learn
work
lead
Things Your Mentor Wont Tell You
TERRI TIERNEY CLARK
Praise for Learn, Work, Lead:
Things Your Mentor Wont Tell You
Learn Work Lead wakes you up and makes you focus on what to ask for and how to ask for it, rather than waiting for opportunities that may never occur.
Sam Zell, Chairman,
Equity Group Investments
No matter where you are in your careerstarting out or fearlessly advancing to your next stagetheres something in this book that can help you get there a little faster.
Kathryn Minshew,
Founder and CEO, TheMuse.com
Terri has gathered a treasure trove of stories, experiences, wisdom, and insights to light the way in navigating your professional path. Her book is more than a how to manual in that its chock full of tools to help young women analyze and assess situations to make good decisions on their journey. I wish Id had access to a book like Learn, Work, Lead as a resource early in my career and am grateful that my young granddaughter Teagan will.
Jim Weber, CEO,
Brooks Running Company
Terris extraordinary experience in the male-dominated world of finance acts as a terrific foundation for preparing women to peel back and examine the layers of each situation one faces throughout their career journey. Terris tremendous insight enables young professional women to gain an understanding of the fundamental elements of leadership and to develop self-awareness, which is critical to future career success. Thank you, Terri, for creating such a practical and transformational resource for todays women. Your timing is perfect!
Herb Greenberg, Ph.D.,
CEO & Founder, Caliper
Learn, Work, Lead is an incredibly practical guide to navigating the obstacles at work and making the most of your professional talents. This book is bursting with great advice.
Linda Babcock, author
Ask For It: How Women Can Use the Power of
Negotiation to Get What They Really Want
learn
work
lead
Things Your Mentor Wont Tell You
Learn, Work, Lead: Things Your Mentor Wont Tell You
Copyright 2014 Theresa Tierney Clark.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced or used in any form or by any meansgraphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution, or information storage and retrieval systemswithout the prior written permission of the publisher.
Photo Credit: Eric Laurits
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ISBN: 978-0-7689-3947-7
First Edition
Dedication
To my parents, John and Stu, my original mentors,
and my family, Jon, Devon, Hunter, and Jack,
always my inspiration.
Table of Contents
Chapter 5: Performance Reviews:
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Benefits of Gaining Value at Your
Organization Pre-Family
How Do Successful Women Manage
a Career and Family?
Foreword
Where do you see yourself in ten years? Its a classic interview question many of us have faced.
For those just starting out in their careers, the answer can be fraught with anxiety. Developing strong personal relationships, understanding how others see you in the workplace, and becoming indispensable (and promotable!)these are all critical skills and lessons that can feel overwhelming at times. While countless people are asking themselves, What do I want to do with my life (and how am I going to get there)? few have had the guidance, mentorship, and advice needed to turn those dreams into reality. Reading Learn, Work, Lead can be your first step.
Professional women today are entering an unprecedented era of flexibility and mobility. But to take advantage of the career opportunities available to you, it helps to develop the right skills and frameworks for making informed choices along the way. Success in the workplace is often a series of small steps, phrasings, and statements: the way influence and authority are communicated subtly or the dance of negotiation between an individual and her boss. Together, these nuances form the unwritten rules that help the workplace functionand decide who gets ahead.
Many have the impression that these skills are innate, something a few lucky individuals are born with, but for most of us, that couldnt be further from the truth. Many successful leaders werent genetically gifted with business acumen at the start of their careers; rather, they learned from career setbacks that taught them to approach their careers more analytically and develop their own True North from the advice that they had been given.
In the following pages, Terri Tierney Clark will help you navigate your career to become an invaluable team member, assert yourself in the office, build strong professional relationships, and gain professional respect within your organization. She will teach you how to assess your career, every step of the way, to get you where you want to go.
If youre reading this book, it means youre passionate about your career, and I couldnt be more excited by what the future has in store for you. I believe that you can and should love your job, and that successfully navigating your career requires a bit of advice, direction, and some tough love. Now more than ever before, you have the opportunity to find a career that inspires youand thrive in itbut you must take advantage of the tools available to you.
No matter where you are in your careerstarting out or fearlessly advancing to your next stagetheres something in this book that can help you get there a little faster. Be curious, stay passionate, and learn from those around you. And most importantly, use your knowledge to develop your own voice the world is listening.
Kathryn Minshew
Founder and CEO
TheMuse.com
Introduction
It is better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Olympic Gold Medalist
I magine youre a female reporter in an NFL locker room after a game. Testosterone-inspired voices are shouting, making it hard for you to be heard above the noise. Men walk past you, oblivious that their words and actions may make you uncomfortable. As the only woman in the room, you try to strike that perfect balance of being confident, but not pushy, knowledgeable, but not arrogant, and authoritative, but not masculine. You keep thinking there should be a playbook for all this stuff! Thats how it felt to be a female managing director on Wall Street in the 1990s. And like the first female reporters allowed in the locker rooms, we didnt have other women around who could show us the ropes. Mentoring by men or women hadnt yet come into vogue so most of us didnt even have career advisors; we just made it up as we went along. Fortunately, businesses have progressed and professional women today have far more opportunities to get the guidance they need. They have mentors, female executives to call on, and plenty of career resources available to them.