workbook - everywoman · workbook. step up are you ready to put yourself forward at work? i...

Step up! Are you ready to put yourself

forward at work?

www.everywoman.com

WORKBOOK

Step up! Are you ready to put yourself forward at work? www.everywoman.com i

CONTENTSAbout this workbook 1

The science behind stepping up 3

Quiz: discover your comfort zone 7 Stepping up: smashing perceived blockers and challenges 13

Steps to stepping up: 24Sponsors and advocates 24Reconnecting with your ambition 28

Your personal action plan 32everywoman experts 33

Step up! Are you ready to put yourself forward at work? www.everywoman.com 1

ABOUT THIS WORKBOOKEstablished in 1999, everywoman advances women in business. Our aim is to ensure women from all over the world fulfil their potential. We produce workbooks on topics that matter most to our members, and we’re constantly listening to your views to give you the tools you need to kick-start your career, at a time and place that suits you.

When faced with an unfamiliar obstacle or new challenge in the workplace, is your gut reaction to shy away, or get involved? You might be embarking on this workbook because you are ready to take on stretch assignments, raise your profile and broaden your horizons with new experiences. Or, on the other end of the spectrum, you might feel trapped in your ‘comfort zone’, unable to see ways to develop in your current role.

The good news is wherever you fall on the spectrum, this workbook will help you understand where you could be limiting yourself by not putting yourself forward - as well as uncovering the areas you could be developing in.

A frequently-quoted statistic from an internal Hewlett Packard report, made famous by McKinseyi, states that men are likely to apply for a job if they only meet 60% of the criteria, while women

considered submitting a CV only if they can meet all requirements of a job description. Further research from the Harvard Business Reviewii showed women applying for a job were almost twice as likely as men to strictly follow the candidate specification guidelines – with 21% of the 1000 women surveyed saying their fear of failure was holding them back from putting in an application.

“No one likes to move beyond his or her comfort zone, but that’s really where the magic happens.

It’s where we can grow, learn, and develop in a way that expands our horizons beyond what we thought was possible.Also, it’s terrifying.”

Harvard Business Review

21% of women surveyed saying their fear of failure was holding them back from putting in an application

mel.spencer

Typewritten Text

.

mel.spencer

Typewritten Text


Saying ‘yes!’ to the challenges the workplace throws up on a daily basis doesn’t have to mean blindly accepting any request aimed in your direction. By learning more about what drives your ambition and establishing your short and long-term aims, this workbook will help you understand how breaking free of your comfort zone could

bring you closer to goal completion.

The evidence suggests that women, specifically female middle managers, do not push themselves forward, and underestimate how much personal responsibility they need to take for developing their careersiii.

Rather than relying on your employer to recognise your potential and offer you opportunities as they arise, it’s time to seek out those extra challenges and seize every opportunity for growth with both hands - you might be surprised how enjoyable it can be!

Let us know how you get on. Email [email protected] with your experiences.

Karen, Max and the everywoman team

“Men are confident about their ability at 60%, but women don’t feel confident until they’ve checked off each item on the list.” Forbes

YES!


Way back in 1908, psychologists Robert Yerkes and John Dodson conducted an experiment using mice, testing how electric stimulation affected their ability to remember a simple route.

They found that slight discomfort actually prompted the mice to move faster and perform better up to a certain level known as ‘optimal anxiety’. When that level was passed, and the mice were too uncomfortable, their learning ability droppediv.

Thankfully, the workplace refrains from electrocuting staff in the hope of motivating them onwards. But the link between discomfort and productivity is clear. It’s the principle at play when athletes demonstrate enhanced performance when fans yell negative commentsv, or when the highest-performing teams in the office need constructive criticism as well as praise in order to remain at the top of their game. The most motivating ‘praise to criticism’ ration is said to be 5:1, with teams who receive one part critical feedback to five parts praise doing better than those who only receive commendations or only criticismvi.

