The summer holidays act as a catalyst for many people to re-evaluate. You take time off. Your brain is less stressed and busy and all of a sudden you get back in touch with what’s really important.  You may begin to acknowledge that you are bored at work, simply going through the motions waiting for the right time to make your move. Or maybe you are weary of the politics and the down time causes you to draw a line in the sand.

Great! Bring it on. These insights may be gradual to emerge but you get to do something about it and feel in charge of your own destiny – again. These are critical turning points and well worth taking advantage of.

Rapid response

But what happens when this critical turning point is rapid and you need to respond immediately?  You’re not even looking and all of a sudden you need to put your best foot forward. The situation is beyond your control, you really want to capitalise BUT the thought of doing all this work right now, is almost overwhelming and could become an excuse for failure.

These situations are not that unusual and even in the last few weeks (yes over Xmas) I’ve heard about the following:
1. The CEO or Head of Dept steps down in a rush … and you’re interested in the role
2. A recruiter rings you out of the blue with a role that’s urgently in need of someone just like you  … interstate
3. Your ideal dream role comes up via your LinkedIn feed and you didn’t know you were in the market
4. Your #1 staff member leaves to go to a great role that’s paying more than you are currently on
5. Redundancy/redeployment discussions

You always have a choice

So how do you respond? You decide:

• You can do nothing – be passive, play a waiting game, panic and throw an itty bitty pity party for one, or

• You can take advantage of the situation rapidly and effectively with confidence and purpose and re-engineer your situation to your advantage.

Why is this important for executive women?

Research shows that women are far more likely to:

• downplay their achievements

• underestimate their value and future performance and

• second guess themselves when it comes to making big decisions and taking action

Worse, we are far more likely to behave this way when operating on the fly, caught out and feeling ill prepared.

On the flip side, critical moments in any situation require you to remain calm and in control in the face of uncertainty. They require a clear headed, confident and strategic response.

Don’t be caught unprepared

The Smart ‘n Savvy Executive Woman isn’t caught out. She is prepared. She has her executive level tool kit ready to go and can clearly articulate her value, expertise and contribution in any situation.  She is confident, strategic and perfectly poised …. to take advantage of any career defining moment and leverage the situation to her advantage.

Because this is about future proofing your leadership aspirations. It’s the difference between fear and opportunity, perception and reality ….

With a combination of attitude, preparation and grit, you’ll be in a position to springboard up and out into something meaningful and better, instead of same or sideways.

Vive la révolution!

 #ambitionrevolution #LookOutCSuiteHereSheComes #feminineambition

#success #career #visibility #standout #leadership#executivewomen #careerfutureproofing