcast about leadership, self-trust, and the moments that shape us.

Each episode features a candid conversation with remarkable women about the experiences that helped them trust themselves, navigate challenges, and move forward with confidence and integrity.

Hosted by Courtney Headley, founder of Center Court Collective.

New episodes released every other week. 

Transcript

The Question She Wasn't Asking Herself

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I didn't really take the time to reflect and say, Am I happy in this? Um, so I did finally say, Okay, what can we do about this? Because you're not happy.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Hi, and welcome to Courtside Conversations. This episode is for the woman who is ready to better understand her strengths and how to leverage them. I hope you enjoy. Today I am joined by my friend Jocelyn. We all call her Jossie. Um, and I've known Jossie for How long have we known each other?

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Um 10-ish, maybe? Well, because we met in college.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Yeah. So and we graduated college 20 years ago. Okay. Right. So over 20 years. Oh my god, is that real? I don't know. I guess. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. That's great. We've known each other for a while. Oh, I love that. Um, weird. But I love Joss. Um, she is a self-proclaimed and verified good time gal. Correct. And ride or die, like she will be the first that you call if something goes wrong and there will be no questions asked, and she will be there with whatever supplies are needed. Yeah. Definitely one of the best friends you can have. So, Jossi, thank you so much for joining. Thanks for having me. I'm so glad you're here. Excited. Can you share with our listeners a little bit about yourself? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Um, I guess personally, um, I am married. I have two dogs. They are my babies, panchetta and pistachio. Um the cutest. Yes, they they are the cutest. Um personally, nothing exciting. That's pretty much it. I love my friends, uh, my family. It's pretty much all in Colorado. Um, and then I guess if we want to get into professionally, um, I've been in human resources um since 2010. Um, so kind of just gone up through the different roles, um, worked in financial services, healthcare, um, currently at a university. Um, so yeah, it's been my thing for a while.

From Journalism to HR

SPEAKER_00 2:30

Did you go to school studying? Like were you, did you think you would go into human resources?

SPEAKER_01 2:34

No. Uh I got my bachelor's in journalism and mass communications. I thought I was going to be a um sportscaster. Oh my god, you would be so good at that. Yeah, that didn't work out. So did you try? No. Just you'd be good at that. I graduated and I said I tried to find a job and it was really hard. So I was like, I guess I'm not gonna do that.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Yeah. I mean, no one prepares me for how hard it is, like the real world.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Yeah, yeah. Especially if you're in like a niche industry like that. Yeah. Uh then I got my MBA in human resource management.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

So that's so how did you decide on HR?

SPEAKER_01 3:12

Uh, I was working in a call center and I thought, what am I gonna do with my life? And so I was just kind of looking at the different departments in this company, and I saw human resources. They were doing some interesting things, and so I said, Can I help you with projects just to kind of see what you do and what I if I'm gonna like it?

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Um, so they let me help them on something, maybe an event or something. So I said, I could do this. So then I went back to school to get my master's and um studied with an emphasis in HR management.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

So, what roles have you had in HR?

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Um, I've done like an administrative assistant, recruiter, um generalist for the most part, um, a HR business partner, HR manager, um, mostly kind of doing a little bit of everything in HR is what we like.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

Yeah. So okay, Joss, and then how I said a little bit earlier, but how do we know each other?

SPEAKER_01 4:11

Well, I went to college with Allie, who was on this podcast a few episodes ago. Um, and then we met through her because you've known her since elementary school. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And what are you drinking today? Oh, Salvia Blanc. Yeah, me too. She's a white wine girl. Tina Frigio. And I failed. But let's share. It's refreshing. It feels good. Um okay, so when someone looks at your career and they're like, okay, this woman has done a bunch of stuff in HR, and they see like where you've been, the different industries, the different roles. Great. But what would they not see when they look at your let's say resume?

SPEAKER_01 5:00

Um, gosh, that's a good question. I think maybe a lot of uncertainty, maybe at some times, kind of getting into HR, not really knowing which path I wanted to go on. You know, was it do I want to specialize in benefits? Do I want to specialize in recruiting? Um, so I think a lot of uncertainty at different points in um my throughout the career. Um and second guessing myself a lot too. But one of my strengths, I guess, or things about me is I do love to learn. So every time I kind of come up against something, I'm like, okay, what can I, how can I learn more about this? Or you know, kind of figuring out what path I wanted to go on.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

Yeah. So the uncertainty and maybe second guessing. And it sounds like you were able to really you've gotten to where you are because you love to learn. And so you look for what can I learn from whatever experience you're in. Right. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. Okay. So I

The Moment She Knew She Belonged

SPEAKER_00 6:04

love to start this podcast by asking my guests if they can share a time when you felt like you truly belonged at work or a moment where you realized that you did not.

