Being authentic in the workplace with Susie Piotrkowski

1️⃣ Susie Piotrkowski is one of one: At ESPN, she drives the growth of women’s sports across the network’s massive portfolio. It’s a pretty big job, so she’s all about incremental progress — what can we do today to make women’s sports easier to find, watch, and be a fan of?

💡 The takeaways: Piotrkowski stressed the importance of bringing your full self to work. A litmus test she uses to determine if a job is right for her? As a sneakerhead, if the workplace culture allows kicks instead of requiring business-formal footwear, it’s “reflective of a culture that would be more fit for me personally.” She explained that expressing herself makes her more confident at work, and therefore better at her job. Her advice:

• In creating your own litmus test, know your strengths and weaknesses. Piotrkowski’s example: She’s excellent at connecting with people, but not so much at the hyper-detailed minutiae, so she knew she’d be better in sales as opposed to something more detail-focused like operations.

• It’s all about balance: “You’ve got to read the room. Sometimes you’re going to have to button up a little bit more…but I think that [your authentic self] can come through no matter your environment.” Think about how you want to be perceived and act accordingly.

• When you’re just starting out, sometimes you have to take the opportunities available to you, even if the culture fit isn’t perfect. These are places to do good work, build your reputation, and expand your skill set, so you can move on to a place that does fit your personality.

🎤 The mic drop moment: “There are a couple things I live by: How you treat anybody is how you treat anybody…and get out in front and never look back. There’s a lot going on all the time, and those are the things that bring me back to why I do this and who I am.” Amen.