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Flourish Soundbytes: The Only Woman in the Room - Grit and Knowing When to Leave with Lisa Davis

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Sarah Richardson: I'm Sarah Richardson, a principal here at this week Health where our mission is healthcare transformation, powered by community. This is Flourish Soundbites, unfiltered Conversations with healthcare leaders. Let's get real,

Welcome back to Flourish. I am Sarah Richardson, and today's soundbite is a special one. I'm joined once again by Lisa Davis, board advisor, former Fortune 500 CIO, and now author of a powerful new book, exploring Perseverance, leadership, and the Questions So many women are quietly Asking at work. Lisa has spent decades operating at the highest levels of leadership. Navigating moments of growth, challenge and reinvention. Her new book, the Only Woman in the Room, brings those experiences together in a deeply human way, tackling questions like when to stay, when to stretch, and when it might be time to choose a new path.

Lisa, welcome back to Flourish, and congratulations on the book.

Lisa Davis: Thank [00:01:00] you so much, Sarah, and I'm so glad we have the opportunity to do this together. It's always so much fun working with. You.

Sarah Richardson: Likewise, and this book feels very timely. What was happening in your own life or in the conversations that you were having with other women that made you say, it is time to write this?

Lisa Davis: Well, you know, I've been thinking about the book for a couple years, meeting with women, coaching, mentoring women. And we always seem to have the same conversation. smart, driven, capable women always asking me, is it me? And I would say to them, no, it's not you. And I knew that because I had lived it.

And the timing was really interesting, Sarah, because I made a decision at the top of. Last year, February 25, to lead my full-time role and really begin transitioning into my portfolio [00:02:00] career, which consisted of my own company of consulting and mentoring and coaching. board work that I had been doing over the last many, many years, but also now recognizing this was the time that I needed to put my thoughts, my experiences, my learnings into this book for the sole purpose of helping women navigate the rooms, navigate their career, and help them answer and prepare.

For the experiences, the questions that they have, hopefully making it a little bit more easier for them than the journey that I had necessarily experienced. So it was my way of giving back to the community and. During that time of last year, it also became, I felt like forces coming together. Not only was it about that learning and [00:03:00] experience, but it was also a time where women's voices, with the removal of DEI representation of women and other diverse representation began, we began losing ground. We, our voices became missing, and it was more important than ever in my mind that vo female voices are being heard. And Then lastly, I would say with this onslaught of artificial intelligence, I really do believe that it's more important than ever that women's voices and diverse voices are being are at the table in which these decisions are being made and developed.

So it was really a culmination of multiple things that really drove me to write this book last year.

Sarah Richardson: Well, I'm so glad that you have, because you explore perseverance and leadership, but also the quieter questions that women will wrestle with behind the scenes. Why do you think these questions are still so hard to talk about openly at [00:04:00] work?

Lisa Davis: I think they're hard to talk about because frankly, the system still penalizes women for talking about them. For sharing, how they are experiencing the environments, how they're trying to navigate if they have families and full-time careers. And the fact of the matter is the system in which we operate the infrastructure.

That supports us in our corporate, in our work environments hasn't changed since 1950 in which the system was designed and created for men in the workplace, with women staying at home, being caregivers, and has not morphed. To support, you know, working parents, dual working parents, women that want to pursue a career, that women that want to have a career and family.

So the system penalizes [00:05:00] women and when we open and communicate how we do feel, it is always received as if we're the problem. That, why don't you just try a little harder, or you are not balancing correctly, or maybe you just have imposter syndrome? No, we don't have any of those things. It's just that difficult for women to successfully navigate and, and the word I really want to call out is persevere, because what I talk about in the book, Sarah, is my career has been built on grit and perseverance.

That means every challenge. Every obstacle, I was gonna put one foot in front of another, every failure, every time I didn't understand the decision. how was I gonna get back up again? And Take another step forward to reach my personal or professional goals. And one of the words I talk a lot about, because I'm a huge fan of Angela [00:06:00] Duckworth in her meeting of grit, passion, and perseverance towards a goal over sustain sustained period of time, the word I add in the book is conviction, because I always say passion ebbs and flows.

We all know we wake up some days and boy, and we're not feeling passionate about anything. It's more survival mode that we go into. So what I really understood through my career was, yes, it was grit. It was perseverance, but it was conviction to my own personal core values and goals. That kept me going every day.

Sarah Richardson: And one of the most powerful themes in the book is knowing when to stay, when to stretch, and when to choose a new path. And I literally had this conversation with one of my clients today. How do you become comfortable with a level of understanding that you know the [00:07:00] difference between those moments?

Lisa Davis: I have this conversation today with a lot of women as well, and I think of, I think we know in our gut, and women are fantastic at this, right? We know in our gut The environment is not supporting us. You know, I tell women to ask themselves the question, are you growing in your role?

are you having joy in what you're doing? Are you passionate about what you're doing? Is there a path for continued development to reach your professional goals? and if you reflect on those questions and answer honestly, you begin to realize. That maybe the environment I'm currently in or the role that I'm sitting in is no longer offering me a path of continued growth, learning, development, and support.

