507. Unlocking Wild Courage: How to Turn “Negative” Traits Into Superpowers with Jenny Wood

The ONE Thing

NOVA Media

Entrepreneurship, Business, Careers

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 26 May 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if the very traits you’ve been told to hide are actually your greatest assets? This week, I’m joined by Jenny Wood, former Google executive and author of Wild Courage: Go After What You Want and Get It, to explore nine provocative traits—like being weird, selfish, nosy, shameless, or even brutal—and how to use them as superpowers. Jenny shares how embracing qualities like “shameless” self-advocacy and “nosy” curiosity can help you push past imposter syndrome and open doors you didn’t know existed. We break down practical frameworks like defining your “power assets,” sending a “shameless Monday email,” and practicing “woo with you”—flipping “I” statements to “you” statements to build stronger relationships and influence outcomes. Jenny’s journey from corporate leader to entrepreneur is a masterclass in acting despite fear and reframing discomfort as a signal to move forward. If you struggle with perfectionism, people-pleasing, or fear of standing out, this episode will help you see those challenges as opportunities. Opportunity lives just outside your comfort zone—and Jenny’s stories and tools show you how to step into it. Challenge of the Week: Practice one small act of wild courage—ask for something that feels uncomfortable, whether it’s at work, at home, or even sending back your order at a restaurant. Notice what happens when you advocate for yourself and step out of your comfort zone. *** To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: the1thing.com/pods. We talk about: How to flip traits like “selfish” and “nosy” into career strengths The Monday “shameless” email and other simple frameworks to stand out Why learning to say “no” (and being a little “brutal”) leads to more success Links & Tools from This Episode: Learn more at itsjennywood.com Read Wild Courage: Go After What You Want and Get It by Jenny Wood Take Jenny’s “Wild Courage” Quiz Follow Jenny on Instagram: @itsjennywood Connect with Jenny on LinkedIn Free Resources Want to be a guest or share feedback? Email [email protected] or send us an audio note at Speakpipe.com/the1thing. Produced by NOVA

Transcript

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0:00.0	What if I told you that in order to be successful, you needed to be weird, selfish, shameless,
0:05.7	obsessed, nosy, manipulative, brutal, reckless, and bossy? Well, that's what my friend Jenny Woods
0:10.8	is actually going to tell you. Jenny started out at Google at an entry level and then built an
0:15.5	amazing career over 18 years becoming a senior executive there. And she also led their career
0:20.7	development.
0:21.9	And her book, Wild Courage, Go After What You Want and Get It, is all about tapping into those
0:27.3	nine traits, like being bossy and being nosy, but actually turning them into positives that we can
0:33.4	actually use for greater success. And this is not just in the workplace. This is as entrepreneurs and
0:38.6	self-employed people as well. She's just got years and years of wisdom and lots of practical
0:43.2	application. So we're going to dive into the interview, but really quickly I'm going to give you
0:47.8	kind of the overview of the traits that she's talking about and also explain it because we just
0:52.2	dive into the conversation.
0:59.1	So weird is kind of code for be authentic, be yourself and be okay being yourself.
1:02.8	Selfish, it means that you have to kind of advocate for yourself.
1:07.4	Nobody else is going to, as we would say in the one thing, put the oxygen mask on yourself first.
1:08.2	You're going to be shameless.
1:09.3	You're going to know your value and promote yourself.
1:11.6	Obsessed. You're all in. Nosey. Insatiably curious. Manipulative, that's the hardest one for me to say
1:17.5	in any kind of positive light. But it's about tapping into the power of influence. Finally,
1:22.9	brutal. Hold your standards. Reckless. Right. We've got to have a bias for action and bossy.
1:28.6	You're going to lead others.
1:29.5	So we're going to mention some of these,
	...

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