Monica McCoy

The Leadership Difference: Shift from Limiting Beliefs to Possibility and Opportunity

Ambitious, achievement-oriented people show up prepared and keep pushing to rise higher. But sometimes, no amount of focus, pushing, striving and achieving feels like enough. We can even become blind to the impressive growth and advancement those efforts have enabled us to realize.

When “limiting beliefs” and cognitive distortions (such as perfectionism and imposter phenomenon) take root, it can lead to constantly worrying if you are smart enough, prepared enough, experienced enough and ready to tackle the next thing. That can be especially true for women and people of color who are often more intensely scrutinized in the workplace.

But, when you learn how to build your mental and emotional skills, along with your technical expertise, you can interrupt these ingrained and destructive patterns. In this session, you will get ready to tackle new challenges, thrive under pressure, make good use of constructive criticism, and demonstrate the competence and confidence of a true leader. Even in the face of setbacks, you’ll know you have what it takes to bounce back and pursue your personal best.

TILT: Strategies That Shift the Odds for Women at Work and in Business

Despite the great strides women have made at work, the surprising truth is that significant obstacles continue to dampen their progress. Even women themselves don’t always recognize how prevalent the subtle barriers to advancement remain.

Too often, they conclude there’s something wrong with them or that it’s all in their heads when workplaces punish them for many of the same behaviors that win men accolades. But the consequences to their careers are real – less mentoring and sponsorship, fewer promotions, lower tolerance for mistakes, ongoing microaggressions, questioning of their authority and expertise, double standards and double binds. The obstacles are even greater for women of color.

During this keynote, Monica McCoy gives professional women the straight story on harmful practices that can slow, or even derail, advancement in corporate environments or in founding, funding and growing your own business. McCoy’s message is clear and inspiring – we know what works to help women break through, we just need to share the message with more women!

Treating Your Brand Like a Fortune 100 Company

To communicate with power and purpose, you must be able to share ideas in ways that prompt others to recognize your value and act on your insights and influence. The fact that everything communicates means there are myriad opportunities every day to demonstrate your value, but a few pitfalls too.

The concept of professional image can mistakenly conjure ideas of presenting a false self or someone obsessed with how things look rather than with substance. But really, your professional image is all about how you show up. It’s a highly valuable asset that plays a critical role in determining which doors open for you. And the ability to communicate powerfully and effectively grows in importance with every step of career advancement.

Your image reflects your personal brand and people “buy” brands they respect, value and trust. That’s why Monica advocates treating your personal brand like a Fortune 100 company. That means thinking intentionally about what you want your brand to stand for and building a robust strategy to bring that concept to life. It also requires seeking and accepting candid feedback to uncover any disconnects between how you see yourself and how others see you.

In this session, Monica is like an executive coach sharing candid advice with audience members and revealing the elements of personal branding and executive presence that are prerequisites to being seen as capable, confident and ready to lead