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In my mind, power equated to asshole and evil.

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But after reading the book, I realized, oh, power is a tool.

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Welcome to The Trill MBA Show, the career management podcast teaching black women how to
become unstoppable at work.

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I'm Felicia Ann Rose Enuha, AKA the Trillest MBA delivering the inspiring truth
through strategies and tactics.

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So you feel protected, confident, and ready to conquer your career.

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Hey guys, welcome back to the show.

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I'm so excited today because we have our first guest.

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After wrapping up the Seven Rules of Power, I wanted to bring on the person who introduced
me to Dr.

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Pfeffer's work, my former manager, now one of my besties.

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Welcome to the show, Breana Jones.

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How are you?

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Good morning, Felicia.

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How are you?

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I'm doing well.

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Thank you for coming on the show.

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So first of all, I learned something new every time I talked to you.

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Like every time we talk on the phone, I leave the conversation like, huh, OK, I think
about that.

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And one of the things that I love

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that you do is you always are looking and curious about new knowledge.

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How can I get better?

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How can I sharpen my tool kit and make sure I'm ready?

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So one of the things I wanna thank you for is you introduced me to this book, Power, and
it blew my mind.

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Cause I was like, we did this wrong.

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completely totally

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completely did this wrong.

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But I had questions because I was like, OK, this sounds good in theory, this gaining power
at work.

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But does this work for black people?

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Does this work for women?

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Does this work for us?

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That was my question.

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And the funniest thing was I went searching for a more recent book because power came out
in 2010.

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So then I found the seven rules of power.

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which came out in 2022.

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And I was like, you just answered my question, sir.

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The tagline is surprising but true advice on how to get things done and advance your
career.

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And the funniest thing is I had that question and I felt like he wrote this book to answer
that question.

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And in the beginning of this book, he talks about how he wasn't gonna write another book
on power.

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He was just like, I wouldn't write in this book, but clearly y'all don't get it.

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So let me tell you one more time.

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So I want to know from you, how did you even come across this book Power?

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Ironically enough, someone shared it with me.

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So my line sister called me one day and she said, what's your address?

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I figured it was a Christmas card.

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And she sent me a book and she said she had gone through this woman on board training
session and she had been exposed to the book and she said, everyone needs to read it.

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And when I read it, I thought of you.

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And so I wanted to share a copy with you.

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I really appreciate that.

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And then I read it and I was like, so first, like immediately I read it and I got angry.

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I said, I've been doing this completely and totally wrong.

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Maybe he's wrong.

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Cause there's no way that I've been this wrong.

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But then I kept reading and I said, and then I referenced other things.

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So because you've worked for me, you've heard me say everybody needs to read Sun Tzu's Art
of War.

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Like not the cleaned up version that they do for business, like the original.

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This is a, I mean, this supported the tenants that I learned in Art of War.

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Behind me, I have Robert Green's 48 Laws of Power, which is a little bit satiric,
definitely more scathing, but again, it still plays out.

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So the tenants and the concepts behind it of like, this is how you gain power.

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are so very true and I'm just like, I don't understand how I missed it.

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So what I did was because it had been shared with me, I figured let me share it with
everybody.

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And I think I recall the conversation where we talked about it and I said, I don't think
you will like this book.

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You did.

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You are always anti-power.

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But then the more I read it, I realized this book is telling you it's not about power as
an end goal.

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So this isn't a guide for how to be a bond filler.

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That's 48 laws of power.

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This is telling you how to use power for your end objective.

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And I said, well, since I know you are, you know,

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This was something that you could and should have.

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So get you a copy.

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Yes.

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So you shared it with me.

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And before reading the book, I think it would be fair to say, like, I don't want nothing
to do with power because in my mind, power equated to asshole and evil.

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But after reading the book, I realized, power is a tool.

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So now I equate power with money.

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because I've never thought money was evil.

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I, as a half Nigerian Capricorn, I think money is great.

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Now, I think if you love money and that's all you care about, you don't care about other
people, then I think that's where you go awry, because it's the love of money is evil,

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like you worshiping money.

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But God gave us tools.

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And now I understand,

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Power is simply another tool.

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What you do with the power, just like what you do with the money, that's what makes the
difference.

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That's where you sell your soul or you don't sell your soul.

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I mean, that's where you get bells and bubs in government.

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And the funny thing was he wanted to write this book about that man.

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I will not say bells and bubs name, but you know, it's polarizing.

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But when you look at the seven rules of power,

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And every time I see like, they just breaking all these rules.

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Just like the constitution doesn't mean anything, blah, blah, blah.

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And it literally is this, this is the second rule.

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It's just break all the rules.

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That's how you show you have power.

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That's how you gain power.

