Thinking big, leading with purpose and taking care of yourself
By Lisa Stevens
Whether you’re a corporate
executive, an entrepreneur, or
a consultant; taking an honest
personal inventory of what motivates you
can be invaluable when you’re valuating
your career potential and strategies for
success.
Today’s business women can shine with
these basic tips:
What’s beautiful about plotting your career
path is you can define what success means
to you. When outlining what career success
looks like, it’s always a good idea to plan
from a big picture point-of-view.
Visualize your career as a canvas. For most,
success will not be defined by a meeting, a
day, a performance review or even a single
job. Success is built during your career
journey, through the relationships you’re
creating, accomplishments you’re leading,
and the talent you’re developing with your
individual contributors and teams.
Success tip: We all have the power to make a
positive impact when looking at things from
a broad perspective.
Sometimes we learn from mentors.
Sometimes we learn from experience or our
own mistakes. One of my most important
career lessons occurred when I was just 23
and a brand new store manager with Wells
Fargo.
On my first day as store manager, one
of the bank’s top performers (a woman)
blurted out, “I have been with the bank
longer than you have been alive.”
We weren’t off to a good start and I
considered replacing her. My manager had
this advice: “If you tell something it’s ugly,
it will get uglier; but if you tell something
it’s beautiful it will become even more
beautiful.”
My manager asked me to support the
banker with positive reinforcement. If
things didn’t improve in the next few
weeks, I was given the ok to replace
her. As I continued to support and
recognize the things she was doing right,
her performance got even better. That’s
when I learned the importance of servant
leadership.
Success tip: Leading does not mean you get to tell people what to do; it means you support them and help them be their best everyday.
Artist Hilary Cooper once said, “Life is not
measured by the number of breaths we
take, but by the moments that take our
breath away.” As work becomes more demanding, one
can feel swept away by the torrents of
responsibilities and conflicting priorities.
There will be moments when it is crucial to
find balance and remember to take care of
you. Your partner, spouse, family, or friends
can help. Practice good nutrition, drink lots
of water, and have a disciplined exercise
routine. Investing time for you can make
a world of difference in your mindset and
help your performance.
An important part of remembering ‘you’
is planning for the future. Take care of
the household finances, invest wisely and
put something away for the future (or the
unexpected). At a minimum, professionals
should contribute to their 401(k) as much
as the employer will match (sometimes
as high as six percent), or an IRA to make
sure you’re paying yourself for tomorrow.
With the right individual financial plan, you
can have peace of mind knowing you can
succeed financially today and in the future.
Success tip: A balance of support, planning
and understanding is critical to success.
 A mother of three, Lisa Stevens is Executive Vice
President and San Francisco Bay Area Regional
President with Wells Fargo, the oldest and largest
f nancial services company with its headquarters
in California. The Bay Area’s largest corporate
giver to nonprofits, Wells Fargo is a diversified
financial services company that is a leader in
providing business and
consumer financial
products including
banking, investments,
insurance, and mortgages.
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As seen in the
Spring 2007 issue of PBWC Connections
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