Women of NATE (WON) Announces 2022 Education Scholarship
(Watertown, South Dakota) - Women of NATE (WON) is proud to announce their 2022 Education Scholarship. The scholarship was designed to encourage and inspire more women to enter the tower and communications infrastructure construction, service and maintenance industry.
Women play a prominent role as leaders and visionaries in the advancement of wireless and broadcast communications. Through the establishment of the WON initiative, the Association is proud to recognize the vital contributions of women in the diverse tower and communications infrastructure industry. Two scholarships valued at $1,000 each will be awarded to two different applicants.
Women of NATE Chairwoman Andy Page Lee of Lee Antenna & Line Service, Inc. stated, “Women of NATE (WON) is proud to offer all women a platform to help further their educational and professional goals. We continue to support these future leaders as their contributions are critical to our industry’s success."
Application documents must be received in the NATE office by January 20, 2022. In addition to the one-page application form, applicants must provide an essay describing how the WON Education Scholarship will help them achieve their goals, a high school transcript, a letter of acceptance from the college or technical school the applicant will be or is attending, and a letter of nomination from a current NATE member company.
To find out more about the WON Education Scholarship, please visit https://natehome.com/women-of-nate/won-education-scholarship/. Award recipients will be announced on February 21, 2022 in conjunction with the annual NATE UNITE 2022 event in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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About Women of NATE (WON)
WON is an initiative that champions the advancement of men and women across all NATE member disciplines by promoting leadership, recognizing excellence, and positioning them to be at the forefront of the evolving telecommunications industry. The Mission of WON is to foster an exchange of ideas, expertise, and camaraderie among NATE members at all levels. WON enables all members of NATE to achieve their full potential and contribute to the future development of NATE and the industry NATE serves. This program offers unique opportunities for men and women at all stages of their careers to convene and discuss their experiences and enables men and women to learn from others through partnerships by further delving into NATE’s professional network. WON participation is open to all NATE members. For additional information on WON, please visit natehome.com/women-of-nate/.
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About NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association is a non-profit trade association dedicated to providing a unified voice for companies in the diverse tower and communications infrastructure construction, service and maintenance industries. Today the Association boasts over 990 member companies located throughout the United States, Bahamas, Canada, China, Israel, Jamaica, Lithuania, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Trinidad and the United Kingdom. For additional information on NATE, please visit natehome.com.
Contact: Paula Nurnberg
(605) 882-5865
- 2022 WON Education Scholarship Announced
- Women of NATE Committee Member Jeanne Piercey Introduction
- WON Profile: Sara Goddard
- Where will you find the Women of NATE?
- Upcoming Events
- Recent Event Highlights
- Feature Article: What is Radical Candor? 5 Ways to Make Sure Your Criticism is Kind and Clear
- Share A Recipe
- Book Recommendation
Release:
November 3, 2021
Women of NATE Today Newsletter
Volume 3, Issue 11
Greetings Women of NATE,
November is a time for being thankful for all the wonderful things in our lives and remembering those who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom. As you are reading our monthly newsletter, pause for a moment to reflect on all the things you are thankful for and dig out your poppy, if you haven’t already, and wear it proudly to remember all those lost but not forgotten.
One of the things that I am thankful for is all the great women that I have had the opportunity to meet both in the U.S. (NATE) and in Canada (STAC). These women welcomed me with open arms when I started attending conferences in 2015. Networking with these Rockstar women has created growth opportunities for myself and my business.
In our feature article this month, Kim Scott talks about “What is Radical Candor?” and “5 Ways to Make Sure your Criticism is Kind and Clear”. How simple yet powerful of a concept! As she alludes to, for as long as we can remember, we were always taught, if you don’t have anything kind to say then don’t say anything at all. How is it that we know this in our hearts, but we don’t always practice this at home or at work.
As you read about how Scott dissects the difference between Radical Candor and brutal honesty, ask yourself what type of feedback do you give your staff and colleagues. If you are someone who prefers to be ‘brutally honest’, you (and those around you) can benefit from you evaluating why you are like this. Were you treated unkindly by others and feel payback is warranted? Are you trying to undermine other’s ideas in an attempt to advance your own agenda? Are you stretched too thin professionally and personally that you are no longer capable of pausing that extra moment before you blurt out your initial thoughts without a filter?
In closing, I challenge all of you to think about how your words impact others and how providing appropriate feedback is much more far reaching than brutal honesty. We hope you enjoy this month’s newsletter and stay tuned for more about our Women Investing in Women Outreach Program.
Jeanne Piercey is the Vice President of Operations at Tower Engineering Professionals, Inc. Canadian Division in Waterloo, Ontario and a Women of NATE Committee member. She can be reached at jpiercey@tepgroup.net.
WON Profile: Sara Goddard
Sara Goddard is the Marketing Coordinator at NATE. She has been with NATE for over a year.