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And so it left me feeling like, huh, you know, like that sounds good in theory, but as a
black woman, how will I be penalized?

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I can see that.

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would say out of all the rules he put forth, the breaking of the rules was the one that
set most not right with me.

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Not because I'm particularly a rule follower, but to your point, this is really going to
work for me because, but then I realized he said that you had to break the rules.

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He didn't say how you break the rules.

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And so

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I realize, yeah, there been times when I've gone in and tried to break rules, but I broke
the rules the way other people broke rules.

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No, no, no, no.

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You have to break the rules as only you and only you as a black woman can do.

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it's maybe you have to be a little bit more strategic in how you break the rules.

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Maybe you have to test.

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mean, go in, don't be a Tyrannosaurus Rex, be a Velociraptor.

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So no, you don't go full throttle on breaking the rules.

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Let me test.

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does this gate look like?

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Where are the weak points?

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And then you get through.

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And once you break that first rule, then it gets subsequently easier.

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But you have to be, I mean, with all of this, you have to be strategic.

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As a black woman, no, you're not going to take this book and say, hey, all of these rules
apply to me and I can do it like, you know, John does.

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But you have to put it in our vernacular, our lexicon, and that's how you're going to be
able to get it out.

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Yeah, it has to be in the context of our lived experience because what we don't need
everybody doing is just going to work and like full bull and China shop because I mean the

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forces are going to lift you and kick you out.

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And to be clear, everyone can't be the powerful person because if everyone is vying for
power, then we see how that appears now.

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I think what you have to do is you have to, again, are you looking, what's the power for
you in that situation?

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Is it your team?

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Is it your department?

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Is it your company?

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Is it your family?

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Again, these rules apply to everywhere.

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just got to, you know, again, adapt.

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Yeah.

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I think one of the most powerful rules is that building your personal brand.

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And I feel like it's something that now has become a cliche almost.

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You got to build your brand.

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And as a marketer, when people say that, it means a certain thing to me.

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And I'll be looking at people like, you don't even know what a brand is.

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I hate that term.

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a classically trained CPG marketer, when someone says, build your brand, I'm looking at
them like, do you really have the time, energy and money to build your brand?

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Because building a brand and it's not just slap on a new shade of lipstick or update your
resume or get on social media and post some pictures.

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You really have to start with the, who are you?

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What are your values?

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What's your mission?

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Like, what are your absolute do's and don'ts?

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Where do you want to be?

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Who are you talking to?

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It's a process.

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So building your brand?

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I laugh.

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Yeah, I want people to stop using build your brand when it comes to a personal brand,
because what people think building a personal brand is, like changing your wardrobe and

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changing your hair and then cosplaying as some whatever you believe is a boss babe adult.

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And that's not building your personal brand.

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You're being an actress.

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What you truly want to do is own and drive your narrative.

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You want to tell your story.

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Yes, and you want to craft the story that you want that's authentic to you, but it's
really about driving your narrative and controlling your reputation.

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That's really what this is about in the workplace.

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When it comes to, I'm trying to get promoted, if you use LinkedIn strategically, that
could help you, but you have to understand the company culture that you're working within.

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If you work in a more conservative culture,

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they don't want you out there splashy.

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you know, they even in, Courtney, what level you are, the PR people may have some words
for you.

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The corporate comms people may want to dictate what you say and what you do in your public
space.

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So when you're playing this game, what's more important is the narrative.

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Are you dependable?

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Are you reliable?

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Do you get stuff done?

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Right.

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Are you driving the business?

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Are you a go-to for information?

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Like, what is that narrative about you that adds value to the company?

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Well, I think brand is like power in that it's a tool and it's for what are you using it?

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So I always start with why, why are we doing this?

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Why am I building my brand?

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Why am I telling my story?

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Why am I trying to get this power?

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Is it for something as simple as I need that promotion or I want that promotion or I want
that title or is it I want freedom?

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I want options.

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I want security.

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And this book was so powerful for me because I thought I had put those pieces in place to
get security and freedom and options.

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And I realized that, yes, I had done the work, but me doing the work presented the
illusion of security and freedom and options because I lacked the small yet powerful

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element of power.

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I think one of the things that I regret in my career, and I hate to even have a regret
around career, like, cause at the end of the day, the day gone year.

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So I'm just like, I don't want to have regrets about work.

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Cause at the end of the day, this isn't going to mean anything.

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This isn't the meaningful thing.

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When I take my last breath, this will not be the meaningful thing.

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However, comma right now, as I am in the market.

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looking for my next role.

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The regret that I have is that I didn't curate a network that has more power.

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I feel like half of my network right now is unemployed or being threatened to be
unemployed because I have people that are my friends that work for the government.

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No security, no freedom.

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know the options.

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And then I look at myself and I'm like, wow, because I don't have power.