The Yerkes–Dodson law is an empirical relationship between arousal and performance, whereby you must find your optimal arousal in order to achieve optimal performance.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND STEPPING UP

Strong

Increasing attention and interest

Optimal arousal Optimal performance

Impaired performance because of strong anxiety

Arousal

Perfo

rman

ce

Weak

Low High


In other words: avoiding this discomfort by remaining in your ‘comfort zone’ prevents you from experiencing the occasional discomfort that can make you more productive.

This doesn’t mean, of course, that you should be making yourself uncomfortable at all times in order to succeed. There are times when your comfort zones serve a purpose - when you’re going through tough personal circumstances at home, recovering after a stressful deadline, or adjusting to a new role; jumping headfirst

into uncomfortable circumstances might feel like too much to bear. Furthermore, wandering too far out of a comfort zone moves you beyond learning and productivity and into anxiety and stress. That’s why it’s essential to find a balance between pushing yourself into unfamiliar territories, and staying put, i.e. discovering your ‘learning zone’.

“We need a place of productive discomfort,” said Daniel Pink, author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. “If you’re too comfortable, you’re not productive. And if you’re too uncomfortable, you’re not productive. Like Goldilocks, we can’t be too hot or too cold.”

Panic zone

Learning zone

Comfortzone

One person’s comfort zone might be different from another’s. You might thrive on the pressure of preparing the slide deck for the upcoming team meeting but feel panicked at the thought of presenting it. Your colleague, meanwhile might relish the thought of addressing the room, but find the idea of arranging the information on a page extremely daunting.


So, stepping up makes people feel uncomfortable - but this discomfort is, ultimately, what drives better results.

In the short exercise that follows, you’re going to step back in time and examine your past experiences of discomfort to help you understand how stepping up into unfamiliar scenarios can benefit your professional life. By pinpointing how you felt at uncomfortable moments, and how you gradually became comfortable over time, you will see how even the most challenging scenarios have the potential to offer positive learnings.

Think about a time you jumped headfirst into a scenario you felt uncomfortable with:e.g. I was promoted to a role I felt was beyond my capabilities.

At the time, how did you feel?e.g. Scared, reluctant to assert myself over my team, like the employers had made the wrong decision.

Did anything change? How did you gradually become comfortable with the situation?e.g. Asking my manager for feedback to understand the basis of her confidence in my abilities

How do you feel now?e.g. ready to take on the next challenge!

How has jumping into this opportunity helped or hindered you?e.g. I’ve relished managing a team and I feel much more confident asking for feedback.

EXERCISE


Think about the scenarios you remembered that made you feel uncomfortable. Perhaps it was a new job, raising your first child, buying a house, or moving to an unfamiliar area. At the time, these life changes might have felt overwhelming or even impossible - but now they are a regular part of your daily life.

This is the key to expanding your comfort zone. By exposing yourself to discomfort every so often, you eventually become accustomed to a certain level of anxiety, and your comfort zone gradually expands, meaning in turn that you’ll be less fearful of new things in future.

The quiz in the next section will help you determine exactly what your comfort zone is - and how to break out of it.

“We shall have no better conditions in the future if we are satisfied with all those which we have at present.”

Thomas Edison, Inventor


As you discovered in the last chapter, your comfort zone is unique to you - the tasks that make you feel uneasy may not have that effect on your manager or your team, and similarly things that you take in your stride may leave others in a state of anxiety.

Before you can start to inch further into unfamiliar territory, it’s important to understand the areas in which you feel most at home.

For each of the challenges presented in the tables overleaf, circle the number in the column which accurately describes how you feel right now about the situation.

DISCOVER YOUR COMFORT ZONE

“[A comfort zone is] where our uncertainty, scarcity and vulnerability are minimised — where we believe we’ll have access to enough love, food, talent, time, admiration. Where we feel we have some control.”

The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown (Hazelden, 2010)

www.everywoman.comwww.everywoman.com Step up! Are you ready to put yourself forward at work? 8

WHAT’S YOUR EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT?