I wanna throw in the support word. And many times we realize, and I think we wait too long, [00:08:00] that the ladder that I've climbed or the ladder that I'm on, the journey that I'm on. Oh man, it's leaning against the wrong wall because all of those things that I've talked about are, are not in play. And I would think today more than ever, I really kind of wanna lean in on this support and environment piece, as well as the growth piece.

It's hard to leave. It's scary. There's fear in leaving and starting over and over again. But one of the key messages that I always like to share is that growth always happens at the exit of your comfort zone. Right. And as soon as we step out of that comfort zone, and I've done that over and over with changing sectors, moving to different roles, and yes, I was terrified at times.

What did I [00:09:00] do? What do I think I'm doing? Who do I think I am to step into this role? Conquering that fear. Having that confidence in yourself and taking a risk and stepping outside of your comfort zone is when you know it's time to leave. And you know, I've also said the women, Hey, if you can go to sleep at night and do this job, like.

You know, with your eyes closed, whatever, it's time. And It's probably an opportunity for growth and learning and to do something else.

Sarah Richardson: I always tell people if there's not a certain level of like ickiness in

terms of like that it's scary and hard,

Lisa Davis: Yes,

Sarah Richardson: Then you're probably past the point that you needed to make a change in your career.

Lisa Davis: absolutely.

Sarah Richardson: Except the women confuse perseverance with endurance. They

stay longer than they should. And you said it like the gut, the intuition.

When you

know that it's time to go, how do you distinguish between, I dunno, healthy [00:10:00] perseverance from staying stuck in a role?

Lisa Davis: Yeah, I think it's really a measure against those criteria. You know, I can continue to persevere and endure a role if I'm learning. I'm growing. I'm in a supportive culture and environment. I'm surrounded by a team by leadership, by my peers that are gonna help me in that growth. I'm finding joy and I'm passionate about what I'm doing.

If you don't feel those things and those are not part of the environment that you're in. that is not healthy perseverance or endurance, that becomes almost fear-based. and I would say find an advocate. Find a coach. Find a sponsor a group of, of you know, people that support you and have these conversations of why am I continuing to endure this day after day?

Because like [00:11:00] we said in our gut. We know that we're not in a supportive environment.

Sarah Richardson: Yeah. When you, when you look back at your career, was there a moment where stretching rather than leaving might have changed your trajectory in a meaningful way?

Lisa Davis: Hmm. There's so many examples. Um, I, I became better at, in my career and in my journey, recognizing the signs more quickly. And understanding, because I think many women, many people do this, they think it's me. It must be something that I'm doing wrong. and we have a tendency to blame ourselves if that environment, that lack of support, that lack of growth or opportunity becomes stagnant.

It's not available. So what do we do? Well, I'll just work harder. [00:12:00] Right. I'll just work harder and maybe it's me, so I'll do more. I'll try I'll try to succeed and deliver even more results. And the fact of the matter is it's not you at all. And recognizing those signs, and I love the metaphor of the latter, is leaning against the wrong wall when you look around and none of these things are present.

I think as we continue to have experience and grow in our careers, we recognized those signs earlier. And you know, I'll give an example. Even when I was at Intel, and this is in the book, I mean, I thought this was a place that I would retire. I loved what I was doing. I was, oh, it was probably the five.

Years of the greatest learning in my career when I was at Intel, and then I reached a point where I looked around, I had been promoted. Once I realized where the company was at, I took a look at the leadership and the support [00:13:00] that I was getting from leadership, and I realized. I'm not gonna grow any further here.

I'm not going to be promoted here. I'm not in a supportive culture that is gonna allow me to reach my professional goals. And the company was shifting and moving in a different direction. And it was interesting because a recruiter had caught me at Blue Shield to California, I don't know, about six, eight months prior, and the timing wasn't right.

And I said, oh, oh, no, no, no. I'm perfectly happy here. I'm not interested in anything else. And by golly, that eight months later, after I had had that epiphany of, I see the signs they called and I said, you know what? I'd like to learn more. Tell me more about what this opportunity is. So there's been.

Multiple examples in my career, and I think, what we can do as women is recognize those signs [00:14:00] earlier and realize that it's not us or you, it's the system and the environment in which you're operating in.

in.

Sarah Richardson: I remember a situation where I was at a company I absolutely loved and looked around. I thought, wow, this is as far as I can go here. Yes, it's pretty, it's pretty heart wrenching when you decide to move on from something you actually love yet won't get you to the next thing that you know you're capable.

Lisa Davis: Yes.

Sarah Richardson: Of doing, and you write honestly about leadership identity,

especially how it evolves over time. What surprised you the most about yourself as you reflected back while writing this book?

Lisa Davis: Well, first of all, it was therapy. Um, yes, I went way back to the beginning. and there's so many experiences that influence influence us and certainly influence me. in ultimately the type of leader [00:15:00] that I strive to be and I want it to be. And I think we're always growing and learning. and I'm certainly not done, but it helped me mature and understand why did I feel certain ways, what, what made me the type of leader, what shaped me, and what experiences, formed my leadership style.

