
Sandra Hodžić-Falk
Principal & Founder, Sandra Hodzic Business Consulting
I help organizations prepare for the future. With over 15 years’ experience in corporate innovation, I have a deep understanding of how to identify breakthrough ideas, experiment rapidly, and take unique solutions to market. Through this, I am able to help organizations become proactive with overcoming future threats rather than being disrupted by them.
I have a proven track record of navigating complex systems, in the public and private sectors, to create positive and unique outcomes, with a focus on effective stakeholder building, strategy activation, and transformation.
My rich background in the public sector offers a deep understanding of the difficult policy pressures governments face and I possess the skills to help overcome obstacles through practical tools that leverage data, research, and digital capabilities.
One of my highlighted strengths includes acting as intermediary between start-ups, the business community and government through effective stakeholder management. I offer an objective lens and fresh perspective to produce tangible outcomes.
I am a national speaker of innovation and social finance as well as a peer-reviewed author.
As a woman navigating leadership tables, particularly as a minority, what strategies have you found most effective in amplifying your voice and creating lasting impact?
I believe in the power of curiosity. When I notice a challenge in a professional setting, I lean in and become curious by asking questions first. I like to understand my environment, the team dynamics, and any political nuances before I use my voice.
Trying to first understand the key players, and general audience, allows me to gain a better understanding of where the gaps are and what is really needed. Once I have that, I can then identify ways of leveraging my skill set to crate impact.
How do you create a comfortable environment in high-pressure settings, especially when working with senior leadership or in politically sensitive spaces?
So much of leadership is solving wicked problems and this is especially the case in high stakes situations like political environments where issues management takes on a new meaning. What’s helped me resolve challenges in these environments is gaining a strong understanding of my audience and my leader (or client). This goes back to the previous answer.
When I work on improving service design, I often talk about empathizing with the customer first. This is like one of those times.
To overcome a crisis or a high-pressure situation, empathy and research are key. Once there is a good sense of the landscape you’re operating in, then, and only then, can solutions take effect.
As Einstein famously said:
If I had an hour to solve a problem, I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.
This has always been my default in difficult situations.
In your advocacy work, how do you create measurable impact, particularly when working with non-profits or organizations that focus on social change?
This is a good question because there are so many things outside your power when it comes to advocacy. Even if you do everything right, there are external factors like budgetary constrains, political attitudes, or others, that can impact a desired outcome.
I control for these factors the best I can by creating clear expectations and specific goals around the change clients want to see. Sometimes it’s securing funding, other times it may be building a relationship with a key player or raising awareness of their program or initiative with government.
Coming from data analytics, I’m a big fan of measurable impact as a key tool of decision making. When it comes to gov relations and advocacy, I work with my clients to identify quantitative metrics such as Key Performance Indicators that we can track and leverage in advocating for a given outcome. An example may be: number of people served in a program, specific behaviours, or dollars raised for a cause that may be used to justify a request for operational funding.
I also work with clients to monitor the progress of our efforts and evaluate impact over time. So, though the tangible advocacy work may have ended, I create clear systems in place, which allow the client to track progress as a result of a specific goal associated with our efforts.
Self-advocacy is key to professional success. How do you develop a strategic approach to advocating for yourself, especially in environments that may not always be welcoming or inclusive?
As women, it can be hard to advocate for ourselves. Research has proven this, though, interestingly enough, women have less reservation about advocating for others.
Being a first generation Canadian, I’ve had to become good at both. I’ve learned to advocate from a young age – starting with my parents who had thick accents and were often taken advantage of in those early years in Canada. Later on, and as a woman navigating her professional career, I realized the benefits of this skill set in creating opportunities for myself and others around me.
Some things that have helped me become a stronger advocate for myself are:
Communication: understanding what’s top-of-mind for my audience and figuring out how to package my ask or goal in a way that will be perceived as a mutual benefit, requires strategy and great communication skills. I’ve learned to become good at both by developing a Unique Value Proposition for my request that captures attention and raises critical questions.
Building Allies and Networks: I enjoy networking and connecting with others. And its just as well because I’ve found this to be critical in so many industries especially those dealing with people. I like to seek out peer networks like Knew House and others, as well as other mentors across the organizations I work with, who will understand my cause and be an advocate for me when I’m not in the room. This takes time and vulnerability but it’s part of building corporate agility.
Timing: I’ve learned that the best causes can be ignored if the timing is wrong. This goes back to having that political acumen and a feel for your environment before you strike with an ask. I’ve had the most success when I’ve found opportunities where my advocacy efforts are most likely to be well-received and most impactful. This is different for every request and within each organization.
Comments