CAREER ADVICE
10 Ways to Affect Great Change for Women in the Workplace
Let’s build on the momentum of Women’s History Month and make big things happen all year long, and beyond.
Now that Women’s History Month is behind us, I want to remind you that our work does not stop.
How are you celebrating, honoring, collaborating and affecting change beyond your annual calendar reminder?
In 1987 congress passed a public law that designated the month of March as “Women’s History Month” after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project. And today, we get to celebrate *the contributions women have made to the United States, and recognize the specific achievements women have made over the course of American history in a variety of fields, all month long (more on that *here).
But we can’t affect great change by just putting in focused effort one month out of the whole year. Impactful and permanent change requires consistent daily action.
Because as far as we have come in our collective efforts to change the game for women in society and in the workplace since the late 80s…which honestly doesn’t feel that long ago, especially if you’re an 80s baby *wink*…we have a long way to go to create a more gender equal world and to raise awareness against bias. It requires that we all continue to both celebrate women’s achievements and to help each other achieve more.
We must continue to kick down the doors so that others can walk through them, because collectively we can do so much more to affect change when we help, lean on, and champion each other.
“There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”
— Madeleine Albright
(Clap at the bottom if you agree).
Speaking of one of my favorite badass game-changing women, Madeleine Albright — an American diplomat and politician who served as the first female Secretary of State in United States history; widely recognized as one of the most influential women in American politics — was a force; an adjective that President Joe Biden used to describe her a couple of weeks ago when he paid tribute to her.
On March 23rd, Madeleine died at the bold age of 84, after losing a battle to cancer. Her legacy, action and achievements will have an everlasting impact on women inside and outside of the workplace. She was a woman of influence.
I want to challenge us to channel our inner Madeleine, and ask ourselves: How am I setting up my job, my career and my work-life-fulfilment for success, and paving the way for more women in the workplace?
Here are some quick hard facts to get us fired up:
❗️Another 275,000 women left the labor force in January 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
❗️Women earn 82 cents for every $1 men earn when comparing all women to all men (a stay that is unchanged from 2021, according to Payscale’s 2022 pay gap report).
❗️The #BrokenRung is still holding women back in the workplace — for every 100 men promoted to manager, only 86 women are promoted, according to the 2021 Women in the Workplace study by McKinsey.
❗️Women currently hold only 14% of C-suite roles and account for just 3% of CEOs across top 100 aviation organizations worldwide, according to the 2021 Lift-off to Leadership study by OliverWyman
We must do better.
What statistics about your role or industry or current place in the working world makes you go hmmm 🤔
And if it does, what are you doing about it?
Here are 10 actionable things you can do, as gleaned from these studies and from my experience:
1. Understand the difference between a Coach versus a Sponsor versus a Mentor, and have all three.
A coach observes you and gives you constructive feedback and actions to take to get better. A mentor guides you from a place of having more experience and sharing it. Sponsors promote and advocate for you, and use their influence and network to help you get to the next level. You need all three.
“A coach talks to you, a mentor talks with you, and a sponsor talks about you.” — Anonymous
Let’s talk a little more about why you need all three:
Hire a coach.
Think: career coach, business coach, executive coach. Even the most experienced and most expert people have coaches to help them identify opportunities for improvement and growth and to identify career limiting aspects of their approach so they can improve and be better.
“Coaching is unlocking people’s potential to maximise their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.”
— John Whitmore, Pioneer of the executive coaching industry
Be a mentor of women and men. Have a mentor(s).
In fact, have many mentors–formal mentors, peer mentors, mentors through a structured program, seasonal mentors, mentors in and outside of your industry. Mentors give you perspective and provide knowledge and guidance, and it’s important to have them in whatever capacity you need them in throughout your life and career.
Be a sponsor of men and women. Get a sponsor(s).
Sponsorship is different from mentorship, sponsorship opens doors. Sponsors are advocates for ones career and become personally invested in helping with career advancement.
Sponsors help you get to your next level by promoting you with her/his network, and they are often the most important differentiator for women advancing in the workplace or not. According to a study published by the Harvard Business Review on Why Men Still Get More Promotions Than Women, it stated that “high-potential women are overmentored and undersponsored relative to their male peers”; simply put: mentorship doesn’t directly translate to promotions and career advancement, sponsorship does.
“Although coaches and mentors have value, only sponsors can help women identify career-enhancing opportunities and advocate on their behalf; the role of sponsor must be specific and distinct. The most successful industry women we spoke with consistently pointed to powerful male sponsors as critical in their development/career trajectories.” — Lift Off to Leadership: Advancing Women in Aviation 2021 OliverWyman & IAWA study
Pro Tip: be clear about expectations and what you need and want from the coach/mentor/sponsor relationship, and revisit the dynamics often.
2. Share your story. Be vocal about who you are and how you got here.
Your story matters. Talk about your career and share your experiences, triumphs and challenges with your colleagues and the next generation. The more we see what’s possible and from whom–and the many unique paths, diversions, setbacks, twists and turns it takes to get to a cool destination–the more inspired and hopeful we are to go after our own big (and sometimes scary) dreams.