Already done Want to

Want to but not ready

Would not do

1 Attending a job interview 5 3 0 -3

2 Moving to a new city for work 5 3 0 -3

3 Applying for your dream promotion 5 3 0 -3

4 Presenting in front of a large audience

5 3 0 -3

5 Attending a networking event alone

5 3 0 -3

6 Asking for feedback on workplace behaviour

5 3 0 -3

7 Managing a team of people 5 3 0 -3

8 Approaching someone you don't know about a role

5 3 0 -3

9 Proposing a new way of doing an established process within your team

5 3 0 -3

www.everywoman.comwww.everywoman.com Step up! Are you ready to put yourself forward at work? 9

10 Saying ‘no’ when a colleague takes advantages and tries to delegate work they should be doing

5 3 0 -3

11 Leaving the office on time when other colleagues stay late

5 3 0 -3

12 Chairing a meeting successfully 5 3 0 -3

13 Mentoring a colleague 5 3 0 -3

14 Contradicting a senior member of staff when you believe they are in the wrong

5 3 0 -3

15 Entering an awards programme 5 3 0 -3

16 Taking on additional responsibility outside your immediate business area

5 3 0 -3

17 Making a mistake and admitting you are in the wrong

5 3 0 -3

18 Asking for a pay rise when you feel you deserve it

5 3 0 -3

19 Starting your own business 5 3 0 -3

20 Taking an exam 5 3 0 -3

Adapted from whatismycomfortzone.com, where you can take a more comprehensive test and review your scores against the population’s average.


YOUR RESULTS

Comfortable with discomfortWhether it’s admitting to a mistake when you’re in the wrong, or facing your fears and moving to a new city, you understand the need to take on new challenges - and you might even feel ready to do so. The later chapters of the workbook will help you hone your ambitions and pinpoint your further goals to ensure you stay at a level of ‘productive discomfort’.

Action: Commit to transforming at least one of the answers in the ‘want to’ column to an ‘already done’. Give yourself a time frame and re-visit the quiz at regular intervals to track your progress.

Moderately comfortableYou’ve taken the plunge a few times, and it’s paying off so far. But there are still areas in which you haven’t quite broken free of your comfort zone. Have you recently started a new role? Are you going through a period of stress in your home life? Remember, it’s OK to retreat back into your comfort zone occasionally, but it’s easy to become complacent.

Action: Look at the answers in your ‘already done’ column. It might help to look back at the exercise in section one; remember how you felt throughout the process. Which fears did you overcome before you could complete the action?

> 60

30 - 59

It’s extremely likely that, to get where you are today, you will have had to complete at least one of the actions on the list - so it’s worth starting by giving yourself a pat on the back. After all, there was a time when you had never done the things which now might seem routine; by setting foot in your first exam hall, or arriving at reception to take part in your first job interview, you have proven it is possible to expand your comfort zone and become accustomed to doing things which previously felt petrifying.


Remember, it is possible to expand your comfort zone, little and often. Start by choosing one statement out of the 20 which you feel might be the easiest for you to achieve. Take the first step to completing the goal by making a plan to make it happen.

Comfort zone dwellerWhile you might have completed a few actions on the list, most of your answers have fallen in the ‘want to but not ready’ column. By remaining in your comfort zone, you have chosen to eliminate fear from your life. The trouble is, without experiencing fear you cannot become resilient to its effects; so when faced by a frightening situation your self-confidence crumbles and you become paralysed by an overwhelming sense of worry and anxiety. It’s not a pleasant sensation, so back into the comfort zone you go, the more vulnerable you remain, and so the cycle continues. The next chapters in this workbook will help you pinpoint your fears - and give you strategies to eliminate them.

Action: Write three of your ‘want to but not ready’ choices into the boxes on the next page, and think about why you haven’t yet taken the plunge to complete each action. How might you feel if you complete each action? How will you feel if you don’t?

0 - 30


Are there any other actions that could fall into the ‘want to’ column?

Action What are the benefits of completing this action?

