More than 11,000 women from all across the state of Massachusetts attended this year’s Massachusetts Conference for Women, and I was lucky enough to be one of them! It was a jam-packed day, and I’m so excited to share with you some of my most important learnings.
- You don’t ask, you don’t get– Carla Harris, Wall Street Exec. and Motivational Speaker
Carla Harris shared multiple “pearls of widsom”
during her breakfast keynote, but “you don’t ask, you don’t get” resonated with me the most. You may have heard of the Tiara Syndrome– the idea that talented women often put their heads down and hope that someone will recognize their good work and place a tiara on their head. Carla knows that’s not the right approach, and she encourages women to “own their power” and look after their own career. At the end of the day, if you want something, don’t wait for it to happen. You have to go after it yourself and make sure that all the excellent work you’re doing is being acknowledged.
- It’s crucial to fail– Sara Blakely, Spanx CEO
Sara Blakely, the creator on Spanx, told an amazing story from her childhood. Growing up, her father would sit her and her brother down for dinner and ask them how they failed that day. If they didn’t have anything that they failed at that day, her father would actually be disappointed. His reasoning?- if you didn’t fail, that means you didn’t try anything challenging or new. Sara attributes that to giving her the confidence to pursue Spanx. Now she has learned to not be afraid of failure and is one Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world.
- Every ask is an opportunity to negotiate– Deborah Kolb
Have you ever wanted to negotiate for higher pay, a more flexible work schedule,
more opportunities, etc., but didn’t know when or how? Deborah Kolb gave excellent advice- next time you are asked to do “invisible work” (work that doesn’t relate directly to your job and will not impact your job performance) use it as a chance to negotiate for something that you want. It can be hard to say no to an ask, so instead, leverage the work that is needed in order to get more exposure or something else you desire. Deborah wrote a book that contains many tips for negotiating, get more details here.
Did you attend the Mass Conference for Women? What were some of your key takeaways? Leave a comment & let me know!
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