A Magician Can’t Tell Her Secrets…

In honor of Women's History Month, I want to take some time to write about some of the benefits of playing poker and how it can impact women and their leadership skills. These are connections that I have made as I have played poker since 2014 and co-owned an entertainment business that hosts free Texas Holdem Poker Tournaments.

A magician can’t tell her secrets, but a leader can.

Reading people:

Someone’s mood for the day, what they are wearing, how they feel, level of confidence. All of this can impact how they play the game of Texas Holdem. It’s important that you as a player learn to read people and to listen to what they say. Scrutinize the details of their face, eyes, body language. See if they repeat these details hand after hand. In the game of poker, this will help you know when to call, raise, or fold your poker hand.

In business, learning to scrutinize these types of details and analyze someone’s behavior can help you move through conversations wisely in people management, negotiating a salary for a new job or negotiating a contract. The key is to develop these skills while playing the game of poker before you sign a legally binding contract or taking a salary lower than you deserve.

Collaboration is good, breaking the rules is not:

Not talking during a hand of poker can be difficult, but it’s against TDA rules. You can’t talk during a hand of poker depending on the rules of the house unless you are heads up with one other player. You should never talk during a hand that you are not in. This is a poker rule, because you can influence action or the outcome of the hand. An example of this would be if you mention there is a straight draw on the board, and one of the players didn’t notice that. It could encourage them to fold their hand because the odds are against them. The other player may have wanted them to call because they had what we call the nuts. It means they can’t lose because they have the best hand possible for that specific poker hand. It’s a bad thing in poker when you cost someone chips because you influenced the action.

In business, we should always support others that are in our company, including other business lines. Two different business lines may be working with the same customer. This happens all the time with Customer Care and Relationship Management Teams. Client Executives or Partner Management could be in the middle of negotiations on a new contract. We want to be aware of how our words and actions, influence the outcome of the final hand/winner. Collaboration is always important and can influence the action and outcome. Making sure you use internal communication and strategy to influence the best outcome for the customer experience is ideal.

Aggression:

Use strategic aggressiveness if you want to win more often. Does anyone remember the cheer “Be Aggressive” and it spells out the word, “AGGRESSIVE”. I remember that cheer from playing field hockey for 7 years. We were taught to be aggressive in sports, but not in business. The truth is, in both business and poker, you must play aggressive at times if you want to win more often. If you simply play cards in poker, you will not be a very successful player. The odds are stacked against you. Strategy, and aggression, it’s a must.

Consistency:

Remain consistent when you have asked for something. In poker, continuation betting is important, or your opponents will think you are weak and will take advantage of you. They may give you one round of checking because they think you are testing them to see where you are. After that, they may put you all in for your entire stack because they know your hand is weak. So, either play like you have the best hand, or prepare to fold.

Do the same in business. If you have asked for a new headcount, a raise, or been dealt a humbling annual review. Remain consistent with your performance and/or presentation of the request. Don’t show weakness or a lack of commitment until the day you walk out the door. It’s your integrity and your brand. Always deliver a stellar performance. Keep increasing the value! Know your currency (personal value), never let that currency devalue itself.

Good luck on the felt and in the office!

Brenda