Ditch Self-Doubt and Embrace Your Queer Leadership
Are you:
- a queer Employee Resource Group leader who’s frustrated with coming up against cis-heteropatriarchal white supremacy BS at work?
- a manager who wishes you could bring your full authenticity to your leadership style, but is stuck on how to get there?
- or an executive director who’s tired of feeling isolated as the only out and proud LGBTQ+ individual in your organization, and isn’t sure how to make it a more inclusive space?
Photo from The Gender Spectrum Collection
Sounds like you‘re looking for a solution – you ended up here, after all! You’re in the right place.
Hi – I’m Liz Cruz. I’m a coach for queer leaders like you. I understand your pain. I get your frustration. And I know how it feels to not see yourself reflected in others around you in leadership roles. I believe that you are totally brilliant. As a coach for queer leaders, I want to help you shine in your workplace and role.
I’ve navigated these challenges myself as an antiracist, white, currently able-bodied, queer/genderqueer femme. I also empower other leaders to do the same. I’ve shown queer leaders just like you how to:
- build radical confidence
- leverage their emotional intelligence skills
- learn how to queer their leadership.
I help queer folks reach their next steps and achieve goals in their queer leadership journey, no matter how long they’ve been leading or what their formal title is.
And I’d love to work with you and help you, too. In this blog, you’ll learn more about what it means to queer your leadership, how I help leaders like you, and I’ll give you a tease of some future topics on queer leadership coaching you’ll want to check out, too.
If you’re already ready to ditch your self-doubt, gain radical confidence, and take the next step to work with me to queer your leadership – awesome! You can book a free consult call with me to talk about the best plan for you here.
And if you’re still reading and are curious to know more– let’s jump in and talk about all things queer leadership!
What it means to queer your leadership
Queer leaders like us deserve to be seen. Our perspective is unique. As a community that has experienced bullying, intolerance, not being taken seriously, and flat-out ignored, we have had to be resilient. To be queer in any space is brave. To bring our queerness to the forefront of our leadership, especially as we navigate within power-laden capitalist systems, is a radical power move. We are bold. We are disruptors of systems that no longer serve us and our community. We are queer leaders and we work for change.
Getting there can be tough, though– especially when you’re out there in your field and it’s just you, and maybe your small team if you’re lucky. As someone who’s spent years in corporate spaces, I know how it feels to be at odds with how your professional career relates to your identities and ideals.
Doing my own mindset work and highlighting what skills I needed to grow, vs which ones I needed to let go of, led me to where I am now. My leadership style aligns with my values and my experiences. And I get to work with amazing leaders like you who want to do that challenging, yet highly rewarding work, too. This study further supports the idea that LGBTQ+ leadership coaches have the ability to use our unique experiences to assist others in the process of stepping into their strengths as leaders. [1]
That’s why my program is called Queer Your Leadership. We’re not simply leaders who happen to be queer– we’re purposely bringing queerness and all of its intersections into our leadership. Through this blog, you’ll learn more about my coaching for queer leaders and gain valuable leadership insight.
Goodbye, perfectionism and imposter feelings– and hello, radical leadership confidence
When I was working within the corporate space, I was achieving all kinds of success. I was winning awards, and taking on dream projects. But I still felt miserable. Why? Well, a couple of reasons. One was that I was very drawn to the idea of perfection and achievement. The other was that I was constantly battling with ever-so-common imposter feelings.
Sound familiar? I bet it does. If you’ve ever said to yourself anything like “Will I ever fit in here?” or “I feel like a fraud,” then you know how crushing and isolating imposter feelings can be. Medical News Today reports that imposter syndrome can also be accompanied by frustration, low self-confidence, and anxiety. [2] It’s all valid, though. We often find ourselves leading in environments that were never meant to be welcoming to people like us.
I’ve been there. But we all have innate gifts and abilities. And I believe that you can use them to do great things. You are already everything you need to be. There is strength in queer leadership. We are unique. We find power in community. We learn new things as we grow, and unlearn beliefs that hold us back. Queering leadership is a process of constantly evolving and growing.
Imposter feelings and perfectionism are tough. In future blogs, I’ll show you ways you can find some of the same clarity, perspective, and radical confidence I’ve gained to help you navigate through them as well.
A place where you can ditch self-doubt and grow as a queer leader
We learn by empowering each other and listening to one another’s unique and individual lived experiences. I’ll be posting here weekly, and in future articles, we’ll explore topics like decision-making, self-perception, and stress management. I’ll share how each of these areas applies to leadership, and how they matter for queer leaders like you and me.
Photo from The Gender Spectrum Collection
All leaders have challenges that hold us back – fears, doubts, and stressors. As queer leaders, we also have to navigate cisheteropatriarchal white supremacy culture, which is designed to silence, suppress, and erase people like us. We have to choose to step into our inherent brilliance, and believe that we are capable of achieving our greatest dreams.
One queer leader I’ve had the opportunity to work with shared that my Queer Your Leadership coaching gave them “practical tools to apply after each session.”
And that’s what I also intend to do with this blog. I want to uplift you to help you shine. I’ll highlight key challenge areas that are unique for us as queer leaders. I’ll provide resources that support your learning as you move along in your leadership journey. And I’ll empower you to feel confident enough in your queer leadership to ditch self-doubt and grow into the leader you are meant to be.
Ready to Queer Your Leadership?
You’ve worked so hard to get to where you are. You’ve put tremendous time and effort into building your leadership skills. You’re always setting goals for what’s next.
But you’re hitting roadblocks because you haven’t been able to fully incorporate your beautiful, queer authentic self into your leadership. You’re getting burnt out after years of feeling like you’re not really seen as the awesome leader you are. You’re tired of showing up to corporate events and knowing maybe one other queer leader there.
Enough. With this blog, I will continue to share tips and tools that I’ve developed as a queer leader to help you:
- gain perspective on your biggest leadership challenges
- grow your emotional intelligence skills
- lead with authenticity,
- and inspire you to keep doing the amazing work you do with radical confidence.
It’s time to push past the fear of rejection. It’s time to break through the barriers that hold you back. It’s time for you to queer your leadership.
Queer leaders who are ready to take the next step in their leadership development and start feeling more confident, inspired, and prepared to lead than ever can book a free consult call with me here.
I can’t wait to meet you and hear all about the incredible work you’re doing. You are so needed, and I’m so grateful to be here to support you in your career journey. 💜
Links to references
[1] https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=114383
[2] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321730#symptoms
**Many thanks to Dr. Jen Self, whose leadership has had a great impact on my thinking and the way I approach my work. 💜