My Interview with Gabrielle Bernstein, Founder of HerFuture.com

I had the privilege of sharing my musings on millennial women's leadership with Gabrielle Bernstein, Founder of HerFuture.com this week. I've included highlights from the interview below. To read our entire interview, join the HerFuture.com network as a mentor or mentee.

Gabrielle: How do you define leadership?

Alexia: It's really the mission statement of my company- harnessing your values, strengths, enthusiasms, and resources to lead people towards solutions that are successful, sustainable, and make a positive social impact. Good leadership is authentic leadership. You start with who and what you are, and then you can build a team of people who are ready to go on the journey with you.


G: What is the number one tip you'd give a young woman in this economy?

A: Breathe, and then bulldoze forward. It's so easy to lose one's sense of self with the constant bombardment of crisis messages being fed to us right now. The reality is that perfection is the enemy of progress. There is no such thing as the perfect resume, the perfect cover letter, the perfect LinkedIn profile, or the perfect tweet. Get your networking materials in order. But more importantly, get out there, ask good questions, provide value, and figure out how to share what you know with others in a way that is irresistibly attractive.


G:What are employers saying about Generation Y/Millennial employees?

A: They believe that we have infectious enthusiasm. An insatiable desire to learn and grow. Can multi-task and pitch ideas until we're blue in the face. However, a lot of employers believe that these assets can also be limitations. There's a stereotype that we want it all yesterday, and that when we don't get it, we tune out and under perform. The key to building and sustaining professional success is knowing how to shape our curiosity, eagerness, and desire to produce innovative, valuable results in a way that enables us to solve the short and long-term problems are employers experience. Unfortunately, we can't just align our strengths and interests with our own agenda.


G:What tips would you offer to young women who want to be leaders but have a hard time seeing themselves this way?

A: Make a list of the thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and attitudes you are carrying around with you on a daily basis. Note the ones that are enabling you to get in your own way of being an effective leader (e.g. I get nervous when I speak in front of a crowd or I don't have anything to contribute yet). Re-shape them into statements that unlock possibilities rather than reinforce limitations (e.g. Each time I speak in public, I'm sharing my value or I'm really great at nurturing the talent in others so that's what I'm going to focus on). Then, figure out your strengths- I highly recommend doing the assessment associated with Clifton's StrengthsFinder 2.0- and make sure that you build yourself a career where you are able to play to these strengths the majority of the time. As a culture, we think that we should focus on overcoming our weaknesses. While there's nothing wrong with re-framing these areas as "opportunities for growth," the research has proven that we will always grow the most in our areas of our strength. So that's what we should focus on.


G: Your mantra is "You have to show up at 100% to play at 100%." What are 3 ways you recommend women can be leaders in their everyday life?

A:Because I believe that good leaders are successful, sustainable, and make a positive social impact, I'm going to give you one strategy per category.
1) To be successful- I believe that our greatest successes come when we collaborate with others. Each day, invest in playing at work, at home, and in the community with a power posse behind you. A team thrives when each member fulfills a different role based on his/her unique strengths. Know what you do best, and surround yourself with people who possess a different, complimentary set of strengths.
2) To be sustainable- If you want to grow others, you must grow yourself first. Stress is so last millennia. Work-life balance is the rage now. Lead by example in this area by investing in your self-care. Make sure you schedule at least 30 minutes each day to relaxing and renewing.
3) To make a positive social impact- Recycle the Box. While this can be literal (I challenge all leaders to make choices that are good socially, economically, and environmentally), I also mean this figuratively. We put boxes around what we can achieve all of the time. It's not enough to break down those boxes. We need to throw them up in the air and not hold on to them until we've re-shaped the box into an object that launches us to success.


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