Jenny Wood

Author. Speaker. Founder, Google’s Own Your Career Program. Google Executive, America's Media Operations.

Order my NYT bestselling book: itsjennywood.com/book. WILD COURAGE: Go After What You Want and Get It will help you get seen, get heard, and get ahead.

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18 years ago, I was an anxious, entry-level employee at Google. 

Then I chased my future-husband off the subway and gave him my number.

That moment made me realize the life I want won’t just happen to me. 

I have to chase it. And so do you! 

That mentality led me to become an executive at Google running a large operations team that helps drive tens of billions in revenue a year. I also founded Own Your Career, a large career development initiative at Google with tens of thousands of people benefitting.

After climbing the ranks from entry-level to executive, I realize something. What if the traits you need to get ahead are the exact opposite of what you’ve been told? To be successful you need to be:

Weird
Selfish
Shameless
Obsessed
Nosy
Manipulative
Brutal
Reckless
Bossy

And that takes courage. Wild amounts of it.

So I wrote a book! It’s called, WILD COURAGE: Go After What You Want and Get It, and it became an instant New York Times bestseller. 😮

I’m so excited for you to order it at itsjennywood.com/book and be more bold, persuasive, and successful. 

Follow me for advice to achieve your goals and get what you want. Unapologetically. 

The opinions I state on LinkedIn and other public forums are my own, not those of any past or present company.

Director, Americas Media Operations, Technical Service Managers

Lead large team across North and South America that helps F500 companies implement, optimize, and troubleshoot media campaigns.

When I was 23, I would’ve been terrified of this advice. 😅

In my early days at Google, patience felt like the safest strategy. 

I told myself, “Keep your head down. 
Do great work. Don’t rock the boat. 
Your time will come.”

And for a while, it worked.

I was learning fast, getting great feedback, and building trust with my managers. 

But at some point, my patience stopped helping me…

… and started hurting me. 🥴

I noticed something: 

The people who got promoted said out loud what they wanted. 
They asked for stretch roles before they felt ready. 
They pushed back when something didn’t make sense. 
They made bold asks, even at the risk of being seen as “too much.”

That realization changed the trajectory of my career.

That’s why I wrote my book Wild Courage. 

It’s a playbook for using 9 traits you’re been told to suppress to supercharge your career:

👉 Weird
👉 Selfish
👉 Shameless
👉 Obsessed
👉 Nosy
👉 Manipulative
👉 Brutal
👉 Reckless
👉 Bossy

In Wild Courage, I teach you how to apply each of these 9 traits in a savvy and sane way to get what you want — whether you’re trying to impress your new boss, snag a stretch promotion, or land a life-changing deal.

Patience gets praised at work. Courage gets remembered.

📌 If you’re feeling stuck right now, ask yourself: 
“Where am I avoiding courage?”

That answer will tell you exactly what to do next.

Stop waiting. 

(Oh, and grab a copy of Wild Courage here: https://amzn.to/3NTD86O 🎉)

New York Times bestselling author. Keynote speaker. Former Google exec. Former Harvard Business School researcher. Founder, Google’s Own Your Career Program.

Most people think the hard part of public speaking is getting on stage.

It’s not.

The hard part is what happens before you get there: the second-guessing the “what if I bomb?” spiral the obsessing over whether your content is good enough.

Yes, rehearsal matters. Craft matters. Clarity matters.
But here’s the truth most people miss:

Audiences don’t show up for your polish. They show up for you.

Your experience. Your perspective. Your story.

They want the framework.
They also want the person who learned it the hard way.

The paradox of great speaking is
The more you practice, the more freedom you earn.

When you’re not glued to notes or slides, you can:
• actually look at people (not your deck)
• adjust your energy in real time
• pause long enough for things to land
• let laughter happen instead of rushing past it
• riff without losing the room
• be present instead of “performing”

That’s when a room shifts from good content to “I needed this.”

Practice is necessary. Perfection is not.

Here are 5 things that make a talk land (even if you’re not “ready” yet)

Steal these:

1. Anchor on one real moment.
Not your highlight reel. Find that story that made it click — the mistake, the turning point, the lesson.
For me, it was the moment I chased my future husband off an NYC subway train. That’s what people remember.

2. Build it like a playlist
Think about the emotional journey you’re taking your audience on.
Give them: Light → deep → light → deep → uplift
All hype = exhausting.
All heavy = draining.
Contrast keeps people engaged.

