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S09 E001

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You don't get ahead by sitting back and hoping someone will tap you on the shoulder. You don't gain power that way either. You don't manage your career by being passive.

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You have to make your own opportunities. Welcome to the Trill MBA show, the career management podcast teaching black women how to become unstoppable at work. I'm Felicia Ann Rose, aka the Trillist MBA, delivering the inspiring truth through strategies and tactics so you feel protected, confident, and ready to conquer your career.

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Hey guys, welcome back to season nine. Oh my goodness, season nine, we are back. The Trill MBA show is in full effect.

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I am your host, if we haven't met yet, Felicia Ann Rose Enuha, and I'm excited to kick off this brand new season with a very powerful series based on Dr. Jeffrey Pfeffer's book, Seven Rules of Power. If you don't have this book, there'll be a link in the show notes where you can get this book. I am going to break down each of the seven rules of power.

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If you've ever felt like you're working twice as hard and you're only getting half the recognition, this series is for you because here's the truth. Success isn't just about doing good work. It's about learning how to navigate power.

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Before we even get into the rules, I want to be clear about something. We have been taught that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. But the reality is that power is a tool.

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Just like money is a tool, power is a tool. It's not inherently good or bad. The people who use the power and people who use money, what their intentions are, where their heart is, what they're doing, that's where we can say that's good or that's bad.

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That's where it's fair to say that person's evil or that thing they did is evil. And far too often we hear, well, good people don't seek power. That's the problem.

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That's why we're struggling because it's a lot of great people out here and they think power is bad. And so we let these other people amass power and then we're stuck with them inflicting their power and wielding their power on us in ways that are not humane. So today we're starting with rule number one, get out of your own way.

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Because let me tell you, the biggest barrier for us to get power isn't external. It isn't other people stopping us from getting power. Actually, the majority of the time, it's us.

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We are the problem. But we're going to change that today. So download the digital guide that goes with this episode and let's get started.

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Let's talk about what it means to get out of your own way. And trust me, you are not alone in needing to get out of your own way. There are so many beliefs that I hold that hold me back.

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And that's really what the crux of getting out of your own way is. It's understanding what are the beliefs that you are operating under and what are the habits and behaviors that you exhibit that are fueled by your beliefs and what you believe and think about yourself. Basically, what are you thinking that's holding you back? In the book, Seven Rules of Power, Dr. Pfeffer argues that one of the biggest obstacles to power is not external barriers. It's the internal mindset that makes us doubt our own ability to navigate power.

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And for black women in corporate spaces, that means unlearning a lot of what we've been taught about playing small and being polite, you know, the respectability politics of it all. Wait your turn, know your lane. I know it's exhausting, but we have been doing this and we've been holding these beliefs mostly to keep ourselves safe.

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So you haven't necessarily been wrong in how you've been trying to play the game because let's face it, we've just been trying to survive. And it's not just us black women. I think everybody at work has just been trying to survive.

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But for us, we've had some nuances in there that we need to talk about. We have to realize that we've also been taught not to gain power. When in reality, power is the thing that will help set us free.

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Power will take us from surviving to thriving. And it doesn't mean that you have to become a nasty evil person in order to make that change. But we also have to recognize that power requires us to adapt.

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And it's not just about being authentic. Okay. We've all been told you want to be in a space that allows you to bring your full self to work.

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But here's the reality. Authenticity alone won't get you power. Yeah, sure.

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Show up as yourself and you see it. It works for some people. You thinking some of these people acting a black ass fool and they're out here winning.

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Yes. But is that in the context of the game that you need to play to not only survive and thrive? We're going to talk about that. Power requires playing the game.

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And that doesn't mean losing yourself. It means learning how to operate strategically in spaces that weren't designed for you to win in. You gotta understand it's true.

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So a man thinketh, so is he. So a man thinketh, so is he. Your self-perception shapes how others see you.

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This is true for all of us. In this book, there's an example of a woman who worked in Silicon Valley. Her name is Christine.

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And she was describing herself and she downplayed all of her achievements. And the advice that Dr. Pfeffer gave her was, hey, what are other adjectives about yourself that are powerful, that are true, that are you, but they're positive and they give you an image of strength. They give you an image of power.

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So one thing I want you to do, I want you to reflect on how are you talking about yourself at work? Are you lifting yourself up or are you shrinking yourself? And there's some exercises in the workbook that will help you with this reflection point. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be back. Hey guys, Felicia here.

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I'm so excited that you have come back to join us for this new season. I am thrilled to workshop with you, talk with you and get you not just surviving, but thriving. So I need you to do me a favor.

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Go to TrillMBA.com and make sure you download our free resources and follow along this season as we workshop your career. I just want you to have your best possible outcome. So again, TrillMBA.com, join our mailing list and you will have access to every tool that I've created and the new tools that I will create this season.

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Now let's get back to the show. So one of the examples in this book is about Rukaiyah Adams. She is a chief investment officer over a $750 million trust.

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And she broke into finance, a space definitely dominated by white men. I mean, am I lying? Like we're just going to keep it a book, but she did it by flipping what could have been a disadvantage being a black woman into a power move. And it's very important that we take this nugget away.

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Instead of waiting for an opportunity, she made her own. She became the go-to person in her firm because people trusted her to say the things they were afraid to say. She positioned herself as indispensable.

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And that's what power is about, making sure people need you. But in order for you to do this, you have to get out of your own way. What if Rukaiyah had decided that when she took Dr. Pfeffer's class in business school, the paths to power, what if she decided, oh, that doesn't work for me.

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That's what white boys do. Right? And I know a lot of you, as we go through this series, you're going to say, Felicia, you know, we can't do that. And I'll be like, girl, yes, we can.

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Si se puede. Okay. Because this is our time to flip the script.

