Hello, everyone. Welcome.My name is Lynell Green, and I have the privilege of of being with you today and sharing with you about audacious leadership in particular for women in the tech industry. So my background is in accounting, finance, and taxation, believe it or not. And I've been teaching leadership courses and doing executive coaching kind of on the side. And then one day, it dawned on me that I was having way more fun teaching leadership courses, doing corporate training, and ultimately helping, teams and executives with their strategy to be more effective. And I found that audacious leadership was a critical component of that. Most of my clients are in tech, and so I am really excited to be, you know, have the opportunity to speak to to women in tech today.

So our subject is leading audaciously, really discovering your voice and your genius. And when we look from there, sometimes we think about audacity, and we think about it from a negative perspective because we've many of us have heard somebody say, oh, the audacity that she did that. The audacity that he did that. So audacity as a whole gets, in my view, a bad rap. But if we look from what it actually means from a leadership standpoint, it is a combination of being courageous, being bold, be having the ability to inspire, and to mobilize ourselves and others. So today, I'd like you to take on what it would look like for you to incorporate in your leadership toolkit the tools of being an audacious leader. And what we're gonna do is we're gonna use we're gonna do a little master class today because I love looking out into the marketplace and finding examples of people that are actually living inside of, whatever it is, whatever skill we're talking about at the time.

So for purposes of our time together today, we're gonna look at Safra Katz. And Safra, if you don't know who she is, she is the CEO of, Oracle, and she's been involved in Oracle for years. But she did take over as the CEO after a little bit of a journey. So I love the fact that she shares so openly about her journey and also shares with us what we need to know to incorporate, audacious leadership into our own journey. So there's four pillars that she focuses on when she shares about leadership. She starts with no matter where you are in the organization, you need to know your business hold.

And she the next thing she talks about is that we have to deliver results. And I we're gonna talk a little bit more about this. That seems obvious, but I can tell you after being in the virtual halls and physical halls of of tech companies, many times, it is the conversation about results that people focus on as opposed to the results themselves. So we're gonna talk a little bit about that. The third pillar is thinking five moves ahead. Many times at different points in our career, we can get I'm not gonna say complacent, but there's so much going on, especially in tech, that you're not really thinking strategically. You're surviving the moment. You wanna meet your goals. You want the wins that you're committed to. You want your team to accomplish what you've promised, and you wanna get a promotion or get a raise or get more equity, whatever your game is, and we can get so sucked into that little short term game that we're not thinking five moves ahead.

So she talks to us about that. And then lastly, to lead with that apology. And as women, that's very important that we don't apologize for the fact that we are leaders, and we don't have to apologetically lead or have somewhat you know, people love talking about the imposter syndrome. That is the reason they don't actually want to lead. So let's talk about knowing your business cold. Regardless of where you are in the organization, whether you're an IC, a contractor, or you're the CEO or in the c suite and everything in between, you have to master the details. Many times, it seems like you don't have time to put your head down and study and and dig in. But I promise you, it is worth you doing that. And as Safra is reminding us, being a master of those details will set you apart in your leadership.

And if you're a team leader, you have to own what you oversee. We see time and time again where team leaders will delegate something, but they don't understand it. And because they haven't taken the time to understand it, they don't make good decisions, and they don't manage that body of work well. So if you have people to delegate to, it's important that you master what it is to lead those people and their work and that you own the fact that that is your job. It is still your job as a leader. And then lastly, outprepare everyone. And I love this because sometimes we get so caught up in going from one meeting to the next meeting to the next meeting that we haven't really taken the time to prepare the way that we would want to. And she tells us to be the most prepared person in every room and that your homework is your power.

So I want you to think about that and think about your current workload. Are you the most prepared person in every room? Have you taken the time to master the details? And if you haven't, what do you need to shift in order for you to prioritize knowing your business cold? Now she reminds us, I love this saying of hers, that you don't get credit for being a woman CEO. You get credit for knowing your numbers better than anyone else. And many times, it's our numbers, it's our goals, it's our, you know, what we need to do to scale, it's what we need to do to increase engagement on our tech platforms. There's all of these things that we have our eyes on, but we have to know those things, know how to get to them, and know how to execute our own responsibilities without, you know, without question.