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I can't give somebody a job.

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That's where I was just like, something's got to change and we've got to move differently,
especially now more than ever.

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I mean, I am tired of unprecedented times.

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Let's go back to boring.

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I wanna go back to boring, predictable, you know?

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Like, I don't even think people are using pips anymore.

193
00:14:43,031 --> 00:14:45,034
I think they just firing people.

194
00:14:45,034 --> 00:14:47,276
Just, you're fired.

195
00:14:47,377 --> 00:14:49,329
We don't care about your performance, we don't care about nothing.

196
00:14:49,329 --> 00:14:51,962
We just fired you for no good reason.

197
00:14:52,352 --> 00:14:53,562
At Wilkinshire.

198
00:14:53,562 --> 00:14:57,503
So when I read the book, I wondered if it was still applicable.

199
00:14:57,784 --> 00:14:58,914
Is it still applicable?

200
00:14:58,914 --> 00:15:06,506
And I realized, yes, because to your point, the day has not ended.

201
00:15:06,506 --> 00:15:15,549
So I still, in my next opportunity, have the ability to go in, clean slate, and really put
these tools into place.

202
00:15:15,929 --> 00:15:19,478
But the really powerful thing, at least for me, was

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When I read this book, I could go back and I could do a post-mortem on my entire career.

204
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And I knew exactly where I had messed up.

205
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I knew exactly where I said, like the part where he said, don't work harder, essentially
work smarter, do less work, network more.

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00:15:39,664 --> 00:15:45,365
And I said, because I had been brought up to believe in a meritocracy.

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00:15:46,826 --> 00:15:48,397
show people what you can do.

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They'll appreciate you.

209
00:15:49,578 --> 00:15:56,362
They may not like you, which again, get over the likeability piece was in there and I was
like, I nailed that intentionally or otherwise.

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00:15:56,362 --> 00:15:59,053
I nailed that piece.

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00:15:59,193 --> 00:16:06,838
That's an element that we as women have to deal with because at that time in my career, I
had babies.

212
00:16:06,898 --> 00:16:14,114
And so yes, I have a phenomenal spouse who had, said, Hey, I need to go to this happy
hour.

213
00:16:14,114 --> 00:16:16,516
He'd have been like, yeah, I got the kids, it's fine.

214
00:16:16,516 --> 00:16:20,879
Or my mother, when she retired, she moved down here, she would have said, yeah, I got it.

215
00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:22,821
But I was tired.

216
00:16:24,283 --> 00:16:25,964
But you know why I was tired?

217
00:16:25,964 --> 00:16:30,387
Because I was working and doing the work and doing those things.

218
00:16:30,748 --> 00:16:34,652
And I also loved in this book that he said, do the extra stuff.

219
00:16:34,652 --> 00:16:41,117
So essentially what this man said was, don't do what they hired you to do, do what you
want to do.

220
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And I said,

221
00:16:43,714 --> 00:16:56,548
I missed that because I was doing what they wanted me to do for a paycheck where what I
should have been doing was what I wanted to do for my end goal, which was freedom,

222
00:16:56,548 --> 00:16:59,020
security, and options.

223
00:16:59,906 --> 00:17:06,953
we're gonna dive deeper into that because I think some people are gonna be like, what?

224
00:17:07,535 --> 00:17:16,763
So when we get back from this quick break, we're gonna go into what does it look like to
do what you wanna do at work when we get back.

225
00:17:20,750 --> 00:17:24,914
Hey guys, so we're just beginning the new season.

226
00:17:24,914 --> 00:17:38,124
We're off to a running start, but we have digital tools that accompany each episode to
help you work through some of the tactics and strategies that you need to put into place

227
00:17:38,124 --> 00:17:40,512
so that you're thriving at work.

228
00:17:40,512 --> 00:17:52,906
So go to TrillMBA.com and if you haven't already, sign up for our freebies and you'll get
access to not only these digital tools that go with these episodes, but you'll also get

229
00:17:52,906 --> 00:17:58,763
access to every digital tool I've ever created that's free to you to help you in your
career.

230
00:17:58,763 --> 00:18:01,505
Now let's get back to the show.

231
00:18:05,816 --> 00:18:12,416
So how would you have done what you wanted versus doing quote unquote your job?

232
00:18:13,122 --> 00:18:20,608
So again, my job was to manage PNLs or to manage products or brands.

233
00:18:20,689 --> 00:18:24,171
that's what I, I actually enjoyed that.

234
00:18:24,232 --> 00:18:26,533
But again, I liked to commute.

235
00:18:26,533 --> 00:18:27,784
I liked dealing with the community.

236
00:18:27,784 --> 00:18:32,298
liked being part of an ERG community.

