Laura Barker Coaching

When I was asked to give advice to future women in business leadership, I paused for a moment before responding.

Did I want to add to the cacophony of voices telling women to “lean in” and “do their best” and “work smarter, not harder?”

It’s not that any of this advice is bad. Much of it is really good, actually, when accompanied with actionable steps.

What I struggled with is that these voices feel like they come from a place of lack. When you hear, “Do this” there’s an implied, “Don’t do that.”

Instead, I recommended looking within yourself instead of externally. Find your purpose.

When you have a purpose associated with what you do, you will grow your leadership bigger and faster.

Your impact becomes greater as you align yourself internally and externally.

From that place of resonance, you lead with conviction and strength.

What would you advise future women in business leadership?



13 Tips for Future Women in Business Leadership: https://startupnation.com/grow-your-business/thought-leadership/13-tips-for-future-women-in-leadership-terkel-farmiloe/

Ever heard of the “6-to-9?” I hadn’t, until I read an article this morning about the amount of hours Gen Zs are putting in to work. The 6-to-9 refers to time spent on your side hustle before going to your regular 9-to-5 job.

I get it. I think all of us, not just Gen Zs, have felt the need to prove ourselves especially in those early stages of the career.

And our culture admires and even glorifies hyper-productivity.

What I can share as a mid-career woman is the impact of that hyper-productivity, not just personally but as a former HR professional.

The cost of that hyper-productivity over time is a devaluing of your emotions – because they get in the way of getting stuff done – and a conditioning in which your self-acceptance is predicated on the next success.

My recommendation? Recognize that external achievement won’t make you happy. It’s like a Cookie Monster that’s never sated. As soon as you feed it one cookie, it needs another.

Look within. Identify your values. If your side hustle comes from your values, it is internally driven and will sustain you over the long term. I’m not anti-side hustle. I want it to come from the right place, from you internally not from external pressure.

What are your thoughts on hyper-productivity? Motivator or de-motivator?

Challenge appropriately.

Each of us has strengths and weaknesses. In my former career as an HR professional, I saw way too much time spent “improving” weaknesses and not enough time on accentuating strengths.

To all the managers out there,

⇢ Challenge your team by focusing on their sᴛʀᴇɴɢᴛʜs.

If someone enjoys public speaking, let them present a project update at the next meeting. If another enjoys researching, challenge them to creatively explore concepts or ways to do things better. If a third loves to organize, let them do so.

Challenging appropriately elicits peak performance by focusing on strengths. Let others shine and, guess what? They will!

Stretch your team, not by asking them to improve a weakness, but by asking them to maximize their strengths.

Want more tips? Download my free guide on Coaching for Peak Performance.


Manager Guide for Peak Performance Coaching:

How to Coach for Peak Performance