I can honestly say that my career journey has been one where I could not see the top of the ladder and I had to advance step by step discovering along the way, says Joni Pierce, Pink Ladders Woman of Focus for January.

Joni is a fresh entrepreneur having embarked on two business endeavors this past year: JPierce & Associates, an executive coaching and consulting business; and C’est Bon Organics, a super clean organic skin care line.

“I did not attend college immediately after high school since I came from an area of the country where women and girls are encouraged to keep a house and find a man. When I was younger I had very little confidence in myself as someone who could be successful in business and therefore my biggest career dreams were to become a secretary by the time I was 40. I really believed at that time that if I could accomplish that goal by then I would have arrived.”

When I launched out of high school I had little to no direction so I dabbled in radio, moved to NY to become a nanny for a few months and drove auto parts around.

“Not long after high school I moved to the community of Los Alamos, NM which is filled with highly educated scientists and lab researchers. These good people inspired me toward learning and education. I was already saturated with fuel for learning and they acted like a spark or a match which ignited a desire that burns to this day,” says Joni.   “I was amazed at how they would communicate ideas with respect and openness toward all views, this was very different from the absolutes of truth that I had grown accustomed to.”

College was always challenging and required a big sacrifice of time, money and energy. Some people were supportive and others were not but in the end I was very glad that I finished everything I started and invested in myself and my learning interests.

Joni’s academic career began at the University of New Mexico, and kept going with an AS in Biology at SLCC; BS in Business Administration at the University of Utah; MBA at the University of Utah, Six Sigma Black Belt (statistically based process engineering); and Advanced Leadership training from the University of Florida.  Presently, Joni is enrolled in the College of Executive Coaching where she will complete the Certified Professional Coaching designation during 2012.

Once I began on a career path in leadership I found that to be a very good fit for my personality, skills and abilities. It was after some experience with leading and making decisions that I decided to formally study business.

“As for the secretary dream, I actually did become a secretary at the age of 22 at a medical review company that I work at for 10 years where I progressed over time to ultimately become the COO/EVP. It was after that experience that I developed the confidence to take the next step,” says Joni.

Self-doubt seems to be a problem women face more often than men, says Joni. “In fact, some of the management research I’ve seen seems to suggest that women underestimate their ability and men overestimate…go figure.  Every time I got a promotion or more responsibility I would roll around at night losing sleep and thinking what if I can’t do it, what if…this or that. In the end, I always found that not only could I do it, but I could do it well and be in the top 5% of my peer group.”

Confidence in yourself is the most critical ingredient in moving your career forward. If you do not believe in yourself, others will question your ability as well.

At times Joni found herself in work situations she felt she could not endure and giving up was beckoning.  “Usually when I get like that, I know change is eminent. Change will occur or I will make change happen. Sometimes we are unable to effect immediate change and must endure a situation or environment. I think it helps to separate your personal life from your work life. It helps to carve out some private, sacred space that your polluted situation cannot invade.”

Taking an inventory of tough situations in life that were overcome, then writing them down, then understanding the ability to move through those tough situations that once existed, can give added strength. You already had the strength, it had been forgotten, says Joni.

Life is not static and all things are in motion, trials come and go, challenges ebb and flow -which means whatever you are facing will most likely be gone in a few short weeks, months or years.

Office politics can become highly destructive to individuals and the business results overall, says Joni. “I’m not a big fan of overly political environments and work hard to reward people based on a meritocracy rather than social bread buttering. My advice for anyone who finds themselves in this deluge is to be visible and vocal.  Surface your contributions often since politicized leaders manage in sound bites and your adversaries are most certainly filling the airwaves.”

If in a difficult work environment, Joni’s advice is to continue to manage the situation while brushing up your resume so you can get out as soon as feasibly possible. “This is an organizational culture problem that requires attention and commitment at the top levels of leadership in order to change and evolve, which can take a very long time. I’ve worked to evolve several company cultures that were hostile and destructive, ultimately the problem people left and that’s how productive change occurred.”

Important to assessing the work environment is managing the gremlins in your head, says Joni.  This means managing your mind by not making assumptions.  Look at the facts and consider other explanations of the situation.

I also have a level of faith that all of our trials can be used for growth, it’s not fun, but they can strengthen us and we realize that later.

“While I have been well aware of gender glass ceiling issues in leadership, I have been fortunate to have the men in my circles invite me into their board rooms. They believed in me and gave me support and resources to be successful,” says Joni.   “The women in my past have been more challenging, limited in their views, sometimes insecure, a little short sighted and frankly uninspiring at times.”

“Overall, both genders bring very different strengths which can complement each other in leadership scenarios. It is so important to have both women and men on an executive level team. I plan to continually strive to offer my leadership in a way that takes the best of what I’ve learned from both men and women who lead large groups successfully.”