237
00:18:32,458 --> 00:18:41,644
An example of this was, I joined, whether it was the Black Champions Network or Beacon or
whatever it was called at the organization.

238
00:18:41,644 --> 00:18:46,095
I joined it and in some cases as the executive, I...

239
00:18:48,256 --> 00:18:53,637
I didn't always make the organization acknowledge that.

240
00:18:53,637 --> 00:18:57,318
So I didn't get credit for those things.

241
00:18:57,318 --> 00:19:07,701
As a black woman, I should have been a little bit more strategic and said, sure, I will
head up an ERG, but I'm going to head up the ERG that's headed by this person who has

242
00:19:07,701 --> 00:19:08,681
power.

243
00:19:08,681 --> 00:19:10,892
I'm going to pick the one

244
00:19:10,892 --> 00:19:14,044
This is somebody that I can't ever get on his calendar.

245
00:19:14,044 --> 00:19:19,968
I can't ever get to talk to him, but I know he's active in this ERG.

246
00:19:20,609 --> 00:19:29,055
I may not be part of that community, but I'm a learn to be part of that community because
it's going to give me exposure to that person.

247
00:19:30,196 --> 00:19:33,699
That's how I would reconfigure what I did.

248
00:19:33,699 --> 00:19:39,022
I would have focused also not just on

249
00:19:39,052 --> 00:19:53,108
the things that made me comfortable, but the things that gave me power, the access, the
visibility, the person who was going to speak about me because they knew me in a different

250
00:19:53,108 --> 00:19:53,689
way.

251
00:19:53,689 --> 00:19:58,231
Everybody knew Breana was going to launch that product on time.

252
00:19:58,231 --> 00:20:06,254
Everybody knew Breana was going to come in under budget, but you may not know that
Breana also speaks three languages.

253
00:20:06,264 --> 00:20:18,522
Because Breana showed that off here or you may not know which came into the likeability
piece because we all know Sometimes we're not viewed as likable for whatever reason

254
00:20:18,522 --> 00:20:30,370
because I couldn't be likable when I was coming in under budget and driving this but it
gave somebody a different purview of me which Facilitated the power so that's what I meant

255
00:20:30,370 --> 00:20:31,290
by that

256
00:20:31,296 --> 00:20:35,007
Yeah, I want to give people an example.

257
00:20:35,067 --> 00:20:48,671
One of the companies I worked at when I was more junior, there was a black woman leader
and she was a great manager, like good people manager really took care of her people.

258
00:20:48,851 --> 00:20:53,052
And she should have been promoted way sooner than she was.

259
00:20:53,052 --> 00:20:58,796
In fact, our little nickname for her was Sweet Baby Jesus because she was just so kind.

260
00:20:58,796 --> 00:21:00,270
Ooh, I never gonna make it to the top.

261
00:21:00,270 --> 00:21:03,730
And it's not that she's not gonna make, she's still working and stuff, right?

262
00:21:03,730 --> 00:21:05,770
It's not that she's not gonna make it.

263
00:21:05,770 --> 00:21:19,610
It's just that the critique that she would get is that we don't know if you're gonna be
able to show executive toughness or some mess they made up, right?

264
00:21:19,710 --> 00:21:22,360
But they deemed her for being nice.

265
00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:23,931
Which is in the book.

266
00:21:24,492 --> 00:21:34,160
I don't know how many times I went through highlighted, underlined, put little nasty notes
next to the part where he said, it is better to be feared than liked.

267
00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:39,305
And I said, Another place that I went wrong.

268
00:21:39,305 --> 00:21:40,365
Right.

269
00:21:40,526 --> 00:21:46,230
Went out of my way to be perceived as pet, not threat.

270
00:21:46,351 --> 00:21:50,053
When maybe I needed to give you a little bit more of that bite.

271
00:21:50,291 --> 00:21:51,380
Thread

272
00:21:51,438 --> 00:21:56,841
can't be full out threat, but I can give glimpses or how am I doing it?

273
00:21:56,861 --> 00:22:01,204
And funny enough, when I read it, I thought of Kamala Harris.

274
00:22:01,204 --> 00:22:03,725
She was perceived as too nice.

275
00:22:03,725 --> 00:22:07,858
The smile, the kindness, you know, people talked about that.

276
00:22:07,858 --> 00:22:12,010
And I was like, she really needed to come out there with a little bit more bite.

277
00:22:12,142 --> 00:22:13,683
Okay, so this is the conundrum.

278
00:22:13,683 --> 00:22:15,284
Let's talk about it, right?

279
00:22:15,284 --> 00:22:28,430
Because on one hand, as a woman, you feel like I'm gonna get dinged if I show up in all
this masculine energy and I give it back to you what you're putting out there.

