It’s been over a month. America has spoken. We have a new president-elect. 🗳️
The analyses will continue for months, years, perhaps decades.
Given our work on female empowerment and helping women advance their careers, I am still processing. I am sad, angry, and unsettled…yet undeterred. 😔😡😟💪
Progress is seldom linear.
So, now what? Where do we go from here? Where do you go from here? 🤔
Gloria Steinem, who has spent more than five decades fighting for gender equality, declared in a recent NYT article, “We must focus on equality in the workplace.”
I’m in! 🙋🏻♀️
I founded Equipt Women four years ago—to help organizations build more diverse leadership pipelines and promote and pay women at the same rates as men. We do this by revealing hidden talent—women below the Director level who are stuck, overlooked, undervalued, underpaid, and struggling with self-confidence, particularly in male-dominated workplaces.
There is a lot of work to be done! Consider that despite women having 58% of college degrees, they are: 🔍
- Paid 7-12% less than men, beginning in their first job
- Promoted at lesser rates than men at every level (women make up less than 40% of overall management)
- Punished by becoming a mom by earning 10-20% less after their first child, while men earn 6-10% more
If that’s not enough, did you know the United States is the only wealthy nation that does not have federally mandated paid parental leave? (Even the little-known Papua New Guinea has implemented it!) And women make up a little over 10% of Fortune 500 CEOs. That’s progress over the last 10 years, but minuscule.
Most troubling is a widely known phenomenon that’s not often talked about called the “role model shortage,” which affects how women perceive leadership and, in turn, their ambition to pursue opportunities. In short, it’s not positive. Contributing factors include lack of representation, self-doubt, fewer perceived pathways, media portrayal, conscious and unconscious bias, double standards, and criticism of women leaders’ styles and approaches.
Arghh…..How will this change? 🤦🏻♀️
We need smart, informed, powerful voices to become louder. This is not a time to back down. It’s the opposite.
We need enlightened leaders to step up.
We need employers to step up.
We need the government to step up.
And, YOU can step up by taking charge of your career now – not waiting or hoping for things to work out.
So, here’s what that means, specifically:
1. Build soft skills. 💬 Your ability to communicate clearly and confidently and collaborate up, down, and across the organization will help you get promoted 11% faster.
2. Drive the agenda. 📝 Prepare for your manager check-ins with a concise agenda, seek constructive feedback, stay aligned on your priorities, know your path to promotion, and ask for help when you need it.
3. Invest in relationships. 🤝 Yes, the work is important, but relationships are MORE important. Get to know colleagues, follow up after networking, and proactively bring value to others (i.e. articles, data, ideas, connections).
4. Seek out supporters. 🙌 You need mentors to share their lived experiences, internal sponsors who will advocate on your behalf, and peers who push you to be your best. Nobody does it alone, and you don’t have to either.
5. Speak up. 🗣️ You are invited to meetings to contribute, so do not remain silent (and regret it later). Find your moments to build on an idea, share relevant data to enhance the discussion, ask questions, or offer a new perspective.
6. Self-advocate. 💥 This is not about bragging; it’s about understanding your needs and effectively communicating them to others. You need your ideas heard and contributions recognized (or considered) for a well-deserved promotion to become a reality.
7. Know your value. 💸 Do your homework to know whether you’re fairly paid for your role, level, company size, and geography. Ask HR for published pay bands and where you are relative to the mid-point.
8. Ask for more. 🙋♀️ Don’t wait to be handed an opportunity–ask for it. This could be more responsibility, high visibility projects, people management training, a raise, a promotion, or a defined path to promotion.
9. Get out of your comfort zone. 💪 Take on challenging and high-visibility projects, ask to work on cross-functional teams to expand your exposure and learning, and prioritize developing your growth areas.
10. Stay relevant. 📚 Keep your skills sharp with ongoing certifications, professional development, industry memberships, and networking.
11. Be persistent. 🌱 Don’t give up if things don’t go your way or you hear “no” a few times. You are planting seeds that require nurturing and time. Some of these efforts will ultimately sprout into exciting and rewarding opportunities.
12. Stay positive. 😊 It’s easy to get down, vent to co-workers, or participate in office gossip, but it’s rarely productive. Resist the urge and stay positive. Positive people attract other positive people – and opportunities.
Now is the time to push forward with tenacity and commitment. 🌟
The world needs YOU– an equipt woman – in roles of leadership, influence and impact to drive positive change that benefits everyone.
You got this.
Kelly
