We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elaine Bobbey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Elaine, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
Every weekday, my father got up, put on his suit, tie, overcoat and hat, and went to work. My mother was a “housewife” and she loved this job. She got up before my father and made his breakfast, then got us off to school. I can’t remember a single day that my father stayed home sick or my mother wasn’t up and taking care of her family in the early morning. It was the 1960s and I had won the birth lottery – born into a stable, 2 parent, middle class family with 3 older siblings, grandparents, and extended family. We were not allowed to stay home from school unless we had a fever or other “significant” symptoms (ick). This was the foundation of my work ethic – when you have a responsibility or make a commitment, YOU DO IT. No doubt I was lucky (and still very grateful) but no family is perfect. I saw my parents’ relationship deteriorate and, when I was 13, my father died of lung cancer. Grandparents were gone and the extended family became disconnected. But good things can happen in the detours of life that can be as great as any carefully laid plan. The thing is, this is when I saw my mother become the force that is her legacy and my inspiration. As a retired “housewife” she worked tirelessly as a champion for social justice, a leader in her church, and carried the torch that rebuilt her community. The business district she revitalized named a parking lot after her to recognize her contribution! She was smart and ambitious, brave and fearless. And she had been all of these things the whole time; I just didn’t know it. My mother was also a great student and got her college degree in the 1930s – pretty uncommon for women in those days. I wasn’t really aware of that either while I was growing up. I thought that I was very different from my mother but the biggest surprise of all is how much I am like her.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Retired President of Evenflo Feeding
Business and Strategy Consultant
“Part of the Solution” Non-profit volunteer
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Diligence (Keep at it, again and again and again and again)
Good posture (Tell them you are worth their attention)
Loud voice (So everyone in the room can hear your valuable input)
On your worst days, set all your troubles aside and make your goal for that day to offer a smile, grace, and a little encouragement to the people you see that day. Use that little bit of energy you have for someone else. It goes a long way to healing your wounds.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
Go all in on your strengths but know that you will have some aspect of your personality that will be your worst enemy. There will be a pattern, (and it’s probably already there) in your career and in your life, of when it all goes sideways – or right out the window. Say it out loud to yourself and in time you will find that you can see it coming and adjust. At 60+ I’m better but still working on it!