What are the negative outcomes if I don’t complete this action?

e.g. Contradicting a senior member of staff when they are in the wrong

I will assert myself as an authority within the business and ensure our team does not stumble into a bad decision.

We might end up spending a lot of time and effort on an idea that I don’t believe will help the wider business - and I will feel responsible that I didn’t speak up.

If your score is in the minusMoving to a new city for work or starting your own business might not be top of your list of priorities. That’s fine - not everyone is an entrepreneur, and there’s little point uprooting your life and family if you don’t want to live abroad. These things only become an issue, however, if you have a burning desire to do them, but your fear is stopping you.


A word about not feeling ready

Even if you’re operating at a level of productive discomfort, take a look back at the statements where you’ve answered ‘want to but not ready’. Analyse what might be stopping you. What would it take to get you to ‘want to and ready’?

The next section will help you recognise where your fears or limiting beliefs are stopping you from completing your goals - and offer advice for facing these fears head on.

Action: Look over the statements you have said you ‘wouldn’t do’. Think honestly about why you have chosen this answer: is it because you are not interested? Or is it because you feel afraid? Think about the impact each of your ‘wouldn’t do’ choices might have on your working life.


STEPPING UP: PERCEIVED BLOCKERS AND CHALLENGESIn 2014, US management consultancy firm Bain & Company released findings from a study into the career paths of men and women. After surveying 1,000 participants at all levels, researchers discovered that 43% of women aspire to top management when they are in the first two years of their position, compared with 34% of men at that stage.

“This suggests that women are entering the workforce with the wind in their sails, feeling highly qualified after success at the university level,” the study theorises.

However, over time, women’s aspiration levels drop more than 60% - while men’s stay the same. As they gain experience, women experience a decline in confidence, while men’s remains about the samevii.

The study revealed a depressing reality: women start out wanting to put themselves forward - but gradually lose their ambition and confidence over time.

http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/everyday-moments-of-truth.aspx


The study uncovered a key reason for this drop off in ambition. Far from being an inbuilt genetic predisposition, the majority of women said their lack of confidence was the result of a lack of supervisory support and too few female role models.

This gives you two good reasons to reignite your ambition and step up into new and unfamiliar challenges:

1. There’s nothing scientifically stopping you from being as ambitious as anyone else - male or female.

2. If you progress in your career, you will become a role model for other women coming up behind you.

Further research by McKinsey came to a similar conclusion: after reviewing 100 research papers, and surveying 2,500 men and women (as well as interviewing 30 chief diversity officers), the researchers said the main reason for women choosing to remain at their current level - in other words, demonstrating resistance to seeking promotions, opportunities, and challenges - was their own limiting beliefs.

Stepping up: so what’s stopping you?

Before you can work out the areas in which you might want to step up, you’re first going to understand where your limiting beliefs could be stopping you from putting yourself forward.

In the exercise below, you’ll recognise the areas in which you might want to step up - but you might be making excuses as to why you don’t feel you need to commit to these actions yet. Fill in any actions that spring to mind.

“Of all the forces that hold women back, however, none are

as powerful as entrenched beliefs.”Joanna Barsh, McKinsey & Company


I'm not stretching myself because… Excuses I’m making

I’m not networking I already have great colleagues, I don’t need to connect with strangers; people who network are slimy/overambitious/not to be trusted

I don’t volunteer for extra-curricular activities at work

I have a good reputation just for doing my job

I'm not mentoring anyone I don’t feel like I have anything to offer a more junior member of staff; I’m quite junior myself and I don’t see what they can learn from me

I never use social media to share knowledge that’s relevant to my industry

I don't have anything to say; why do people want to hear my views?

I can see ways of improving things, but I’m not changing them

The way we do things now is a little more time-consuming, but this is the way we’ve always done them as a team, and it works fine


Read back over the statements you’ve written. Don’t be alarmed by the fact that many (if not all) are negative. As you’ll see in the following case study, these aren’t mistakes or failures; these are opportunities.

