What Every Woman Needs to Know About Work

Welcome to my second post on the Catalyst research into how people get career advancement. It’s called the Myth of the Ideal Worker; in brief it says, even if women follow all the advice and conventional wisdom to advance their careers it seems it still doesn’t produce the same results as it does for men. (By the way, if this topic interests you take a look at my posts on Career Tips for Women)

Conventional Career Wisdom

Conventional wisdom imparted to ‘high potentials’ all coalesce into 9 main points, says Catalyst. They are:

• Actively seeks high profile assignments
• Rubs shoulders with influential leaders
• Communicates openly and directly about their career aspirations
• Seeks visibility for their accomplishments
• Lets their supervisor know of their skills and willingness to contribute
• Continually seeks out new opportunities
• learns the political landscape or unwritten rules of the company
• Isn’t afraid to ask for help

The research set out to see if these strategies really do get ‘high potentials’ to the top and if they work equally well for both men and women. What they discovered was that men benefit more from following the strategies given. Even when women follow all the strategies given above they got ahead less and had less pay. Although you’ll be pleased to hear that Catalyst thought it better than doing nothing at all!

Previous research from many sources, including Catalyst has dispelled the myth that women don’t progress in either salary or status because of lack of ambition (Pipeline’s Broken Promise). Catalyst made sure to get as representative a group as possible by looking at 3,345 ‘high potentials’ with same educational achievements , no career breaks etc.

Most Effective Strategies for Women

Of all the strategies listed above, only making their achievements known and gaining access to powerful others had the greatest impact on women’s career advancement. While changing jobs worked as a tactic for men in increasing salary, it seemed to have the opposite effect for women and changing jobs did not pay off for women.

Given what we know about women’s reluctance to blow their own trumpet this is significant.

In my next post I’ll be looking at some of the assumptions which may be talking place in organisations. Is this is a classic case of the business world has been designed to suit men? To heretically paraphrase Shakespeare,

“The fault dear Brutus, lies not in ourselves but in the way the way men have organised the world….”

Don’t forget I have a great new course on this Speak Up, when we’ll be taking a very in depth personal look at what research like this really means for you.

Photo Credit: Faahkir Rizvi

Does Doing All the Right Things Really Get Women Ahead?

So goes the provocative title from the latest piece of research on gender equality from Catalyst, (a non profit membership organisation for women in business). Their research is usually worth reading so I turned to it with interest.

The Answer is No!

In brief, the research concludes that the answer is no, women do not get ahead by doing all the ‘right’ things! They studied 3,345 what they called ‘high potentials, those likely to succeed who had followed a traditional career programme after completing a full time MBA. They chose a group in full time work, without any breaks etc so as to get as good a comparison between men and women as possible.

Men Benefited More

They found that overall men benefited more than women when adopting the recommended strategies for getting ahead. Even when women used the same career advancement strategies – doing all the things they have been told will get them ahead-they advanced less than their male counterparts and had slower pay growth.  (See my three tips to close the gender pay gap)

9  Classic Strategies for Career Advancement

The report looked at 9 tactics high potential candidates used to advance their careers. Over the next few posts I’ll be looking at the report in bite sized chunks with tip and hints from Catalyst and me! (You can sign up for an RSS feed of the blog posts if you wish, top right).

Meanwhile, please do share your own experiences of career advancement at work. And of course, I am studying the research closely for inclusion into my Speak Up programme. That’s going to be a packed couple of days in Bath!

Photo Credit: Svilen Milev

What have Nigel Havers & Jane C Woods in Common?

Well, for one, Nigel has a soft spot for Bath and two, he loves the Royal Crescent Hotel! Just like me!

Said Nigel in a recent Bath Magazine interview:

“When I want to treat myself I go to The Royal Crescent Hotel – they have a spa to die for.”

That ‘to die for’ spa is the one you’ll be experiencing if you take up this truly amazing offer.

In conjunction with the world famous Royal Crescent Hotel I am launching my superb new course for professional women this November. The hotel is hugely supportive of local business and has been very welcoming to Changing People. It really is the most fantastic venue – only the best for my clients! Just see what you’ll be getting!

Speak Up Course Itinerary
Your Speak Up experience will begin on Sunday afternoon when you check in to the world famous 5 star hotel at around 3pm. There is valet parking for guests. If you can, do arrive early so you can take a stroll around the glorious city of Bath and take in the world famous Bath Christmas Market. Professional development and a chance to get some Christmas shopping done!