And philosophy that I have today, and I think like many women. You know, I've, and I shared them in the book, I made choices that weren't the right choices. You know, hindsight is 2020. You make them, at a time where they may be fear-based. Certainly when I was younger, you know, I probably took me twice as long to reach where I wanted to go because of the crazy path and choices I made in my career.

And you know what Age comes wisdom, as they say. And writing the book gave me an [00:16:00] opportunity to really reflect and understand why did I do that? And part of the book was actually sharing those experiences because I'm very open. Say, here's the decision I made. That was a decision I made for me. I would love, women and men frankly, to look at each chapter, look at the decisions, and have a discussion around what does power look like for you?

What does authenticity, what is wealth? Um, so each chapter, even though I believe all of the nine principles that I chose are principles that have. Guided me and allowed me to persevere and succeed in what I needed to learn in order to do that. But each one of them stands on its own. And I hope a healthy conversation and [00:17:00] dialogue comes from each of those chapters.

because I think everyone has their own personal journey and course of how they would handle certain things. And what I'm trying to do is shared what worked. What didn't work, and probably more, more importantly, what to expect as you continue to climb the corporate ladder or work towards your ultimate personal and professional goals.

Sarah Richardson: I appreciate you mention. This is not a book for women, only

Lisa Davis: Yes,

Sarah Richardson: for male allies, men in the workforce, appreciating the perspective, but also the principles are gonna apply universally in

many cases because the decisions we make. in the timeframe of our lives that we make them. Sometimes, my goodness, if we can read your book and say, wow, she made that decision 'cause she was 30.

How does she handle it at X? We've all said, gosh, I wish I knew then what I know now.

Lisa Davis: You could have won it.

Sarah Richardson: yeah, and it's great to have a playbook from someone else who's [00:18:00] done that. When you think about women navigating leadership roles today, what do you believe requires more courage now? Is it asking for more redefining success or maybe walking away?

Lisa Davis: I think it's a combination of all three, because I think all three can be applicable. we have a huge responsibility and I believe women can do more. One, we need to have our voices heard, and I've always believed, Sarah, that part of my job has always been to reach back and pull other women forward.

And part of the book is a call to action for those that have succeeded, that have reached. Whether it's the C-suite, the executive table, whatever, that pinnacle that you want to call it. We have a responsibility. We have a responsibility. We, you know, I look back in my own engineering field, when I graduated in the mid eighties, there were maybe [00:19:00] 35% representation of female engineers.

Today we're at 22% in the market. That's also correlates to representation in ai. we are more than half this population. We are, in many cases, primary breadwinners. Women will be stepping into the largest, transfer of wealth over the next 10 years, and our voices need to be represented. So I'm, I really want this book.

And for women to recognize, one, the book is written for at all levels of your career. Two, like you called out, we wouldn't be where we are without male allies. And I'm being, you know, so grateful for the male allies that I had in my own career, or I wouldn't have been in the roles that I was in. And it's a call to action and understanding the responsibility we have as women to have our voices heard.

To bring our [00:20:00] voices to the table and help other women do the same.

Sarah Richardson: Every time. Yes, the book goes on sale. It's actually on presale now,

Lisa Davis: pre-sale.

Sarah Richardson: presale for Kindle

Yes.

And

officially launches March 31st. What. Are you most excited or maybe even nervous about about when it comes to how readers will experience it as they engage?

Lisa Davis: I was having this conversation with my publisher this morning, and it, and you know what we, I, it reminded me of, um, I'm a huge swifty. Um, so my Swifty fans out there, and I remember when Taylor Swift put out her last. Album and there was all this negative pus publicity about the album. And she came on and she said, you know what, art is in the eye of the beholder.

This is my story. This is what I put out. I love my music. And I kind of thought about it the same way. It's probably not gonna be everybody's cup of tea. That's okay. And frankly, I said to my publisher, you know what, [00:21:00] if I touched one woman, one person, one leader, and I help them grow and do something different in their career that helped them, that to me would be success.

So it's certainly vulnerable when you're putting out a lot of personal information. And I've been trying to navigate that vulnerability of what I've shared and how it will be received because, it does come from the heart.

Sarah Richardson: Well, and I can't wait to do the full review, once it, you know, officially is available. 'cause you've, I've been lucky enough to be able to consume a couple of the chapters, which I just absolutely love, Lisa. Thank you for sharing not just your leadership journey, but also your reflections, the questions, the wisdom, so generously. This book is a gift to women who are navigating uncertainty, ambition, and possibly all of them at [00:22:00] the same time. And for our listeners, Lisa's book is available for presale now and officially launches on March 31st. We'll details on how to access the book and any exclusive presale content in the show notes.

And if today's conversation resonated with you, I encourage you to share this episode with a colleague or friend who may be asking those same quiet questions. Again, Lisa, thank you so much

Lisa Davis: Thank you Sarah. Really appreciate the time and the conversation today.

Sarah Richardson: always, and for our listeners, until next time, keep flourishing.

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