“Success is as much about what you divest as where you invest.” Author, thought leader and big tech exec, Karen Mangia says that accepting opportunities often requires declining others – an important step in progressing toward your goals.
With over twenty years of experience engaging with customers and growing revenue at Fortune 50 companies, Karen is now the Vice President of Customer and Market Insights at Salesforce. Recently, she’s helped more than 50,000 employees around the world adapt to a remote work lifestyle during the pandemic, a way of life she’s been accustomed to for almost two decades.
After suffering from a mysterious yet serious illness for years, Karen reimagined success, allowing her to live a happier, healthier and more prosperous life — entirely on her terms.
In the pilot episode of Human Resolve, Karen discusses what she’s learned from almost twenty years of remote work experience, how her definition of success has transformed through her life, and what vulnerability can offer your professional life.
“When I hit a major medical crisis and I couldn’t say ‘yes’ to anything else, for the first time, I was forced to confront that we literally have finite time and finite energy. You have to get really clear about defining success for you so that you can put your best energy toward what matters most, but also so that you can take the obligations, people and experiences out of your life that no longer serve you or move you closer to that goal.”
“Success to me, at that point in my life, was I want to be healthy enough to enjoy my life. When I chose to pause saying yes to everything and people-pleasing, I felt empowered because I chose the pause. It kind of energized me and I felt different because I took that pause in order to put energy toward what mattered most.”
“Meeting crisis with compassion is always the first step [in helping employees cope with difficult situations]. I have so much respect for HR professionals and people who are really in the position of meeting employees, literally, as a whole human being. Every aspect of fear, uncertainty, worry and hopelessness — all of those feelings — and what it takes to be present in that moment for each person is a very special gift and a very cultivated discipline and we need more of that.”
“When I came back from [my two-week vacation], this is what stuck with me to this day about how powerful vulnerability is in the workplace and how critical it is to make space for people to show up as real and authentic. My team said, ‘We are so glad you finally trusted us enough to take a break and leave us here to be in charge.’ It had never occurred to me that my struggle to be vulnerable and show up as real showed up to them as a trust issue.”
“This time’s being called ‘the Great Pause’ or ‘the Great Reset.’ What I think is this time is an invitation to authenticity. Every leader is now being invited to show up as your authentic self because you can no longer pretend like you don’t have kids, or you don’t have a pet, or you don’t leave to get your haircut, or whatever that looks like for you. That authenticity, just like we were talking about vulnerability, is uncomfortable, and it’s also a skill that can be taught.”
“There’s really a strong call to action for our HR professionals to be business partners and help senior leaders, especially, and all people managers. Think through what training they need about crisis communication, connection, vulnerability, because — if your organization has largely functioned on being a go-to-the-office culture or where people can be in person frequently — this is a really significant shift.”
“I’m very passionate that that middle layer of managers is critical to the success or failure of work from home or a distributed workforce at your company because they’re under pressure to deliver up. They’re also intercepting the reality of how employees are really feeling and what they’re needing. So if you’re going to start somewhere, with thinking about the training or being the HR partner that steps up, I really think that middle layer of managers and how you help them feel seen and heard, how can you make some purposeful investments in elevating them, and gifting them and equipping them with the skills that they need to lead effectively.”
“It doesn’t matter what your starting point is — if you’re struggling with your boss, managing e-learning with your kids, how to get people to listen to your great idea at your job — when you set that goal, break it down into the smallest little tiny steps you can take and then celebrate that.”
“What I think is remarkable about the fact that we’re having a universal human experience of work and life really shifting is that every skill and every person is relevant and can contribute and bring something forward that’s of value.”
“Success is as much about what you divest as where you invest. So, if you’re going to say yes to something, what can you say no to [in order] to make room for that yes?”
“I think people need to hear [about] the other side of ambition at all costs, the other side of saying yes to everything, and the other side of keeping up appearances and have the tools to find a way forward.”
Is there a more turbulent terrain than the HR department these days? Human Resolve goes behind the scenes with HR leaders to discover real human solutions to real human challenges. We’ll celebrate together. Laugh a lot. Sharpen our minds and might even shed a few tears. But that's fine. We’re HR. Nobody will ever know.
Hosted by Mark Minner, Human Resolve is proudly brought to you by the minds and hearts of First Person Advisors, the same Indianapolis-based benefits, compensation and organizational health advisory firm that brings you the RESOLVE Conference every year and RESOLVE Increments learning and growth opportunities. For free resources to help you excel in your HR career, please visit firstpersonadvisors.com.