So let's look at what it looks like for us to deliver results relentlessly. Now many times when we think about results, and I talked to the executives that I coach and the teams that I have the privilege of working with, many times when we talk about exceeding expectations, their minds immediately go to their their review. Oh, my six month review, you want me to get an exceeds or a greatly exceeds or a redefine? No. This is your own personal expectation. Because you and I both know that many times we can get others to think that we're doing a great job, and we know that we could do better. So this is exceeding your own expectations, and it's letting your own performance speak to yourself, first of all, but also to others. You wanna build your reputation through results and not rhetoric. And because of the visibility culture in tech, it's easy to actually master the rhetoric.

But as audacious leaders, we wanna build our reputation through results. And we also wanna build trust through consistency. Like, if you do great only in the quarters that you think you're up for promotion or only when you think your project is going to launch and that's when you show up versus being consistent all the time. Excellence isn't occasional. It is a habit. So make exceptional performance your baseline expectation. And when we say baseline, that's once again you expecting that from yourself, right, regardless of how impressed other people are. So now let's talk about strategy because at the end of the day, in order for you to be an audacious leader that is effective, you want to be thinking five moves ahead at a minimum. So those of you that are chess players, you understand that that's a common term that's utilized, thinking five moves ahead.

So if you're looking at your career right now, what are five moves ahead for you right now? If you're on a team where the product is being sunsetted, are you thinking five moves ahead? If your budget's being cut and you know that there's writing on the wall, are you thinking five moves ahead? And if your CEO is at the microphone talking about a pivot in terms of priorities and your particular project or organization or division or team is not on his priority list, are you thinking five moves ahead? So it's important that you have for yourself and also for your team a clear strategic vision that you have long term gains. Now for CEOs, m and a, merger mergers and acquisitions, you may not be worried about that if you're not at that level, but you want to have long term gains for yourself and for your own career.

You wanna make sure that you're thinking long term. And, ultimately, in the industry, if you want to stay in tech, you wanna have a way that you're becoming a thought leader, that you're actually inside the organization and outside, that you're doing the work to show your industry leadership. Because you don't wanna just be reacting. You lost a job, now you get interested. Once you get a new job, then you're disinterested, and then you get another job and you're interested. Leaders react to today. Visionaries create tomorrow. So you wanna be your strongest visionary, not at the mercy of the market or the mercy of the company you may happen to be working for at the time. So think five moves ahead.

Now this one, some of us need to get put this on a on a plaque and put it on our desk or or on our computer because we are told sometimes that, okay, women, don't don't be quiet. Don't, you know, let anybody, you know, squash your opinions. And that I agree a 100%. You don't want to be quiet just for the sake of it. But there's also the other extreme, feeling like you need to fill the silence and with with words and opinions that you haven't really thought all the way through. So if we talk about the first thing, listen more than you speak. And for some of us, we're like, yay. I do that all the time. That's what I do. But not just listen. You wanna be observing. Observing gives you strategic advantage, and it also gives you the opportunity to gather intelligence. So listen more than you speak is a mantra that I encourage us to embrace and then to make every word count.

So when you do speak, be direct and decisive, and don't leave word any room for ambiguity. Be clear. And you might come up up against a resistance, but if you're clear and you're also not you're also unapologetic, then your words will land. And when I mean land, meaning they can be heard. And you have to be willing to stand your ground even if you're getting opposition. Doesn't mean you can't collaborate, but it also doesn't mean you fold, at the slightest bit of adversity. And then lastly, use your stillness as power. Your restraint becomes your edge. So don't feel silence, as I mentioned earlier, with unnecessary words. So we're now looking at what how being quiet is actually a leadership trait. It's actually part of an audacious leadership trait. And we don't always think about being quiet as a leadership trait, but it is.

