Leading with Confidence

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Leading with Confidence
The women of Connect: Professional Women’s Network offer
advice on how to embrace your role as supervisor.

With all the buzz about Sheryl Sandberg’s
bestselling book Lean In and Marissa Mayer heading
up Yahoo!, there’s been a lot of talk about the need
for more women in leadership roles in the workplace.
While we can all agree that’s a great goal,
the million-dollar question is how do we get there?

Aside from the givens (hard work and talent)
one of the keys to climbing the ladder is being
able to embrace the role of supervisor when

the time comes. Here, the women of Connect—
including some industry experts—offer insights
on how to make your transition from team

member to leader seamless and struggle-free.

“Gaining respect and trust in a supervisory position
can make or break your relationship with employees.
Once those are established, then motivating,
disciplining, coaching and leading will fall more
easily into place.”
Annette Walker, Financial Advisor Associate

“Confidence is one of the most important steps to
embracing being a supervisor. If you have no confidence in
yourself, you will be too soft because you want everyone to
like you, or so hard that everyone hates you. In either
scenario you set yourself up for failure.”
Cynthia Jones, HR Manager

THE EXPERT SAYS:
“Looking at the role of supervisor as a
teacher and facilitator is essential to
having the right perspective.”
Jeanne Hugg, Author of The Supervisor’s Companion

“I adopted an attitude of facilitator and that made the
transition easier for me. My mantra is „My job is to give
you the support and tools you need to be successful at
your job.‟ In this way, I can be forceful and assertive
and not cross into the negative stereotypes.”
Lyndsay Noble, Director, Data Insights & Operations
CONNECT: PROFESSIONAL WOMEN‟S NETWORK

“If you are a flexible, fair person, open to other's
opinions and a manger with an open-door policy, then
there should be no problem being a supervisor. But, I
think one cannot be a supervisor/manager and a
personal friend at the same time.”
Sheila Sweet, Healthcare Staffing and Recruiting


THE EXPERT SAYS:
“Research tells us that „soft skills‟ are as important as
the „hard skills,‟ or technical skills, when it comes to
building a team or having good communication about
the constant changes in today's fast-paced workplace.”

Lois Philips, PhD, Consultant, Speaker, Strategic Planner


“There is nothing wrong with nurturing and
supervising—as long as the balance is right.
People who work for you want to know you
care about them and their families.”
Sandy Glover, CEO Gold Shield


“Managing people means being open and honest with your employees,
„paying it forward‟ and trying to expand their careers where possible,
and being able to deal with office politics and various levels of
management. You also have to be supportive and fight for your
employees when warranted, or discipline or even fire when necessary.”
Barbara Urban, Product Sales


“My advice to other women, including my direct
reports who are learning to manage, has been to
learn what you don‟t know, model good behavior,
and always apologize when you‟re wrong.”
Carolyn Vivaldi, Development & Alumni Communications

THE EXPERT SAYS:
“Women often choose to stay in individual contributor roles
because they think they‟re not ready, or they accept the role and
find it‟s too much work because they take on everyone‟s. Once
they were willing to ask for help and support, they learned to
delegate and trust their own abilities, and managing was actually
no more work and usually much more flexible.”
Jody Detjen, Co-Author of The Orange Line: A Woman’s Guide to
Integrating Career, Family and Life.


“Being one of the girls is the quickest way to dilute your
role as supervisor. People want to be lead, managed
and supervised, but not by one of their friends. Slowly
separate yourself from the pack and you will become a
much more effective.”
Carolina Brenna, Administrative Professional

“The biggest challenge leaders face is building a team
all reaching for the same goals with optimism and
appreciation for everyone's talents. Effective leaders are
approachable, willing to learn from everyone and value
input of all team members. It's about building
relationships.”
Cheryl Sheppard, Regional Sales Leader

“Supervision is a combination of compassion, drive, vision
and the willingness to do any task you would assign to
someone else should the need arise. It's a balancing act,
but done well it can be not only a successful occupation
but a rewarding one as well—in more than just the
monetary sense.”
Astrid Boyce, Lampworker, Metalsmith


THE EXPERT SAYS:
“Training, good role models, and access to mentors—
all things that are often the first to be cut from an HR
department—can/will ensure that a woman stays on
track, able to ensure productivity and high morale.”
Lois Philips, PhD, Consultant, Speaker, Strategic Planner


“Just as with teaching, the best supervisors will always
be mindful that they, too, are students. When knowledge
is cultivated as tools to be shared rather than a means to
power, then everyone working with a supervisor has a
chance to raise the bar for the entire department.”
Paula Kates, Digital Media Marketing Specialist


“Don‟t get overly emotional. Emotion is great when
you can keep it on an even keel. Passion for what you
do and excitement to help your customers are the
main feelings you should let come to work with you.”
Carrie Robersone, Business Owner, Riles Naturals


THE EXPERT SAYS:
“Leadership skills can be learned, but the commitment
to cultivating a resilient mindset in order to weather the
challenges ahead is an inside job that has to be
actively pursued on a day-to-day basis.”
Jackie Capers-Brown, Author of Get Unstuck Now


“I found after 25 years of supervising mostly men
and a few women in the construction industry, the
easiest answer was to always be honest, set
expectations, trust then verify, follow through on
promises and give respect to gain respect.”
Deborah Kosierowski, Realtor


“In the end, our comfort level as a supervisor/
leader/manager has to be developed and nurtured from
within ourselves. There are many ways to do this,
including working with a mentor, taking additional
classes or trainings, participating in Toastmasters,
reading books on the topic, etc.”
Judy Cash, Workforce Development Professional


Join the conversation!
Connect: Professional Women’s Network, Powered by Citi, is an
online community on LinkedIn that helps women achieve the
careers they want and discuss the issues relevant to their success.

For more great insights from Connect members, check out
the discussions: Is it more difficult for women to embrace
the role of supervisor?, Advice for Bosses and
What is the best way to transition from
peer to supervisor?
Visit linkedin.com/womenconnect for
more information and to join
the group for free!

©2013 LinkedIn Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

CONNECT: PROFESSIONAL WOMEN‟S NETWORK 23

Photo Credits
Cover: International Monetary Fund/Flickr
Slide 2: Boris N/Shutterstock
Slide 4: TED Conference/Flickr
Slide 5: World Economic Forum/Flickr
Slide 6: Scott Murph/Shutterstock
Slide 7: Daniel Brock/Flickr
Slide 8: BrAt82/Shutterstock
Slide 10: West Point - The U.S. Military/Flickr
Slide 12: Ezzan Yusop/Flickr
Slide 14: Scott Mucci/Flickr
Slide 16: U.S. Department of Agriculture/Flickr
Slide 19: Alexey Losevich/Shutterstock
Slide 21: US Department of Education/Flickr
Slide 22: Angel James de Ocampo/Flickr



Leading with Confidence

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