Jenn Donahue

Leadership and Trust Speaker Influencing Others to Do Great Things

Nancy's Note:

“Jenn is whip-smart, thought-provoking and pragmatic, delivering valuable content that anyone intent on upping their game can immediately put into practice. She’s a terrific speaker.”

Jenn Donahue

Leadership and Trust Speaker Influencing Others to Do Great Things

Nancy’s Note
“Jenn is whip-smart, thought-provoking and pragmatic, delivering valuable content that anyone intent on upping their game can immediately put into practice. She’s a terrific speaker.”

Jenn Donahue

Leadership and Trust Speaker Influencing Others to Do Great Things

Nancy’s Note
“Jenn is whip-smart, thought-provoking and pragmatic, delivering valuable content that anyone intent on upping their game can immediately put into practice. She’s a terrific speaker.”

Expertise

Leadership, Trust, Teamwork/Teambuilding, Management, Science/Engineering, Resilience, Military Transitions, Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

Travels From

Bend, Oregon

Speaking Style

Actionable, Inspirational, Engaging.

About Jenn...

A Navy Captain, engineer, a bridge builder (literally and figuratively!), commander of an 800-person battalion, and a leadership speaker with a decidedly uncommon approach.

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Presentation Topics

When you ask people to think of what makes a great leader, they tend to choose words like boldness, power, and fearlessness. But when you ask them to name traits of the leaders they would like to emulate or follow; you get a different list.  In fact, from Jenn’s research, bold, powerful, and fearless don’t break anywhere near the top of the list.  Ask yourself: Are you adopting the traits you think will make you a great leader, or do you want to cultivate the qualities of the leader people want to follow?

Based on years of research across many demographics, Jenn compiled a list of qualities professionals look for in leaders. Jenn believes because you already possess the traits to be a great leader, you can unleash the power to do great things.  In a world that endured a pandemic of mammoth proportions with many challenges,  Jenn believes we can overcome with strong, genuine leadership. Revolutions and significant changes always start with one individual. We all have a role to play, and becoming a genuine leader is where we begin.

Learning Objectives:

  • Understand: Who You are as a Leader
  • Apply: My 3 Keys to Earning Your Teams Trust
  • Create: Develop Motivated, Dedicated and Loyal Teams

For most of Jenn’s career, she was typically the only woman in the room. She never wanted to be the token female, and yet, as she looked around the room, she wondered if she truly belonged. To not feel like an imposter, Jenn developed camouflage so that she could fit in with her male-counterparts. As she talked to several of her female colleagues, they  all realized that they all at one point wore the camouflage: some still wear it, others shed it, others wished they had not taken it off.  How many more women are struggling with this idea?

So many of us pretend to be something or someone we are not just to fit in, and not be ostracized because of our differences.  And yet the thought that you achieved your position because of a quota that needed filling feels horrible. No competent woman Jenn ever knew wanted to feel like the “token female.”  Imposter Syndrome is real (Clance and Imes, 1978) when you doubt your abilities and question your worth.  It applies to both women and men. As a result, when you couple Imposter Syndrome with “tokenism,” women tend to be less secure in their positions than their male peers.

Having women and people of color in leadership positions will bring diversity of thought and life experience and a new approach to problem-solving.   So, when is the best time to shed the camouflage and be ourselves?  Now.

Learning Objectives:

  • Recognize: what is camouflage? Is it harming or helping me?
  • Evaluate: Is my camouflage holding me back? When is the best time to shed the camouflage and be yourself?
  • Act: How to you begin to take off the camouflage and be your genuine self

Mastering genuine leadership is composed of two components. The inner component requires a leader to have a deep understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. The outer part focuses on developing an authentic interest in your team, cultivating trust, and using your knowledge of each individual’s skills to develop the strongest team possible.

Developing the inner component is difficult because the picture of who we want to be often does not match reality. Jenn will supply the audience with tools for making a hard and honest strengths evaluation, and will discuss the importance of leading with your strengths. Many aspiring leaders want to be thought of as courageous and bold, but not every leader possesses these qualities. The easiest way to get called out on this is to pretend that you do. Fake it until you make it doesn’t always work.

Developing the outer part is about getting to know your team by understanding their strengths and weaknesses and developing comfort showing vulnerability. Vulnerability is an essential component of team building because it communicates trust. Once you earn your team’s trust, they are more likely to be vulnerable with you, and you will learn about their fears and what motivates them to succeed.

Jenn will address common “pain points” that aspiring leaders face:

  • Dealing with insecurities and Imposter Syndrome.
  • Getting your voice heard when you are in the minority (ex. only woman in the room).
  • Finding the strength to fight for every inch of your success.
  • Overcoming burnout and bullying

Learning Objectives:

  • Identify: the keys of self-awareness to unlock your best leadership qualities
  • Apply: Actionable techniques to begin building better teams through trust
  • Create: ​Knowledge to create a foundation respect that inspires greatness in their teams