Hi everyone, here’s what we have for you this week:
How do you go about selecting which leader to work for? In this week’s episode of The Everyday Leader, Rushika Pattni shares her recent experience of doing her due diligence before deciding to join a new startup and report directly to the founder.
CoffeeChat in 2021 by the numbers. We share a summary of the progress we’ve made throughout the year.
Thanks for your support and contributions this year! This is our last email newsletter of the year. The team at CoffeeChat wishes you a safe and restful year-end holiday season, and are looking forward to further leadership and coaching collaborations in the new year!
Read on for more details…
Selecting leaders to work for, learning when to step up and step down, and developing a leadership style as an introvert
Here are a few highlights from the conversation with Rushika:
No matter what sector you enter, there will always be an element of people: In her first role, she was tasked with helping implement Salesforce software at a client of Vera Solutions. But she was surprised by the amount of partner relationship management that was required to get the job done successfully. Many of us forget about this as we think about sectors to pursue. It was during this first role where Rushika began learning the skill of patience and developing a listening mindset.
Learn when to step up and step down: In her role as a leadership course facilitator at the African Leadership University, she learned about classroom management and finding ways to carefully encourage and facilitate conversation among a wide range of opinions. This approach has come in handy as she has developed her leadership style as a self-described introvert.
Career progression doesn’t necessarily need to mean a regional or global role: Rushika is originally from Tanzania. She studied abroad for university at Yale, where she realized that she wanted to travel and work abroad further before returning to Tanzania to make her impact. She first worked in India and Rwanda, and since then has grown her career in leadership roles within Tanzania-focused companies.
Be intentional in selecting the type of leader you want to work for: Before stepping into her current role, Rushika had worked closely with a number of leaders at different companies. When deciding to join a new startup and report directly to the founder, she shares that she made sure to think carefully about their working style, sense of urgency and execution, connection and passion for the problem they are addressing, and how they treat their team. From her experience, it’s important to know to what extent you’ll be able to influence strategy, and how your skills complement the current leadership team. You can do this discovery and screening process by asking your own questions and due diligence during the interview stages and by asking current and former staff.
CoffeeChat in 2021: By The Numbers
Here’s the progress we made this year:
268 sponsored 1:1 coaching sessions
10 new companies supported
95 new coaches and experts screened and added to our network
17 episodes of our new podcast published
32 free group coaching sessions hosted
25 companies participated in our inaugural Manager Support Snapshot
Thanks to all of the coaches and partners that made this happen!
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season!
Thanks for support and interest in our work at CoffeeChat throughout the year. We look forward to continue our mission in 2022! If you’re interested in partnering with us, please get in touch early next year to schedule a call to discuss further.