The Benefits Of Being A Silent Girl Boss

I’m a girl boss. But I move in silence to get things done. I have a philosophy that if someone isn’t paying me then they really don’t need to know my business. I’m not saying you need to ghost people to be successful (everyone needs friends lol). However, being selective with what information you share really does protect and progress you.

I have a love-hate relationship with social media. On one hand, I love the community that can evolve but on the flip side I feel like it’s a bunch of people boasting about themselves and talking about their big plans. You feel like you have to keep up with people and show them that you have big things coming too. But I learned that plans mean nothing, results do.

So for all my girl boss’ (and of course boy boss’ too) here’s why you should move in silence.

YOU CALL THE SHOTS…ALL THE SHOTS

As a big Olivia Pope fan I can say that she is a prime example of someone who moves in silence. On paper is she the most powerful person in Washington? No. But her get-it-done-correctly results makes her hold all the power. On a smaller scale, if you suddenly show your boss all these amazing things that you’ve worked on, you look like the ultimate badass. However, if you had told your boss step-by-step what you were doing, it losses it’s excitement (usually). Now of course, keep your boss in the loop about your day-to-day assigned duties. But for those overachiever activities, just say you’re working on a couple side projects. Aim to be that go-to person.

YOUR QUALITY OF WORK IS TOP-NOTCH

Quick story: I went to high school with this incredibly smart and athletic girl. She got pregnant our senior year. After graduation no one heard from her. I saw her a couple years later and she complimented me on all the writing I was doing. It was a super quick hi and goodbye situation but I could see she was pregnant again. I thought about her often because deep down I knew she wasn’t sitting at home just taking care of her kids — she was up to more. Then last year she popped up on Facebook and announced she graduated from Georgetown and was applying to medical school! And now she’s going to all these med school interviews, getting acceptance letters and even a full-ride scholarship to the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She said over the past few years she just kept her nose and focused on accomplishing her goals. Not only is she amazing but she teaches us that not everyone needs to know every step of your life. She had plenty of personal problems but none of us really knew, we all now just see the results of her hard work.

By moving in silence, this young woman was laser focused on her goals despite the adversity she faced. Whether it’s big or small, put all your thoughts and energy into what you want to accomplish. Keep your aspirations between you and a small group. Then when you’re at the finish line people will just think your flawless lol.

PROTECT YOUR IDEAS OR YOU WILL BE POUTING LATER

On NPR’s podcast, How I Built This, a bunch of creators of successful businesses and brands such as: Spanx, Instagram, DryBar and Zumba talk about their journeys. In almost every episode the innovator says they kept their idea to themselves and slowly selected the right people to share the idea with. People steal great ideas all the time. I see it on Twitter often. Someone will casually say, “I wish there was an app that could do x,y,z.” Then a year later, that person’s associate suddenly has that same app in the Apple Store and the person who originally tweeted the idea is calling foul. Know what your ideas are worth and create something great. Distribute and profit it. Don’t let someone lurking around in your shadows steal your greatness.

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Stay driven.

P.s. My jacket in the picture above is from Giti Online. Here’s a promo code for 5% off your entire order: ‘amberf’