Getting a senior stakeholder’s time is rare for many women in male-dominated fields. But if there are upcoming planning events or any type of physical get-together on your horizon – this is the time to go for it. Time with senior leaders is a gift!
Even planning meetings for International Women’s Day could be useful. It it brings together those who may not otherwise see each other very often, it’s a win for you. In fact, if you are looking for ways to #EmbraceEquity, you’re in the right place.
If you get even a few minutes or even snippets of this rate precious time with senior leaders, use it well. This is vital to understand as part of the leadership mentoring work I do.
Here’s how to make the most of even the most seemingly banal of times on shared transport and beyond.
These impromptu moments have made a big difference to many of my clients, myself, and could for you too. Frieda, a coaching client of mine, wanted to develop a better relationship with a more senior director of their IT firm. He who lived in another country and his trips to the UK were always time-limited but well-planned.
Frieda couldn’t see how she would ever get time with him alone. After all, hers was not a direct reporting relationship to him. As part of our executive coaching however, she decided that it was not a question of waiting for him to ‘give’ her time.
Instead, Frieda decided to look for opportunities where she could ‘take’ his time in a subtle way. She decided to to grab the rarely seen ‘bull by the horns’ and take these rare opportunities when she got them!
1. Pinpoint when exactly you do have time with senior leaders
As part of the an executive coaching discussion, I challenged Frieda to think whether she ever had an opportunity to be with him. She remembered that, twice a year, because of the vagaries of their presenting schedules, they shared a car to the airport when he returned to the US.
It didn’t seem like the quality time Frieda was waiting for. This was particularly true given he normally began to read the paper as soon as they got into the car. That’s normally a signal usually of ‘I’m done with work and don’t want to talk’. However, she recognised that it was all the time she would get initially. So she prepared some questions and comments for the next journey.
Frieda reported back that she had approached him by asking
“I know you like to read the newspaper in the car, can I grab a few minutes first to get your opinion on a couple of quick things?”
This led to them talking for most of the way to the airport. This was a real improvement for her! This moved here on from the days when they would both retreat to the privacy of their respective technologies for the trip. This was a tip she began to share with one or two other colleagues.
Trips to the airport may be off your agenda. After all, climate change and remote working means fewer flights are now being taken. However, these opportunities can arise in many guises!
2. Prepare for those ‘spontaneous’ moments
Laura Hinton, who was a leader at PwC at the time I interviewed her for Beyond the Boys’ Club also used this method with her mentor on occasions. She explained:
‘I sometimes grab ten minutes in the taxi when we are on the way over to a meeting. I tell him what I’ve been up to and ask him about his predictions for the next few months.’
Sometimes I share how this has worked in my own career with the corporate audiences with whom I speak. Indeed, I myself once ‘innocently’ walked down an entire train length when I saw a leader who’d ignored my last e-mails, board the same train as myself. I ‘bumped’ into him and then was able to ask him the question to which I needed the answer.
He blamed his spam folder for a lack of reply. I’m not sure I believed him:) but what’s important is I got what I needed. I then worked with him on a project two months later. Perhaps a bit ‘stalker-ish’ of me? Maybe, but I needed both my answer and to feel in control again as I exited that train. Plus, for those few minutes, he was indeed happy to talk.
Successful women learn to take the time with senior leaders in a taxi, at the airport, in a train, during a tube ride, in a lift, by a water cooler — wherever they can get it. This works far better than the alternative: simply ‘waiting’ for the opportunity to arise for a scheduled one-to-one.
With some key stakeholders, the opportunities for longer one-to-ones won’t ever arise unless you first get noticed in these impromptu moments! Use this tip for more time with senior leaders, as well as other tips I share when speaking to audiences, for yourself. But then share it with those who you in turn mentor and advise to help others achieve too!