It is knowing when to talk, knowing what to say when you do talk so that you are heard every time. So now let's look at what it looks like to lead from a courageous perspective. Because many times as leaders and as women in particular, we talk about being courageous and yet when we get in the room, we may or may not be courageous. So I want you to think back on a time where you know you surrendered your courage, like you backed down and you know you were right. You know what you had to say was going to make a difference, and yet you backed down anyway. And sometimes we back down because we wanna be liked. We don't want any conflict. We don't want anybody to to think that we're being bossy or bullying, so we back down.

So one of the principles here is that we should lead, don't please. And you're not here to be liked. You're here to drive results and transformation. Now as I mentioned at the beginning, this whole approach is directed toward the leaders and CEOs. And you may think, well, I'm not a CEO, Lynell. I'm not I'm not there yet. Well, just think about what your career could look like if you started thinking this way now. If you started looking through these lenses now. So if you look five years, ten years from now, where do you want to be? And if you want to be closer to being executive or director or possibly a c suite, executive or even a founder, all of these principles are principles that you want in your toolkit. So lead, don't please. Make hard calls. Now some of you may have had to lay people off.

Maybe at this point in your career, you haven't had to do that. But as team leaders, many times, you have to start making those calls where somebody's not performing, and you've done a PIP with them. You've done your best, but you know that all the energy you're spending with them and all the energy your team is spending with them, you're actually hurting yourself and hurting your progress. So it's important that as a leader that you're willing to make hard calls and for yourself as well and and also for the people, on your team or that you're accountable for. And then lastly, in your desire and goal to be courageous, stand your ground. Sometimes we just capitulate the moment somebody says something that's doesn't necessarily align with our opinion or our recommendation. Now it's important that we take feedback and criticism in stride.

We have to be open, especially in tech. It's a constant. But that doesn't mean that you allow that criticism or feedback to undermine your self confidence and actually have you cave in on your personal convictions. You want to be you want to know that your genius was there before that feedback. Your genius was there before that review, and you wanna continue to build and get stronger as it relates to that and not bow down just because somebody agreed or disagree didn't agree. Because at the end of the day, popularity fades, but respect endures. So you wanna choose the path that earns, and this is the critical word, lasting respect. Because there is respect that comes on a temporary basis, but you want respect that is lasting. So as we think about audacious leadership, we also that includes being courageous.

Now let's look for a minute at our strategic circle. Now we don't I I know we say that it takes a village to raise a child. It takes a village to raise a woman in tech. So there's what you do to build your team if you're a team leader that you surround yourself with people who question, not people that just flatter you. You wanna make sure you're spending your energy on things that are important and not getting lost in the weeds. You want to close your blind spots. If you're not strong in certain areas, make sure you're getting team members that that have those skills or getting cross functional, collaborators that can support you. And then you wanna demand excellence from yourself and from others. That's important.

And, also, when we talk about we talk about strategic your strategic circle, we're also talking about the fact that you have a stakeholder map where all the people that are impacting and influencing your career. Your career is many times being decided and discussed in rooms that you're not in. So when you think about your stakeholder map, it is important that you look around and see what alliances you need, possibly sponsorships you need that so that you can continue to grow and develop, as a leader and as a woman in particular. So that means look around. If your organization has women has groups for women, if they have training programs for women, and even training programs in general, you wanna take advantage of the resources that your company is offering so that you can grow and develop. So lastly, we're gonna end with some her Safra Katz, her last words of wisdom to us is to claim your authority.

Lead as a CEO, not the woman CEO, but the CEO. So by claiming your authority, never shrink or over explain your place at the table. You belong there. You're not an impersonator or an imposter. Lead through competence. Let expertise, not gender, define your leadership. Excellence transcends demographics. And lastly, reframe perceptions. Let your work speak for itself. Your gender isn't the headline. Your impact is. And lastly, stop qualifying yourself. You're not a female leader. You are the leader. So I'd love if I know we have a couple more minutes if there's any questions.