leadership

Mission First. People Always.

Posted on by LaMarGoti

most of our cohort – halfway through the morning run and history lesson

For my Pratt & Whitney colleagues, we know what post we are going to read before we read the first word of posts like this. The picture gives it away. There will be 20-30 versions of this post this week. And another 20-30 in a few weeks, and every few weeks after that.

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, I’ll let you in on what’s going on. Pratt & Whitney is investing in our future. This week, 31 leaders of the company attended Thayer Leadership training (calling it training short sells what it is – it’s really more of an experience). And you guessed it, I was one of those 31 lucky ones this week. It takes place on West Point’s campus. It’s led by retired Army leaders. There are conversations, reflections and lots of note taking. There was lots of food, a bit of fun and expanding our networks. It’s an experience that you need to live through to fully get it.

We were prepared going in. We know what the company’s Leadership Operating Model is. (Remember my leadership philosophy I rewrote in 2020? It’s only a small part of our LOM.) We know what key shifts the company is making. We know that we are only a small portion of change agents needed to make those changes.

This week reminded me that change, real change, is hard. There are a lot of hurdles to achieve what we know we need to do. There are a lot of folks who believe in the old way and are sticks in the mud that try to stop this progress. This was a refreshing reminder that it doesn’t matter how hard it will be to climb that hill but we can do it. (After all we did complete a 5K at 5:30AM with lots of ice and 20-something degrees – and if you really know me, you know I don’t run… let alone before the sun comes up!)

And now for the PW cliche post…. Thank you to my advocates, mentors and coaches that got me here. I’ve been blessed to have amazing support and people who believe in me. This week was a welcome chance to unplug from the day to day and remember why I love being a leader. I’m looking forward to what’s to come and the changes our cohort will make at the company.

I Miss the Office?

Posted on by LaMarGoti

Asking my boss if I could get my team back in the office on any sort of regular cadence was not something I thought I would do again.

Today marked 688 days since I was last working from my desk in the office. While I’ve been back to my desk once to pack up my monitors and bring home my belongings, and I’ve been to our other campus in Connecticut for project meetings, today was the first day I was back at work for a “regular day”.

I was greeted by a thermal temperature scanner this morning instead of a hello from the security guard. My desk was empty; only my nameplate, chair, an outdated 2020 calendar and a blank white board with some markers were there. What is even weirder is that this is likely my last time going to this particular desk as I have a new team that sits in a different building. I love being remote, but today I realized how much I miss the office.

Raised standing desk with minimal items on it
my office desk

I do not miss my hour plus commute. I do not miss getting gas multiple times a week. I do not miss 4:45AM alarms. I enjoy wearing leggings daily – even when my presentation calls for a suit jacket. I miss the ability to have chance encounters. I miss the learning that occurs just from sitting near others and listening.

While today was not the norm, and I don’t know when regular office trips will be back on the calendar, l can say for the first time in a long time that I eagerly await the office reopening. I look forward to having team lunches on the regular and sitting at a conference table. I look forward to reading a person’s entire body language again. I know we are ready to go back to a new normal…. We miss parts of the old normal and have learned that we do some things better now.

Today I had a glimpse of the old normal, albeit masks and thermal scanners were new additions. I am hopeful that when I left today it was really just for a short absence from the office and not a couple more years of only meeting people via Zoom. I look forward to the next time I am in the office and when going in weekly or bi-weekly is the norm again…. though I don’t think any amount of excitement will make me ready for my next 4:45AM alarm…

ALLY Leadership

Posted on by LaMarGoti

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I). We’ve all heard the term by now and know that corporations across the globe are working to be more inclusive. But what does that mean for each of us as leaders within our immediate teams? 

I’ve always believed that being a people manager is more than just approving time off and having a monthly check-in with staff. Just ask my team, they will confirm that I tell them time after time that I am here to be an advocate, mentor, cheerleader and champion for each of them – the only thing I’m not is a babysitter. With a new year beginning, and two new rotational employees joining my team, I felt an urge to spruce up my Leadership Philosophy but struggled with how and what I wanted it to look like. I am not changing who I am as a manager; I don’t want to set a new vibe for the team, but something in me told me that my old philosophy (it’s not really that old, just barely 2 years old) needed a fresh look. 

My manager recently shared the video “Inclusion Starts with I” from Accenture with our team.

I’ve seen this video before, and every time it speaks to me. When I watched it earlier this month, something inside me knew exactly what my Leadership Philosophy 2.0 needed to look like. I didn’t start from scratch; heck, half of it is word for word from my old version. It sounds cliché, but almost every slide in this video spoke to me, but primarily 

“it’s about the type of world we want to live in and the choices we make every day.”

I want to live in a world where we don’t have to talk about diversity, inclusion and equity. Not because they aren’t the “hot topic” anymore, but because it’s so engrained in all of us that we don’t have to try to overcome these obstacles anymore.

My new leadership philosophy is what I hope others see in me already: ALLY

ADVOCATE

Be an advocate, champion and cheerleader for the team. Be an ally: speak up for everyone, speak up and against injustices. Treat everyone by the golden rule; treat others the way theywant to be treated. Listen to everyone’s thoughts and give all ideas an equal chance. Everyone deserves respect.

LAUGH

Have fun. Don’t be too serious; it’s OK to have fun at work. Remember to laugh and keep smiling. Mental health is important. Burn out is real – let’s do what we can to prevent that.

LIVE

Live a life you love. Live a life you’re proud of. Live the life you post on social media. Work-life balance is important – work to live, don’t live to work.

YOU

Be YOU, be an individual. Allow everyone to stand out as their own selves. Celebrate the uniqueness inside everyone. Don’t compromise your morals. Be honest; to yourself and others, in what you do and in identifying your motives. 

(For those wondering, version 1.0 was: Maintain Balance, Authenticity, Respect & Integrity.)

Check out the original post I published on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pulse/leading-ally-lauren-mary-gotimer-cpim/