Make Your Voice Heard

You don’t need dozens of employees to be a boss— you don’t even need one. Money guru and businesswoman Nicole Lapin has the secret to confidence and success in any workplace: You’ve got to talk like you could own the place. Here’s her smart strategy, straight out of her new book, Boss Bitch: A Simple 12-Step Plan to Take Charge of Your Career.

I STARTED WORKING early in life, by traditional standards, with the goal of being a network news anchor. In my late teens (yes, teens), I hustled hard for any local news gig I could get. And I’ll admit I felt like a fake when I started my on-air job as one of the youngest journalists ever to report from the floor of a stock exchange. The truth is, everyone does a little “fake it till we make it.” It was only once I realized I knew more than I gave myself credit for that I could quiet the haters inside my head and start really feeling confident and in control of my career.

It took me a few years to come to terms with what being a boss at work—without technically being The Boss—actually meant. Bosses know how to speak up for themselves and stand up for one another. They think of their voices not as something to be ashamed of but rather as their biggest asset. They communicate confidently and authentically, because how you communicate is an extension of who you are, what you stand for, and where you want to be. Luckily, anyone can learn to talk like a Boss, no matter where she is in her career. There are many forms of communication in the workplace, from interpersonal to digital, so let’s make sure all of them are on point.

How many times do you apologize throughout the day? Do you say “I’m sorry” when it takes you a few hours to respond to an email? When you start to speak at the same time as someone else? When someone bumps into you?

You might not even notice when you are doing it. I only realized how frequently I was apologizing after I kept a tally of each time I said it in the course of one day. My total: 53. I was shocked and embarrassed by that number, but at least I became aware of my excessive apologizing right then and there—and you better believe I did something about it.