Richard Elling leads an all-day workshop on ZFS at USENIX LISA ’08. This is presented as-is, no editing.
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GHC09: Becoming a Person of Influence
Still trying to catch up with my notes from the talks I attended at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in October…
Jo Miller was a very popular presenter at GHC08, so was invited back this year to speak on Becoming a Person of Influence. Jo, an Aussie with a somewhat confused accent after years in California, does Women’s Leadership Coaching for a living, and I suspect from this experience of her that she’s good at it.
This talk had the particular merit of being useful to everyone attending, at whatever stage of their tech career.
I was amused that she started the session saying: “Anyone caught blogging or tweeting during the session will absolutely be invited back next year!”
From my notes:
The emerging leader’s quandary: you can’t get to the higher level job without leadership experience, but you can’t get the experience without the job.
How can you establish yourself as a leader while doing your current job?
Question: Are you the best-kept secret in your organization?
“In my company, influencing skills are the single most important success factor after knowing your job.” JoAnna Sohovich, Honeywell
Are power and influence good or bad? “Power is like manure: it really stinks if you keep it to yourself, but it’s good if you spread it around.”
Wanting to be an influencer means wanting to be a person who can make a greater difference than one person alone can.
An influencer arrives at the meeting early to greet everyone, and doesn’t wait for permission to speak when it’s her area of expertise. If you walk into a room with confidence and authority, people are predisposed to hear what you say.
Don’t think about influencing a specific situation but “how do I become a person of influence?”
First impressions count, but the cumulative impact of all impressions is more important.
The dog whisperer doesn’t train the dog – he/she actually trains the owner to exude an air of calm authority.
Our behavior teaches people how to treat us.
You can influence others in every conversation you have.
Jo asked people in the room to mention what they think of as leadership qualities. Responses included:
- know the people you’re working with, and care about them. People are not a means to an end, they ARE the end.
- be consistent and principled, good at engaging people in interesting conversations
- a leader makes you want to be a better leader
Countdown: The Six Sources of influence Available to Women Leaders
6. Positional influence: the influence inherent in your job title/role
For example, a woman was reorged into a situation where no one knew what she did, but her boss made a point of having her meet people.
“How are you introducing yourself?” You need an elevator pitch.
Building on positional influence:
you have an important job and people need to know about it
take every opportunity to educate others about the importance of your role and how you can help them
create a 30-second commercial:
1. name
2. title
3. I am responsible for…
4. come directly to me when you need…
You may need multiples “ads” to cover various aspects of your job.
Mine might include:
I’m Deirdré Straughan. I am responsible for helping people communicate about technology. Come directly to me when you need help/advice/training with social media, especially videoblogging and video streaming.
Or:
I am responsible for building and nurturing tech communities. Come directly to me when you need help with community strategy and execution.
One pitfall with positional influence is to over-rely on it and to imagine that, if you are higher up, influence comes naturally.
5. Expertise influence: background, qualifications, experience and expertise
Make sure you don’t let someone else take credit for your work!
Ways to build expertise influence:
- don’t wait for an invitation to speak up about your area of expertise
- promote your accomplishments
- present in meetings etc.
- write
- speak on panels, conferences
Pitfalls: “Are men smarter than women? No, but they sure think they are.” Women underestimate their own candlepower while men overestimate theirs (2008, Newsweek). Male job candidates are not shy to claim expertise they may not necessarily have! It’s not about paper qualifications, it’s about owning and making visible the achievements you already have.
4. Resources Influence:– the ability to attract and deploy resources you need to do your job well.
e.g. budget
Ways to increase resources influence:
- become a strong negotiator – know how to ask for and get what you need
- learn matrixed management
- cross-train others in your area
- gain visibility for the importance of your work and the effort it takes
- suggest special projects as developmental opportunities for others
3. Informational influence: being an informational powerhouse, who keeps finger on the pulse on business, personnel and organizational issues
Know the above, know who the other informational powerhouses are. Walk around and gossip, but filter useful info from noise. Seek out info about changes before they occur, e.g. new projects, opportunities, resource allocations, budget, long-range plans.
