Here is a blog post written by "Safety Officer" after reading High Heel Leadership. It's a little lengthy but worth the read & provides great insight👠
Written By: Safety Officer
"So there I was surfing LinkedIN looking for new contacts in the safety industry when a pop-up appeared on my phone. It was an announcement that Natasha Hampton had written a book "High Heel Leadership The Art of Being a Woman in Power". At first, I was like "YAY! My ACM wrote a book, good for her!" I clicked like and resumed my search. Another pop-up, this one had a spoiler about the book. I read it and I was hooked. There were links to Amazon to buy the book. I could get the Kindle version right now or wait 8 days before the softcover would be released. I'm old school, so soft cover it was.
I read the book in three days flat. As my Dad would say, it was a real page turner. It was an eye-opening experience for me. Nothing prepared me for what I read on those pages. It was a well written memoir of Natasha's journey from administrative assistant to ACM. When, not if I decide to write my book, I now have a blueprint of how to weave all my life experiences together in one volume.
Her book detailed her struggles and how she overcame them. I was entertained, informed, and educated. I learned about Same Sex Sabotage. As a man, I had heard about this in whispers when I stumbled into a conversation that was not meant for my ears. I know how to recognize it and the tactful confrontation needed to stop it in its tracks. I learned about reinventing yourself, personal branding, and about how fear and doubt affects us all into thinking we are not worthy of attaining the next promotional step.
From Chapter 12 of her book she has an exercise I want to share with you:
Reinvention is the action or process through which something is changed so much that it appears new
Reinvention is born out of constant change
Building your personal brand is just as important as the brand you help build for your organization or business
Leaders get comfortable with formerly developed techniques and relationships (Yes, we do. I speak from experience)
Reinvention is not always necessary. Assess first whether you simply need to modify or if a push is necessary.
Questions:
Can you think of a time when reinvention was necessary to your growth in leadership? Yes, at each new job, at every new company I joined, and with each new boss. Specifically, at SoloCup where I found myself supervising the most diverse group of skilled and unskilled employees EVER. I needed a method to communicate with them in their language whatever that was. I needed to change. I watched how they communicated with each other verbally and non-verbally to be successful. Understand I had high speed manufacturing lines producing Solo cups and lids with Indians, Cambodians and Mexicans working side by side together. "How did they work together given the obvious language barrier that exists between them?" I assigned myself the task of learning key phrases such as Hello, How are you, Goodbye, Thank you, I'm fine in their native language of Hindi, Punjabi, Tagalog, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Italian, Polish, Mexican, Spanish. That little act spelled volumes. They respected that I took on that initiative. They corrected my pronunciation and taught me other words and phrases as well.
What were those triggers and how can you help others to recognize them within themselves? The trigger for me is when I realize that my old tricks simply aren't effective, and I need to change to meet the needs of my new environment and culture.
How do you plan to be on the right side of history as a leader? Maintain my Army core of values like Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal Courage. Take all those letters together and what does it spell? LeaDRSHIP. That remains constant and hasn't let me down yet.
How will you use social media to build or reinvent your personal and professional brands? Unsure. Still working on that one as I am an introvert at heart.
SHAMELESS PLUG: For those that are interested you can still buy her book for the low, low price of $17 and read it for yourself. You will be treated to a behind the curtain view of our ACM. Available on Amazon."