Why change now?

Why change now?

I never was one to stay in the same position for longer than 3 years. I love taking on a new challenge. The learning and figuring things out process,creating or fixing something is something I love to do. I do not fear change, I am stimulated by it – within reason though. There is a thing as too much change.

I also admire people who can stay. Who can keep working in the same company for years. I do think that the stability allows you to make a significant impact and to reap the rewards of consistent career progression and financial stability. However there is such a thing as staying too long, when you are stuck in a comfort zone.

It is easier to do nothing when you haven’t done anything for too long and you have built tolerance for stagnancy. But at some point you have to stop procrastinating and make a move. At some point you have to make what is important – your career growth – urgent. At some point you have to stop waiting for a convenient time and make the change right now.

……………………………………………………………….

Are you a Black Woman in the Workplace who feels called to the next level of leadership, income and impact?

My name is Busisiwe Hlatswayo and I coach Black women to position themselves for leadership, navigate race and gender bias and be effective leaders in the workplace and the market place

For a Free 30 Minutes Career Strategy Consultation: https://koalendar.com/e/meet-with-busisiwe-hlatswayo

Enrol now for any of my free webinars :

Excellent at which level?

Excellent at which level?

One of the reasons you might not be getting that promotion even though you are good at what you do and have the compliments to prove it. Besides the fact that you might be a victim of discrimination at the intersection of race and gender. It could be that you are excelling at the wrong level.

This is a classic case of what got you here will not get you to the next level. You might be really good at what you do. However, each level of responsibility has key competencies that you might currently not be demonstrating the potential for.

I am sure you’ve heard of the phrase ‘dress for the job you want and not the one you have’ . That goes for your level of performance as well. This is not always about working harder and longer but about being more strategic and intentional about how you show up. It is about you position yourself for the next level.

……………………………………………………………….

Are you a Black Woman in the Workplace who feels called to the next level of leadership, income and impact?

My name is Busisiwe Hlatswayo and I coach Black women to position themselves for leadership, navigate race and gender bias and be effective leaders in the workplace and the market place

For a Free 30 Minutes Career Strategy Consultation: https://koalendar.com/e/meet-with-busisiwe-hlatswayo

Enrol now for any of my free webinars :

A case of two opposing worldviews

A case of two opposing world views.

Have you ever been so misunderstood that you feel like you are being transported to another reality? You are shocked at the meaning that another human being can spin from a simple uncomplicated interaction. That is the reality of some of the workplace conflicts you might encounter.

I used to work closely with a person who had the amazing capacity to weave the worst meanings from people’s interactions with her. This I infer came from her unhealed trauma of rejection. She read rejection from any interaction from anyone who did not overtly demonstrate that they liked her. As a result she never left any job on a good note and rarely kept a job for longer than a year.

Of course she had a great relationship with me – the queen of people pleasing then. In retrospect I realise that the success of our relationship was due to my constant vigilance around her. I was careful to anticipate what could set her off and avoid saying or doing anything of that nature. I never understood until I interacted with healthy people on a consistent basis how exhausting those mental gymnastics were.

What I have realised that each person brings their worldview into any interaction. When those align with ours we call that common sense. Sometimes they don’t and our work is to empathise with but not necessarily buy into that worldview, if it’s not in alignment to our values. While respecting that this view point is valid for that person at least.

……………………………………………………………….

Are you a Black Woman in the Workplace who feels called to the next level of leadership, income and impact?

My name is Busisiwe Hlatswayo and I coach Black women to position themselves for leadership, navigate race and gender bias and be effective leaders in the workplace and the market place

For a Free 30 Minutes Career Strategy Consultation: https://koalendar.com/e/meet-with-busisiwe-hlatswayo

Enrol now for any of my free webinars :

Villain in someone else’s story?

A villain in someone else’s story?

The truth is that most of the challenges we face in the workplace are relationship dynamics. The wounds from our life experiences show up as patterns of behaviour that morph into our personalities creating triggers and clashes with other personalities.

As a recovering people pleasers who had an intense fear of disapproval the reality that no matter how nice I can be. People can have their own interpretations of my actions and decide that they don’t like me was a hard pill to swallow.

When I accepted that while in the process of living my life, working hard, making moves someone can perceive me as a villain and no amount of explaining myself I found freedom. I finally understood that the work is reconciling me with me. That I need to approve of myself, be at home with who I am. Live life according to my own values.