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We've got to do something different in order to see something different. The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same things over and over again, thinking you're going to get a different result. This is a concrete social science proven way to think through gaining power so that you make your life easier.

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You make your life more comfortable. You hedge your bets against layoffs and downturns. What we're going to do is shore up your career to make it as foolproof as possible.

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That's what this is truly about. And for Rukaiyah Adams, she's a great example of taking this knowledge and executing against it and putting it into action. You see, power isn't just about having influence.

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It's about creating leverage. Leverage for yourself. And if people need you and you put yourself in that position, they can't ignore you.

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But in order for you to do that, you have to identify in yourself who you are and whose you are. And then you have to stand 10 toes down in that fact about what you can bring a value that's indispensable. And you have to get very clear on it and you have to action against it.

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So your call to action this week is to identify one way to increase your visibility this week. Whether that's speaking up in a meeting, volunteering for a high-impact project, or making sure your work gets noticed. Okay? So I want you to think about what you're going to do.

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And I want you to use the worksheet that goes with this episode to help you map that plan out. Hit me up in the comments below and let me know the one thing you're going to do this week to start your power-gaining journey. And as you do that, we'll be right back.

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Hey guys, I am so excited that you are here watching this series on Power. Please share this with your friends. This information is so crucial to you having a career that brings you peace and joy and ease in life.

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It truly is a game changer to gain and use power in your career management strategy. So follow along. These next episodes are all about Dr. Pfeffer's book, The Seven Rules of Power.

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You don't want to miss it. I have digital guides. Go to TrillMBA.com and sign up for our freebies.

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And there you will find all of the resources I've created over the years and the digital guides that go along with these episodes. Now let's get back to the show. All right, y'all listen, let's get into some strategies because you know I'm about these tips, tricks, and tactics.

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So here are three strategies you can start using today to get out of your own way and step into your power. I want you first to reframe your narrative. You have to own your narrative.

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Power starts with how you talk about yourself and how you talk about yourself sets your narrative. So if you don't frame yourself as a leader, no one else will. If you don't operate as if you're a leader, no one else will think you are leader.

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So I want you to write down three powerful statements about your value at work. You should be able to do this in the guide that you have to go along with the show. And stop saying, I just want help with X and start saying, I lead with X. You want to stop saying, I just or I think or I'm sorry or I believe.

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You want to say things like, I know, I did, I completed, I'm a master at. And stop apologizing. Number two, stop apologizing for your own success.

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Okay. There's no need to do that. Be confident and speak about what you do with confidence.

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Now, the third thing you're going to want to work on is building your confidence through small wins. Power grows through action. So you want to take one step this week that positions you as a power player, a decision maker.

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You want to follow up on a project and make sure your contributions are acknowledged. You want to set up a coffee chat with your manager's manager, learn more about them, and let your presence be known. That's what you want to do this week.

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And why am I saying, do these things if you've never done them or already done them or if your inclination is, Felicia, I just want to get my work done and I just want to go home. Well, guess what? When you have a mass power, you get to do that. You get to do that and not have to worry about, am I going to be on the layoff list, the next round of layoffs in the next restructure? But when you don't have power, one day you get an email with that 15 minutes with HR.

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These are the things, if we implement them, that will work for us to help protect us as best that we can. We need to do everything. The year has already started.

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It's Black History Month. Child, you already seen what's going down, how it's going down. But one thing they can't deny is our excellence, but they need to know about our excellence.

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And it starts with you getting out of your own way, getting out of your own head and knowing that you belong. You add value and you are here to play. Okay.

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So now power is about playing the game and playing to win. And if that makes you uncomfortable, ask yourself, who benefits from you not playing the game? Who benefits from you playing small? So the next step, if you haven't done it already, download your free worksheet for this episode. The link will be in the show notes, and this will help you get started implementing these strategies right away.

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And then the other thing I want you to do is once you get access to the worksheets, you will then have access to a live Q and A that I will be doing to answer questions later on this week about your worksheets. So I don't want you to feel like you're on this journey alone. I want you to know that I'm there with you.

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So the link to get the download will be in the show notes, and then the day and time for the live Q&A will be sent to you and you will have exclusive access to that. Now, let's make this real. This week, I want you to track how often you downplay yourself at work.

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Then I want you to shift how you talk about yourself and how you see yourself. And I want you to pay attention to how people react to you differently. When you walk in your power, your God-given power as a human being.

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Now, if this episode resonates with you and you feel like, you know what, I do need to figure out how to play this game, how to protect myself, how to not just survive, but thrive in my career and my life, because we spend so much time at work. Then I want you to take a second and share this with another person in your network. Because when we lift each other up, we all win.

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We all we got. So y'all, you don't want to miss next week. So come on back, make sure you download your guide and we're going to get right into how we strategically break the rules.

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Until next time, keep it Trill. Well, guys, that's a wrap on another great episode of the career management podcast for black women. Yes, girl, this show is just for you.

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We're here to tell you how to play that chessboard at work, girl. So subscribe, comment, like, follow us on social media @TrillMBAshow. Listen, every time you tell one of your friends, you share this information, you share this podcast, it helps us to grow and make even more dope content just for you.

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Unapologetically. That's why we're here. Now, if you are facing a workplace dilemma, such as a performance improvement plan, or you're not able to secure your promotion and raise that you have worked for, and you have deserved, basically, if these people are playing in your face, we are here to help go to TrillMBA.com/coaching to schedule a one time one on one call to workshop your specific dilemma with me, or schedule a console to get more information about the consulting packages that I do offer on a longer-term basis.

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As always, you can reach out to us with your listener letters and your questions at TrillMBA.com. Until next time, guys, focus on your best possible outcome. Ask for help when you need it. Please, please, please ask for help.

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And as always, keep it true. I'll see y'all next week.