Cindy Pace is a remarkable woman. In her day job, she is a global talent and diversity leader with expertise in advancing women in business and corporate leadership.
She’s also a lecturer, researcher and adjunct professor of organizational leadership.
And recently she received her doctorate in learning and leadership, while working — more than full-time.
Pace would be the first to admit that she wasn’t always purposeful about placing herself in leadership roles. Early in her career, a defining moment changed all that when she was thrust into a highly visible leadership role.
A colleague of Pace’s became ill in the middle of planning a global diversity conference. When the colleague needed to take time off, Pace was invited to step up and lead.
“My boss came into my office for one of those ‘put on your big girl pants’ conversations and said, ‘Cindy, I need your help. I know that you’ve been contributing and influencing behind the scenes, but I need you to step up and lead this thing. Can you do it?’” Pace recalls.
In that moment, though she was feeling a bit terrified, Pace had the self-awareness to realize, “Someone sees the leader in me. I should be seeing the leader in me,” she says.
Pace accepted the challenge and planned the conference for more than 200 attendees. Her success in the role and the experiences and exposure that came with it changed everything.
“It was a turning point in my career, and a turning point in me seeing myself as a leader,” she reflects.
“It was not until this particular event that others got to see what I could do,” Pace says. Before that push, she says, “I did not realize how much I was dancing around the daisies. I was not really stepping up to lead.”
In her doctoral research, Pace explored the career aspirations of diverse women as they progressed toward top corporate leadership roles, documenting the lessons they learned along the way.
Through interviews and focus groups with 16 women, Pace uncovered a key finding: Women learn to lead by direct experience with managing people, relationships and challenging situations.
And significantly, they benefited from these experiences within the first five to seven years of their careers. Through these early experiences, the participants built confidence, and embarked on initial trajectories that ultimately would lead to senior leadership roles.
So if you’re starting out your career, say “yes” when someone sees the leader in you and offers you a chance to practice and develop new leadership skills.
“See yourself as a leader now,” Pace suggests. “Leadership is an action, not only a position. You can lead from where you are by deepening your expertise, playing to your strengths and leveraging your ‘purpose drivers’ ─ those things that are energizing you.”
Don’t wait to break out of your comfort zone and take risks.
“Raise your hand and proactively look for opportunities to lead or create those opportunities,” she says.
If you’re waiting for an invitation to lead, forget it. Learn to see the leader in yourself.
As Pace says: “Don’t dance around the daisies.” Seed your career with early leadership experiences, and do it sooner, not later.
l Jo Miller is a women’s leadership speaker and CEO of BeLeaderly; @jo_miller