Breadth of experience is crucial

It’s vital to gain a breadth of experience on your career journey. ‘Why is this so important? Because I believe that it opens the door for you to be able to do more,’ says Christa. It is also vital to be a continuous, curious learner: ‘how can you make “why” one of your favourite words?’

Being vulnerable, being willing to take some risks and acknowledging what you don’t know is also key to gaining wider experiences, Christa explains. Whilst transitioning to the operations function at McDonald’s, she ‘really went back to the heart of the busines’ and worked for two years in restaurant crew and managerial positions, in order to gain expertise. Later on, with a number of different functions reporting to her, Christa had to ‘leverage my leadership and functional expertise while setting expectations for the team to manage the areas where I didn’t have expertise.’

Christa also highlights how, in order to gain breadth of experience, it is also ‘really critical to have a broad set of relationships across your organisation, because it allows you to call on people when you need help.’

Build your personal brand

‘What you stand for is what establishes you as a leader,’ Christa pointed out. She underlined how important it is to be true and consistent to who you are and what you stand for, and from that to build a ‘personal brand.’

Doing so, Christa explained, builds your reputation and ‘draws people into your “fan club” – the people who “play your commercial” when you’re not in the room. They know who you are, what you bring to the table, what skills you’re able to offer. They can speak and advocate on your behalf - after all, almost every major decision that happens about you and your career gets made when you’re not in the room.’

Diversify your mentor network

It’s important not only to have a mentor network, Christa argues, but also to make sure that you diversify that network. After all, different people play different roles in helping you achieve success. ‘I would encourage you to have a broad group of mentors,’ says Christa. ‘Mentors can play a whole different range of roles, whether that be within a function, from a leadership perspective, or in pairing with someone who has unlocked the opportunity areas you have been trying to unlock.

‘The key thing is all of these people play different roles. You won’t always necessarily find that one person who has everything you need, but as you diversify your network, you can find different people who can help fulfil different things for you.’

Tackling impostor syndrome: take a multi-pronged approach

In regards to impostor syndrome, Christa highlights the value of taking a multi-pronged approach to building confidence. She circles back to the importance of elevating your knowledge through being a continuous learner and building expertise. ‘Because as your expertise builds, you increase your comfort level.’

How else to tackle self-doubt? ‘Create a board of directors,’ Christa says. ‘Establish relationships with trusted colleagues with different skillsets, where you can test out your ideas and get feedback in a safe space.’ It’s also important to understand that you don’t have to be the one that knows it all, and to use the resources around you: ‘sometimes you just need to know who you can go to, to get the information you need when you need it.’

Christa also highlights the value of friendship circles, who can act as a safe place, a sanity check and ‘as cheerleaders for positive reinforcement when you need it.’

Our thanks to Christa for speaking to our GWLP delegates, for offering advice for this article and for helping to champion the leaders of the future.

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