Agility: A Superpower from Danielle Nicolosi

How do you react to change? Does it scare or worry you? What personal skills could we develop in ourselves to keep us not just resilient, but resourceful, in times of uncertainty? 

Our Women’s Network speaker series ‘Finding Your Superpower’ invites inspiring female leaders at Smith+Nephew to share their valuable life’s lessons. Our most recent talk from Danielle Nicolosi, Senior Vice President in HR, shone a spotlight on agility: the ability to adapt or change direction.

As she entered university, Danielle had a clear education and career path – to obtain a Ph.D in Educational Psychology and conduct research and teach at the university level. However, two years into her Psychology degree, she discovered that practical application of psychology rather than academic research in labs, was more appealing.  Through further exploration of careers that aligned with her skills and her new interest in organizational psychology, she put herself on a career path in HR. She has now spent over 20 years in HR, working in a wide variety of industries, from insurance and financial services to agribusiness and food production, before she changed direction again and joined the medical device industry with Smith+Nephew. 

Agility is a skill that Danielle has built over the years. She explains, “I live by lists. I have a calendar that I can’t live without and goals that I want to accomplish. You would think all of this goes against being agile, but I’ve learned the value of agility over and over again in my life and my career.”

She shared three tips for building agility in ourselves: 

1. Stay curious, not defensive: Danielle recommends viewing change as a chance to learn. For example, by accepting career moves or project opportunities that may not have been on her original career plan, she developed critical skills that make her a better HR leader and business partner today.
   
   
2. Say yes to things before you feel fully ready: Danielle’s learned a lot of her most useful professional skills from stepping into big roles, including those she wasn’t sure she felt ready for. LinkedIn’s gender insights report shows women are 14% less likely to apply for a job after viewing it compared to men but are 16% more likely than men to get hired to jobs they apply to . This shows that women put themselves forward only when they feel extremely qualified and avoid stretch opportunities. Danielle’s personal experience is that you don’t have to check all the boxes to go for an opportunity, and that you should look for transferrable skills that can help you be successful in the next right role.
   
   
3. Hold plans lightly: Despite her love of lists (“thank goodness for OneNote!”), Danielle has learned that prioritizing progress over perfection helps her to keep an adaptable mindset. 

We loved Danielle’s talk and look forward to hearing more from our leaders in our Superpowers series.