It takes courage to become a great leader, and it’s up to us to dare to step up. But we can only become a leader by knowing our worth and showing up to bring our value.

 

In this episode of Fifth Dimensional Leadership, I interview Shelmina Babai Abji. Shelmina is a TEDx speaker, board member, former vice president at IBM, and an angel investor. She started her career as a software engineer and then moved into sales and sales leadership, leading global teams to deliver over $1B in annual revenues and serving as a key decision maker in hiring and promoting hundreds of professionals. In our conversation, Shelmina talks about the power of knowing your worth, showing up and leading intentionally.

 

At the peak of her career, she left IBM to share her strategies with other women to accelerate their  professional success. Through mentoring thousands of women and speaking at corporations, colleges, and conferences globally, she realized that women are still struggling with the same challenges she faced during her career.  looking for a plan to prove themselves and rise to the ranks of leadership.  These women inspired her to write her book, SHOW YOUR WORTH: 8 Intentional Strategies for Women to Emerge as Leaders At Work.

 

Shelmina has degrees in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, and Mathematics from Wadia College in Pune, India. As part of IBM’s top talent, she received extensive leadership training at IBM and Harvard.

 

Things you will also learn in this episode:

 

• What “Transformational Value” is and how it guides your career
• How “strategic intention” helps you achieve your vision of success
• Optimizing focus, attention and priorities 
• The opportunity cost of saying “Yes” and the benefits of learning to say “No”
• How to combat naysayers and doubters.
• What refusing to opt out looks like for women of color

Quotes:

 

“Success is externally visible and internally rewarding.” - Shelmina Babai Abji

 

“Fake it till you make it doesn’t work. Instead, trust yourself, learn, and grow until you make it.” - Shelmina Babai Abji

 

“If you don’t learn to speak up, you will never know how smart you are.” - Shelmina Babai Abji

 

“You must intentionally feed your voice of courage and make it so loud to overcome your fear.” - Shelmina Babai Abji

 

“It’s not about working more hours; it’s about understanding priorities and where to focus your attention.” - Shelmina Babai Abji

 

“When you allocate your time, attention, and energy to your highest priorities, you make meaningful progress every single day.” - Shelmina Babai Abji

 

“Success is up to us; we cannot wait for everything to change for us to become successful.” - Shelmina Babai Abji

 

“Do not give up your shot. Go where you can find success.” - Shelmina Babai Abji