I learned that as much as I’m responsible for the management of my brand; I give my power away when I am too invested in the narrative other people have about me. It is inevitable that I’m going to be a villain in someone else is story and for my own well being I need to be okay with that.

……………………………………………………………….

Are you a Black Woman in the Workplace who feels called to the next level of leadership, income and impact?

My name is Busisiwe Hlatswayo and I coach Black women to position themselves for leadership, navigate race and gender bias and be effective leaders in the workplace and the market place

For a Free 30 Minutes Career Strategy Consultation: https://koalendar.com/e/meet-with-busisiwe-hlatswayo

Enrol now for any of my free webinars :

Are you hungover?

Are you hungover?

I am fascinated by the power of language. That you can have a feeling that you don’t understand and when you come across the name for it. Suddenly you understand it but not only that, you don’t feel so alone. You feel seen, part of a community of those who have felt the same way.

This happened for me when I came across the word vulnerability hangover while reading Dr Brene Brown’s work. A vulnerability hangover is the uncomfortable feeling that you get after you have shared something personal. When you feel exposed often to the point of regret.

There’s another hangover though. The uncomfortable feeling you get after you’ve set a boundary for the first few time. Or is it every time? It feels uncomfortable, almost wrong. Especially if the person you have set the boundary with reacted negatively, which is most of the time. You are almost tempted to apologise, to retract.

Should that happen to you I hope that you know that uncomfortable feeling doesn’t mean that you have done something wrong and that you should take it back. I hope that you have the courage to sit with the uncomfortable emotions. I hope that you have the tools to regulate your disregulated nervous system.

……………………………………………………………….

Are you a Black Woman in the Workplace who feels called to the next level of leadership, income and impact?

My name is Busisiwe Hlatswayo and I coach Black women to position themselves for leadership, navigate race and gender bias and be effective leaders in the workplace and the market place

For a Free 30 Minutes Career Strategy Consultation: https://koalendar.com/e/meet-with-busisiwe-hlatswayo

Enrol now for any of my free webinars :

Conflict Avoidant are you?

Conflict avoidant are you?

In the book: ‘Rage becomes her’;Soraya Chemaly documents women’s interesting relationship with anger. One could even say that it is a similar relationship that men have with emotions other than anger. She writes that in some instances women turn to sadness rather than anger.

Our complicated relationship with anger and conflict stems from our socialisation. Good girls do not demonstrate anger, good Christian girls turn the other cheek. This is further complicating by the trope of the angry Black women. Which leads to any act of self advocacy being interpreted as aggression. Resulting in mental gymnastics when we have to communicate our anger.

The other extreme is the devaluation of your worth such that people assume you will take the abuse without getting or showing anger. Some women indicated that they are so out of touch with their anger such that they often surprise themselves with the extent of their anger once they decide to finally communicate it.

The work for Black women leaders and aspiring leaders in the workplace is to be aware of their relationship with their anger. So they are intentional in how they manage conflict in the workplace in alignment with their brand. Avoiding defaulting to extremes of suppression, outbursts and constantly speaking out.

……………………………………………………………….

Are you a Black Woman in the Workplace who feels called to the next level of leadership, income and impact?

My name is Busisiwe Hlatswayo and I coach Black women to position themselves for leadership, navigate race and gender bias and be effective leaders in the workplace and the market place

For a Free 30 Minutes Career Strategy Consultation: https://koalendar.com/e/meet-with-busisiwe-hlatswayo

Enrol now for any of my free webinars :

A little bit of empathy for the leaders

A little bit of empathy for the leaders

One of the reasons we subconsciously hold ourselves back from advancing into top leadership positions in the workplace is the sometimes ridiculously high standard we place on those in leadership. No one is disputing leadership should be held to a high standard, to whom much is given much is required.

However, we can assume too much of those in leadership. Some of that is based on the assumption that everyone who is in leadership got there based on merit. That there is a high criteria at the door of leadership and only those who tick all the boxes are allowed to go in.

The truth is that not everyone who is in leadership meets the standard – that is if we can all agree in the first place to what that standard should be. Leaders like everyone else posses both strengths and weaknesses and even the best of leaders make mistakes.

Not allowing your leaders to be flawed may keep you from wanting to advance to leadership. No one wants to be setup for failure and riculously high standards do just that. A little bit of empathy for the humanity of your leaders can’t hurt.

……………………………………………………………….

Are you a Black Woman in the Workplace who feels called to the next level of leadership, income and impact?

