8 Key Strategies for Women’s Career Advancement with a simple exercise to help. Number One – Networking

There is growing body of literature and research for women who want to advance their careers but unlike some of the early stuff this is not of the ‘strut your stuff, pad your shoulders and play the men at their own game‘ variety. Thank goodness – I never looked good with padding!

Research into Women & the Glass Ceiling

We’re moving on and the research reflects this. There is an understanding that men and women are different and bring different skills and qualities to the workplace, of equal value. Even the term ‘glass ceiling‘ is being replaced by ‘glass labyrinth‘ as it’s acknowledged that women can get to the top, but by a more circuitous route than their male counterparts. A path still strewn with obstacles.

Janna Walvoort of the London School of Economics has undertaken an extensive literature review  with a follow up survey, looking at the main barriers women face in their organisations, and at the 8 coping strategies thought to be commonly used to overcome these barriers for women’s career advancement. The strategies are:

family and career balance

understanding corporate culture

systematic investment in career and development

confidence

knowledge of own strengths

networking

role models

career planning

Four strategies stood out as being of particular significance in helping the women in Walvoort’s survey progress with their careers: networking, role models, confidence and knowledge of strengths. In a series of four articles I’ll look at each of these in turn from a coaching women perspective and suggest options or exercises for you to follow.

As someone who regularly works with senior women these are familiar concepts to me and my clients; I’ve written on my women’s blog about these issues many times (you might like to check out How to Manage Workplace Stress – 3 Tips for Women, What Every Woman Needs to Know About Confidence, and 3 things Women Must Do to have Career Success. And I have a whole section dedicated to Inspirational Women to act as female role models and give inspiration to other women.)

Women’s Networking

Networking is one of the areas I find women feel least comfortable to engage in; by which I mean focussed networking that can actively assist in their career development. There are several reasons for this, not least that women may be working part time and part time workers tend to work really hard at the actual tasks of their job in their working hours and give up anything they see as peripheral, like career development. Men, rarely part time workers, are quite good at networking and their networks have been established for years.

If  you are serious about advancing your career then networking is something you need to pay serious attention to. It’s not merely window dressing but can also enhance how you do your job as it increases your exposure to colleagues in the field and the knowledge they hold, as well as raising your profile.

A Networking Exercise for Women

Try answering the following questions:

• What does the term networking conjure up for you?

• Is it something you feel comfortable with?  Are you sub consciously resistant to the idea?

• What kind of networks are you involved with already? List all of them, whether work related or personal, don’t compartmentalise. Your yoga class may be an excellent source when you stop to think about it.

• Are you on a social media network like LinkedIn?

• Do you keep it regularly updated and understand how it can help you? If not, check this out-masses of free helpful information on how to use LinkedIn professionally and you can sign up to get 100 free tips – LinkedIn Training.  (I’m not on commission, it’s simply a very helpful source of information that I offer to you as a resource!)

• Do you plan in time for networking? Is it part of your career strategy or, in common with many women, are you focussing your time on getting more qualifications and work experience? That’s not a bad thing, of course not, but you need more than that.

• Do you know the best areas for you to focus your networking?Are you looking for advancement in your current organisation, in which case look upwards. Or are you looking to move to a new firm, in which case look outwards.
• Who do you currently know that could help you?
• Who do you know that already has links in this area, who could make some introductions? This is where LinkedIn can be invaluable in helping you make connections with people you wouldn’t come across in the normal course of events. Twittercan serve a similar function although is not such a professional medium and restricted to 140 characters.

Make time for networking in your career plan. Remember, it’s no good being good at your job if no ones about you! As Harvey Coleman discovered, in relation to gaining advancement in one’s career, 10% is the actual quality of work you actually do, 30% is your image, and 60% is if people know about you. Are you paying enough attention to that 60%?

If you’d like to find out more about working one to one with me, or any of my courses, call me on 01761 438749.

Speak Up! Empowering Course for Professional Women

If you’re interested in advancing your career, whether you’re aiming for a seat on the board, or to make your way upwards in a largely male dominated world, you may well be interested in my brand new course, Speak up!

Speak Up is Women’s Leadership Training with a difference. It doesn’t teach women how to be like men; instead it works directly with women on how to be strong and powerful communicators who get their point across without being dogmatic, aggressive or disparaged. Learn how to make men listen to you, respect your views, and become an influential figure in your organisation. Advance your career! Invest in your personal and professional development.

