The old saying “Charity begins at home” is the perfect tribute to my success in corporate America. At the tender age of eight, I fondly recall eagerly looking forward to spending the holidays with my beloved grandparents in the rural town of Likomba, Cameroon. One may wonder why a young city girl, from a financially well off family in Cameroon would want to visit the village but therein lies my “secret sauce”.
My grandparents were a very honest and hardworking couple and I admired them dearly. My grandmother was very entrepreneurial and distributed retail merchandise including food products in the local markets. She employed several sales men and women to distribute her products but when I was visiting I’d insist on helping. I excitedly loaded up baskets of tomatoes and journeyed into the local markets, conversing with every potential customer. I would start with friendly personal dialogue and quickly segue into why my grandmother’s tomatoes were a “must have”. By the day’s end, I would outsell all my grandmother’s workers. My success as a juvenile “sales girl” was a direct result of the communication and negotiation skills I built even as customers would try to bargain the prices of my grandma’s tomatoes. By being honest with them about the value of the product and price, I always convinced them to pay full and fair value as I had gained their trust.
Fast forward 15 years later. I find myself in the United States, fresh out of college and graduate school entering the workforce with an opportunity with the state. My humble upbringing and hard work gave me a strong sense of self-worth and values that enabled me to never look down on any role I took. From administrative to managerial, I ensured that with every position and company I worked for, I was always in control of defining who I was and what I wanted to be known for. In other words, I was creating my brand.
While I’ve had many challenges, one that stands out in my career journey has been navigating unconstructive feedback designed to derail my success. “I see feedback as a gift…some you take others you discard”. Since I’ve always had a strong sense of self-worth and confidence, I never let negative feedback either from a manager’s annual review, office gossip about why I dressed so “fancy” everyday (I’ve always dressed for the job I want), or why I prefer to eat lunch alone distract me from creating my brand.
Strategies I have taken to overcome challenges in my career include 1) Mastering my craft. I’ve always made sure I “know my stuff” i.e. expertise, work skills and technical knowhow. 2) I make sure to use the right “choice” words in my interactions with colleagues that leave a lasting impact. This means using adjectives to describe attributes that I have and intend to leverage to drive success in a project. For example, words like, “I am an executor”, “I am fair”, “and I’ll be strategic” resonate and creates an impression on people especially when you follow through. However, it is critical to use a soft tone in these conversations so as not to come across as arrogant.
My advice for young queens striving for corporate success is 1) be authentic at all times. Don’t try to be someone else. 2) Have an open, agile and inclusive mindset to enable you to share your knowledge; learn new things/take on different (sometimes risky) roles and accept help from others. You don’t have to do it all and you will get much further when you involve others. 3) Make sure you have a mentor, sponsor and a circle of support. Lastly, be kind to everyone you meet- not just those up the ladder. You never know where you may meet them in the future.
Signed by,
A Queen.