Ascension: Mastering Leadership to Get to the Top

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By Antonya English

Sylvia Nealy David finalized her participation in this year's National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) annual conference with a Friday morning session titled: "Ascension: Mastering Leadership To Get to the Top."

David said what she most hoped to accomplish by the end of the session was to ensure participants had tangible ideas they could take back and incorporate into their professional lives.

She said one of the most important skills professionals must possess in today's competitive workforce is competency. As managing principal at consulting firm Human Technology Capital Advisors, the word she’s heard used most over the past year is "competency."

"Employers want you to walk in the door competent" David said. "It’s a big deal. You have to be competent."

David said competency is more about the application of skills possessed, not what she termed "making the doughnuts."

For example, David said, if an individual works at Dunkin' Donuts and makes them all the time, that’s a skill. If that same person can go to grandma’s house, and make those same doughnuts – complete with the exact ingredients – that person can be considered competent.

"Competency is observable and measurable," she said.

There was a time, David said, when the expectation was that it would take one year to become fully competent in a new position – from the time you arrive until you sit at your desk and feel like you know exactly what you’re doing. Those days are over. Competency must immediately be a part of the equation.

To become a successful senior leader, David said it’s critical to have what’s known as "Bounce Competencies".

Those skills are:

Leadership
Communications
Strategic Thinking
Technology savvy
Collaboration

"Know what, know how, know why, care why," David said. "When they (employers) are looking at you as a senior leader, this is what they want to know."

David also introduced session participants to Nine Expressive Dimensions of Executive Presence:

PERSONAL DIMENSIONS

Passion: The ability to express your motivation;
Poise: A look of sophistication and unflappability; and
Self-confidence: To be a good leader you have to be well-rounded.

COMMUNICATIONS DIMENSIONS

Candor: You have to be able to say how it is;
Clarity: You have to be able to clearly understand what’s going on inside the organization. You don’t ever want to walk in a room and not have a clue what’s going on; and
Openness: A willingness to see all points of view and not be judgmental . "You’ve got to keep your ear to the ground no matter how high you are," David said.

RELATIONAL DIMENSONS

Thoughtfulness: Always be thoughtful when dealing with others in a way that conveys interest in them and the professional relationship;
Sincerity: Conviction of believing in , and meaning, what you say.; and
Warmth: The appearance of being accessible to others physically and emotionally.

David encouraged session participants to take a credible, and recognized, leadership assessment test to determine leadership strengths and weaknesses/ She also said it may be wise to consider getting training from a leadership coach. She said it’s an investment that could pay major dividends in their career.

"An average leader does not make it," David said. "An average leader does not make it to the top."

David said her mission was to empower members of the audience with the truth, not just give them a feel-good talk.

"I don’t want to come off like it’s easy, ‘let’s go do this’," David said. "It is very, very hard."

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