This women’s course is launching in November 27th and 28th at the five star Royal Crescent Hotel, Bath. Give me a call on 01761 438749 or email me jane at changingpeople.co.uk to find out more or reserve a place. Numbers are strictly limited to ensure everyone gets the maximum benefit.

Photo Credit: McHaron

What Every Woman Needs to Know about Confidence

Confidence is such an elusive concept. How do you define something so intangible? (That’s both a rhetorical and an actual question! I’d love to know what you think!)

I’ve written many times about women and confidence as it’s often  a feature of my coaching with women. Some days we’re brimful of it; others it simply deserts us.

And once we start to feel a lack of confidence it can become all consuming. We begin to focus so much on it that we soon become enmeshed in a downward spiral and can think of little else but our lack of confidence. Making us feel less confident…

Be More Confident

A survey by Gallop found that people were happiest at work when they had an opportunity to do what they did best every day.

Research into coping with depression and stress has found that focussing on the negatives in life does not lift the depression; you know you can make yourself feel miserable by thinking about something miserable in your life.

On the plus side you can make yourself feel brighter by thinking about something good in your life. Try it now. A famous sports photographer said he gets his subjects to think about the time they won a great competition and than snaps away as he sees that sparkle come into their features. Think about a good time in your life, when you felt confident and in control.

You can make yourself feel more confident by doing something you are good at! When the dip strikes don’t spend ages beating yourself up up about it or struggling to find a cause. Nip it in the bud as fast as you can by doing something that makes you feel good, that gives you a boost. And then in that frame of mind, go back and take a fresh look at your issue and you’ll see it from an entirely fresh perspective. You might not be able to see it at all.

RenewYou Women’s Course

If you’d like to spend a whole day with me looking at your life from a positive perspective and learn techniques to increase your confidence come and join me in Bristol on my Renewyou course!

And if you have your own techniques and tips to keep your confidence high, please share them with us!

Photo Credit: Katarzina Lipinska

3 Life Coaching Lessons from Cats!

I have two cats; I am, in fact,  a mad cat lady in training. That soubriquet was given to me in fun by Jim Connolly a few years ago when I first acquired my two rescue kittens.

I like the title (heaven knows, I’ve had much worse!) Cats have a lot to teach us; my cats may be a tad atypical as they were rescued at a very young age and were not brought up by a cat, but by me! But this is what I have learned from cats and these could be good lessons for you to follow this week end:

3 Life Coaching Lessons from Cats

• Eat and sleep when you need to, not when others think you should.
• If you need a hug ask for one (although not necessarily by rolling on the ground exposing your furry stomach. You know what I mean!). Let people give you a stroke now and again. And offer the odd snuggle back as you’ll find it results in more hugs!
• To your own self be true. If doing something doesn’t feel right to you, it’s probably not right for you. Trust your instincts and care more about what you think of yourself than what others think of you. Be an individual cool cat!

What life lessons has pet owning taught you? Please share!

Photo Credit: Pepiotana

Age and Women – are older women coming out of hiding?

I’ve been a bit quieter than normal watching TV lately. It’s not that I usually make a lot of noise with heavy breathing or anything; more that I can’t help shouting out at the screen as yet another impossible ideal of womanhood appears alongside some ageing guy. You know what I mean, an expressionless face and tight skin and ones who disappear from view when they turn sideways!

I’m not blaming the women; I understand the way the world works for most women in the public eye. Femageism rules. If you want to keep working you’ve got to play the game. Unless you’re Helen Mirren or Judi Dench or the marvellous Meryl Streep (she hasn’t has plastic surgery has she?); they manage to age gracefully and still have work!

More Older Women

But there seems to have been something of a quiet revolution and as I bang on loudly about the sexism in TV and radio when I see it, in all fairness I must bang on about this too. Whisper it, but there has been some tiny changes that give a long time feminist like me a cause to smile.

Newsnight on BBC 2 takes my top prize. It frequently is produced and presented by women and doesn’t seem to suffer from the fate of many shows of only being able to find a token woman. It regularly features loads of clever, intelligent and articulate women of all ages on all topics, there by merit. Well done Newsnight! You’re my number one!

Julia Somerville BBC Newsreader

And then there’s Julia back on our screens. I don’t read celebrity type stories usually so somehow the furore about her appointment passed me by (I have seen it now when I Googled her to check her age). What a pleasant surprise that was to switch on the news and see it read by someone who who was over 60 and female! Of course, she shouldn’t stand out, but at the moment she does. But I’m not going to whinge - just give us more women like Julia!