I found opportunities and next career steps at the intersection of preparation and timing.  Roll up your sleeves and dive in because anything worth doing usually requires some solid work effort, says Joni.

Acquire a unique trademark set of skills reflecting your strengths and develop a reputation for possessing this trademark of skills.  This is Joni’s advice to women climbing the pink ladder.

Stellar performance and a high level of commitment to your work are necessary to success.

Goals are critical to success. “I’m a planner type who likes goals for the day, the week, the month, quarter, yearly as well an intermediate and long term vision. At the same time you have to be flexible in adjusting your strategy and goals to adapt to the external environment, which could include the market, the competition, the technology, regulatory change etc…It also helps you know where and when to say no, this is who we are not.”

Networking and relationship building is what business is all about, says Joni. Networking is essential and it requires a conscious effort.  “About 15 years ago, I decided I was very unskilled at networking and wanted to improve. I made cold calls, went to events and introduced myself, had lunches and dinners I would have normally refused. Over time I was able to learn how to effectively network and now I’m completely comfortable contacting people for a short chat.”

Joni suggests setting a weekly goal of contacting a few people.  Prepare to state your objectives and offer assistance in helping your contacts meet their objectives. “Networking should come from a genuine place where you really do want to be of assistance to those you contact.  Keeping in mind they can possibly be of assistance to you now or at some time in the future,” says Joni.

I believe the best leaders are those who really do understand the needs and aspirations of the people they influence and interact with. 

“Being mentored by an unbiased, independent person is really one of the best experiences a person can have in their career, says Joni.  I was lucky enough to get a mentoring engagement that involved a man in a different market who was a few states away.  He was and had been the CEO of several companies as well as an investment banker. I admit that at first I was disappointed that the woman CEO they had lined up fell through. However, I realized over time that my mentor was a great fit for me at that time in my career. He helped me with collaboration, idea generation, guidance, empowerment, advice, and attentive listening, all this with an experienced and loyal ear.”

Joni was later given an opportunity to be a mentor for a non-US executive in an international market. “This was a wonderful experience for me to be able to pay it forward. We spent some time building trust which may have taken longer since this was a woman mentoring a man in an offshore market with strong male leadership models. However, once we began really working on his agenda we both saw him make impressive progress that was noted by other executive leaders. Knowing that I had helped in some small way gave me great satisfaction. When he would report back I truly felt joy in his success.”

Keeping optimism and hope in the forefront provides the ability to see things as they could be.  This is how I create opportunities when few are seemingly apparent.

Balancing people or understanding how to balance the needs of employees, bosses, shareholders, clients, and myself, is critical to success.  Honesty and integrity are also critical elements.  People like doing business with someone they can trust, says Joni.

“I am now an executive coach which involves a confidential relationship with my clients as a sounding board and thought partner. We work to discover strengths and leverage those strengths to forward the clients agenda and goals.”

The evolution of my career has occurred as one thread has touched another. Because I had leadership experience in a small medical review company that used certain products in the creation of the service, I was later hired by a healthcare data and analytic company as a product manager for those same products; this in turn led to a product marketing manager role from well-known company which took me into the software development arena related to hospital billing products; and since this company provided Six Sigma Green Belt training, I landed the role of the Company Quality Officer which progressed into the Chief Operating Officer for that business unit.  This all went well so I was given three more companies to oversee as the SVP, says Joni.

Make sure that your contributions are visible and don’t be afraid to toot your own horn.

I departed from corporate life because my company had a single focus to consolidate their leaders into one larger market and I had no interest in moving in this direction, says Joni. At this time I suffered an extreme physical injury to my ankle which sidelined me for a few months. These factors combined with my desire for something new and something fresh led me to what I’m doing today which is launching two completely unrelated companies.

Joni lists her successful career as one her achievements she is most proud.  “I’ve worked hard and faced challenges I never thought I would overcome.”  She is also most proud of the people she’s inspired and helped along the way in her journey. “This really makes me feel good and gives me a sense of joy.”

Joni’s 25 year marriage is another accomplishment most proud.  “It hasn’t always been easy or fun,” says Joni.  “My husband has been my biggest fan and supporter. I have appreciated his supportive and inspiring ideas along the journey. He is more than a husband, as he is a trusted and dear friend. This is essential for anyone who is hard driving in their career, that is, to have a trusted and dear friend.”

I’m calm, confident and optimistic about the future. I can easily see the gifts in other people. It wasn’t always this way.

“My personal evolution has been in steps. Each step progressively building upon the last one. From blue collar to white collar to gold collar to open collar…perhaps the final step for me will be to have no collar at all, just flip flops,” says Joni.