#7: My Ego Died, As Should your Organization's
Danielle Farage
HBR & Forbes Featured Expert on Gen Z Corporate Talent // Not your avg B2B Marketer // 100+ Speaking Gigs // Keynotes, Consulting, Content Creation // Neurodivergent thinker 🧠
What's on my mind 💭
Dang. Isn't growth uncomfortable?
I just came back from a dinner for Marketing/Growth leaders, hosted by the wonderful Alina Vandenberghe 🌶️ , Co-Founder of Chili Piper , and Pulkit Agrawal , Co-Founder of Chameleon .
At one point, we found ourselves talking about the fact that growth happens when you feel the most pressure.
For Alina, it was the pressure of balancing her role as a founder, and her identity as a total introvert. But if you met her today, you'd never know the introvert part.
In my case, the first few months of 2023 were FULL of pressure: pressure to process my breakup while also performing well at work, to land speaking opportunities, and to formally launch Danielle Farage LLC into the world.
But the most important point of the growth process happens just as the pressure becomes too much. That moment when it boils over, and you find yourself with a choice:
To behave more like the person you want to be OR to stagnate.
To tune in OR tune out.
To change OR die...yikes that was harsh.
But, whichever way you say it, what I'm really describing is an ego death.
So...how does this relate to the Future of Work!?
There's no way that every organization is coming out of the pandemic the same as they went into it. In order to grow, you must let go of who or what you've been.
And from being in the Future of Work industry for several years, I predict that the companies that'll thrive in the long run, will go / have gone through that ego death. In fact, they'll go through many, each one unique and presenting a new opportunity for growth.
These organizations are led by executives who are fearlessly saying, "Here's where we f*ed up, and THIS is what we're gonna do about it." I'm talking about the leaders who boldly own their decisions with grace, vulnerability, transparency, and whose ability to listen to others outperforms their inclination to act in their own self-interests.
And these executives set the tone and (hopefully) pass on this mindset to their managers, and so on. Over time, what grows is a solid foundation for an organizational culture based on accountability, trust, and transparency.
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"Who are these leaders you speak of, Danielle?!"
Well, lucky for you, I've been working on a little project the past few months, called "Crafting the Future of Work," which you can check out here.
So, if you take away anything from reading this, let it be: we need to let go of who we once were in order to become who we want to be - as people first, and then as organizations.
Fun things I've done this month 🥳
Alright enough about me, let's talk about the cooliest people I'm highlighting this month.
New content worth sharing 💎
Alright folks, the time has come to share my view for the weekend...don't hate me!
Executive Coach and Partner to The Modern Leader & Their Teams. Fractional In-House Coach. Leadership and Teams Consultant . Connector. Speaker/Facilitator. Lead powerfully, Love deeply, and Live fully.
1yYes! Yes! Yes! This is my jam and the foundation of my work. Something must fundamentally change - transform - in order to attain the next level. Leaders go first! The more leaders do their work - self development, ego death, transformation - the more they can lead their organizations down that path. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
...a latchkey kid building resilient communities for tomorrow, today. | Advisor | Builder | Moderator | Connector | Community | Champion | Explorer |
1y"we need to let go of who we once were in order to become who we want to be - as people first, and then as organizations." literally - the title of my mirror entry this week is 'Before'
Co-Founder, CEO @Owl & Key | Author | Speaker | Co-host of the UNLOCKED Podcast | Strategic Advisor
1ySuch a stellar topic 💫 Letting go is one of the fundamentals of experiencing meaningful change. And there’s a sentence you shared I want to echo to all leaders out there… Sustainable and healthy company growth relies on the individuals growth. Let it sink in. Be well 🙏🏻
Head of Strategy and Operations
1yThank you for the shoutout !