Sara married her high school sweetheart, Will, and they have two children; their daughter is a senior and their son is a freshman. When she’s not at work you can find her reading or working on some type of creative endeavor. Her next big projects are cooking Thanksgiving dinner, decorating for Christmas (with seven unique themed trees), and hosting a graduation party.
What aspect of your role do you enjoy the most?
My role as Marketing Coordinator is challenging and interesting and I enjoy the variety and fast pace of all of my projects.
What did you want to be when growing up?
I have not given up on these three and they all begin with A. I want to be an actress, an artist and an author. I dabble at all of them. I have been the leading lady in six Town Players productions and am cast as Claire in Neil Simon’s Rumors that will run in April 2022. I have an entire room in my house dedicated as an art studio. If it can be made by hand, I probably have the supplies for it. The last six months I have written a short newsletter that I send every Friday morning.
What is your favorite movie?
I LOVE movies, especially comedies like The Princess Bride, What About Bob and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
What is the one thing you cannot resist?
I cannot resist Ghirardelli dark chocolate; my favorites are the 86% midnight reverie or dark chocolate mint with the creamy centers.
What are some of your favorite things to do?
One of my favorite things to do is take country drives on the weekend. My husband grew up in the country and he can only take town so long. On the weekend he will drive for four hours, plus and I make him stop frequently so I can take pictures. South Dakota is truly a beautiful state and I love the wide-open spaces and picturesque scenery that is all around us.
I also absolutely love learning all kinds of things and my favorite ways to learn are by watching YouTube videos and taking classes. My favorite YouTubers are The History Guy, Simon Whistler, and Thoughty2’s RIF’s. The strangest classes I have taken were a plasma cutting class, and classes that combined hobbies like crocheting wire and beads to make jewelry and sewing Kanzashi blooms which combines origami and fabric.
What is something you would like to learn?
I wish I had the time to learn Photoshop.
How do you think your colleagues would describe you?
I hope they would say, “She always brings a positive attitude to work.”
Where would I travel to if I could go anywhere?
I took three years of Latin in high school and I would love to travel to Italy. I also took Norwegian with my dad when I was ten and again in college so I would also like to visit Norway. The only two phrases I can remember, though, are “Shall we go skiing?” and “Where’s the bathroom?” but I figure that’s probably all I need to know, right?
Favorite Author:
Louisa May Alcott, besides the Little Women Series, I like An Old-Fashioned Girl, Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom, Jack and Jill: A Village Story and Under the Lilacs. Written 150 years ago, these are still great stories.
Where have I lived?
I have only ever lived in three towns, all in South Dakota – my hometown of Pierre, my college town of Sioux Falls, and my work life has always been in Watertown.
Favorite Fashions:
I love fashions from 50s & 60s and wish people still wore hats. My ‘Hats and Fascinators’ board on Pinterest has 419 pins.
Clubs to which I belong:
I am in Toastmasters where we work on better public speaking skills.
Favorite Music:
I play 2Cellos when I clean the house.
Talent I wish I had:
I wish I could sing.
Favorite Game:
Pictionary
Favorite Holiday:
Halloween
Where will you find the Women of NATE?
Take Women of NATE with you!
Are you traveling for work or taking a leisure vacation? Take a creative photo holding a Women of NATE (WON) logo in front of a landmark that lets us know where you are.
Women of NATE Committee Member Therese O'Brien enjoying the view at Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.
Submit your photos along with your name and location to nikki@natehome.com for a chance to be showcased in an upcoming Newsletter or social media post.
Upcoming Events
Recent Event Highlights
Women of NATE in Action
(Left) Women of NATE Committee member Christy Hall of Texoma Contracting, Inc. engages with golfers during the Arkansas Oklahoma Wireless Golf Event,
(Right) NATE Chief Operating Officer Paula Nurnberg connects with Amanda Hernandez-Lawler and April Valentino of NATE member company PerfectVision during the WISPAPALOOZA 2021 convention in Las Vegas.
What is Radical Candor? 5 Ways to Make Sure Your Criticism is Kind and Clear
What is Radical Candor? The whole point of Radical Candor is that it really is possible to Care Personally and Challenge Directly at the same time. Radical Candor is not brutal honesty, it’s being kind, clear, specific and sincere. We can break free of a false dichotomy that leaves too many people feeling they have to choose between being a jerk and being an incompetent. That’s a terrible choice, and nobody has to make it. In fact, if you really care personally about somebody, you will tell them if you think they are making a mistake — and when they are doing something great.
Radical Candor happens at the intersection of Care Personally and Challenge Directly. Care Personally means that you care about the other person, not about whether you are winning a popularity contest. Challenge Directly means that you share your perspective and invite the other person to do the same. What’s more, using improv to practice these skills can help make it less awkward. According to a study published in the journal Organization Science, cultivating improv skills can foster positive behavior on an individual, team and organizational level.