SPEAKER_01 6:18

Yeah. I would say I felt like I belonged when kind of the first time a manager generally thanked me for helping them through an employee relations situation. Um, so one in particular, you know, we've been going back and forth on this, and the manager stopped by my office and just really gave me a heartfelt thank you. And that made me feel like, wow, maybe I do know what I'm doing. And I am helping people.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

Yeah. It goes the wrong way.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

It does. And it does a heartfelt, like knowing it's genuine. Yeah. And you could tell it really was like they had been going through a hard time with this situation, and it really was like, oh my gosh, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Yeah. So amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Recognition goes a long way. So leaders out there take note. Yes. Definitely. Yes. And then can you tell me what the best career advice you ever received was, or and or the worst advice. It's been like how that's shaped you as you've gone through your career.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Yeah. Um,

Why Asking for Help Matters

SPEAKER_01 7:26

I for some reason never really confide much in others about my career or asking for advice. And I know it's something I should do because I know it's very helpful. I tend to just say, you know, oh, I can figure it out myself, or I can do this on my own. Yeah. Uh, but about six years ago, I went through um Gallup's Clifton Strengths um coaching course, and it really focuses on your top talents and building on those and not so much trying to fix your weaknesses or your lesser talents. Um, so that not only showed me, you know, insight into my top top strengths, but that people really do need one another. Yeah. We need to ask for advice. We need to ask for help and really combine our strengths.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

And when we do that, we can be so much more successful at work and in your personal life. Totally. You know.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

If I were to say, you know, someone who does give good advice and good motivational quotes, yeah. I would say Pippo has some great motivational quotes. And I found a couple here if you want me to go over now. Number one, live, live life. Don't let life live you.

SPEAKER_00 8:47

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 8:48

Yeah. Uh there's no losing, only learning. Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:53

Which you might need to get that tattoo.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

I know. And then ask for money, get advice. Ask for advice, get money twice.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

So pitbull. I know.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

So asking for advice is really important and it could really help you. Yeah. Fun fact about Jessie. She's a huge pitfall fan.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Have you seen him in concert?

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Yeah, a couple times. Okay. And excellent. Recommend. Yeah, 10 out of 10. Yeah. 10 out of 10. That's a great time.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Um I'm curious, what are your do you know? Do you remember what your Clifton strengths are?

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Yeah. Maximizer. Um, harmony learner, input, achiever.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Yeah. Do you remember where some of your um what are you what did you call them?

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Lesser talents, yes. And one in particular, because I thought it was so funny, was communication. And when I first took the assessment, I was like, that's terrible. I got a bachelor's in journalism and mass communications. I'm like, what do you mean, communication? But communication in the Gallup world is more like um you can effortlessly and easily uh like present to a group of people. And that's my number one thing

Leveraging Your Strengths at Work

SPEAKER_01 10:09

that I'm not good at doing is presentations to a group of people. So they don't love it. But what I do is I lean on one of my top talents, like input. Yeah. So I gather all the information. I that note section in that PowerPoint is ready to go with everything I need to say. Um, so I feel more confident doing that presentation. So I just you use what you are naturally good at doing to try to improve that lesser talent a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

Yeah. So okay. My next question for you is like when throughout your career has your inner critic or self-doubt shown up for you?

SPEAKER_01 10:49

Um the first time I was in a management role, I didn't think, you know, I have much to offer someone, an employee, um, or if I could lead employees well. Um, so like I said, one of my strengths is learner and input. So I really dug into, okay, I'm gonna do some research, you know, how do I do effective one-on-ones? You know, how do I best support a team? Um, so I could feel more confident in that role.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

Okay, so uh with that, my follow-on question is always when your self-doubt does show up, how do you move forward anyway?

SPEAKER_01 11:27

So is it well, I think it is continuing to know what you're good at, yeah, utilizing your strengths. Um, you know, kind of I think what's important is knowing your employees' strengths too. If you they are not, if they don't love one-on-ones because that's not the situation that they thrive best in, figure out a different way to still get that done. So I think um just kind of pivoting and figuring out how best that they will receive feedback, or yeah, how is it gonna work best for them and you to do that?