My name is Busisiwe Hlatswayo and I coach Black women to position themselves for leadership, navigate race and gender bias and be effective leaders in the workplace and the market place

For a Free 30 Minutes Career Strategy Consultation: https://koalendar.com/e/meet-with-busisiwe-hlatswayo

Enrol now for any of my free webinars :

Are you the office mom?

Are you the office mom?

There are things that come naturally and that feel good but may not be the best for our careers. One of those can be allowing ourselves to be typecasted as the office mom. The one to whom people line up to come and discuss their problems with and who makes it all better just like the stereotypical mom is supposed to.

The challenge with being this person is that it is a behaviour that can be categorised as office housework. Which is labour that is often done by women; such as taking notes in meetings, organising birthdays, representing your department in committees that are considered a necessary nuisance. Just like in the home, this work is typically not valued as important and it is often done by women.

Part of creating an intentional brand in the workplace is about aligning who you are with how you need to be to achieve your objectives. In this case who you naturally are might be a good listener and counsellor but if it’s not in alignment with the requirements of your career objectives.

You might just want to reflect on whether you want to continue showing up in that way or how you can make it useful for the achievement of your career goals

……………………………………………………………….

Are you a Black Woman in the Workplace who feels called to the next level of leadership, income and impact?

My name is Busisiwe Hlatswayo and I coach Black women to position themselves for leadership, navigate race and gender bias and be effective leaders in the workplace and the market place

For a Free 30 Minutes Career Strategy Consultation: https://koalendar.com/e/meet-with-busisiwe-hlatswayo

Enrol now for any of my free webinars :

Framed by your gender?

Framed by your gender?

An acquaintance (Black and male) piqued my curiosity when he stated that he has never worked with a good female boss, all of them were moody and ‘emotional’. On further probing he admitted that he had a Black and female boss who was hands off, a leadership style which he enjoyed. He also admitted that his current boss who is male is moody and ‘emotional’ but quickly added that he was an exception.

This is what is called attribution bias that women experience in the workplace. Where their strengths or accomplishment are downplayed and their ‘weaknesses’ are blown out of proportion. I suppose this what Dolly Parton was referring to when she sang ‘my mistakes are no worse than yours just because I’m a woman’.

The truth is that women do experience higher levels of fluctuations in emotions due to hormonal fluctuations as a result of periods, side effects of birth control and other medications, menopause, etc. Societal conditioning also allows women to be more free to express their emotions more than men are allowed to. Some women do better than others in being able to rein these emotions in.

The important thing to remember is that this is a difference not a weakness. When we measure the standards of professionalism using male and western characteristics. We are ‘othering’ those who do not ‘naturally’ act this way and we require them to assimilate in order to be included. We also judge them more harshly for their authenticity.

……………………………………………………………….

Are you a Black Woman in the Workplace who feels called to the next level of leadership, income and impact?

My name is Busisiwe Hlatswayo and I coach Black women to position themselves for leadership, navigate race and gender bias and be effective leaders in the workplace and the market place

For a Free 30 Minutes Career Strategy Consultation: https://koalendar.com/e/meet-with-busisiwe-hlatswayo

Enrol now for any of my free webinars :

We should all be Culturally Competent

We should all be culturally competent

I’m currently reading the book: Subtle Acts of Exclusion by Tiffany Jana and Michael Baran . The book introduced to me the term Cultural Competency/Fluency. Which basically refers to the ability to effectively interact with people from different cultural backgrounds.

Cultural competency is to a global diverse workplace that we have all become part of, what the introduction or awareness of emotional intelligence did to workplace interactions and competence, which up until then were arguably solely based on the level of intelligence and expertise.

We all, regardless of the nature of our identities (marginalised or not) need to develop our cultural competence. Because we each sit at different places in the privilege and power continuum; and as a result have the ability to cause harm. Especially to those who are more marginalised than we are. I cringe when I reflect on the micro aggressions I have unintentionally perpetrated on others in the past, even as a person who has a marginalised identity.

……………………………………………………………….

Are you a Black Woman in the Workplace who feels called to the next level of leadership, income and impact?

My name is Busisiwe Hlatswayo and I coach Black women to position themselves for leadership, navigate race and gender bias and be effective leaders in the workplace and the market place

For a Free 30 Minutes Career Strategy Consultation: https://koalendar.com/e/meet-with-busisiwe-hlatswayo

Enrol now for any of my free webinars :