2. Direct influence aka coercive
Being firm,professional and direct when someone’s behavior is detrimental to team or org (1% rule) – when something really important is at stake. But also share a vision of what would be possible for them if they changed their behavior – show that you care.
Tips: be firm, fair, professional, direct and concise with tough news
explain what was unacceptable and why
focus on a positive vision for the future
1. Relationships influence: that which comes when you know who the key people are in your organization (and other areas of life), when you reach out to them and build authentic, trusting relationships and an influential network.
The most importnat thing you will build in your career is your network, aka your sphere of influence.
McKinsey leadership project – What drives and sustains successful female leaders? Connecting.
Think about:
Which sources of influence are you most strong in?
Which do you intend to strengthen?
The Twitter Diaries: 2009-11-29: Austin
- awake way too early. Agitated dreams. #
- finally getting a newsletter out after months. This is a lot of work. #
- Student Party at SC09 – Un Posto al Sole http://bit.ly/5DamzT #
- RT @c0t0d0s0: Comstar: A while ago, i wrote a tutorial about using iSCSI in Opensolaris and Solaris 10. While the t… http://bit.ly/6YTcaX #
- added a few photo to Countries Beginning with I » The Twitter Diaries: 2009-11-22 http://bit.ly/4T12RR #
- My Chocolate Meltdown – NYTimes http://bit.ly/5Rvtsn – if I could reach the author, I’d tell him to go to the source: http://bit.ly/7Ef2VK #
- “had been a loving father to his son… [but] cut off ties once DNA showed they were not related” http://bit.ly/4NIYMX – THAT is betrayal #
- outing to Boulder netted great Cajun brunch at Lucile’s w Tin Tin, 2 more Helen Fisher books (used), and yet another massive headache. WTF? #
- a nap and a beer seem to be helping the headache, but feeling wrung out and probably not up to roomie’s guests. #
- roomie and now live-in boyfriend bought a snow blower today. Apparently BF must now show this off to male guests in the garage beneath my rm #
- there has got to be a better way for me to spend company time and money than in wrestling with our TOTALLY SUCKY expense report system #
- need food, but the hungrier I get, the less I feel able to face a roomful of people. This would be a good time not to have a roommate #
- slept soundly with no particular dreams. Waking up slowly. Tomorrow night I see my kid. We’re both a bit nervous about that. #
- sent out a newsletter (condense of my site) y’day after 3-month hiatus. Announced the Italy chapter of my life is closed. Lost subscribers. #
- “Berlusconi’s lifestyle has earned him ‘Rockstar of the Year’ from Italian ed of Rolling Stone magazine.” http://bit.ly/8ulIGo #
- RT @darrenmoffat: Buy my co-authored book: http://amazon.com/Solaris-Security-Essentials-Microsystems-Engineers/dp/0137012330 #
- @wheninrometours – left a while ago: Countries Beginning with I » Leaving Italy http://bit.ly/4QI2xz #
- uploading photos to SmugMug. I’d forgotten what a lot of really amazing photos Ross has taken #
- so nice to work with people who can and do immediately implement useful features when I ask for them. #
- Debugging and Diagnosing Interesting OpenSolaris Kernel Problems – Sun Video http://bit.ly/7m7P41 #
- if you haven’t seen Mr. Deity, you should! http://bit.ly/5AkepI – and help support one of the funniest shows anywhere EVER #
- @LusciousPear OTOH, it helps to at least pretend to care about my feelings if you ever WANT to sleep with me. in reply to LusciousPear #