SPEAKER_00 12:05

So yeah, amazing. So learn along the way and address as needed. Right. Yeah, definitely. Um if you were to start your career today, knowing what you know now, what, if anything, would you do differently?

The Sign She Stayed Too Long

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Um, I think I would notice when it was time to leave a manager. So one in particular I had worked with for many years. I learned a lot from her, but things did go bad. Um it's kind of like being comfortable, you know, and and very loyal. So I did I felt bad if I was gonna leave, you know. I didn't really take the time to reflect and say, am I am I happy in this? Um so I did finally say, okay, what can we do about this? Because you're not happy. Um, so I thought, okay, let's just see what's out there.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

Um, and I did that. And I found a position and uh under a manager who turned out to be the best that I had had. So while it was scary, I think it's just you don't want to get to the point where things are really bad before you say, okay, I am totally unhappy.

SPEAKER_00 13:31

Right.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

And so maybe recognizing things a little bit earlier on, just do what's best for you.

SPEAKER_00 13:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

And take that leap and and look for something else because it turned out to be amazing. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:51

Right.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

To do something a little sooner.

SPEAKER_00 13:53

Which is hard. Yeah. I mean, how would you do that? Like, what do you think the cues would be for you?

SPEAKER_01 13:59

It just felt like there got to a point where it was, you know, I need to check my email right before I go to bed, right when I wake up. You know, is she gonna be upset about something, you know, and being like on kind of pins and needles all the time. Yeah, yeah. And it's like that should have been a time to be like, okay, hang on.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

Like, this isn't right, right. Or something unhealthy. Yeah, yeah. So yeah. Yeah. So noticing

There's Never a Perfect Time

SPEAKER_00 14:28

if you're feel like you're walking on eggshells or on pins and needles with your manager, maybe that's yeah, a cue to take a step back and really take that time to reflect and say, okay, you know, what can I make a move right now? Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

Is it a it's never a good time, it seems like.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

So yeah, I think there's never a right time to kind of have to create your own opportunities. Yeah. Even when it feels like it's just not like it's gonna be hard. Or scary and scary.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

It's just taking that first step. Yeah is difficult.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

But well, okay, are you up for a lightning round? Yes. Okay. Should we take a quick drink first? Okay.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

I've been drinking more than you.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

So you're the host. You have to Okay, so you know how to do a lightning round. Yes, ready. First thing Okay Um These are all work related, so just kind of know that. Okay. Virtual or in person? Virtual. Email or teams? Email. Least favorite office jargon. Maybe put a pin in it. Okay, biggest workplace pet peeve.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

Well, you know, there's always the people who bring like fish and put it in the microwave. Like, come on. What are we doing?

SPEAKER_00 15:55

Okay, if you came with a warning label, what would it say?

SPEAKER_01 16:01

People love to have meetings. So I think it'd be something about like, don't schedule a don't invite me.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Yeah, don't, don't, don't invite me. And if little Jossie were to see you today, what do you think she would say?

SPEAKER_01 16:17

Um, I mean, I'd hope she would be proud. I think she'd be surprised, probably also, too, because when I was younger, I wanted to be a gardener. Yeah. It's like, I don't even like plants now. So surprised about what you've been doing, you know.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

Uh okay, my last question for you, hang around. But um uh what is bringing you joy these days?

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Oh, uh work-related, working from home more. That's been great. Yeah. Because I get to see my dogs more, which is nice. Yeah, um, take them on walks more. So I think personal life, you know, seeing friends, spending time with friends, traveling, yeah, um, being home more with my dogs.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

Yeah. All that. Okay, Joss, one thing that I am taking away from this conversation is the importance of just like learning from your experiences and and adapting as you go. And I think sometimes we just really undervalue or underplay our strengths. I'm like, well, that's not important because that's not what they need. But you're like, well, I can use my strengths to figure this out. Right. Yeah. That's brilliant. So I mean, I'm definitely gonna take that away too. Okay, how I like to close the pad is asking my guest if they have a favorite toast. Let's go back to Mr.

SPEAKER_01 17:47

305 and say, you know, live life. Don't let life live you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

Well said, sir. And listeners, if anything that Jossi said resonated with you, please do share this episode with a woman that you love. And if you and I are not connected on LinkedIn, please come find me. I would love to say hi. I'm always listening. And I hope to see you next time. See you, courtside. Yes. All right. Thank you. Thank you.