FROM THE NOTEBOOK OF... A sharing of mistakes, wisdom, and learnings by Kristin Patrick

LESSON #02: “You are stuck in the mud with your tires spinning.” -- Said by nameless CEO of a beauty corporation to me

We were attempting to move into unchartered territory and develop a first of its kind digital strategy that was complex and mired in internal politics. As a young executive, I was attempting to explain the complexities and nuances of the digital world to senior folks who may not have been as savvy about the space.

After presenting some ideas in a big room full of my peers and others, the only feedback I got was that I was stuck in the mud. I remember the hot flush of shame and embarrassment taking me over. I left the meeting feeling completely deflated and not sure where to go. 

I knew the concept I presented made sense, but at that point, I lacked the expertise to pull together a complex operational plan and unite all the various parts of the organization.

LESSON LEARNED: 

?So many lessons from this one…

For the Leader: What you said to me still rings in my mind today--- I know I was young, but I really understood the space. So please leaders, nurture passionate, young talent. Help them harness their ideas into actionable plans. Take your experience and pass it along to guide them. Please allow yourself to be vulnerable and articulate when you are going into unchartered territory as a leader -- your outcomes, plans, and solves will be richer.

For the Young Executive: I had to learn to take big ideas and never-tried-before concepts and develop them into palatable articulations and strategies. A creative concept can be amazing but if there is not a plan to operationalize them, they fall flat. A lot of creative businesspeople fall into this trap really, at any stage in their career. Even today, when I propose new ways to approach things, I need to love the creative idea, but the financial and operational plan needs to be equally as brilliant.