3. Practice until you can see them.
Your goal isn’t memorization.It’s freedom.
When you’re not glued to notes, you can actually connect with your audience, and focus on them 80% of the time.

4. Pause like you mean it. 
Pauses aren’t awkward. They’re powerful.
That’s where concepts land, and where trust is built.

5. Make it interactive early — like a conversation.
Ask for reactions. Ask for a show of hands. Ask for real examples.
Listeners multitask. Participants engage.

And this isn’t just a “speaker” thing.
This is a career skill.

Some of the most important rooms you’ll ever be in aren’t conference halls — they’re team meetings, project kickoffs, and moments where you need people to buy in.

That’s where stories do the heavy lifting. They create clarity. They reduce friction. They help people move.

I started using these skills at Google long before I ever thought about becoming a speaker. Not to perform — to lead.

You don’t need a stage to make an impact.
You just need the courage to be clear and real.

If speaking is something on your 2026 list — even quietly — I’d point you to the best “start here” resource I’ve seen for women:

Speak on Stage Bootcamp from Mic Drop Workshop. 

It helps you turn what you already know into a clear talk — and teaches you how to pitch it so you actually get booked. Check it out here:

https://lnkd.in/gZhXD_B4

The biggest lie I told myself about public speaking

Last month, I needed to buy a new laptop.

My old one was dying.
I had a keynote in two weeks.
I needed to make a decision.

Two years ago, this would’ve sent me down a weekend-long Reddit rabbit hole — processor speeds, displays, way too many opinions.

This time, I did something different.
I texted a friend who’s a tech guy:
“What laptop should I buy for presentations and writing? Budget is $2K.”

He sent me a link.
I bought it.

Decision made in 15 minutes.

My friend Jonathan Goodman calls this being strategically ignorant in his new book Unhinged Habits — and it’s one of the most liberating decision-making concepts I’ve come across.

Here’s the problem 👇

We trick ourselves into thinking we need to be experts at everything

• Buying a bike → hours of research
• Choosing a restaurant → dozens of reviews
• Picking software → endless comparisons

You’re not becoming an expert.
You’re just spending time pretending you are.

Here’s the 4-step process I now use to make “good enough” decisions fast:

1️⃣ Admit your ignorance
Stop acting like a few searches qualify you.

2️⃣ Find a domain expert
Someone who’s deeply into the thing you couldn’t care less about.

3️⃣ Ask a better question
Not “What’s the best laptop?”
Try: “What’s best for presentations and writing with a $2K budget?”

4️⃣ Default to their opinion
No second-guessing with your 10 minutes of Googling.

This approach feels reckless.

That’s the point.

Being reckless (the good kind) means deciding quickly, accepting trade-offs, and moving on.

Yes, sometimes you’ll buy something that isn’t perfect.

Still better than losing 19 hours trying to prevent that outcome.

The most successful people I know are decisive.

They choose, commit, and redirect their energy to what actually matters.

Your time is worth it.

If this way of deciding resonated, check out Unhinged Habits here:
https://amzn.to/3LGuuYZ

👇 Where could you stop over-researching and decide faster this week?

You just made a glaring mistake at work. 😳

Maybe you…

❌ Replied-all with something meant for one person
❌ Showed up late to an important meeting
❌ Called your boss by your ex-boss’s name

Your face is hot. Your stomach dropped. What now?

Here’s exactly what to do:

1️⃣ Breathe.

Take 5 deep breaths. Your body thinks you’re being chased by a tiger. Remind it you’re not.

2️⃣ One apology only.

“I own this. It’s my mistake.” Then STOP. Don't turn it into a TED talk about your failures.

3️⃣ Move on faster than everyone else.

While you’re replaying it 47 times, they’ve already forgotten. They’re worried about their own reply-all from last week.

This is the spotlight effect at work — the false belief that everyone is watching and judging you as closely as you’re watching yourself.

Your mistake was probably a 2/10 on the disaster scale.
Your anxiety about it? 11/10.

The gap between those two numbers is where suffering lives.

People actually LIKE when you mess up occasionally. It makes you HUMAN.
The robot who never makes mistakes? Nobody trusts them.

So own it, fix it, laugh about it at happy hour.

Your mistake doesn’t define you. But how you handle it does.

