The Girl Who Made a Proposal

Today was a big day, I finally pitched my big Ideas to the Founder/CEO, and Partner of my company.

I noticed that the job I was hired to do, might not deliver the results the company is looking to achieve. So, I have been working to put together my “big, bright, new ideas.” Over the course of the past couple of weeks, I have been fleshing out these ideas with my business-minded boyfriend, friends, and family.

At the end of these sessions, I had three main big proposals. It was not planned, but today was the day that I shared them with leadership. I just knew it was the right time. We had our annual meeting in the office that evening, so leadership was in the office.

I wrote everything up on my whiteboard, I was sure to include the main points of each section. A message was then sent to the partner asking him to come to my office at a convenient time. He did come. Although my voice shook more than I would like to admit, and my lungs seemed to only allow 15% of a single breath in. I delivered my message and was able to clearly, but nervously, get my point across.

To my delight, my proposals were received warmly and with optimism. Suggestions were collected, and “next steps” were established.

Why I decided to make a proposal:

• Opportunity to take ownership of my position

• Discover new ways to build business

• To mold my position into action items that excite me

• Test the waters to explore the influence I am capable of having

If you are thinking about making a proposal:

• Have a Plan

  • it is important to think through exactly what you want, and what your company needs. Ask yourself “Will this idea produce the results we are looking for?”

  • “How will this influence the way we do business?”

  • “Is this on brand for our company and does it align with our values?”

• Do your Research

  • “have we done something similar in the past?”

  • “How can we do this differently?”

  • "What are other companies doing? How can we stand out?"

• Be Open

  • You won’t know if they will be open to the ideas or not, so you need to be prepared for both. In the case, they ARE OPEN to your ideas, GREAT! Now, what is your plan?

  • If they ARE NOT open to your ideas, try not to take this personally, as there could be a number of reasons why this is the case. I can’t imagine it is because of a flaw of yours. Revert to your research, as more questions and reformulate and try again!

• Be Proud!

  • Making a proposal is not the easiest thing in the world, but if you genuinely think there is an improved method of action, take your shot! Recognizing your achievements and efforts is important, even if you do not get the results you might have hoped for.

  • You have added a new experience rung to your ladder of achievement!

Side note: This is one of the many reasons I decided to leave my Fortune 500 job. I wanted to have a say in what I do, and how I do it.