- @ThinGuy glad you liked Mr. Deity, please RT – we want these guys to be able to keep being funny! in reply to ThinGuy #
- awake since 5 am. Seems I only need 6 hrs sleep these days, so going to bed before midnight is too early. Oh, well. The extra time is useful #
- to do: try again to upload Cantrill’s LISA talk, track down more missing video, run blog metrics for Oct, do OpenSol grants, get on a plane #
- may finally be in touch with the long-lost Woodstock School classmate that EVERYONE has been looking for. She was well-loved among us. #
- @ElaineEllis I ended up going to Starbucks in Vienna because the famous coffee houses all reeked of smoke and stale beer. Disappointing. in reply to ElaineEllis #
- looking forward to T’giving/birthday in Austin, most of all to be with the amazing, wonderful Ross. That she’s my daughter is a bonus. #
- any suggestions for great events/music in Austin this week? #
- okay, finally succeeded in uploading Cantrill, now just waiting for it to process. May take a while – 1.5 hours of video! No good way to cut #
- one system I needed to do my job today has been fixed, another one not so much… #
- amused that ZManda pops up frequently as an advertiser on my personal blog/site #
- lining up plans for Austin – music to hear, friends to meet. Plus shopping and pampering with Ross. #
- I’ll be on vacation tomorrow, but finding it very hard to sit still today. #
- RT @OrganizeFISH: MEEP! RT @doctorparadox: wtf awesome: Muppets cover Bohemian Rhapsody… in HD. http://bit.ly/597YWT (via @adamhirsch) #
- among other activities today, uploading a bazillion photos to SmugMug. Wow there’s a lot of them. I been places! #
- yeah, it’s not as if I had anything better to do than recreate and resubmit this complicated expense report just because our system sucks #
- “Tigger on speed” Bryan Cantrill keynotes at LISA09: Visualizing DTrace: Sun Storage 7000 Analytics – Sun Video http://bit.ly/8ZmpEG #
- @mtuckerb @nikhilv never thought about a post-coital song, but now that you’ve mentioned it I have to ask – why that one? in reply to mtuckerb #
- O beloved expense reporting system, if I have an expense <$5 for “Meals, Domestic” can we just assume I was the only one partaking? #
- Expense System, can you NOT chastise me for spending $1200 on 1 night at hotel before allowing me to enter # of nights I actually spent? #
- High Performance Data Management Panel Discussion at Sun’s HPC Consortium – Sun Video http://bit.ly/8QYUnm #
- spent half the day in expense report hell. Hoping this all gets paid before my whopping corporate AmEx bill hits mid-December #
- I might end up cooking for Thanksgiving after all – good thing I linked the recipes I used 2 years ago: http://bit.ly/60iR8i #
- damn. Denver wifi is sucking royally, as usual. #
- @alanc at least the expense system isn’t yet asking us why we’re not sharing our hotel rooms. ; ) in reply to alanc #
- Back in Austin, one of my favorite places #
- @nikhilv that song wd definitely not work for me, since I’ve always associated it with my dad – whose name actually is Al. in reply to nikhilv #
- back at Spankyville (http://bit.ly/6FlU1D), where R is residing til she starts her global tour. It’s good to have good friends. #
- Cafe au lait and cherry strudel at Sweetish Hill on a warm sunny Austin morning. Life doesn’t suck #
- @webmink actual security value of making you take that watch off in the first place very likely = 0 in reply to webmink #
- Pre holiday traffic in Austin is hideous. Do I want to go to Whole Foods this badly? #
- “Because your eyes are slant and sloeBecause your hair is sweet to touch #
- …My heart is high again, but – oh!I doubt if this will get me much.”