What’s the work mistake you thought would end your career… but didn’t?

👇 Drop it in the comments.

The No. 1 tool I wish I had early in my career?

It’s not Slack. Not Notion. Not even Gmail.

👉 It’s Shortform.

Let me explain.

When I started at Google, everyone was casually dropping references to business books like they were common knowledge.

“That's classic Good to Great thinking…”
“Have you tried the Getting Things Done method?”

I’d nod along, frantically writing titles down, pretending I knew what they meant. 😅

Then I’d buy the books. All of them. And read... none of them.

Because who has 10 hours per book when you’re trying to prove yourself at a new job?

What I needed then (and love using now): Shortform.

It breaks down entire business books into 30-minute actionable guides. The concepts, frameworks, exercises — everything you need without the 300 pages. 🤯

4 books that changed how I work:

Radical Candor by Kim Scott - Learned to give direct feedback with care
Deep Work by Cal Newport - Finally understood focus in a distracted world
Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss - Negotiation tactics I use weekly
Atomic Habits by James Clear - The 2-minute rule revolutionized my mornings
At @Google, I was drowning trying to keep up with what everyone else seemed to already know.

With @Shortform, I could “read” a book during lunch and apply it in the afternoon meeting.

Your professional development shouldn’t wait for “someday when you have time.”

Get the knowledge now. Apply it tomorrow.

What book does everyone reference that you’ve been pretending to have read? 👇

P.S. Try Shortform and Get $50 OFF here. 

It's the career accelerator I wish I’d had from day one: shortform.com/jw

4 books that transformed my career

So many smart, capable, wildly qualified people are sitting on ideas, stories, and experience that could help others — but never put themselves forward.

Not because they aren’t ready.
Not because they aren’t good enough.

Because of fear.
Fear of being judged.
Fear of being seen.
Fear of going first.
Fear of failing out loud.

I know this pattern well — because I see it everywhere.
Last year, I spoke on dozens of stages — in person and virtually.

About 30 of them were paid keynotes. Many more were free masterclasses, trainings, and sessions.

Different rooms.
Different audiences.
Same pattern.

It’s not lack of talent that holds people back.

It’s fear.

Fear of being judged.
Fear of being seen.
Fear of going first.
Fear of failing out loud.

After coaching tens of thousands of people at Google — and now speaking to thousands more from stages — this is the throughline I see over and over again:
 brilliant, experienced, high-potential people playing smaller than they need to.
And yes, I’ve been there too.

When I first started speaking, I had all the same fears.

I needed help with:

• shaping my talk
• learning how to pitch myself
• pacing on stage
• body language
• and trusting that I actually belonged up there

None of that came naturally. It was learned.

Fast forward to now: I’m heading into 2026 with my biggest speaking year yet.

I closed another talk just yesterday — and I have calls today about several more.

That’s not luck. That’s skill + courage.

And that’s exactly why I’m excited about Jess Ekstrom’s Speak on Stage Bootcamp.

This isn’t about becoming louder, more aggressive, or someone you’re not.

 It’s about learning the how:
 • how to clarify your message
 • how to turn your story into a talk people actually book
 • how to pitch yourself with confidence
 • how to stop waiting and start raising your hand

Because stages — literal and metaphorical — don’t go to the most qualified.

They go to the people who are willing.

If speaking has ever been on your goals list ...
If you’ve ever thought, “I’d love to do that, but I’m not ready / not qualified / not sure I have what it takes”…

Stop waiting.
Your story is needed.
And you can help more people than you think.

This is a powerful place to start.

Bootcamp starts January 15.

It’s a 5-day live experience to help you turn your story into a clear, bookable signature talk — and it’s just $38 to join.

If speaking is on your 2026 goals list, start here.

 👉 Join the Speak on Stage Bootcamp:
 https://lnkd.in/gZhXD_B4

Most people don’t fail because they lack ambition.
They fail because they never make ambition operational.

That’s the heart of my friend Chris Bailey’s new book, "Intentional: How to Finish What You Start. It's out today.

And it’s so relevant for anyone trying to get seen, trusted, and promoted at work.

Chris says: Your goals don’t fail at execution. They fail at design. 

We set goals…
but we don’t structure them in a way our brain actually wants to follow.

So they stall.

They get “crowded out.”
They become… theoretical.

