Life Advice Thursdays: Ways to Be a Power Woman!

A good girlfriend of mine constantly makes me proud. By the time this woman was 25, she already had an amazing career  and now at 30, she just bought an insane apartment in Brooklyn. She's had such great life experiences and such a lucrative career in her short life. Recently she left a job to take on another one, and her last job practically begged her to stay on. So I asked her recently to please give me and my girls (you guys) advice on how we all can be such power women. So here's a few things that she has done in her life that she feels has helped her  reach serious success:

"1)Make Yourself Invaluable -I go into every job thinking how can I be invaluable and different. What can I do that no one else can? If you start wanting to be like everyone else, guess what, you will be like everyone else, and you'll be the first one to be let go when there are layoffs. Go into every single job thinking how can I be invaluable, and believe me your mind will find ways to be.

2) Don't be too big for any job. -In my last office, one day I had a very important meeting. My assistant was having serious issues with our copier and I needed over 300 copies made within 30 minutes. The people that fix the copy machine couldn't come for another few hours, so I went downstairs, took my heels off, and my blazer and went to WORK trying to fix that copier. After three minutes it was fixed. Don't be too big for any job. If you need to get your hands dirty for your career, do it.

3) Don't depend on other people-this is a huge mistake I see so many people make. They depend on people to get their stuff done. No one is going to care more about your career than you. I have an assistant, but honestly if something is super important I just do it myself because I need to make sure it's done right for my sake. If my assistant screws up, no one is looking at her, but all eyes will be on me.

4) Stop waiting for people to help you-During college I had so many amazing internships, and so many people gave me their cards and told me to immediately call them after graduation because they would help me. The day after my graduation I called every one of them. Guess how many people called me back. NOT ONE. But now being in this business I realize talk is super cheap. People give their cards out to everyone and anyone. When someone gives you their card and promises that they will help you, don't bank on it. Find ways to make your own path, and your own way. Yes reach out to them, but make sure that is not the only thing you depend on.

5) Answer your emails immediately-When it comes to emails, I am super crazy. If you email me during the day you will hear back from myself or my assistant within the hour. Why? I like you to know that I'm on top of my stuff.  Once people know that, they know they are in good hands.

6) Say hello to everyone, you never know who can help you-This is super important. I know people that walk by janitors, door people and say nothing. Not me, I say hello to every single person I encounter. You never know who can help you. My janitor actually saved my ass one day. I was running to a meeting, and by the time I got to the meeting I realized I didn't have my spreadsheets with me, I was such in a rush to be early, I had left them on my desk at home. I called my janitor and told him the problem, and he asked one of the porters in my building to bring my stuff to me. Had I not been nice to him, do you think he would have ever done that for me? Heck no! People like to be acknowledged and if you go around ignoring people, why the heck would they want to help you.

7)Don't talk ish about anyone you work with -This is a huge problem amongst people at work and I hate to say this, but since I know Milly isn't using my name, a huge issue amongst women. They forge alliances with other women, then they complain about someone, and then everyone in the office knows about it. Huge mistake. If you have issues with someone at work, the only person that needs to know about it, is a human resource person or someone that can actually help you. Once I know someone is gossiping about someone else at work, I look at that person as just that, an office gossip and usually I want nothing to do with them. Remember this, you never look good when you talk about someone else. Never. As soon as I find out you're talking about someone else, I immediately think you're talking about me too.

8) Be on top of your industry: There have been so many changes in my industry, but guess what I'm on top of every single one of them.  When I find out about new technologies, I want to be the first one to know about them, and how they can make me better and usually these new technologies are designed to make your job easier so make sure you are learning about everything new that comes through your business. Don't think that your job will keep you because you're a good person and you don't need to learn new things. That's bs. In the end, if you don't keep up on new advances at work, you'll get fired in a heartbeat.

9) Don't be ruthless: I see a lot of women try to get ahead by cutting a colleague's throat. Milly will tell you that I am a huge believer in Karma, and I've seen all of these women who cut someone else's throat at work, get screwed in the end. I know it may be tempting to step on someone else's toes to get ahead, but I've learned in life, you don't need to do that. Your work should speak for itself. I remember this one girl at one of my first jobs, who got this girl fired. A few months later, the girl who got her fired, got fired too. She went on a job interview a few months later for an amazing job, and guess who was the interviewer, the girl that she got fired. Needless to say not only did the girl not get the job, but the other girl refused to interview her. See what I'm saying.

10) Have balance: I am a workaholic, no doubt. But, I do make sure I have a personal life. I take yoga, go out to dinner with my girls, and I'm in a strong relationship. Many women tend to focus on their careers in their twenties and thirties, and that's great (I did that too!) but you should have some sort of social life. I know someone who is 44 years old who was so focused on her career, she now has only that, her career, no friends, no nothing. Do you think she's happy? Although money is a great thing to have, it will never make you happy. Try to have balance when it comes to your life. 

Hope this helps

Thanks friend.

My girlfriend has asked that we not use her name. 


Do you guys have any tips on how to be a power woman?

Share them,


Hugs,

Milly