Sneakers + A Red Dress

An interesting little story for you this week.

All set for my West Coast travels, I had a slight fall and rolled my ankle. While I could still walk with no issue, the wearing of high heels was absolutely out of the picture.

I was quite nervous, as I had a big presentation scheduled with a new client and I knew I was going to have to make some wardrobe shifts.

It’s easy to get attached to the things we are used to and for me, high heels are one of those things. I am on the shorter side and most of you know I am a former dancer, so the goal of lengthening and making myself feel taller has always been with me in one way or another.

In my business career, walking into a conference room or a speaking gig, heels just give me that little lift, both figuratively and literally, for my confidence.?

I took a moment to pause and think about the situation. This client hired me for the services I can bring to their organization. Period. I knew I could walk into that room, heels or not, and still do my job.

And that is exactly what I did. My signature red dress and sneakers!?

It actually became part of my presentation, sharing my unfortunate injury story, and ended up being an icebreaker of sorts. A blessing in disguise. It worked with the topic of my presentation well as I spoke about building a great team and as a leader, what that takes! I kicked it off talking about the GOAT, Tom Brady, and the components of building a winning Super Bowl team. Brady is a great example of doing whatever it takes to get his team to the end.?

It’s easy to find ways to discount ourselves or make ourselves feel small. In reality, that confidence comes from within. Trust in what you can do, what you can provide, what you know and share that with the world.?

We are all human. We all have things happen in our lives that are unexpected. We can bond over those moments and still talk business. Vulnerability in leadership is a key aspect. If you need to step out of your business life, know how your work and responsibilities will be distributed. Have a good plan in place. There is an expression that says, you begin to train for your replacement the day you take a position. This doesn't mean you won’t be in that role for a long time and be very successful, it just means you must continually work hard to improve in that role, so that the next leader in your place can learn from what you’ve built.?

The next time you find yourself putting a small fear in the way of a big goal or opportunity, I encourage you to apply my newly created sneaker rule. Hey, it's summer, we gotta have some fun, right?!

Stop and think about the real reason behind your fear.

Negotiate with your feelings and reset. You are in charge!

Embrace your plan and get ready for anything.?

Adjust accordingly.?

Keep going and follow-up.

Execute with confidence.

Run away with the results.

While I may be in sneakers for the next few weeks, my heels will be back soon. In fact, this warrants buying a new pair, right? The last lesson to leave you with, celebrate and reward yourself for a job well done.