Case study: Reframing your ‘failures’

Carol Dweck is a pioneering researcher in the field of motivation, why people succeed and how to foster success. In her TED talkviii, she explained: “I heard about a high school in Chicago where students had to pass a certain number of courses to graduate, and if they didn’t pass a course, they got the grade ‘Not Yet’. And I thought that was fantastic, because if you get a failing grade, you think, I’m nothing, I’m nowhere. But if you get the grade ‘Not Yet’ you understand that you’re on a learning curve. It gives you a path into the future.

“‘Not Yet’ also gave me insight into a critical event early in my career, a real turning point. I wanted to see how children coped with challenge and difficulty, so I gave 10-year-olds problems that were slightly too hard for them. Some of them reacted in a shockingly positive way. They said things like, “I love a challenge,” or, “You know,

I was hoping this would be informative.” They understood that their abilities could be developed. They had what I call a growth mindset. But other students felt it was tragic, catastrophic. From their more fixed mindset perspective, their intelligence had been up for judgment and they failed. Instead of luxuriating in the power of yet, they were gripped in the tyranny of now.

“So what do they do next? I’ll tell you what they do next. In one study, they told us they would probably cheat the next time instead of studying more if they failed a test. In another study, after a failure, they looked for someone who did worse than they did so they could feel really good about themselves. And in study after study, they have run from difficulty. Scientists measured the electrical activity from the brain as students confronted an error. [For the] fixed mindset students, there’s hardly any activity. They run from the error. They don’t engage with it. …the students with the growth mindset, [have] the idea that abilities can be developed. They engage deeply. Their brain is on fire with ‘yet’. They engage deeply. They process the error. They

not yet


learn from it and they correct it.

“Look what happened: in this study, students who were not taught this growth mindset continued to show declining grades over this difficult school transition, but those who were taught this lesson showed a sharp rebound in their grades. We have shown this now, this kind of improvement, with thousands and thousands of kids, especially struggling students.”

Looking back at your responses to the “I’m not stretching myself”, how many of these can be reframed, not as failures or as excuses , but as ‘Not Yets’?

Facing the fears behind the excuses

It may well be that you are not stretching yourself for genuine reasons. But perhaps, like 46% of everywomanNetwork members surveyed in a 2015 webinar on ‘Feeling the Fear’, you are an ‘avoider’ – employing tactics to manipulate a situation to help you avoid it.

19% of those surveyed were ‘can’t doers’, who manage their way out of fearful situations by convincing themselves - and others - that they simply aren’t capable, thereby passing up the opportunity to build competence around the thing they fear.

35% were ‘won’t doers’ – they take the opportunity, but hate the experience and swear to never put themselves in that position again, failing to take any lessons that will help them build resilience.

Look at the reasons you gave behind why you aren’t stretching yourself. Are you using these excuses to mask a hidden fear?

!


Excuses I’m making Fear this excuse could be masking

I’m not networking: I already have great colleagues, I don’t need to connect with strangers; people who network are slimy/overambitious/not to be trusted

I’m very shy and I feel awkward speaking to people I don’t know - what if I run out of things to say?

I don’t volunteer to extra-curricular activities at work: I have a good reputation just for doing my job.

I feel like I’ll be shot down if I take on new tasks - I’m not very quick to pick up new processes and I don’t want to be found out.

I’m not mentoring anyone: I don’t feel like I have anything to offer a more junior member of staff; I’m quite junior myself and I don’t see what they can learn from me

I’m afraid of looking stupid in front of a junior colleague - I don’t know enough and they might want to take my job if they realise they’re better qualified.

I never use social media to share knowledge that’s relevant to my industry: I don’t have anything to say; why do people want to hear my views?

I do have something to say, but I don’t want anyone to criticise my viewpoint.

I can see ways of improving things, but I’m not changing them: The way we do things now is a little more time-consuming, but this is the way we’ve always done them as a team, and it works fine.

I don’t want to reveal I don’t really have a fully formed plan for changing the process.


