When I was growing up in my career, I received my first management position because I was a hard worker and drove results as an individual competitor.

As I have risen through the corporate ranks, no one told me that leadership is an inside job. I learned that through the school of hard knocks, many bouts of Imposter Syndrome, tough feedback, and more.

This is why I wanted to talk about this very topic with my guest today, Dana Maor. Dana knows firsthand the importance of looking within to determine and harness our strengths, our leadership style, and more to be the best leader we can be not only for ourselves but for our teams.

During my conversation with Dana, we chatted about:

1. The importance of looking within as a leader.
2. The story behind Dana’s book, The Journey of Leadership: How CEOs Learn to Lead from the Inside Out.
3. How do we assess our personal leadership approach and style?
4. What is our personal mandate?
5. What is a personal commitment plan, and why is it important?
6. Why is failure an important part of leadership?

I am confident you will find a nugget of wisdom in my conversation with Dana!

Here is more about Dana:

Dana Maor is a senior partner at McKinsey & Company, the global cohead and European leader of McKinsey’s People & Organizational Performance Practice, and a member of the McKinsey Knowledge Council. Whether working in aerospace, financial services, pharmaceuticals, or telecommunications, Dana has helped clients pursue successful large-scale operational and organizational transformations and successful M&A integrations. Passionate about talent and leadership, Dana has guided many organizations through the process of establishing leadership-development platforms for top executives and has helped architect capability-building programs to reskill employees for changing workforce needs. Dana took a major role in McKinsey's research to build an effective understanding of talent management for the 2018 book, Talent Wins. She is a co-author of the 2024 bestselling book, The Journey of Leadership.

If Brave Women at Work has made an impact on you, please share it with a friend or colleague. And your ratings and reviews help the show continue to gain traction and grow. Thank you again!

Also, if you haven’t yet downloaded my freebies from my website, check them out at www.bravewomenatwork.com. I have created three for you:

1. 24 career and leadership affirmations, (2) 5 Ways to Manage Your Imposter Syndrome, and (3) most popular, Getting Paid: 10 Negotiation Tips.

They are workbook style guides, so you can complete them on your own time.

One other announcement. I am asking all of you to invest in yourself this year and attend the Thrive in ’25 Conference from June 25th-28th in Chicagoland. This conference is a 12-month experience that includes 3-days of the conference, 6+ months of coaching with yours truly in the Brave Circle, a 12-month membership in HerCsuite, a powerful women’s networking platform, and a 12-month membership to Innovation Women, a female led speakers bureau. I don’t know about you, but I have never been to a conference that pours that much into each attendee. Typically, it’s a 2–3-day conference and you’re thrown back into your life. Not Thrive in ’25. We want to walk alongside you to incorporate your learnings from the conference personally and professionally.

Invest in yourself today.

You can learn more about the conference and register at www.thrive-in25.com.