Rules to Blow Up in 2014

It's that time of year when everyone is focused on setting goals and making resolutions.  While I was deliberating over my New Year's list, I remembered this blog I wrote a few months ago. It's a post covering Nancy Vonk's and Janet Kestin's talk at the 3% Conference: Blowing Up the Business Rules That Hold You Back. The idea of blowing stuff up really appealed to me. It's one thing to write down a goal on a piece of paper. It's another thing stuffing that paper into a bottle filled with gasoline, lighting it up and giving it a toss towards the obstacles in the way of reaching your goals. Below is the post that originally appeared on the 3% Conference blog. Bombs away!

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Last time I saw Nancy Vonk (shown below) was in the waiting room at Unilever’s corporate offices in Connecticut. Nancy was there from the Ogilvy Toronto office, and I was from the Chicago office. While we were waiting for our respective meetings, Nancy asked if she could take a look at the work I was about to present. I took her up on her offer as I was new to the Dove account. And I was glad I did. Her advice helped me get through my meeting with ease.

 Flash forward many years to the 3% Percent Conference and Nancy Vonk and Janet Kestin (shown below) are still dispensing great advice. This time it’s not as chief creative officers and creators of Dove’s Real Beauty campaign, but as owners of their company called Swim, a creative leadership consultancy. During their keynote, Blowing Up the Business Rules That Hold You Back, they gave a sneak peak of their upcoming book, Darling, You Can’t Do Both. It’s a book that identifies rules that you need to blow up to move your career forward.

“Nice girls don’t get in your face” was the first rule to explode. Nancy took the audience through a step-by-step process on how to say no, something women struggle with. She explained…
Ask yourself 3 questions:

1. Does my yes align with my long-term goals?
2. Does my yes align with my personal values?
3. Does my yes align with my data?
Bonus question: What’s the worse thing that can happen if I say yes or no?

I loved how she took the emotion out of the decision-making process. You take a step back, evaluate the impact of your decision and then make it with eyes wide open. Other rules worthy of a stick of dynamite, according to Nancy and Janet, are: “Good girls finish last,” “Get out the golf clubs,” and “Gender is not an issue.” The last rule naturally touched a cord with everyone in attendance.

With each rule, Nancy and Janet shared personal stories. Nancy shared how to network with purpose and regularity, as well as how to listen to what people have to offer rather than talking over them (admittedly not easy for her). Janet talked about how she got better at her job after she had a baby, bursting the myth about working moms.

The time passed quickly with each anecdote and I know I am not alone in wishing their session lasted longer. Luckily, we can benefit from Janet and Nancy’s mentorship via Swim’s Facebook page  and find lots of ammunition to blow up the rules.