Source: The Fear Cycle, everywomanNetwork webinar, Problem Solving

Inaction

No Learnt Resilience

Reduced Competence

Fear

EXERCISE:

Think about the things you fear most at work. This can be anything, big or small.

If you felt completely comfortable, would it be something you would be able to do? Would it be exciting? Would it help your career?

If the answer is yes, breaking the ‘fear cycle’ will enable you to take action.

As you learnt in the previous chapter, it is possible to gradually become accustomed to uncomfortable circumstances over time – think back to the time you jumped headfirst into an unfamiliar circumstance you listed in Part One. The way you do this – even if you don’t realise you are doing it – is by facing the fear head on and gradually becoming accustomed to it.


It’s much easier to face a larger fear if it’s broken down into smaller individual components. For example, if you feel afraid of networking events, it’s likely the event itself isn’t the cause of your fear. Is it because you’re afraid you will run out of things to say? Is it because you don’t think people will find you interesting? Or maybe it’s because you felt awkward at the last networking event and you don’t want to repeat it? Ask yourself to think about the worst thing you can imagine happening, and how you would feel if it happened? You might be surprised at how minor the consequences are.

Once you’ve reframed your fear slightly, breaking down the problem into slightly smaller chunks, you’re going to use three questions cited by American entrepreneur Jim Rohn to break the problem down into manageable actions:

“First, what could I do?

Second, what could I read?

And third, who could I ask?”


The fear I would like to overcome:e.g. I’m scared of networking events because I am introverted

Rather than focus on my big fear of…e.g. having to work the entire room

I will focus on the smaller goal of…e.g. making a connection with one or two individuals and really getting to know them

What can I do?e.g. Plan to attend a small event so there aren’t so many people

What could I read?e.g. a delegate list, to identify a few people I will talk to ahead of time

Who could I ask?e.g. a more experienced networker to introduce me

EXERCISE


Suddenly, the daunting task has moved from being too uncomfortable to a place of ‘productive discomfort’ - where you can stretch yourself in small ways, and the fear cycle has shifted to a more helpful model:

Learnt resilience

Acknowledge you’re afraid

Understand your response

Have courage & take action

Increased competence


You’ve looked into strategies to tackle the fears that might be holding you back, but it’s also important to recognise that you need something to drive you forward as well.Two important drivers, as noted by the McKinsey study quoted earlier, are sponsors and personal ambition. Often, if you are do not feel ready to drive yourself, sponsors can serve as advocates who believe in your abilities, even if you do not. This self-esteem boost can push you to have the confidence to chase your goals yourself.

What is sponsorship and how can it help you step up?It’s important to note a sponsor and a mentor are not necessarily the same thing. A mentor is a more senior figure who offers career advice and supports you through your career; a sponsor is willing to advocate for you, perhaps nominating you for stretch assignments or introducing or recommending you to individuals outside your immediate network.You may already have a sponsor: is there someone you know either inside or outside your organisation who has a high opinion of you? Who always recommends you for stretch assignments? Who puts you forward for jobs you might not feel ready for? Who puts themselves on the line to ensure you are considered for a promotion? ix

STEPS TO STEPPING UP

Women are 54% less likely than men to have a sponsor.

Fast Company

You

Ambition: drives you to step up

Sponsorship: pushes you forward

Limiting beliefs: pull you backwards


6 benefits of sponsorship

Advances high performers

Offers greater opportunities through skills development and increased visibility

Acts as a differentiator at the top and a means to overcoming barriers for women Provides benefits to sponsors, including feedback, enhanced skills, increased knowledge of needs and opportunities, and personal and professional satisfaction.

Provides direct and indirect benefits to organisations, including better leaders and teams and increased organisational commitment.

Source: Catalyst

Sponsorship, as a direct contrast to any limiting beliefs or negative self-talk, can help men and women in a number of ways:

• Experienced person willing to help and support you

• Builds your confidence and provides a sounding board

• Offers empathy • Expects very little in

return

MentorSponsor

Sponsor versus mentor

• Senior person who believes in your potential and is willing to take a bet on you

• Advocates for your next promotion

• Encourages you to take risks and has your back

• Expects a gret deal from you (stellar performance and loyalty)

Adapted from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/02/investing-in-women.html


How to find a sponsor

It may be that you already have someone who advocates for your skills and talents in the workplace and beyond; who will push you to step up in the relevant areas in your career.

