Accelerating women’s growth

The importance of having a support network

When Tiffany was growing up, her mother would tell her that she was smart, beautiful and loved. She used to tell her this every day and it was an enormous privilege.

This served as an armour for her. She always had these affirmations to draw on deep down inside. So she always tells people that it’s never too late to parent your own self.

She also thinks that’s incredibly important that we surround ourselves with people that really want to help us advance.

Tiffany founded The Cru because she knows that she is the cumulative investment of a lot of people. She works hard, but the secret to her success is that she has a group of women who support her.

We need to be more intentional

Tiffany and her team interviewed over 500 women to participate in The Cru. When they asked them “What do you most hope to receive from a cru?”, the number 1 answer was “intentionality”.

She believes that so many of us go through life just checking off boxes. We do things out of habit, instead of intentionally.

Having clarity about what matters most to you and having a plan are both important. Tiffany thinks that it’s even more important to engage other people in your life to help you achieve your goals and your dreams.

What makes a great leader

Tiffany learned a lot from millennials about how to redefine what a career is. She used to think that a career was investing all of your talent into one company. Millennials showed her that having a career nowadays is about making profit for the company you’re working for, but also about improving yourself personally. She was encouraged to elevate herself in order to elevate the company.

Her favourite definition of leadership is by Marshall Ganz:

“A leader is someone who takes responsibility for enabling others to achieve a shared purpose in the face of uncertainty.”

She thinks that the future of business lies in focusing on talent and recognizing that your talent are people with lives outside of work.

Creating a culture where people can be really honest and transparent is paramount. The only way to do that is by being honest and vulnerable ourselves as leaders.

Our deep desire to belong

If she had all resources available, what would she change? She would immediately put more women in charge. She would create gender parity when it comes to leadership.

Every human being has a drive and a deep desire to belong. Tiffany believes that a lot of the challenges that we have are a result of us feeling that we don’t belong and trying to compensate for that through greed or violence.

Companies should create an environment in which every person should feel that they belong.

What does the world need the most right now? More people who feel that they belong and more women in leadership.

If the talk resonates with you, we’d recommend you listen to this episode too: Aleksandra Avli