What is Radical Candor?
There is a world of difference between Radical Candor and brutal honesty, or as we call it, Obnoxious Aggression. It’s bad, but Ruinous Empathy can be even worse, and Manipulative Insincerity is the worst of all.
· Radical Candor is kind and helpful.
· Obnoxious Aggression is praise that doesn’t feel sincere or criticism and feedback that isn’t delivered kindly. Obnoxious Aggression is also called “brutal honesty” or “front stabbing.”
· Ruinous Empathy is “nice” but ultimately unhelpful or even damaging. It’s seeing somebody with their fly down, but, not wanting to embarrass them, saying nothing, with the result that 15 more people see them with their fly down — more embarrassing for them.
· Manipulative Insincerity is a stab in the back.
What Caring Personally is NOT
1. Caring Personally does NOT mean getting all personal with somebody who wants privacy. I once worked with a man who had a terminal illness. Work was the only place where nobody had to know about that, or ask about that. The best way I could Care Personally about this man was to protect his secret, and never once ask him about his health. We focused on the work.
2. Caring Personally also does NOT mean over-sharing personal details of your life with those around you who may not want to hear them, who may be made uncomfortable by them.
What Challenging Directly is NOT
1. Challenging Directly does NOT mean you can assume that whatever you think is “the truth” and therefore should be shoved down people’s throats.
2. Challenging Directly does NOT mean you are right. You may be wrong. In fact, you should expect and welcome a reciprocal challenge.
3. The “direct” in “Challenge Directly” does NOT mean to be brutal. Radical Candor is not brutal honesty. It means to share your (humble) opinions directly, rather than talking badly about people behind their backs.
4. Challenge Directly does NOT mean just saying whatever pops into your head…
What Caring Personally IS
1. Caring Personally is at its core common human decency. You don’t have to have a deep personal relationship to have this as your point of departure. But if you work closely with somebody — if for example you are somebody’s boss — you need to begin to develop a positive human relationship with that person.
2. Caring Personally is inherently about thinking of others, putting their success and needs ahead of your own. At its best, it is not about being loved; it is about loving.
3. To Care Personally, one must move at a pace that doesn’t make the other person uncomfortable. The fox in Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince described what I’m talking about most beautifully.
What Challenging Directly IS
1. Challenging Directly is giving people the kind of heads up that underlies basic human decency. Imagine that you were working on a construction site and you looked up and saw a man cutting an iron beam — but sitting on the wrong end. When he finishes cutting he will plummet eight stories to his death. Challenging Directly is sort of like saying, perhaps yelling even, “Hey, you’re on the wrong end of that beam, you’ll plunge to your death if you keep cutting!” Of course you’d do that, and right away, right?
2. But there is no reason that moving quickly has to mean moving disrespectfully. It’s not going to help the guy to preface your warning with a “Hey, dummy!” And, it could be that you don’t understand what he’s doing, and he’s actually not about to plummet to his death…. Challenging Directly is first and foremost humble. It’s tempting to say that “Caring Personally” is about love, and Challenging Directly is about truth. But there is a problem with the word “truth….” Which gets me to why we call it Radical Candor, not “brutal honesty.”
Why It’s Called “Candor”
We chose the word candor over truth or honesty very consciously.
There is nothing humble about the Truth. There was a Jesuit missionary a colleague of mine met in the Congo in the early ’60s. It’s important always to tell the truth.” The missionary then looked heavenward. “But who knows what the truth is?”
I always think of this Jesuit when somebody says to me, “I’m going to tell you the truth.” How are you so sure you know what the truth is? Are you sure I don’t have a clearer idea of the truth??
We chose the word candor because, to us, the word has more of a “here’s what I think, what do you think” connotation than the words “truth” or “honesty” do.
Why It’s Called “Radical”
Why did we choose the word “radical?” Here’s a definition of radical: “(especially of change or action) relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough.”
The reason we use the word Radical is that the kind of candor we’re talking about is rare. It feels unnatural to practice it. It flies in the face of the “if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say it at all” maxim that most of us have heard since we learned to talk. Changing training that’s been instilled in us since we were eighteen months old is hard. But, with playful practice and a commitment to being kind and clear, Radical Candor can change your relationships at work, home and everywhere in between.
Author and Co-Founder, Radical Candor
Kim Scott is the author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss without Losing your Humanity and the co-founder of Radical Candor LLC. Kim has been a CEO coach at Dropbox, Qualtrics, Twitter and several other tech companies. She received her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BA from Princeton University. The author of three novels, she and her husband Andy Scott are parents of twins and live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
A version of this article by Kim Scott, the author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss without Losing your Humanity and the co-founder of Radical Candor LLC, appeared on the Radical Candor blog.
This article last appeared on the Improvising Radical Candor website and can be viewed at the following link: https://improvisingradicalcandor.com/kind-clear-criticism/.
