Repeatedly, I see women being told to “just be more confident,” “just work harder,” or “the barriers are gone, just go for it!” in regards to working up the corporate ladder. While I’m sure all this encouragement is well-meaning, it’s not terribly helpful. And at the same time, I hear well-qualified women saying:
“I just need to learn how to be a leader and then I’ll get promoted.”
“I need to take another course and get another certification and then maybe I’ll be noticed.”
“I just don’t know how to approach being a manager. I don’t have any previous applicable experience.”
So today, I want to outline eight necessary things to do in order to take the next step in your career. Today I will be focusing less on confidence levels, because though confidence is important, I feel this topic gets a lot of air time already. I want to focus on the tangible things women can do in their daily work lives in order to be noticed and make the leaps and bounds in their career they deserve.
Just Act
Take the plunge. Ask for the project. Apply for the position. Ask the questions. Just go.
It doesn’t matter if you feel your experience isn’t directly applicable, if you think you should “already know the answer,” or if you aren’t sure how “these things are usually done.” Now is your time. Life is too short to waste waiting for permission or for someone else to go first. Just act.
If you don’t know already, you may find it interesting that “Men apply for a job when they meet about 60 percent of the qualifications, but women apply only if they meet 100 percent” (Kay & Shipman).
I sometimes wonder how the world would be different if women woke up every day asking themselves how they could show up more like a straight, white man. I don’t mean to be tone-deaf to the very real and systemic issues that block the advancement of women and minorities. Rather, I’m here to say that women, especially, have been conditioned to show up perfectly rather than make messy progress.
I say, bring on the messiness. Ask for forgiveness later. Be audacious. Be proud of your accomplishments. And just act.
Unfortunately, opportunities do not just fall in your lap if you do a good job. No one is coming to save you. You will not automatically become the CEO tomorrow if you meet all your quotas. Decide exactly where you’re headed and unapologetically, boldly go after it daily.
“Ready to apply these insights to your own journey?”
Hold Leadership Accountable by Giving Them the Data
Hold Leadership Accountable Through Consistent One-on-Ones Where You Publish Your Successes
Too often, women visit a session with me and share that they have not been promoted in years. They’ve been promised promotions, but nothing has come. Their qualifications outpace their current role, but they are unsure what to do.
One of my first questions is, “How are you publishing your successes?” Typically, they respond, “What do you mean?”
Publishing your successes is, unfortunately, part of the corporate game that does need to be played for promotions to generally happen. One of the most commonly accepted ways to do this is through one-on-ones with your direct manager or supervisor.
Be sure to create a one-on-one that is not clouded by work tasks or to-do list items. This one-on-one, even if it’s just 30 minutes long, is a time for you to communicate your past performance (often, the more detailed, the better), your goals for the next 30 days, questions you have about your performance, and your expectations while also understanding your manager’s expectations with regard to your next promotion. I highly suggest sending an email in advance of these meetings so your manager can prepare effectively for your time together.
Oftentimes, the promotion conversation comes up only once a year. But think of this one-on-one time as your opportunity to consistently prove your worth. I’ve heard the advice to prepare your results from the past twelve months just before promotion season and advocate for yourself with a PowerPoint presentation. But by then, promotions have probably already been decided and the budget confirmed.
Here’s my case to you: if you work on proving yourself routinely throughout the year, that PowerPoint becomes irrelevant. By the time you’ve connected with your boss twelve times throughout the year in low-stakes meetings, armed with concrete proof of your ongoing performance, either you’ll be promoted, or your boss is out to lunch (more on that later).
We want to make it as easy as possible for your boss to make a case for your promotion throughout the year. By having monthly records of everything you’ve accomplished that are easily accessible, you’ve reduced the friction that’s typically present. Your boss can now make a compelling case to senior leadership that you undoubtedly deserve a promotion.
In addition, keeping track of your performance and taking time to evaluate your goals each month is a great way to keep the bullet points on your résumé fresh.
So what if your boss is out to lunch? Empty promises, undervalued work, and unsupportive touch bases? Don’t hesitate to switch teams, or even companies. Keep in mind the salary increase from changing companies typically ranges from 15–20%, compared with a typical 3% cost-of-living adjustment or even a modest increase from an internal promotion.
In addition, switching companies can act as a reset for an existing gender pay gap. When you’re interviewing, don’t give the first number. Instead, ask what the average salary is for the position, what the salary range is, or what their budget is.
Identify Your Sponsors
In Susan Colantuono’s TED Talk, The Career Advice You Probably Didn’t Get, Colantuono explains that women are often over-mentored and under-sponsored. Find yourself a sponsor. It is incredibly important. Finding people who know you, recognize the incredible work you are doing, and can speak to your skill set and capabilities is well worth your while.
Unfortunately, many women think that if they just put their heads down and work hard, good things will happen. Sometimes this works. Most of the time, it doesn’t. Find your sponsors, whether they are your direct leaders or people in cross-functional roles. Don’t let these sponsors over-mentor you. Yes, it’s fine if they occasionally give you guidance on how to be more confident, but remember that, in general, women are coached on confidence while men are coached on competence.
You may need to redirect your sponsor’s efforts by asking for specific things, such as representing you for a certain role or project or asking directly for knowledge rather than advice on being more confident. A little advice on confidence doesn’t hurt, but if that’s the only thing you’re being “sponsored” on, you’re not being sponsored, you’re being mentored.
