Content from The Globe’s weekly Women and Work newsletter, part of The Globe’s Women’s Collective. To subscribe, clickWe asked Fatima Zaidi, founder and CEO at Quill Inc., to tackle this one:
The other characteristic that I look for is the ability to take feedback. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to get negative feedback and criticism, and I find in Canada especially, we’re a society that is very agreeable and diplomatic and we view negative feedback as a bad thing. As part of our interview process, I do a call with a candidate called, ‘All the reasons you don’t want to work with Quill.’ We discuss the challenges, the roadblocks, the pain points they might experience working here.
If you look at our team now, we are very represented, and I think one of the reasons is that not only are we posting on university portals, co-op programs and social media, we’re also posting in tech forums and on larger platforms like Indeed. There are also places like The Career Foundation and COJG and other government resources which give me access to a pool of diverse candidates that I wouldn’t necessarily have through my own network.
Early in her career in 2006, Jen Psaki was asked by her boss, Rahm Emanuel, the tough-as-nails director of the U.S. Democratic Congressional Campaign, to call a New York Times reporter and pitch a story. She stopped in the washroom on her way back to her office and made the call only to learn Mr. Emanuel beat her to the punch.
Yet, harnessing this power requires more than just ambition; it demands a proficiency in assertive yet respectful advocacy – an optimum combination of open, honest communication and an awareness of where professional boundaries lie. If you are a professional looking to tap into your personal power to advance your career, then it will serve you well to consider three important things.Were it not for Jeanne Beker, the world’s fashion IQ would not be half as high as it is today.