Jun 12, 2018
Yesterday someone asked me, “Tamara what are the rules of the new economy?” I get that question a lot. How do you get ahead? How do you become seen as a power player in your work? With that question in mind, I had Magdalena Yeşil on Inside LaunchStreet. She is a seasoned Silicon Valley Investor (one of the first in SalesForce), founder of several organizations and the author of Power Up! How Smart Women Win in the New Economy. We chat about everything from taking criticism and using it to get better to being a valued voice when you aren’t the most seasoned one of the team.
Key Takeaways:
[1:35] You might be surprised to learn that Magdalena eats all day long!
[2:49] Find out how being comfortable with being an outsider helped Magdalena to get ahead in the startup venture capital tech world. She learned early to not focus on your differences, but instead to focus on your similarities.
[4:09] How can you leverage being an outsider? Attitude makes all the difference.
[6:26] If you focus on being liked, you have given a lot of power to the other side. If you focus on how good you are about playing the game, it’s all on you. It’s your own skill set. No one else can define you but you. Magdalena shares her childhood story about how she focused on playing the game.
[7:27] What does it mean to be a smart woman? What is the new economy? Magdalena has the answers to these questions in her book, Power-Up! Don’t let the title fool you. The same principles taught in the book apply to men too.
[10:17] Magdalena shares that the book opens with the theme, The Power to Flow. She shares a Turkish custom has been influential in her own life. When someone departs on a journey, the whole neighborhood throws buckets of water on the person. It symbolizing going around the obstacles in the journey and finding the cracks in the rocks for the water to flow through. Tamara reminds listeners to pause and see the water flowing in your own life, giving you power to overcome obstacles.
[12:33] Magdalena shares how to jump over some workplace hurdles. Get introduced to the delicious “f” you attitude. She shares her personal experience of her engineering design review meeting. Her attitude left a tremendous effect on her boss and coworkers.
[16:00] Her ability to remain unflustered and being open to feedback allowed her to improve her design to see success. After the meeting, the men felt like they could continue to give her feedback because she was open and genuinely seeking feedback. We grow by asking for feedback, accepting it and making yourself better.
[18:35] Magdalena shares a powerful strategy for when someone steals your idea at a meeting.
[22:41] What myths can hinder career progress?
[25:21] Is it more important to have a thick skin or be a flexible player?
[26:35] Listen in to find out why having women in the workplace is a competitive advantage. Diversity helps companies receive input and positivity impacts the bottom line. There has to be diversity to really understand what the customer will be doing with our product.
[28:14] Magdalena defines the new economy as any field that’s touched with technology.
[29:45] Innovation does not have a standard formula. Innovation often comes from looking at a problem and saying, “How can I solve this in a different way?” Everyday, Magdalena asks herself what would be the highest leveraging achievement today? She doesn’t leave her office until she has completed that task. Prioritization opens the door to innovation.
[32:21] Tamara believes that we tend to solve yesterday’s problems. We have to figure out ways to look into the future of where we are headed. She advises listeners to look for entrepreneurs that are out there trying to change the game.
[33:57] Connect with Magdalena on her homepage, Twitter, Facebook and on LinkedIn.
[34:26] Magdalena’s final piece of advice is that it’s never to late. Her mother got her first job at age 63. It’s never too late to launch a new career, or to do something you’re not familiar with. It’s never too late to do the exciting stuff you have always wanted to do.
If you are ready to:
get buy-in from key decision makers on your next big idea
be a high-impact, high-value member that ignites change
foster a culture of innovation where everyone on your team is bringing innovative ideas that tackle challenges and seize opportunities...
Join us on LaunchStreet — gotolaunchstreet.com
Mentioned in This Episode:
Power-Up! How Smart Women Win In The New Economy, by Magdalena Yeşil