280
00:22:28,871 --> 00:22:32,213
Now you're gonna be mad at me for putting a mirror to you.

281
00:22:32,213 --> 00:22:34,294
And so we felt the effects of that.

282
00:22:34,294 --> 00:22:35,274
That's happened.

283
00:22:35,274 --> 00:22:42,232
That's a lived experience for a lot of women in these spaces where you have to have some

284
00:22:42,232 --> 00:22:43,862
grip and some power.

285
00:22:43,862 --> 00:22:49,294
So then you retreat and you're like, okay, well, I'm to show up as the nice person.

286
00:22:49,294 --> 00:22:50,584
I'm going to be nice.

287
00:22:50,584 --> 00:22:54,725
And then your competence is questioned.

288
00:22:54,886 --> 00:22:56,846
And he talks about that in these books.

289
00:22:56,846 --> 00:23:01,927
Like if you're nice or you're amenable, then they'll question your competence.

290
00:23:01,927 --> 00:23:04,508
And I'm like, what?

291
00:23:04,588 --> 00:23:11,042
And then she got them little cute comebacks, but like she didn't really get down and dirty
with it.

292
00:23:11,042 --> 00:23:14,884
And I think what happened was people didn't respect that.

293
00:23:14,884 --> 00:23:29,670
They actually respected this ugly, vile language and narrative this fool created for her,
even though she was 20 million times more educated and accomplished than he could ever be.

294
00:23:29,670 --> 00:23:36,272
So instead of her coming down and speaking in that language, because that's what it feels
like, right?

295
00:23:36,272 --> 00:23:39,534
It feels like you're dumbing yourself down.

296
00:23:39,534 --> 00:23:40,182
But

297
00:23:40,182 --> 00:23:41,293
look at your audience.

298
00:23:41,293 --> 00:23:43,884
And I think that's a big lesson we can take.

299
00:23:43,884 --> 00:23:46,025
Look at the landscape.

300
00:23:46,045 --> 00:23:48,387
How does your company operate?

301
00:23:48,387 --> 00:23:50,548
What is your company culture?

302
00:23:50,548 --> 00:23:51,128
Right?

303
00:23:51,128 --> 00:24:02,234
One of the things he says in the seven rules of power is he talks about not showing up as
likable to be likable, but showing up how people need you.

304
00:24:02,234 --> 00:24:08,918
And it's funny, cause I thought about you and I was like, Breana doesn't say it this, but
you said it in the context of managing people.

305
00:24:08,918 --> 00:24:09,666
Like,

306
00:24:09,666 --> 00:24:15,831
be the manager that that person needs, not the manager you want to be.

307
00:24:15,831 --> 00:24:20,374
like, this is what he talks about, because we've talked about this authenticity, right?

308
00:24:20,375 --> 00:24:23,978
He's like, throw that authenticity BS out the window.

309
00:24:23,978 --> 00:24:25,999
Show up to gain allies.

310
00:24:25,999 --> 00:24:28,501
Like show up with a purpose.

311
00:24:28,642 --> 00:24:34,486
And I think that's no different whether you're managing up, managing down, managing side
to side.

312
00:24:34,566 --> 00:24:39,266
You have to show up how people need you to show up

313
00:24:39,266 --> 00:24:44,250
so that you can drive your narrative with them and get to your end goal.

314
00:24:44,290 --> 00:24:48,614
But the first thing you have to do is you have to have a plan.

315
00:24:49,135 --> 00:24:51,487
And so we're going to talk about that.

316
00:24:51,487 --> 00:24:53,338
We're gonna take a quick break.

317
00:24:53,338 --> 00:25:02,085
When we come back, we're gonna talk about your plan to apply these principles when we come
back from the break.

318
00:25:05,934 --> 00:25:11,138
Okay guys, like we're talking about today, you need to make a plan.

319
00:25:11,138 --> 00:25:14,054
And I have just the perfect tool for you.

320
00:25:14,054 --> 00:25:16,243
I have it on discount right now.

321
00:25:16,243 --> 00:25:24,770
If you go to TrillMBA.com, you can get to my session about building a career plan using
the PI model.

322
00:25:24,770 --> 00:25:34,878
So we talk about getting your performance, your image, and your exposure up and why all of
those things play into your plan for power.

323
00:25:34,892 --> 00:25:46,801
So not only do I want you to use the free tools that I've made available to you for the
seven episodes of Power, but I also want you to spend some investment on yourself and go

324
00:25:46,801 --> 00:25:53,696
through this course and create your pie model plan to manage your career in Power.

325
00:25:53,902 --> 00:25:56,298
All right, now let's get back to the show.

326
00:26:00,910 --> 00:26:02,331
right guys, welcome back.