Here are 3 ways to use Chris’s framework at work this week:

1. Stack your goal (don’t just state them).
Order your daily actions  to clearly connect to your bigger priorities and values.

Translation: If your goal is “get promoted,” but your calendar is full of low-visibility work, the stack is broken.

Try this: Write your goal → then list the 1–2 visible behaviors that would actually signal readiness (e.g., leading a cross-functional project, presenting to senior leaders). Build your week around those, not just tasks.

2. Avoid "ugly" goals.
Goals fail when they feel ugly, boring, or overwhelming, because your brain quietly avoids them. 

Try this: Take one career move you’ve been avoiding (asking for feedback, pitching an idea, updating your brag doc) and ask:

“What specifically makes this annoying or uncomfortable?”

Then design around that (script it, time-box it, pair it with something enjoyable).

3. Stop defaulting. Start choosing.
Most of our days run on autopilot unless we deliberately interrupt them. And autopilot rarely leads to career success.

Try this: Before your day starts, pick one intentional action that supports your long-term growth (not just your inbox). Protect it like a meeting.

That’s how ambition becomes traction.

Chris has a rare ability to blend science + humanity + practicality, and Intentional is exactly that. It’s not about grinding harder. It’s about finally finishing what actually matters.

If you’re serious about being more visible, more strategic, and more effective at work and in life, this one’s worth your time.

Grab Intentional today: 
https://lnkd.in/gqxRkKfF

You might disagree with this. 

If you leave a meeting without a decision, it failed.

Meetings are not for talking. They’re for deciding.

Every good meeting has 3 objectives:

1️⃣ Make a decision
2️⃣ Assign an owner
3️⃣ Set a deadline

If you don’t leave with all three, you didn’t have a meeting.

You had a conversation that could’ve been an email.

Agree or disagree here? 

👉 Want fewer pointless meetings?

Grab Jenny’s guide to saying no to projects, meetings, and favors  (without feeling like a jerk):

itsjennywood.com/sayno

Your boss doesn’t promote potential.

 They promote proof.

😳😳😳

This is where I see a lot of smart, capable people get stuck — including many of my private coaching clients. 

They tell themselves:

“I’ll raise my hand once I’m fully ready.”
“Let me master this role first.”
“I don’t want to overstep.”

So they wait.

Meanwhile, someone else gets the promotion. Not because they were better, but because they showed proof.

📌 I need you to hear this: 

Leaders promote the people who are already:

👉  Leading parts of the next role
👉 Taking ownership without being asked
👉 Making decisions, not just executing them

Readiness isn’t a feeling. It’s a pattern of behavior.

If you want the next role, start doing pieces of it now:

✅ Speak up with recommendations, not just updates
✅ Volunteer for work that’s visible and tied to real outcomes
✅ Share your thinking, not just your task list
✅ Let people see how you make decisions

Proof beats potential. Every time.

Ready to turn potential into proof? Download Jenny’s No-BS Guide to Actually Get Promoted: https://lnkd.in/gXuRZCn8

I would work for Layla Pomper in a heartbeat.

Creator of ProcessDriven® • 140k+ YouTube Subs • Making Small Teams More Productive & Less Stressed via Process • 2k+ Clients Served • Keynote for Your Conference? 👀

We’re hiring! ProcessDriven is hiring our first sales position: an Account Executive to take over 100% inbound sales for our $8K 1:1 coaching engagements.

Turns out — having prospects wait 4+ weeks just for a sales call isn’t best practice. Who’d have guessed? 😅

So.... I’m looking for someone who is:
👉 great at consultative sales
👉 organized and follows up like a pro
👉 can disqualify quickly (and kindly)
👉 allergic to slimy pressure tactics

Also: PLEASE SHARE and if you know an amazing sales professional (or someone who might know such a person) tag them below 👇

Google

Google Cloud Platform | Google Kubernetes Engine | Anthos
• Config Sync
• GKE Enterprise 
• Kubernetes maintainer
• Kubernetes SIG (Special Interest Group) Apps chair

Staff Software Engineer

The Linux Foundation

Co-chair of KubeCon 2018-2019:
• KubeCon Europe 2019, with 7,700 attendees
• KubeCon North America 2018. Biggest KubeCon yet, with 8,500 attendees
• KubeCon China 2018. First KubeCon in Asia, with 2,500 attendees
• Delivered 4 KubeCon keynote speeches

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