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Yesterday, I posted 7 Mistakes Highly Deferential People Make in the Workplace (& How to Fix them). It was prompted by a woman leader who wants her team to become better advocates for themselves. What's the challenge?

• They are largely technical people in pharma. It's not always their strong suit.
• Many of them are of Asian or Indian background. Culturally, it's not their strong suit.

Both cultures were raised to be deferential to authority. While that works at home, it doesn't always serve people best at work.
SO I CREATED 7 TIPS TO HELP:

1. SAYING "NO" (AND DO IT NICELY)

In 2019, I hosted a workshop for a smaller pharma company, about to be acquired by a much larger one. The fear was: What happens as we become smaller fish in a much bigger pond? How will we be heard and seen?

I hosted a role-playing workshop. Six employees from the Asian American Pacific Islander group came up with the scripts to demonstrate common scenarios they came up against

• How to ask for a raise
• How to ask for meatier projects from your boss
• How to say 'no' to a colleague

Here is the script we came up with for #3

Your colleague comes to you with an invitation to project/dinner/event

Script: “I would love to be a part of this event, but every event I say yes to means I’m saying no to the_____current project I am working on. So, I have to sadly decline, knowing that you’ll all have a wonderful time.”

How does that question feel?

2. BE A PART OF MONDAY MORNING CONVERSATIONS

Indra Nooyi, former CEO of Pepsi, in her book "Life in Full" remembers many a Monday morning meeting, where her (mostly male) colleagues chatted away about baseball. Being an immigrant from India, she wasn't familiar, but she also didn't want to be left out of the camaraderie the others clearly shared.

Monday after Monday swooped by, without her contribution to the conversation at large. But here's what was happening on the side: She was quietly (obsessively) learning about the sport.

And then the day came....

A colleague was going on about Jackie Robinson leading the Brooklyn Dodgers to the World Series in his rookie season.

She

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end.
   
   I only enroll for this program once a year.
   
   The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026.
   
   
2. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded)
   
   
3. Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.