Mosaic Mentorship: Rhonda Askeland
Mosaic Mentorship brings together perspectives in leadership to guide new and aspiring leaders in your leadership journey. “Mosaic” speaks to the beauty of bringing together multifaceted insights into a cohesive whole – because none of us should do leadership alone. I hope this is a place where you can learn, be inspired, and feel encouraged as you lead your team and grow personally and professionally.
Rhonda Askeland
Executive Coach | Facilitator | Strategist
Check out Rhonda’s LinkedIn Profile
I was introduced to Rhonda back in 2014 through a mutual friend. When I made the official decision to start my own company, I knew very few people who did similar independent work as a leadership development consultant, facilitator, and coach. Luckily, Rhonda was an experienced consultant at this point and she served as my guide in those early years and has made a big impact on my career. I am so grateful to have her on my support team.
Say hello to Rhonda!
ASK Rhonda:
Let's talk about growth & development. What do you wish you did more of early on in your leadership career?
Early in my leadership career, I relied on my technical skills, the skills that I excelled at that moved me into managing others. Because I was in sales, I intuitively related to people and could read emotions, motivations, etc. – more EQ.
If I would have leaned into using more EQ, or “heart” skills, as a manager versus the “head” skills I thought were needed to be a leader, it would have helped me get teams up-to-performance excellence more quickly.
Leadership is going to look a lot different in 10, 20, 30 years. In your opinion, what are some key changes needed in traditional leadership models to adapt to the demands of the future workplace?
A lot of leaders still operate in a more traditional paradigm: relying on position to get things done. I think the leaders of the future need to let go of their roles/positions and of feeling a need for control. Instead, embrace diversity in all forms – from people to ideas to organizational structures, and much more.
Potentially, there will be an acceleration of innovation, collaboration, and transformation.
The AI revolution will provide technical fuel – leaders need to provide the people-engagement fuel.
Think back to a failure or setback in your career. What did you learn from it?
Early in my leadership career, I moved to another organization and took a step down to an individual contributor role. I didn’t feel I was “ready” to move into a leadership role at another organization. What I found was that I let an insecurity choose my path vs. embracing the fear and discomfort of change. I took a look inside and adjusted my mindset, which allowed me to seek challenging roles that I prepared myself for and sought the development that I needed to keep growing and advancing.
Learning to be okay without having all of the skills, growing and developing to acquire the skills needed, and believing that I am fully capable to do anything I set my mind to, was a key mindset shift that has had many benefits, limiting fears and the uneasiness with change.
What can organizations do to ensure their leadership pipelines are diverse and inclusive of women from various backgrounds and experiences?
I work with a few organizations that do a great job building leadership pipelines that are diverse and inclusive.
What I’ve seen them do well is establish ways to show support:
Internal networks
Mentoring - both formal and informal
Coaching
Identifying high potentials with unbiased metrics (usually through informal networks)
Learning and development
There is vigilance in making sure all voices are heard. There is creativity in how positions are filled, going outside of traditional methods. There is exposure across the organizations.
Do you have a vision for how teams will look and operate 50 years in the future?
2074 – what will teams look and operate like? That’s a concept!
With the acceleration of generative AI, the technical aspect of work will be managed. That frees teams up to tap into human power for the intangibles like motivation, collaboration, empathy, support. What I have learned is that when people feel that others “get” them, support them, value them, that is where magic happens. I imagine that in 2074, we’ll see how magic elevates us beyond our wildest imagination. It’s a magic we can tap into today and what I strive to help organizations do.
Rhonda, your thoughtful responses have really made me think. Thank you for taking the time to share with us!
PS – Have a question, but no mentor?
Send me your questions on LinkedIn and one of my mentors will be honored to address them in an upcoming post. 💜