One to One
Each participant will have an hour of one to one personal consultancy looking at your particular professional issues and focussing on your Myers Briggs Type assessment. (If you haven’t done this personality profile before I’ll send you information prior to the course. This is not shared during the course itself; it’s just a tool to help you get the maximum benefit from your day.)

Free Time
The Speak Up experience is a spa for mind and body! The numbers are kept small so everyone is assured of my full attention; when you are not working one to one you are free to make full use of the hotel’s beautiful spa and let the thoughts flow. You’ll receive a brochure detailing all treatments available before the day, or you may just wish to enjoy the pool, or the public rooms of this elegant Georgian hotel.

Dinner Party
At 7pm the group will meet up for a pre dinner drink followed by a  three course meal in the Royal Crescent restaurant after which time you can mingle with other participants or hit the town! Bath will be fully lit for Christmas and looking beautiful so you may wish to take an evening stroll.

Monday 28^th November
After breakfast we adjourn to our private room to begin work on advancing your career!

Refreshments (hand baked biscuits etc) are served twice during the morning, with Bath buns or scones in the afternoon, so we’ll have a relatively light lunch!

This is what you get:

• one full day of quality training
• all materials including a copy of  Jane’s book ’When Work isn’t Working‘
• one to one personal consult with Jane
• a Myers Briggs personality profile
• a follow up copy of my Speak Out downloadable programme (in audio as well as written form and full of new information)
• one hour telephone follow up coaching session to embed the learning from the day
• an overnight stay with drinks reception, 3 course dinner, breakfast, and all refreshments during the course, plus use of the  beautiful spa at this luxurious 5* hotel and valet parking

All the above for the amazing introductory price of £689 (plus VAT) (the bonus elements alone are worth £400). Book now to secure your place at this special launch price – it won’t be repeated!

And Nigel? Well, obviously I can’t guarantee his presence but he does have a November birthday….

So, You’ve Got No Confidence?

In my last post I quoted the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) ‘Gender and Ambition’, which has identified four main obstacles which hold women back at work:

• Low ambitions and expectations
• Lack of self belief and confidence
• A cautious approach to pursuing career opportunities
• A less than straightforward career path

I wrote about lack of ambition previously and now I’m turning my attention to lack of self belief and confidence. A lack of self belief and confidence is, apparently, a factor in preventing women reaching the top positions.

Do Women Lack Confidence?

Well, it’s a sweeping statement and clearly doesn’t apply to all women all of the time, but in all honesty I’d have to say so much of what I do when working with women is about building confidence. That’s not to say we women lack confidence in all areas but in the world of work we do sometimes waver and feel less confident than our skills and qualities merit. In fact, studies show we downplay our skills at work. While men overplay their strengths….

Why Women Lack Confidence?

I have come to believe that one of the reasons women admit to a lack of confidence (and I use that word advisedly as I suspect women are more honest in surveys!) in the professional field is because we are often working in an arena designed by men. Male behaviours which don’t come naturally to us are rewarded. Management courses, (certainly all the ones I did) don’t question the prevailing wisdom. That is certainly true of anyone in the old established professions like finance, banking, and government. We women had no role when these institutions were set up. And so we see women dropping out, and not just to have babies!

Changes have of course been made but by and large male norms still apply. Male behaviour is rewarded. Do you remember the shocking news a while back that some professional and ambitious women were actually taking testosterone to enable them to behave more like men?

Women and Men – Equal but Different

That made me weep. Why, in this day and age, the 21st century, do women still feel inadequate if they can’t behave like men?

There is a huge spectrum of behaviour which can be described as male and female and I don’t want to pigeon hole anyone into any stereotype of behaviour. But I most certainly don’t want to see women feeling they have to deny their femininity to achieve success. If you can’t be true to yourself how can you act with confidence?

Speak Up

I’ve written masses about this in the pages of this site; it’s my passion. For years I have been working with women to feel good about being themselves, to let that inner confidence out. I devour every bit of information I can get my hands about gender research, in order to make the point that the world needs both men and women performing to their best, and there is plenty of evidence that it improves the bottom line and improves service. And it’s just right, dammit!

Which is what Speak Up is about. I have taken all that information and acquired experience and turned it into a great course for women. We’ll look at how men behave (not disparagingly, that’s not what it’s about!) and together explore strategies for female success! And it will improve women’s confidence!

