Aint Nothin' To a Boss

I have mentioned this several times and at some point will probably randomly throw it into the gumbo pot again, but Jay-Z is my favorite rapper. If you didn’t own S. Carters, a Roc-A-wear coat with the fur collar, full denim outfit, or matching purse in every color, we are not the same. I can’t always relate to portions of what he says considering my bank account is as deep as a kiddie pool vs his ocean. I still have my moments that he and of of course Baddie B give me affirmations that I can apply to my everyday life. It may not be filled with Ace of Spades and luxury yachts, but still has bottles of Veuve and a nice as boat here and there.

In honor of National Boss's Day and with the help of The Carters, I am sharing 5 ways I have Bossed up my career.

1. Heh, I paid the cost / Who gon' take it all? (take it all) / I record then I ball (then I ball!) / I ignored a lot of calls (click, click) (BeyoncE)

Owning your career takes investments both monetarily and time wise. I look for new training, conferences, and books that I can read that will help me be a subject matter expert at work. Outside of work, having the right tools to fuel my creative and corporate side are crucial to my success. The free trials aren’t always the route. I also have to recognize the importance of cutting out the white noise as my career has progressed. I’ve gotten job offers that I’ve turned down and opportunities that I did not follow through with because I knew ultimately they would not get me to where I wanted to go.

2. No cap; false n*gga, you not a boss, you got a boss (Jay-Z)

Sorry Sean, but in this household it’s both. I do have a boss but it’s also my role to manage my manager. Owning my career in terms of development and visibility is consistently voiced not just with my manager, but the key directors and stakeholders who are integral to my movement anywhere as long as I am with my company. Ask crucial questions around your communication, having intentional and actionable goals that you create measurable milestones to, and for the assistance you need. Your boss is there to support your success and get you to your goals. Being a boss isn’t about who you report to as much as it is about ownership.

3. N*ggas getting jerked, that shit hurts, I take it personally N*ggas rather work for the man than to work with Me (Jay-z)

There is this forced twitter debate over the past few years that working in corporate or “for the man” you can not chase after dreams and passions. For some it does make complete sense to quit and do so and for others the stability and responsibility of having steady income keeps us here. As many of us know entrepreneurship is also not for everyone for a variety of reasons such as our favorite to complain about…customer service.

Find things that give you life that are not tied to work or profit. Pure hobbies that bring you more than happiness but joy.

4. Pride always goeth before the fall, almost certainly (Jay-Z)

In all transparency, this has been an area of consistently growth for me, especially this year as more high profile projects and stakes are in the game for me. My pride can be lethal and an enemy of my own sanity. Being type A I don’t like to make mistakes, but I also grew up in an environment where that wasn’t allowed. My value was tied to a false notion of the ability to achieve perfection. At times I still slip and I beat myself up consistently verbally and emotionally if something wasn’t done correctly or not good enough.

As messages keep repeating themselves until the lesson is learned, I know that my value =/= my work. It is not who I am just a part of what I do. Trauma can show up in our lives as an insatiable desire to check off achievements on our to do list when in reality, it’s a (read my) pursuit of happiness (read acceptance) at the root.

5. Over here we measure success by how many people successful next to you”

Success isn’t only about your individual accomplishments, but how you can take your talents to extend them to the person in front, to the side and behind you. This includes those who you work with as well as your friend groups. We can no longer continue to sit at tables and close the door behind us to the women who need us most.

The few barriers I’ve broken have made it one step easier for the women coming behind me and I hope that it then makes it easier for the women coming behind them. My role may not be shattering a ceiling but handing the hammer to the one who will.

That’s a boss