Plus, it allows us to see the diversity in experience and industries, and encourages the masses to brave the path of the unknown on our own terms along the way.
“We are all storytellers. We all live in a network of stories. There isn’t a stronger connection between people than storytelling.” — Jimmy Neil Smith, Director of the International Storytelling Center
3. Partner with HR to affect change.
Work with HR to ensure your people get paid what they deserve — during salary review cycles and outside of them, and especially during hiring. Ask about annual equity analysis efforts. Discuss and review attraction and retention data, and work together on a plan to help.
4. Champion professional societies and affinity groups.
Join and actively participate in professional societies, and get your company to be a sponsor. These groups have influence, continuous learning opportunities, and provide big picture perspectives within the group and with related conference activities; they also help you grow your network with professionals inside and outside of your immediate career bubble who can vouch for you, like sponsors and mentors, and these relationships and opportunities to lead within these organisations help with career advancement. Plus, these outlets offer a deliberate way to bring your expertise and talents to a space to help others advance as well.
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”
— African proverb
5. Lead by example to make the workplace better.
Set strong work-life boundaries, and be vocal about them. Adjust as needed. Speak up when a system, environment or process isn’t inclusive to all.
This is especially important for those of us in leadership roles; how we model “good and toxic work behaviour” and practice it IRL really matters because people and teams are looking up to you.
Here are a few work actions I practice to create healthier work-boundaries for myself and my team:
- Delay the send of non-urgent emails to reach recipient during their normal work hours
- Block your lunch hour, holidays and vacation, daily work start/end times, focus time, and not-available time blocks; revisit week-of calendar Monday morning and adjust as needed; give notice of conflicts/schedule changes as soon as they are known
- Use out of office messages and assign backups
- Create good meetings with meeting notices that are clear and include a purpose, agenda, reference material and/or time stamps
- Alert team when I can’t be available because of family/personal priorities (ex. Soccer practice, school pickup/drop off, vacations); this signals to all that having a life outside of work is important
“Women need to lead the way to change our culture of burnout — both for their sake and also for the sake of successful men who desperately need a new model of success.” — Arianna Huffington
6. Champaign DE&I initiatives.
What diversity, equity and inclusion efforts exist in your workplace? What’s missing? If you’re not sure where to start, do a little research. I highly recommend checking out LeanIn.org’s research-backed DEI training programs.
7. Overestimate yourself and act accordingly.
Apply for the job that scares you. Ask for more money. Speak up in that meeting. Prepare for interviews and negotiations with advocates inside and outside your org/industry so that you don’t let your current environment limit what’s possible for you. Standing up and speaking up for your needs and wants is a learned skill. Practice it often.
Always overestimate yourself, and continue to challenge what you think is possible for your life and your potential. You’ll continuously be surprised by how much further you go, and how much faster you get to experience the life of your wildest dreams.
8. Be deliberate about self-marketing. Market your people.
If people don’t know who you are, what you’re good at, and what you want to do next, you will consistently get looked over for opportunities and promotions that are meant for you. Own your personal brand so that you show up authentically and consistently in every room you enter. Need a little help with this? Check out the DV Branding Bundle here.
ALSO, if you’re not being vocal about your value and what you bring to the table, how will people know? Don’t leave your fate, promotion, life or career up to chance and/or other people’s opinions and assumptions, own your story and be vocal about it.
“Nobody was talking about me until I started talking about me.”
— Bozoma St. John, CMO of Netflix
9. Commit to continuous education and skill growth.
Grow your skills inside and outside of the workplace — on projects at work, and prioritize side hustles that help with this. Ask for assignments and trainings that help you evolve in specific areas. Create a personal development plan, and share with your manager and ask for support to execute it.
“The ability to learn is the most important quality a leader can have.”
— Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Meta
10. Sharpen your negotiation skills.
“I don’t want to get better at getting what I want and need.” Said no one ever.
Listen, everything is negotiable. From salaries, promotions and flexible work arrangements, to late fees, deliberating with your parner and car purchase prices. Strong negotiation skills, and ultimately skills the improve your ability to influence, lead to lives and careers where we feel in the driver seat and makes us better leaders. The better you are at negotiating–which ultimately allows both sides to meet a compromise–the better you are at influencing those around you, building trust, and improving relationships. This is a key skill in leadership and in life.
“Successful negotiation is not about getting to ‘yes’; it’s about mastering ‘no’ and understanding what the path to an agreement is.”
— Christopher Voss
Also, nothing bad happens when good people make more money, so negotiate what you deserve and add tax.
What else would you add to this list?
Take action to be the change today.
Let’s keep working to change the stats and environments for Women in the Workplace, shall we?
“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”
— Ruth Bader Ginsburg
I want us to win. Let’s keep putting in work. And always take advantage of all the things you can do from where you sit.
Cheers,
Danielle
Danielle Vardaro is an Aviation Executive, Proud Working Mom, and Global Speaker. She’s also the founder of the Unstuck Your Career Bootcamp, where she coaches ambitious women on the verge of change.