Share Your Thoughts

Do let me know what you think about this; I’d love to hear. Have you experienced times when you had to curb your natural instincts? Have you noticed this with male colleagues who also don’t apply to the macho stereotype? Do you think this is old hat, no longer an issue? (Younger women often do, although you only have to look at the few numbers of women on boards still to know something isn’t right…)

Tell me, share your stories!

And if you’d like to know more about Speak Up, click the link, or call me on 01761 438749

Photo Credit: Mattox

Women, Where’s Your Ambition?

Do you conform to the research about women and senior careers?

The Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) ‘Gender and Ambition’, has identified four main obstacles which hold women back at work:

• Low ambitions and expectations
• Lack of self belief and confidence
• A cautious approach to pursuing career opportunities
• A less than straightforward career path

Women Have Low Ambitions?

Can that be true? Do we women really have low ambitions and all that it implies? I work with many women who have very great ambitions. But I sometimes wonder if we get ‘downgraded’ because our ambitions don’t necessarily match the male idea of ambitions?

Many of the women I work with, or who come on my courses, have stepped outside of corporate life and begun to run their own businesses, to do things their own way. (See this interview with Sam Roddick for someone who does it her own way and very successfully!) They are certainly not lacking in ambition. What tends to be different about them is that they are not motivated by accumulating wealth but by achieving a better quality of life. Obviously that involves making money but it isn’t the primary concern.

Cup Cakes or Mechanics?

I heard someone (female) in the media talking disparagingly about women and business the other day; they referred to the ‘cupcake mentality’. For goodness sake, they said, women must stop faffing about with girly hobbies like cake making and do real business. They were referring to those women who forge a living out of their hobby, beginning with making cakes at home, selling to friends etc and expanding. What’s wrong with that I wondered?

I believe the comment was sexist because cup cake making is seen as a ‘girly’ activity and therefore not of value. Presumably that also applies to all the those small garage businesses, mechanics who work out of their home garage or rent small premises. Turning a hobby and interest into a job? Funnily enough they didn’t get a mention.

A few of the Cup Cake Women will expand and flex their business muscles; most will be happy as they are. A few of the mechanics will expand and end up with a chain of garages; most will be happy as they are.

One difference between them is that the mechanics, following a male role, will not be derided for being ‘boy-ey!’ Because being boy-ey is OK…

We all have to learn to value the skills and talents that women bring to the workplace and learn to accept that men and women are different. Not better or worse, but different. And we have to let go of ingrained notions that just because the world of work was designed by men their traditional occupations are superior. That said, of course, men can make cakes, (when they get called master chefs, rarely simply a ‘cook’!) and women can fix cars. In fact, when women were brought into the design process of cars an increase in sales resulted. No big surprise as both men and women drive cars so get both perspectives into product design!

A  Question for Women

If you can, take 15 minutes out to listen to my free download, (the link is just up the page to your right), and allow yourself to picture your perfect day. What came to you? What are you doing? Does it bear any resemblance to your life now? Or could it, with a few tweaks?

I’d love you to share with me what ambitions you had for yourself on leaving school or university or college. What did you think you might do? Did you do it? Are you ambitious now? (leaving aside the fact that for women my age, 55 we were actively discouraged from being ambitious, not feminine you know!) And why do you think women are so often seen as lacking in ambition?

Speak Up

If you find yourself frustrated at work, do take a look at my brand new course. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re a woman with great ambitions it is for you!

Photo Credit: Ruth Livingstone

How to Give Yourself a Helping Hand!

Our knowledge about how our brains work is increasing all the time. Recently some research into over eating was released which suggest that if we eat with our non dominant hand we can lose weight.

That’s because we’re doing something we do habitually in a different way and thus drawing our attention to it. Because we actually want to lose weight, being mindful of what we’re doing helps us control how much we eat (not to mention throwing a fair bit of food down our fronts!)

Be Different!

Habits are great; if we didn’t do things habitually life could be quite difficult. Knowing how to change gear while having our eyes on the road, avoiding a collision, and taking the right route would be quite difficult if we lost the habits associated with that!

But if we want a quick boost, a jump start in our lives then it’s time to do something differently! So have a do something different day! It may be using your non dominant hand for some mundane tasks, like cleaning your teeth. You may take a new route to a favoured destination. Catch a bus and leave the car behind. The possibilities are endless. Doing some things differently will sharpen your appreciation of life. I’m not promising that you’ll lose weight but you will have a different experience of life for one day!

Do share what you choose to do differently in your life!

Photo credit: Vivek Chugh