Know the Business
Again, you can’t just do your job, do it well, and expect a promotion. You must know the business as a whole and understand how your role and your projects specifically move the organization’s goals forward through its vision, mission, and bottom line.
Understanding the business you’re in and clearly communicating the value you bring to the table through your capabilities and projects cannot be ignored. As Colantuono explains:
“The career advice women typically receive focuses on confidence, executive presence, networking, and visibility. Those things matter, but they’re not the whole story.”
She goes on to explain that business, strategic, and financial acumen are absolutely essential to advancing within an organization. If these basic but crucial skill sets are second nature, an individual should be able to move deftly up the corporate ladder.
Be Mindful of Your Brand
Often, when women are navigating a shift to a new role, I ask what three words they want people to use to describe them once they arrive in the new position. This intention serves as an anchor while navigating all that comes with applying to and filling a new role. Too often, we, as women, focus on the “what,” otherwise known as the to-do list or the job responsibilities that need to be performed with razor-sharp precision and perfection.
But what is left out of this equation is that the “who” you show up as is arguably more important than the tasks you complete perfectly. You will go farther if your focus is on showing up intentionally rather than hiding behind your computer and completing tasks with a debilitating sprinkle of perfectionism. I won’t go into whether that is right, but in most organizations, this is how it is.
If your brand is honest, impactful, and results-driven, use that as an anchor when deciding what is or isn’t on your plate, how you approach meetings, and how you drive results for the business. Whatever your brand, define it now and use it to guide you. Under your brand, identify the “buckets” of responsibilities, or “pillars,” that make up your role.
For example, conducting interviews, assembling data, and presenting to senior executives are all responsibilities that can be grouped into buckets. Perhaps one bucket is driving personnel growth, another is leading a team of analysts, and another is driving results through storytelling. All your job responsibilities can then be filtered into these three buckets.
Instead of managing a never-ending to-do list, it is helpful to first establish your “who” brand and ensure that your pillars or buckets support that brand. Then, every to-do list item can be categorized accordingly.
Balance Your Priorities For Your Ideal Role
Because we, as women, are often preoccupied with completing our jobs perfectly, we tend to fill our days first with the things that “need to be done” and label the bigger projects, ideation sessions, or other tasks that might feel unfamiliar (but move us toward the roles we want to be promoted into) as “nice to have.”
If you are serious about being promoted, the tasks that are outside your comfort zone, less defined, and less concrete absolutely must be prioritized.
Imagine your ideal day once you’ve been promoted. What will you be doing in that role? Now, to the best of your ability, structure your current day to resemble that ideal day as closely as possible.
Of course, you have responsibilities in your current role. But if both you and others can see you performing and acting as though you’re already close to or at that next role, the promotion will seem like much less of a leap.
Identify the traits, responsibilities, and mindset you will need in that role, and begin to embody them as much as possible in your current role.
Spend Time Learning about Leadership Principles, Just Not Too Much Time
Don’t use the fact that you haven’t read every book about business and leadership as proof you’re not ready to be a leader. These are supplemental resources, but they will not turn you into a corporate icon overnight. Use these resources as a supplement to your already acquired experience:
- Good to Great by Jim Collins
- Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
- Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office by Lois P. Frankel
- Radical Candor by Kim Scott
- Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
- Mindset by Carol Dweck
Know the Difference Between Energy Management and Time Management
As Leila Hormozi puts it, “Just because a meeting fits into your calendar does not mean it belongs there.”
As a tactful leader, your time is not most effectively spent doing tasks and filling your calendar back-to-back with meetings. It’s spent having the space to breathe, go on brief walks, talk with people in the office about what they’re experiencing, ask for agendas before meetings, or even ask for memos instead of meetings.
Regardless, having a “full calendar” is not what it means to be successful. It is not a badge of honor to never have a 15-minute block of free time. Your energy, your mental bandwidth, and your mental clarity are some of the most important assets you have.
Normalize setting boundaries, communicating wait times appropriately, and not always being bogged down by a constant to-do list. Consider putting breaks on your calendar that people cannot book over.
If you feel like you have time but not energy, it’s time to evaluate your daily activities. Ask yourself what is energizing versus draining, what is necessary versus unnecessary, and what plays to your strengths versus what can be delegated.
Additionally, when it comes to time management, consider using the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize your to-do list. When it comes to energy management, consider the meetings and tasks on your calendar, and plan your energy accordingly. Not every hour needs to (or should) be filled.
Conclusion
As you consider your next career move and the growth ahead, I hope this has outlined some important concepts to help you move forward.
Don’t hesitate to publish your successes, ask questions, and hold leadership accountable for the next steps in your growth. Know your worth, and take it elsewhere if it’s not being recognized. Identify sponsors who will advocate for you in the rooms you’re not in yet.
Know the business. Have the acumen to speak to the organization’s goals and objectives, and have the financial know-how to understand and produce relevant financial and strategic data. Be especially mindful of the brand you show up with. Know which tasks, responsibilities, and responses align with that brand (and which do not) and act accordingly.
Plan your day like you’re planning for your next role. Advocate for yourself and your ideal rather than simply fulfilling what’s in your current job description. Spend time learning about leadership and self-promotion principles, but don’t hide behind these resources. Act before you feel 100% ready. The men are doing it when they’re 60% ready.
Finally, protect your energy and your time so you can be the most effective version of yourself. As you think about all that’s ahead, remember how capable you really are.
