Jayne Harrison 11During her 15 years in the industry, Jayne Harrison (pictured right) has supported many women to achieve their career goals.

“It’s my belief that there has never been a better time for women in leadership roles. Of course, we’re a way off the ideal as yet. In the meantime, women can support themselves by holding onto their authentic selves. It’s still a very male dominated environment out there – regardless of your position.”

That said, Harrison believes that there are a number of areas to help build confidence if women are serious about competing in this marketplace:

  • Culture and values – does the organisation you work for treat all employees with inclusivity and dignity?  If not, use your feet to vote.  If your values are aligned, then recognise this as a benefit.  Who doesn’t want their leader to ‘walk the talk’?
  • Be very clear about your own value and why anyone should employ you.  How long has it been since you last reviewed your skills, achievements, and strengths?  Write them down and be very clear on what is it you bring to the party.  I find working with leaders on the detail of their facets creates improved confidence, self-efficacy and self-belief.
  • Feedback – keep a regular journal or book of feedback and seek it out regularly.  An annual 360 or a Reflected ‘Best Self’ exercise is a great way of understanding where you are in relation to your career ambitions. But just as effective are team one to ones.  Creating a team atmosphere of honest feedback also builds trust, reduces ‘blame’ tactics, and creates more inclusive environments.
  • Understand your ‘dark side’ or what might potentially be getting in the way of your success.  Hogan provide a very good psychometric around leadership derailment factors.  Self-awareness is key in leadership – whatever your gender.
  • Mindset – write a weekly list and include: 1) 3 things that have gone well 2) what have you learned and 3) what are you grateful for.  This isn’t ‘happy clappy’ stuff – it is about forging neural pathways of positivity; recognising the positive rather than the negative. This practice has also been shown to improve resilience when things don’t quite go as planned.
  • Be prepared to talk about what you are good at and what you have achieved. This isn’t about boasting; it’s about letting your organisation know you are engaged, committed, and enthusiastic.  I hear countless stories of X got the promotion because they spent longer raising their profile and networking with other leaders.  If this overt method doesn’t feel comfortable, find a way that does. Don’t just assume that everyone knows you’re doing a good job.
  • women 2Get out there – mentor, be mentored, network, speak and collaborate widely.  There’s a whole world out there ready to receive you and also provide support, if we’d only ask for it! Not only that, but it’s a great way of ensuring that you’ll remain current and non-institutionalised. Your manager will thank you for keeping a finger on the pulse regarding the industry you are in.
  • Pay attention to your self-talk. If your sentence contains ‘should’ ‘ought’ ‘must’ then stop and ask yourself ‘is this really true?  I should work for at least 40 – 60 hours as a leader – who says? I should be able to do X, Y and Z myself? Where is the evidence for that? Beware of the pressure your self-limiting talk is putting you under.  Sometimes it’s hard to realise when we’re doing this – work with a coach or a trusted advisor/mentor who is happy to challenge your thinking.
  • Make friends with your imposter.  Impostor syndrome has been described as ‘a psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalise their accomplishments’.  In early research it was seen as predominantly a syndrome that affected high achieving women (although it is now accepted that men also suffer from this to some extent).  Despite external evidence of competence, you might think you are a fraud, you’ll be found out any minute and do not deserve the success you have achieved.  This often goes hand in hand with perfectionism – but not always.  Raising awareness of the imposter is the first step in coaching and then working to dispel it using a variety of techniques (some of which are mentioned above).  The imposter may prevent women taking on more senior roles if they have to do so proactively; particularly if they have ‘happened upon seniority by luck’.