Bridesmaids

It’s not confined to the small screen either. Bridesmaids is a very funny and feminist film (yes it is possible) starring a motley group of women of all shapes and sizes and ages. All shapes and sizes! And it’s not a matter of comment, it’s not even really mentioned in the film. They are just fairly looking ordinary women. In a major film. Not playing sidekicks or decoration to men. Amazing. And very funny, go see it (but not if you are easily offended: it’s ‘earthy’!)

Why Older Ordinary Women?

Never underestimate the power of an image. It matters. If you’re old enough, think back about 25 years. If I had been walking down the street and a passenger bus passed me driven by a woman I’d have fallen over in shock.

Similarly if I had turned up at my local C of E church for a wedding and a woman appeared in a chasuble and a stole and a dog collar to conduct the service,  I’d have been looking round for the hidden Candid Camera (although some folk are still spluttering in their dry sherry over that one!)

We need female role models and we need to be educated. If we never see older, able and competent women on TV doing the same things as men, (or bringing their own take to it), we’ll never break the stereotyping. And it doesn’t work with just one. One women on a board, or one black face in a company. That’s tokenism and that poor soul has to bear the weight of representing everything about their race or gender and are not seen as individuals. If they fail it merely serves to reinforce the stereotyping and prejudice.

So bring it on! Lets see more of this and celebrate all aspects and all ages and all creeds of humanity!

Who is your favourite role model in the public eye?

Five Great Posts!

I’ve had some great comments about the site lately. One was ‘you have so much information on your site; it’s a veritable treasure trove for professional women looking to get ahead‘. Then she asked me which was my most popular post and I didn’t actually know! So I checked out the top five blog posts for women over the last six months and they are:

• Are You Perfect? A quick canter through some of the drivers of Transactional Analysis; you loved it!
• Take Off Your Pyjamas! A humorous look at my flirt with BBC fame (Can’t help thinking some folk will have been searching for something else when they alighted on this one…)
• Inspirational Women – Hannah Coleman. Everyone loved Hannah’s story, including me!
• Women Lack Confidence My take on some research on ambition and gender struck a chord.
• How to Get More Women on Board Posted when the UK government told companies to get more women in the higher echelons or they’d introduce quotas.

It’s been fascinating for me going back through the stats to see which have resonated most soundly with you.  If you have any thoughts on topics you’d like me to cover just drop me a line or comment below.

PS. I am sure given another month or so last week’s post about Feminism and Princess Kate will be there as it’s still rising high!

Photo Credit: Ilker

Women in Business – How are you with change?

It’s a pretty unpredictable business world at the moment. To be honest, for most of my adult life it feels like it’s always been a pretty unpredictable business world; this time around the stats are telling us that women in business are getting the worse end of the financial crisis, (somewhat ironic in light of a new book published on neuroeconomics, highlighting how if women had been in charge we probably wouldn’t be in a downturn!)

However, we are where we are and our attitude to change will be a significant factor in how we survive.

How do you React to Change?

There are two ways of responding – try to ignore and resist it and adopt the ‘if I stay quiet it won’t notice me and will go away’… stance. Of course, it won’t go away and you will feel weak and powerless and a victim of circumstances. This victim mentality will not help you deal with whatever life is throwing at you. Although for a while it can be a comfortable place to be as we rant and rave at the powers that be, frequently quoting how different it might be if women had been in charge! Be warned, the apparent comfort of moaning is a terrible trap to fall into….it won’t help and it may harm you.

And the second option? Don’t give away your power. Life throws rubbish at us from time to time but we always have a choice – recycle or drown in garbage. Recycling is so much better!

Keep the End in Mind

It might not be exactly what you want because you’re making it from what you’ve actually got, not what you’d choose, but it’s better than the alternative! Even when times are tough there are solutions, you just have to look a bit harder.

Don’t stop looking ahead and making plans for your future. Don’t stop investing in your career. Perhaps you can’t afford a course but you could could get a good career relevant book or an on-line course. Tap into all your resources., including friends and colleagues and give back too.

Know where you want to be ultimately, even if for a while circumstances mean you need to do a bit of fancy footwork. and make some compromises. If you can keep those longer term aims in sight it makes the interim stuff much more bearable.  See it for what it is, a deviation on your route which might mean the route takes longer. Keep your eyes fixed on the end goal and one day you will be doing just what you want to do!

Photo Credit: Dieter Joel Jagnow