These were the topics of my recent conversation with Sheronda Dorsey, Former Director of Talent at the Central Intelligence Agency. I had the privilege of working alongside Sheronda when I served as the Agency’s first Chief Wellbeing Officer. With many years of experience within the Agency leadership roles focused on recruitment and talent management, she is an ideal person to discuss how to shape a successful career and navigate your leadership journey.
As I prepared for my conversation with her, I reflected on my own leadership success which has always been dependent on the partnerships I have had with other leaders – without these partnerships the outcomes would have been different.
The Chief Human Resource Officer, Chief People Officer, or Director of Talent of organization is an essential partner to a Chief Wellbeing Officer. This partnership shapes strategic planning, execution, and ultimately the CWO’s success. If the CHRO/CPO/DT is not leveraging well-being data, insights, and guidance within their strategy execution there will be significant limitations to a CWO’s success. As a result, well-being becomes a “program” offered rather than an organizational “strategy” that shapes the organization’s culture. Alternatively, if the CWO is not defining a strategy that aligns to HR priorities the well-being strategy will feel misaligned and disconnected.
My partnership with Sheronda, when she served as the Director of Talent and I served as the Chief Wellbeing Officer, enabled us to not only align strategies, but also empowered us to learn from one another, experiment together, and enable each other to achieve mission. It was wonderful to reconnect and hear her key learnings from her many years of leadership:
Say “YES” to the opportunities you don’t feel ready for – you’ll grow and fail forward
Seek to understand how your leadership reflects your own personal experiences – it may enable you to grow into a better leader
Separate who you are from what you do to prepare for a job transition
Our conversation was more than a professional reflection – it was an honest conversation about how self-awareness, life experiences, and embracing opportunity can define your leadership success to achieve mission performance.
I hope you enjoy Sheronda’s guidance - please comment, repost or forward this conversation to help “pay it forward” to others who may benefit.