At the December 15 Brown Bag Initiative, Diana Harvey, Chief Communications Officer/Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the President for the University of Minnesota, shared her steps to success followed by a lively discussion with a dynamic group of women.

Diana’s three steps to success:

1. Find your passion: Diana knew she loved to write which led her to study in journalism.
2. Work hard: Initially, in her career Diana did whatever she had to do to get experience, gain knowledge which helped her get noticed and succeed.
3. Be nice: That simple, be nice to your peers. Diana has seen women driven to be successful, but end up being ugly and disrespectful in the process. This will not get you to your next step.

Other items to help become more successful:

• Professionally, find what makes you uncomfortable and do it more. Especially with marcomm field’s rapid constant change, the nature of our work needs to be flexible and strategic.
• Self-assess: This is important in order to get a plan that plays on your strengths. (See February’s Brown Bag lunch on the Strengths Finder to achieve your strengths.)
• Be authentic: Be who you are because it can be self destructive when trying to be someone you are not and being concerted with status and titles.
• Mentorship and networking: though Diana has had no formal mentorship, she has taken every opportunity to sit back and watch. It is very important to take time for people – coffee, lunch, and impromptu interviews. Make friends in the workplace and make an effort to keep in touch.
• Use your background: Diana has many different job settings that have all helped her to develop along the way. She has used these backgrounds to understand when it is time to move on, reassess priorities and help achieve a work/life balance.

Lessons learned throughout her career:

• Be honest: Be willing to acknowledge mistakes – this will give you credibility.
• Learn from others: Observe personalities and learn as much from both bad and good personalities.
• Learn to avoid getting in the middle of others issues: Tell your peers you will not get involved. Gossip can be deadly and you can set an example to others by confronting any issues. On the flip side, it is important that you practice the same and confront anyone directly with issues you have. These will create a real relationship with your coworkers.
• A good manager will help create equal opportunities, acknowledgement and support you. Also, they will define your roles to be successful.

In the end, it is important that we stick with our strengths through thick and thin. This and the tools above will create an ideal outcome where you come out on top.

Learn more about the Office Time app Diana discussed to help track your day-to-day tasks here: http://www.officetime.net/.

Sign-up for February’s Brown Bag lunch on the Strengths Finder here: http://www.mnwc.org/events/item/103.