Dorothy Parker # - gave up on Thanksgiving cooking because the supermarket crowds are too scary. We’ll cook turkey at some less popular time. #
- sleepy & lazy & just not going to do what any “they” think I should. Indian food and bowling tonight; we’ll figure out tomorrow, tomorrow. #
- @msgilligan not too ironic in thise case – 3 of the 4 people who wil be at this dinner attended Woodstock School in India. in reply to msgilligan #
- we’ll be having turkey etc. at the Alamo Drafthouse, with a movie. Was sold out, but we showed up in person so they added us – thx, Alamo! #
- “Every claim made by religion comes not from sources out in the world… but from the insides of people’s heads.” http://bit.ly/5aPYyL #
- I used to be addicted to checking the metrics on my website. Now it’s my videos. #
- daughter has a small new business doing kids’ portrait photography. Some parents want the digital files. How much should she charge? #
- @nonstick thanks. how much was a typical picture package, or can you give me a range? in reply to nonstick #
- RT @wanderingitaly: Dang, I’m a bad American, too–> http://bit.ly/8OVXfU #
- I’m leery of the Norman Rockwell ideals of tradition extolled today. How many of us have really EVER experienced that kind of family life? #
- “Fantastic Mr. Fox” actually is fantastic – fun, charming, different. Recommend! #
- Project Bandaloop goes to India (including Woodstock School) http://bit.ly/8gMDtO #
- http://twitpic.com/r3ua6 – My Longhorns snuggie, Thanksgiving gift from Guy #
- http://twitpic.com/r3x1i – Ross also got a Snuggie, hers included a book light #
- @ThinGuy we had to do something traditional! Besides, there’s nothing else to do on Thanksgiving in reply to ThinGuy #
- aparently we already missed the big Black Friday deals. Good. So when we do go shopping later, things will be sane, right? #
- just in time for my 47th birthday (tomorrow), photos of me (& classmates) when I was 18 http://bit.ly/6xhx1t #
- figuring out what to do in Austin on my birthday; this is helpful: Bill’s Map http://bit.ly/8W6lIM #
- Buying bras at nordstrom delightfully untraumatic ( it’s harder than you’d think when you’re unusually sized). But expensive. #
- @pizzocalabro good support is worth almost any price! in reply to pizzocalabro #
- Okay, I’ve done my part for the consumer economy today. Ps Steve Madden I love you! #
- friend sent this NSFW: A Practical Guide To Italian Sex http://bit.ly/7q3wvi my own Italian slang http://bit.ly/7Cc9ll is more comprehensive #
- @pizzocalabro is simply /not/ spending Christmas wfamily an option? One of the best Xmases I’ve had was me & Ross in Mumbai w friends. in reply to pizzocalabro #
- @pizzocalabro yeah, I get it. You may have to sneak in a hip flask to survive it, though. in reply to pizzocalabro #
- did country dance lesson at the Broken Spoke, which was fun, but too shy to hang around for the actual live music dancing. Some maneater. #
- …but at least I did get out. I guess that’s a start. #
- @bicyclemark reminded me to dig up this video of me and my life 3 years ago: Living in LLick with Dierdre Straughan http://bit.ly/5kSdcb #
- oh, wow – forgot about this one with me and Ross – Bloating in Bellagio Part 1 http://bit.ly/6kVDkm #
- @bicyclemark Lake Como is a beautiful place, but I don’t live there anymore. And that’s okay. in reply to bicyclemark #
- When you’re the early bird in the household, no one ever brings /you/ coffee in bed. #
- since I am not going to Brazil next week we’ll have my birthday dinner at Fogo de Chao in Austin, to remind me of good times in Porto Alegre #
- @sogrady SEO thing – if someone finds your comment interesting they might jump over to your site. Less likely the further down u are in reply to sogrady #
- very stuffed from birthday dinner at churrascaria… and two caipirinhas #
- Need a custom ringtone for my iPhone, but can’t figure out what to use. Past tones have included themes from Blackadder and Sex & the City #
- I just generated my #TweetCloud out of a month of my tweets – http://w33.us/35n #
- I just generated my #TweetCloud out of a year of my tweets – http://w33.us/38w #
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Birthday Portrait
After way too much to eat and drink at Fogo de Chao in Austin (as my colleague Tirthankar says of churrasca: “It’s a meat festival in your mouth!” We persuaded him that it wasn’t a good idea to say that too loudly in public…)
For the family files: here’s my brother Ian, me, and Ross.
