Leading with Kaila Richardson: Strategies for Effective Leadership

I wanted to mix up this week's newsletter by testing some of the theories and modules in the Women in Leadership Program from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville with someone outside of it.?

In this issue, I interview Kaila C. Richardson, CPA, MIIPS.

I have known Kaila since undergrad. We met in a marketing class and have been friends ever since. Kaila is now a Senior Manager of Strategic Projects and Risk Management and has a Master of Integrated Innovation for Products and Services from 美国卡内基梅隆大学 .?

Leaders encompass all kinds of things. There are professional, project management-type leaders and there are ones with that instinct to lead.?One of the four metrics we talked about in one of the modules was how leaders need to have agency authenticity. They need to be able to have a connection and wholeness of themselves. I wanted to talk specifically about authenticity because that's something we hear about a lot. But it can be kind of a nebulous term.?

What would you tell someone who wants to increase her leadership skills but they're not sure what authenticity means or how it applies to being a leader?

That's an amazing question, Lily. I'm glad we're kicking off our conversation with that. I was at a networking event and the idea of authenticity came up. When you go to networking events and you're trying to meet people or get some basic overall advice without knowing who and what you are, the advice tends to be, “Be authentic” or “Stay authentic.”?This advice lends itself to your nebulous description. If I'm going and meeting someone for the first time, what does that mean, especially in terms of being a woman business??

The networking event was actually coffee with an amazing woman in Dallas. She was telling me how people come to her, she's like, “I want to hear your story.” So I think that's also my definition as well. That authenticity is:

• Who are you?
• What is your story??
• What makes you unique??

That's the authenticity people are looking for. For instance, yeah, I'm a badass corporate accountant today. I do a lot to help my current employer but I didn't start that way.?

“There's a blessing and a gift in every step in your life, whether or not it's where you want to be at that moment.”

Lily, when I met you, I was working at a very famous pretzel stand (which people still love and they're amazing pretzels, don't get me wrong), but 15 years ago when I was working there to see where I am today, and to know all the steps I've taken to get here. My 15-year-old self wouldn't have been able to tell she was going to be where she is today.

I think it's an important part of my journey because I learned so much about managing people and running a business, and what it was to do resource management - things that you don't think you need to know at that age. To me, authenticity is telling people about my life and talking about certain aspects of it that helped me get to where I am today, along with what I learned at each step on the road. There's a blessing and a gift in every step of your life, whether or not it's where you want to be at that moment.

Thought Exercise: Reflect on your current strengths and skills. Look back at different stages of your career: how you began, the skills you cultivated, and the path you've followed to reach your current position.

Lily: In one of our modules, they took from the first movie, Inside Out Leadership Lessons On Emotional Intelligence from Pixar. We're all human. Emotions come out at work, even if we try to keep a level head. Leaders need to be able to balance out different people's emotions that they're feeling at that time.?

What do you think the role of emotional intelligence plays as a leadership skill?

I think it's is a very important leadership skill. When you look at being a leader, that implies that you have people that you are responsible for. As we've come to learn, we're all different. We're all dealing with things on different days and as a leader, you have to know yourself and your team to a certain extent to maintain that adaptiveness and flexibility.?

• How are you going to get your job done??
• How are you going to get through your day-to-day responsibilities while balancing these needs and emotions that you might have??

That being said, emotional intelligence is not the only thing you need to be a leader. I have seen several trends where people tend to highlight that as the only thing that makes you a great leader. You got to know your stuff, be able to teach, and break it down in a way that everybody can understand. It's not easy.?

A few years ago, I started managing teams and managing direct reports. You go in and the initial way to break down information and give it to someone is the way that you would receive it. We're all different. We're all amazing humans. We're not all going to receive the information or perceive it in the same way.

I love emotional intelligence. I love giving people space to embrace those emotions and know that's what makes us human and a member of a team. But it has to be paired with other things, especially in a working environment. When you look at professional versus personal.

For instance, some of the advice (I've unfortunately fallen victim to this myself early in my career) is to build rapport and build some of those emotional things with your co-workers and your manager. But you do have to be careful about what you share. You don't want to overshare. It doesn't lend itself to helping you in a professional environment. So it is a balancing act.?

In short, emotional intelligence is a super important skill to have. There are a lot of amazing books written on the topic if you're one of those people who needs to read more about it and the theory behind it. On a day-to-day basis, just be great humans, and you'll slowly attract people into your orbit as you become more authentic.?

Lily: One of the things I want to hit on is you don't need the title of manager or executive or leader to be a leader. Part of that starts with recognizing, like what you said, what's over-sharing versus what's helpful to bond with the team and create that cohesiveness.?

How has your perception of being a leader changed, especially since you've started taking on direct reports?

I would like to credit my dad because he learned leadership skills from the military. That was a lot of my early education on being a leader. When you look at the way the military in terms of leadership there are instances where you are responsible for someone's life in a lot of cases. I think a lot of those skills are very applicable in certain areas. I want to credit him since some of your early education starts with your parents and their experiences.?

I remember being at the famous pretzel place. “Shift lead” was my title. That meant I had to count down the cash flow, close out the register, and settle the credit card machine to make sure we got paid. After you learn those tasks and added responsibility, you realize that you have to manage breaks. In the case of food service, you might have someone who's under the age of 18 or at the age of 16. What are they allowed to do? You have to know the rules.?

If I'm asking them to do something, I'm also willing to do it.

We had to do the dishes every night. I made it a personal goal to do dishes once or twice a month, depending on whom I had in the store, because it was important to me that they see that I model that behavior. If I'm asking them to do something, I'm also willing to do it.

That was one of my first life lessons, so to speak, with leadership. You might be managing a team for two or three hours, but these are not your direct reports. It is very much a team, whoever luck of the draw schedule versus where I've come to now in my leadership.?

I still believe in modeling by example. We're coming up on a major holiday in the United States, and while we have one of the days off, unfortunately, we have to work the day after the holiday. I am going out of town, but I'm going to take my laptop. I'm going to work remotely so that I can be there for my team, because they still have deliverables, and it is my responsibility to ensure that they get those deliverables done.?

I met with my team and I stressed to them while I am doing this for the needs of the business I want you to know that when you take PTO that you're able to shut your machine down and go and take care of yourself. So it was basically like a do, as I say, not what I do. I wanted to emphasize that to them because it's important to me that my team takes care of themselves.

There's some personal responsibility and ownership, but I think the responsibility with me, as a leader, is giving them a space where they feel confident to come to me and say, hey, I want to be able to do this. And we work through a plan so that the work continues to get done.?

I want to wrap it up by leaving you an open-ended question. Do you have any leadership lessons to share with the Women in Leadership newsletter?

I think big one, and maybe this goes back to your agency, but the biggest thing I can leave you with is leadership is taking responsibility and ownership. Sometimes we've seen in the past that people have confused leadership with having to have a direct report or being a “team lead”. But you can be a leader at any stage in your career.?

“Leadership is taking responsibility and taking ownership.”

That means taking ownership of where you are in life what you can contribute and how you can add value. Sometimes you're the person on the team who knows their stuff - the subject matter expert. Anybody can come to you and get a question answered.?

Other iterations of leadership are having that team and leading people to greatness. When you take that ownership and responsibility, and dare I say, your authenticity - that can come out in your leadership. You don't need a direct report or a team. You just need to know your stuff and be you.

You can find Kaila C. Richardson, CPA, MIIPS on LinkedIn. Make sure to reach out and tell her what you thought of the interview!

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