327
00:26:02,331 --> 00:26:16,236
Before we wrap up, we're going to get into some high level thought processes on how you
can implement some of these rules of power as a black woman in corporate.

328
00:26:16,256 --> 00:26:20,337
And if you're not a black woman and you're watching or listening, thank you for joining.

329
00:26:20,337 --> 00:26:22,518
These rules apply to you too.

330
00:26:23,306 --> 00:26:27,738
I mean, these rules apply to reason.

331
00:26:27,738 --> 00:26:32,000
Everybody can't be successful is because everyone's going to interpret it differently.

332
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:40,393
So I think when you're putting your plan together, the first thing you got to think about
is, must this mean for me?

333
00:26:40,393 --> 00:26:49,637
So you can't go through here again, these seven steps, amazing, but you can't go through
these seven the way that you've always gone through, or you would always go.

334
00:26:49,637 --> 00:26:52,914
So the one about getting information.

335
00:26:52,914 --> 00:26:55,436
You know, I'm always big on getting information.

336
00:26:55,436 --> 00:27:02,722
If you haven't been able to get information or the information you've gotten previously
hasn't worked for you, you got to think about how am I going to change that?

337
00:27:02,722 --> 00:27:11,930
So I personally think these would be easier to implement in a new job and a new career and
a new setting.

338
00:27:11,930 --> 00:27:18,435
But you don't have to, you just have to tweak and not do what you've always done.

339
00:27:18,435 --> 00:27:22,488
You have to unlearn to acquire that power.

340
00:27:22,488 --> 00:27:25,630
So that speaks to rule number one in the seven rules of power.

341
00:27:25,630 --> 00:27:27,381
Get out of your own way.

342
00:27:27,381 --> 00:27:31,363
This whole, don't want to build a personal friend.

343
00:27:31,444 --> 00:27:34,246
I'm not going to break rules because I'm scared.

344
00:27:34,246 --> 00:27:37,508
I just want to work and get paid and go home.

345
00:27:37,508 --> 00:27:40,089
I don't want to go to the happy hour.

346
00:27:40,130 --> 00:27:42,491
I just want to be left alone.

347
00:27:42,491 --> 00:27:47,284
Then you're going to be left out to slaughter when the layoffs come.

348
00:27:47,606 --> 00:27:49,367
be a little bit more blunt.

349
00:27:49,628 --> 00:27:51,489
What you're doing isn't working.

350
00:27:51,910 --> 00:27:57,684
So doing your job gets you a paycheck, but it does not get you your end goal.

351
00:27:57,684 --> 00:27:59,877
It does not get you freedom.

352
00:27:59,877 --> 00:28:03,600
It does not get you security and it does not get you options.

353
00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:06,422
It likely doesn't even get you visibility.

354
00:28:06,422 --> 00:28:16,126
Or if it does, gets you visibility as the person who gets stuff done, not the person that
they want to bring into the inner circle.

355
00:28:16,126 --> 00:28:16,416
Right.

356
00:28:16,416 --> 00:28:23,291
So you have to rethink that and you have to say, yeah, I'm tired.

357
00:28:23,291 --> 00:28:24,262
Why are you tired?

358
00:28:24,262 --> 00:28:29,715
You're tired because you spent 10 hours responding to emails.

359
00:28:30,096 --> 00:28:32,617
Stop responding to all those emails.

360
00:28:32,638 --> 00:28:35,340
Respond to the ones that matter the most first.

361
00:28:35,340 --> 00:28:36,140
Yeah.

362
00:28:36,140 --> 00:28:37,401
That's this whole book.

363
00:28:37,401 --> 00:28:39,392
This whole book talks about

364
00:28:39,638 --> 00:28:44,001
Your job is actually the vehicle by which you are going to gain power.

365
00:28:44,001 --> 00:28:49,405
So how do you leverage your job to get what you want?

366
00:28:49,485 --> 00:28:52,787
And if you want a paycheck, keep doing what you want to do.

367
00:28:52,787 --> 00:28:56,189
And again, no judgment, love things.

368
00:28:56,530 --> 00:29:08,178
But if you are saying, I am not happy, I am dissatisfied, I want a seat at the table, then
you have to rethink how you are thinking about work.

369
00:29:08,418 --> 00:29:09,878
That's one.

370
00:29:10,018 --> 00:29:12,998
Now let's go another direction.

371
00:29:12,998 --> 00:29:22,282
If you want to keep a steady paycheck, if you want to build a better sense of stability,
then you need to gain power.

372
00:29:22,582 --> 00:29:29,344
Because you only focused on getting that paycheck, it will be the fastest way that you
lose that paycheck.

373
00:29:29,364 --> 00:29:32,205
And you'll be scrambling to try to figure out another paycheck.

374
00:29:32,205 --> 00:29:35,826
And you won't, you don't have any power, you haven't built any power.