But if the idea of finding a sponsor seems challenging, the steps below will help demystify the process.

Step 1: Distil your goalIn what areas would you like to improve professionally, to move forward in your job? Where would you like to break out of your comfort zone? Who can you ask to help you? There may be a potential sponsor who wants to help you but doesn’t know exactly where you are looking to develop.

Step 2: Craft your elevator pitchOnce you have a clear goal, you need to communicate it. Imagine you were to bump into someone who could facilitate the completion of this goal in an elevator. What would you say to convince them? You’ll need to explain your goal succinctly and engage your target audience in a short space of time – so make it snappy!

Step 3: Make yourself visibleWomen in particular are guilty of believing great work will lead others to take notice and identify them among the crowd. Sharing your aspirations to grow in certain areas can ensure you’re front of mind when a relevant opportunity arises – and you never know how many members of your extended network are looking for someone like you.

of women who have a sponsor report being satisfied with their career advancement

more likely to ask for ‘stretch assigments’

more likely to ask for a pay rise

Source: The Fast Company

Women with sponsors are...

68%

22%27%


Step 4: Ask for helpNot everyone is fortunate enough to end up in an elevator with someone who can facilitate their goals. This is why it’s so important that you foster positive experiences of asking for help. The more specific you can make your request – “I’d like to attend a meeting in another department”, “I’d like more opportunities to present at team gatherings” – the easier you’re making it for your sponsor.

Speak up to step up

When Madeleine Albright was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, the White House Chief of Staff asked her about her future plans.

She said: "I would love to continue serving at the UN, but I would also be interested in becoming Secretary of State."

President Clinton later made Albright the first female Secretary of State.

Albright’s initial act of putting herself forward, combined with the support of the Chief of Staff, enabled her to achieve her goal.


Think back to a time when you felt particularly successful and fulfilled in your personal or professional life.e.g. I ran a half marathon even though I was never particularly sporty

What was inspiring you at that time? e.g. A family member was unwell and I wanted to raise some money for charity

What were your self-beliefs at that time?e.g. I doubted whether or not I’d complete it, but I felt determined and I knew I had other people relying on me.

How did you feel at that time?e.g. Scared, but positive, optimistic, determined

From what sources did you draw support at that time?e.g. My friends who helped me run and sponsored me

EXERCISE

As we discussed in Part One, along with lack of sponsors, women may also fail to step up on account of losing connection with their early ambitions.

Combined with the strategies you’ve learnt for breaking the fear cycle, reminding yourself of why you are on the path you are on will help serve as a further nudge in the right direction to incentivise breaking free of your comfort zone.

A LOSS OF AMBITION?


Now, with your longer term ambitions in mind, think about how you can achieve each of the smaller steps you have just listed by gradually stretching yourself, as well as any other short term goals you can identify that might help you along the way. You might have already uncovered these in the exercise in Part Four, where you listed the areas in which you’re not stretching yourself because of your fears.

I would like to stretch myself in this area…

Because…

I want to network with others I see the value in getting my name out there and you never know who you might meet!

The present:Outline your current role, thinking about your key areas of responsibility and the core skills you have.

The future:Now think about where you would like to be in three years and the small steps you could be taking to inch yourself ever closer to this goal.e.g. Running my own business with x employees.

Requires • competitor analysis• a mentor to guide me through writing a business plan• shuffling childcare and household duties to give me two evenings a week to

work on my plans.


I want to volunteer for extra curricular activities at work

It’s important to show my skills outside my every day job, and I might be noticed by key decision makers.

I want to mentor someone I want to share my expertise, and inspire someone with my knowledge and my experiences.

