

“And then the last component of a crew is that it's a group that is truly rooted in and all about accountability. They care about you, but the decisions that you make don’t necessarily have an impact on them the way they do on the people who love you. A really great crew is a group of people that are not invested in your decision-making. It's really difficult and kind of complicated for our friends and family to be true crew members by my definition.
#Argen noor professional#
And I think having a dedicated group of people who are coming from diverse perspectives and different backgrounds is essential as we curate our next moves in our personal and professional lives. Most of us at this point understand the value of diversity in the workplace and innovating solutions for organizations and companies, but we don’t really think about the value of diversity in our own personal and professional journeys. “I think it's important you consider three things.
#Argen noor how to#
I realized if my life’s work is advancing women and girls I should probably stop preaching to them about how to find a crew and just find a crew for them.” That was my-I call them-Tiffany Epiphanies. She said, ‘What you’re describing to me is just more work and I don’t have the bandwidth.’ Then there’s scheduling coffees, teas, and lunches when most women are working during the middle of the day. I understand theoretically what you’re talking about when you describe this group of peer mentors who can support you, but I don't think you appreciate the amount of work that goes into finding such a group of people.’ And then she walked me through the workflow of her needing to figure out how she was going to get into the cocktail party, conference, or event in order to network. I said, ‘Is everything okay?’ And she said, ‘No. A woman I was giving my pep talk to about how she needed to find her crew really was not feeling me.

Then, in January 2018, I had an experience that was catalyzing for me. And in my conversations with women, I would tell them about my crew. “At that time, I already had a crew, a group of peer mentors that have supported me over the last 13-14 years. I was already thinking about the diverse ways that I could respond to women’s needs. “Before I started The Cru I already had embarked on a portfolio career, meaning that I had already gotten clear about how I might be able to monetize my gifts, passions, skills, and abilities in a way that didn’t tie me to just one thing, one employer. Not sure you have a crew of your own? Well, that’s where The Cru comes in, and below, Dufu offers plenty of other advice for where to look, as well. But in our Office Hours with Dufu, she shares more insight not solely on “doing less,” but working with intentionality, with truthfulness to yourself and your priorities, and with the support of a crew. She’s also authored the book Drop the Ball: Achieving More by Doing Less, a title which could strike you as surprising given the impressive list of accomplishments she’s had. She’s raised massive funding for nonprofit organizations and has trained women to run for political office. Prior to The Cru’s launch in 2018, Dufu held roles at the now-shuttered The White House Project and Levo.

Dufu is the founder of The Cru, a company that connects women with groups of peers while fostering community and accountability to help them realize their goals-work-related or otherwise. But for the entrepreneur, she calls her own circle of inspiring, supportive, goal-oriented peers her crew and has committed herself to help others find theirs. Like Argent, Tiffany Dufu is no stranger to the value of Work Friends.