375
00:29:35,826 --> 00:29:37,726
So now you stuck.

376
00:29:37,806 --> 00:29:41,366
And I'm speaking from some personal experience here, right?

377
00:29:41,366 --> 00:29:44,406
Like I hadn't built power.

378
00:29:44,406 --> 00:29:57,526
And so what that means is I am not having the career that I should be having in my mind or
the career that I thought I was going to have more stability, more predictability, because

379
00:29:57,526 --> 00:30:00,766
I don't have power to create that in my career.

380
00:30:01,088 --> 00:30:07,060
I again, I've been the senior VP, I've been the head of marketing, I've been the CMO.

381
00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:10,221
My resume is not going to get me my next job.

382
00:30:10,281 --> 00:30:25,315
My next job is coming from, hey, I heard about you, or I know you worked with so-and-so on
that project, or so-and-so spoke well or spoke glowingly about you because you had a

383
00:30:25,315 --> 00:30:27,386
conversation here.

384
00:30:27,386 --> 00:30:28,666
And so...

385
00:30:28,928 --> 00:30:31,918
Again, it's not the what I've done.

386
00:30:31,918 --> 00:30:38,123
It's the how I've leveraged what I've done to put me in the right spaces.

387
00:30:38,564 --> 00:30:41,726
That's what power is for me.

388
00:30:42,410 --> 00:30:45,111
Yes, that is so...

389
00:30:45,711 --> 00:30:54,514
Listen, Breana, I could talk with you all day, but before I let you go, I need two last
questions.

390
00:30:54,514 --> 00:31:03,537
One, what do you wish people reading these books will do differently the next day after
they finish?

391
00:31:03,537 --> 00:31:06,878
What is the first thing you would want somebody to implement or start?

392
00:31:06,878 --> 00:31:08,798
Where do you want people to start?

393
00:31:09,272 --> 00:31:18,307
first thing I want people to do when they read this, if it hasn't already happened as you
were reading it, is again, go back and do that.

394
00:31:18,307 --> 00:31:25,071
Really go through and honestly look at where did you go wrong?

395
00:31:25,611 --> 00:31:29,253
Was it you should have turned left when you went right?

396
00:31:29,273 --> 00:31:31,895
Or was it you didn't go far enough?

397
00:31:31,895 --> 00:31:37,758
But think about how you did not achieve that step.

398
00:31:37,878 --> 00:31:42,514
so that you can go in and achieve it and change that for the next time.

399
00:31:42,926 --> 00:31:43,732
Perfect.

400
00:31:43,732 --> 00:31:46,868
And then where can people connect with you?

401
00:31:46,868 --> 00:31:56,476
As Felicia said, I'm on LinkedIn and I'm one of those people who went, you know, typical,
had a job, was radio silent, didn't care about building my brand.

402
00:31:56,476 --> 00:31:58,888
I was too busy building other people's brands.

403
00:31:58,888 --> 00:32:01,950
But recently I've said, why not?

404
00:32:01,950 --> 00:32:05,073
Somebody asked me, why was I hiding?

405
00:32:05,073 --> 00:32:07,495
So I've decided to come out from the dark.

406
00:32:07,495 --> 00:32:10,007
Breana Jones on LinkedIn.

407
00:32:10,007 --> 00:32:14,801
Feel free to connect, follow, please engage.

408
00:32:14,801 --> 00:32:16,582
I have time.

409
00:32:16,582 --> 00:32:20,026
And I have some future projects coming out.

410
00:32:20,026 --> 00:32:22,910
I am previewing this on here for you, Felicia.

411
00:32:22,910 --> 00:32:24,261
I don't even think you know this.

412
00:32:24,261 --> 00:32:27,175
This is exclusive.

413
00:32:27,175 --> 00:32:29,717
The underachieving overachiever.

414
00:32:32,580 --> 00:32:34,948
I'm so excited.

415
00:32:34,948 --> 00:32:37,213
is this a book, a newsletter?

416
00:32:37,592 --> 00:32:39,952
Definitely going to be a book of essays.

417
00:32:39,952 --> 00:32:40,805
Yes.

418
00:32:40,805 --> 00:32:43,424
We're putting some things on sub stack

419
00:32:43,950 --> 00:32:45,110
I'm so excited.

420
00:32:45,110 --> 00:32:51,712
Okay, so if you don't know Breana Jones, you know Breana Jones now and check out her
LinkedIn guys.

421
00:32:51,712 --> 00:32:56,033
She's forever dropping gems every day, it feels like.

422
00:32:56,033 --> 00:32:59,274
So make sure you connect with her and do me a favor.

423
00:32:59,274 --> 00:33:06,506
When you connect with her, if you're trying to connect in her network, let her know that
you found her on this podcast.