I want to use social media to share relevant industry knowledge

I understand being seen as a thought leader will increase my credibility within my team and across the wider business - and even the sector I work in.

I want to offer improvements for processes within the company

I believe I can add value to the way we work and it’s important for my managers to see this.

It’s likely you will now have identified specific areas in which you can begin to put yourself forward. The everywomanNetwork workbooks on relevant subjects are listed in the ‘Further Reading’ section – why not commit to completing one a month in the area you feel you most need to work on”


THE AMBITION EQUATIONWhile pushing yourself into unfamiliar territories and taking on new challenges is bound to help you step out of your comfort zone there’s one final consideration: does this small act of pushing yourself align with your longer-term goals? Putting yourself forward is not always about thrusting your hand in the air and shouting “yes!” to each and every opportunity that comes along. Sometimes you have to weigh up the pros and cons of an opportunity, reflect on whether it aligns with your goals and then say “yes maybe”.

You’re also welcome, if you like, to say no to opportunities that come your way. But before you do so, be honest with yourself and clear on why you’ve made that decision – are you saying no because you don’t feel ready?

Having clearly defined values and ambitions will help you understand the areas into which you would like to step up into – whether it’s now or in the future.

Ambition + stepping up = goal fulfilment!

yes!


1. Identify a professional goal that’s really important to you. Summarise it as specifically as possible.

2. What are the blockers that are currently preventing you from achieving that goal? How can you break these into smaller, achievable chunks?

3. What opportunities are there in the pipeline that will bring you one step closer to your goal?

4. What will you do to ensure that relevant opportunities come your way? Who can you ask for help?

YOUR PERSONAL ACTION PLAN


EVERYWOMAN EXPERTSEverywoman creates workbooks on topics that matter most to our network members. we draw on member surveys and the latest thinking from the academic and business worlds, as well our own experiences as we navigate our careers. Each workbook offers practical advice, enabling tangible actions for your daily work lives ahead of those important performance reviews.

Maxine Benson MBE & Karen Gill MBECo-founders of everywoman, Karen and Max have spoken to thousands of women about the challenges they face at work. Through their own journeys at work and their experiences of starting a business, they uncovered a real need for a network where female entrepreneurs and businesswomen could interact and share experiences. The everywomanNetwork, launched in 2011, serves as a truly global tool to enable members the world over to propel their careers through online membership.

everywoman workbook teamRebecca Lewis, Associate EditorMel Spencer, Managing Editor

Any topics you’d like to see covered on the everywomanNetwork? We’d love to hear from you: [email protected]


ENDNOTES1. http://dca.org.au/app/webroot/files/file/gender%20documents/Business%20Case%20for%20Women%20Mckinsey%20

sept08.pdf2. https://hbr.org/2014/08/why-women-dont-apply-for-jobs-unless-theyre-100-qualified3. Focus on the Pipeline (everywoman)4. http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Yerkes/Law/5. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220113859.htm6. http://www.scuoladipaloalto.it/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/positive-to-negative-attractors-in-business-teams11.

pdf7. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/11577187/Even-the-best-female-graduates-dont-believe-they-can-have-it-

all.html 8. https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve 9. http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/sponsoring-women-success

FURTHER READINGeverywomanNetwork workbooksCareer planningVisualisation for career success: a beginner’s guidePromoting yourselfGetting the Most out of Being MentoredAmbition Hour

everywoman Network webinarsGet yourself noticed for the right thingsGetting ready for your new role – focusing on YOUCareer Planning: Stepping up

COPYRIGHT © 2015 Everywoman Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide. This publication is protected by law, and all rights are reserved, including resale rights: no part of this publication may be reproduced and you are not allowed to make copies and distribute or sell this workbook to anyone else. You may only use it if you have downloaded it from www.everywoman.com or if you are completing the online version with a valid everywomanNetwork membership.

No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organisation acting or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Everywoman Ltd or the authors/experts.


advancing WOMEN IN BUSINESS

workbook - everywoman · workbook. step up are you ready to put yourself forward at work? i...

Documents