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In the ever-growing list of women breaking the notorious 'glass ceiling,' Molly Fletcher is among the most impressive. As one of the only female sports agents for nearly two decades, she represented some of the greatest athletes — quickly making a name for herself in the hyper-competitive industry.
Now, an author of 5 books and a keynote speaker to Fortune 500s, Molly shares her secrets for rising to the top in a male-dominated world and explains how that journey prepared her to become a successful entrepreneur.
THE BEST PERFORMERS EMBRACE CHANGE
When you represent the best athletes and coaches on the planet, you start to see a common thread. Doc Rivers, Tom Izzo, John Smoltz, Matt Kuchar, and Erin Andrews — “...at their core, they believe in their ability to evolve and change — they embrace change.”
Molly also noted similarities in how the best of the best recover from adversity, challenges, and how they respond to change. “Change is constant so we have to get comfortable inside of it, we have to recognize that when we get uncomfortable, that’s actually when we grow.”
Ask yourself, how do you respond to change? Do you welcome it, or does it scare you? As you move forward, keep in mind Molly's advice to shift your thinking to the positive, and accept change as inevitable and often beyond our control. But what you can control is how you respond to it.
MOVE BEYOND SELF-IMPOSED LIMITATIONS
So many people have big dreams but often think that greatness is reserved for somebody else — and not for them.
Molly acknowledges that self-limitation is very common. To overcome it, she recommends we begin by identifying, "what are those limiting beliefs? What are the things and the stories that we're telling ourselves that are holding us back, that aren't serving us — that aren't allowing us to show up as our best?"
After identifying what is holding us back, next, shift your mindset. Molly points out that often we "can jam a story up in our head and we'll believe it." But that doesn't mean it's true or accurate. We must expel the negative thoughts in our mind that are serving us no good and keep us from showing up as our best selves.
Once you spend the time dissecting why you are sabotaging yourself in situations that could benefit your life, you’ll begin to understand what’s actually holding you back. According to Molly, this powerful knowledge allows you to reframe your narrative and tell yourself a better story — one that will propel your life, instead of holding it back.
NEGOTIATING WITH CONFIDENCE
Molly's life lessons about overcoming self-doubt can significantly benefit young people just graduating college and entering the workforce. A critical obstacle these graduates face is negotiating their salary during the interview. It's not uncommon for new graduates to lack confidence in dealing with their compensation in the workforce, resulting in them "low-balling" themselves and being underpaid.
Discussions about money, in general, make many of us uncomfortable. It can feel even more intense in a stressful interview setting. To get past it, Molly says preparation is key. The more prepared we are, the more comfortable we will be in asking for what we want.
Molly explains, "So when we're really prepared, when we've done the kind of research — both on the person that we're negotiating with — when we know what they're worried about, what they're excited about, what does success look like for them?"
For your next interview, walk in with confidence and knowledge about the job, but also about the person interviewing you. Convey how you will add value and how you can make your potential boss's life easier and more productive. When you show value, you’ll have a more solid chance at negotiating your desired salary and being remembered as the right person for the job.
So the main takeaway? Preparation. Lean into it.
Listen to the bonus episode to learn sales and negotiation skills that aren’t taught in school and discover how to deal with fear as a leader.
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Join the Game Changer leadership huddles! Get $10 off each month with discount code ‘NSLS’ at training.mollyfletcher.com
