Photo courtesy of https://unsplash.com/@gabriellefaithhenderson
Are you in charge of your career or have you delegated that responsibility? Taking charge of your career is my number one coaching tip.
I have probably coached hundreds of women over my career form CEO to admin support. Many have been self-employed or running their own business. The common denominator was they had all decided to invest in their careers. I have shared some of their wisdom in my career tips – they were inspirational in their determination to succeed and to take charge
Think you can’t career plan? Yes, you can (says Betty the builder…).
Take Charge of Your Career
This is my first piece of coaching advice to you and the most important: Resolve right this very minute to take charge of your career. Say it out loud: I am responsible for my own career at every stage of my life.
This may require a change of attitude in your head. If you have some words going round in a loop, such as ‘I can’t do anything, the world has gone to hell in handcart’, or, something I frequently hear, ‘Women like me don’t get to the top’. If so, they need addressing.
This unhelpful self talk is so common among women that I have devoted two exercises in my RenewYou course on the power of changing your thoughts. I call it Spam Mail, those unhelpful thoughts which pop unbidden into our heads and weaken our confidence in our abilities.
You CAN plan, and you can change those unhelpful spam messages. You just have to build in some flexibility and have a plan B and maybe even C.
No one, repeat, no one, cares about your career as much as you do. No one will gift you a perfect career but you might just be able to create one. Be your own manager, be in charge.
Every successful woman I know has taken her career in both hands and properly owned it. Whatever the external circumstances, circumstances over which you may have no control, psychologically own your career.
From time to time external events over which you have no control will impact on you. However, don’t let it be an excuse not to take back control; don’t allow yourself to feel like a victim. Stay in charge. It may take a little longer but stay on track.
Taking Control of Your Training
Courtesy of https://unsplash.com/@pmalleret Stretch Yourself
I have lost count of the number of women who have told me that their organisation won’t let them take part in courses or training opportunities; that is happening more and more as the economic situation leads companies to cut back wherever they can. Often companies need a bit of gentle encouragement to appreciate the importance of developing this pipeline of female talent.
So, what can you do?
What Additional Training Do You Need?
First, determine what training you need. (My ebook DreamBig can help you with this.) Remember, it doesn’t always have to be traditional courses, there are lots of ways to enhance your learning and professional development. Plus, there is lots of free stuff available, too.
There are a lot of courses available and I have worked in many large organisations that, frankly, have become a bit moribund in their training offerings. For example, I was once asked to step in at short notice to deliver an assertiveness training course, attended by 90% women. The course had barely changed since the 1980s and was, frankly, very male and was teaching aggression, not true assertiveness.
I’ve written more about this in Is Being Assertive Too Male for Women?
That’s just one example, I’m sure you can think of several more in your own field. Be more creative in thinking about what you want or need. In my experience a lot of leadership training has been written by men for men.
That doesn’t make it useless to you, however, but you may want something more bespoke that takes into account your particular professional development needs. Allow yourself to be bold.
Help Your Employer Say Yes to Developing Your Career
Give your employer a plan showing them how whatever training or development you have determined upon will work to the benefit of them as well as you. Providing a solution to management rather than delivering them a problem, can yield a much more positive response, as you know. Even if you are self employed, writing down and making a business case for your training plan can still be really helpful and motivating.
Writing something down helps reinforce our motivation to get on and do something.
If your organisation won’t fund your specific training, try asking if they’ll allow you some paid study leave. This often works as employers don’t have to use up budgets; you will need to check that they don’t expect you to work additional hours to make up the time, though.
If they won’t allow you study leave think about doing it in your own time, if you possibly can. This is another characteristic of successful women I’ve coached; somehow they find the time, and they know they may need to make sacrifices to get to where they want to be.
Network With Other Women Who Want Professional Development
Courtesy of Unsplash Christina @ wocintechchat.com
Consider the possibility of getting together with some like-minded people and book the training yourself; ask your firm if you can use their premises or book a village hall, (yes, you can do this, usually for a very reasonable sum) and get your preferred trainer in and share costs.
Or you could investigate arranging an online seminar on your topic. This will have the added advantage of showing your employer just how committed you are.
If there are several of you in your organisation who want the same training, cost it out for the powers that be on a person by person basis. A 2k day of training can look much less daunting when you say it’s only £100 per participant for 20 of you.
I’ve been brought into companies this way a couple of times and it can be hugely successful in changing the conversation around developing women. If you go virtual your colleagues from around the country or globe can also participate.
You’ll also get the added benefit of raising your profile in a really positive way.
My career tip number 4 is on Networking for Professional Women
If you can’t find a course immediately, read around your subject or expertise area expanding your knowledge. Resolve to spend 45 minutes a day on your own development. Give up TV a couple of nights a week, or read during travelling time (but not if you drive, that would be a bad thing). You can get downloads, podcasts, or CDs to play while you drive. Like my SpeakUp course, perhaps… Where there’s a will there’s a way.)
Inspirational Interview with Jane Weaver, from Secretary to CEO
Jane Weaver is a truly inspiring woman; and we all need a bit of that from time to time. Jane genuinely went from secretary to CEO. I first met her when she came on my RenewYou course in Bristol and was so impressed. If you’d like a bit of inspiration do read her story. Inspirational Woman – Jane Weaver. Her advice is covered in Career Tips for Women Tip Two. Have a Plan.
RenewYou, My Tried and Tested Career Booster!
RenewYou has helped thousands of women make positive and lasting change in their lives. I deliver it one-to-one as part of a bespoke coaching package for women looking to move into leadership, to progress their career, or who wish to be the absolute best version of themselves.
Posted on January 11th, 2021 by Jane
