MENTORS Magazine

64 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1

here, too many women build their careers

under mediocre bosses.

Don’t settle for that. If you want to start a

company or break into a top tech firm, work

for strong women and men. They won’t tell

you how to shape your career (no one can).

However, they will model effective behav-

iors, take you under their wing (if you work

for it) and condition you to equate oppor-

tunity with persistence.

Take feedback without emotion

As a woman of color in a hyper-sensitive so-

cial environment, you better learn to sepa-

rate your emotions from critique. If you re-

spond to feedback with anger, offense or dis-

missiveness, you will stop receiving feed-

back, and you won’t grow.

When I was assistant principal at a D.C. pub-

lic school, I had a situation with a teacher.

She forgot to fill out a field trip form, so I

completed one for her. The principal had al-

ready reprimanded the teacher. I told the

principal that was unfair. The teacher had 45

kids and one girl in a wheelchair. She was

stressed and forgot the form.

The principal, another strong woman, said,

“She didn’t follow the process, and you need

to learn to follow the process too.”

I wanted to make an exception, but I realized

that as a leader, breaking the rules is de-

structive. I had to model our rules (or

change them). Otherwise, important pro-

cesses would break down. The critique was

invaluable.

Feedback means that someone cares

enough to stop you from repeating your mis-

takes. Critique from tough bosses prepared

me for the harsh feedback I would get when

launching Phone2Action. If you’re not re-

ceiving critical feedback, ask for it — and

keep a lid on your emotions.

Learn to negotiate

When you start a tech company or take on a

role with power, you will go into challenging

meetings with people who ask tough ques-

tions. One way to prepare for those mo-

ments now is to improve how you negotiate

wages and promotions.

Women chronically undersell themselves. At

Phone2Action, I once offered a candidate a

salary, and she asked for less because she

wanted room for growth. No man would do

that. I insisted that she take the higher sala-

ry.

If you are frustrated because you feel over-

worked, underpaid or overlooked, here’s a

suggestion for you. At your next perfor-

mance review, negotiate a raise.

Before the meeting, decide what percent in-

crease in compensation you want and bring

data showing why you’re that valuable. “I

would like a five percent raise and here’s

why...” is great practice for tech entrepre-

neurship and leadership. If you can negoti-

ate a raise, you can negotiate investments,

partnerships, sales deals and much more.