424
00:33:06,506 --> 00:33:11,567
Don't just click connect randomly and don't have any context.

425
00:33:11,567 --> 00:33:13,838
I don't know why people do that on LinkedIn.

426
00:33:14,530 --> 00:33:15,794
Give me some context.

427
00:33:15,794 --> 00:33:22,177
The is I have a rubric for who I connect with and how quickly I connect with them.

428
00:33:22,177 --> 00:33:27,580
So if you can put some context and you say, Hey, I found you through Felicia.

429
00:33:27,580 --> 00:33:29,241
I found you through Trill MBA.

430
00:33:29,241 --> 00:33:32,532
Then I am much quicker to respond.

431
00:33:32,588 --> 00:33:34,180
Yes, please do that.

432
00:33:34,180 --> 00:33:38,085
And so guys, listen, we're all we got.

433
00:33:38,085 --> 00:33:41,347
Breana, I appreciate your support.

434
00:33:41,449 --> 00:33:43,361
I appreciate the lessons.

435
00:33:43,361 --> 00:33:47,946
I appreciate you sharing the lessons with my audience, everybody out there.

436
00:33:47,946 --> 00:33:50,048
Let's give it up for Breana John.

437
00:33:52,718 --> 00:34:06,598
All right, so if this conversation resonated with you, I want you to go back and listen to
any of the episodes in the Seven Rules of Power series that just wrapped up last week so

438
00:34:06,598 --> 00:34:20,278
that you can deepen your understanding about how to enact these rules and how to engage
and gain power in your career, which is more important now than ever.

439
00:34:20,396 --> 00:34:30,311
The other thing is I want you to share your biggest takeaways on this conversation and on
these seven rules of power in social media.

440
00:34:30,311 --> 00:34:35,914
So if you're watching us on YouTube, share in the comments, like your thoughts, let us
know.

441
00:34:35,914 --> 00:34:37,075
What are you struggling with?

442
00:34:37,075 --> 00:34:43,478
Ask us questions there and let us know how you're applying these insights to your own
career.

443
00:34:43,478 --> 00:34:44,206
So.

444
00:34:44,206 --> 00:34:46,646
let us know what's going on.

445
00:34:46,646 --> 00:34:57,906
And that also helps us as we continue to talk about, and I continue to bring on people who
are working to not only enact power in their own careers, but helping other people enact

446
00:34:57,906 --> 00:35:00,626
power in their careers as well.

447
00:35:00,626 --> 00:35:03,606
So this season is all about power, guys.

448
00:35:03,606 --> 00:35:06,086
We are going to take back our power.

449
00:35:06,086 --> 00:35:11,446
We're going to take control of our careers, and we're just going to be badasses all year
long this year.

450
00:35:11,446 --> 00:35:12,366
OK?

451
00:35:12,366 --> 00:35:13,286
So.

452
00:35:13,304 --> 00:35:18,720
Thank you for watching the show and until next time, keep it real.

453
00:35:25,432 --> 00:35:31,424
Well guys, that's a wrap on another great episode of the Career Management Podcast for
Black Women.

454
00:35:31,424 --> 00:35:33,505
Yes, girl, this show is just for you.

455
00:35:33,505 --> 00:35:44,130
We're here to tell you how to play that chessboard at work, So, subscribe, comment, like,
follow us on social media @TrillMBAShow.

456
00:35:44,130 --> 00:35:54,830
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.

457
00:35:54,830 --> 00:35:57,731
just for you, unapologetically.

458
00:35:57,751 --> 00:35:59,251
That's why we're here.

459
00:35:59,291 --> 00:36:12,315
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

460
00:36:12,315 --> 00:36:18,837
deserved, basically, if these people are play playing in your face, we are here to help.

461
00:36:18,837 --> 00:36:22,220
Go to trillmba.com/coaching

462
00:36:22,220 --> 00:36:29,053
to schedule a one-time one-on-one call to workshop your specific dilemma with me.

463
00:36:29,153 --> 00:36:37,696
Or schedule a consult to get more information about the consulting packages that I do
offer on a longer-term basis.

464
00:36:37,696 --> 00:36:44,759
As always, you can reach out to us with your listener letters and your questions at
trillmba.com.

465
00:36:44,759 --> 00:36:49,281
Until next time, guys, focus on your best possible outcome.

466
00:36:49,281 --> 00:36:51,320
Ask for help when you need it.

467
00:36:51,320 --> 00:36:53,398
Please, please, please ask for help.

468
00:36:53,398 --> 00:36:56,088
And as always, keep it true.

469
00:36:56,088 --> 00:36:57,852
I'll see y'all next week.

470
00:37:04,707 --> 00:37:05,718
Make a mends

