There are many barriers to female leadership: gender inequality, lack of access to necessary education, issues with work-life balance, etc.
Yet, throughout my career, I have seen women overcome these barriers. I know women who care for their large families while also leading successful businesses; women who have not had the chance to attend university but have still climbed to the top of the corporate ladder. I also know women who have had the courage to assert themselves and their ideas in male-dominated spaces. How did they do it? It was the strength of their opinions, courage, desire to achieve equality, ambitions, and so much more. So, what if at the end of the day the real barrier was… ourselves?
Recently, I’ve been teaching women that in order to become a leader, performance is critical. But there is more to it than that: in order to be a successful leader, you need to engage, provide direction, and show self-confidence. Unfortunately, research has shown that these leadership attributes are positively correlated with likeability for men and negativity for women. In other words, a man will likely come across as “decisive,” while a woman will be seen as “bossy”.
Sheryl Sandberg often asks large crowds of women “if you have ever been called ‘bossy’?” noting that most hands usually go up. I was in one of these rooms once and I remember the funny feeling of seeing almost all of our hands raised. Yet when a crowd of men is asked the same question, very few hands are raised. There is a conflict between what “leadership” requires and the traditional expectations of feminine behaviors; being warm, welcoming, and supportive are usually expected of women (often unconsciously) but these are not qualities that you readily associate with leadership.
But women shouldn’t get burdened by these stereotypes or be driven by other people’s expectations. Instead, be authentic, believe in yourself, and in what you do. We have to be strong enough to know what truly defines us — family, friends, a job we love — and let those things shape us as dynamic leaders.
By Pascale Witz, EVP of global diabetes and cardiovascular at Sanofi.
Source: Fortune
An estimated one in seven people in the UK are neurodivergent, yet many struggle to get into jobs or progress in employment. For example, just three in ten of autistic people are in employment, with many of these jobs unstable or below their skill level. In the engineering sector, the call to recognise and harness the unique capabilities of neurodivergent talent has never been more pressing.
A desire from younger workers to earn high salaries early in their careers is a desire based on needs and not wants, data suggests. When asked about the main reasons for compensation increases, 31% said to pay for all their bills and expenses and 25% said to save money for the future.
At a recent training I was facilitating, I invited people to ask me anything anonymously using polling technology. While the questions always give me great insight into where people are struggling with issues of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), this question seemed more universal: “What do I do if my manager is not inclusive?”
