For this Women of Color Rise episode, Analiza talks with Maria-Leticia Ossa Daza, Founding Partner and Chair of Latin America Practice, Willkie Farr & Gallagher Maria-Leticia Ossa Daza
Born and raised in Colombia, Leticia knew from an early age that she wanted to be a lawyer. Her parents were both lawyers and supported her dreams, with Leticia getting a scholarship for college in France. After graduating, Leticia found herself in New York as a lawyer, surrounded by mostly white males and not sure how to show up. Leticia shares how she got clear on her authentic leadership brand and how that helped her get recognized and rise at her organization.
Analiza and Leticia discuss how to leverage our authentic leadership brand:
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Step 1: Know and leverage your brand. Your brand is what makes you unique. This includes your strengths, goals, and job history. This also includes aspects of yourself outside of work such as your cultural background and activities such as volunteer work. For Leticia, her brand included being a Latina with an international background. Her brand also included dressing with color instead of the standard dark office attire, using her hands to communicate, and also dancing at the holiday party. She saw that being different could help her stand out.
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Step 2: Understand how to apply your brand and uniqueness to the organization’s needs. Spot opportunities and share your ideas with senior leaders. For Leticia, her Latin American background gave her the unique lens to see that the organization was missing a big opportunity. She took the initiative to share her idea to start the Latin American practice with a senior leader. That leader applauded the idea, became her mentor, and helped advocate for Leticia to found the Latin American practice.
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Step 3: Share your brand inside and outside of your organization. Inside her organization, Leticia shared her unique perspective and cultural background. Outside of her organization, Leticia began to write more, starting with LinkedIn. Leticia’s writing got noticed for its unique perspective, and she is now a columnist for La Republica on international business trends.
Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-71-your-authentic-leader-brand-with-leticia-ossa-daza