Practical tips for women leaders in the workplace

We all know the glass ceiling effect. It’s 2022 and the facts are still pretty stark. Women are under-represented in leadership roles. And as I called myself Peter on LinkedIn a few weeks ago to bring awareness to a very serious issue thanks to another brilliant campaign, the truth is you start to gain a good amount of muscle memory when you live and breathe the same engagements within a very male-dominated workplace. The journey to build these skills should always require fine-tuning.

Along my journey, I have been asked how I was able to work my way up the ranks. From the students I mentor to my ex-colleagues, this is really the most practical advice for any woman who deserves to go further and has every right to do so.

Keep this list alongside you in your day to day. If you haven’t done so please read Tara Mohr’s book — Playing Big. This book is a true bible to pick up as and when you need to be given that boost.

The following tips are based on a combination of my experience, methodologies learned in order to have difficult conversations and also inspiration from Playing Big:

1. Be Sharp — Actively listen to enter a conversation at a time to get the facts straight. Try to enable a way to cut to the chase or provide feedback nobody else would normally do. Do the right thing and try to make sense of topic that could be quickly skewing off course, using previous experience and facts. Don’t live in a world of regret overanalyzing what you could have said.

2. Enable the right level of emotional intelligence — It’s important to commit to being professional and empathetic. Many women in leadership positions take on traits of men to become acknowledged and heard, but is it really necessary? What is necessary is to think about what is right for the business and the people helping to drive it.

3. Be ready to have difficult conversations — show up and be vulnerable with colleagues and customers. This is actually a very healthy task, easier said than done. If you aren’t used to doing it, make sure you create the right 1:1 environment with your manager first. When opinions vary, stakes are high and emotions run strong we tend to shy away from the conversations which we need to have. In order to have those conversations what's most impactful is to remember the following: S.T.A.Y in the conversation — Start with the facts, Tell your story, Ask for the other person’s story, You control the climate.

4. Identify your energy gainers — These are the people that will vouch for you 110%. Have at least 3 in your company across different functions. They should become your backbone to ensure they see you at your best and can give you on-point feedback if they observe ways to improve. They will also be a sponsor to potentially recommend you for that next big step. Regardless, they usually know when to tell you it will be okay and sometimes that is all you need.

5. Set your personal boundaries to ensure you create space from energy drainers — Have you ever attended a weekly meeting where there was no agenda and you didn’t understand the point of it all? Yes, we all endure these. Plus have you ever worked with a colleague who doesn’t work to the same drumbeat as you? A solution to the energy drain is to take initiative to address the real issue but don’t stress if you can’t break the mold.

6. Clock the moments where your gut is shouting at you — Being an ambitious woman, do you constantly use a strategy to enable your leadership journey? Or sometimes could it be that merely listening to that inner gut could help you stop over-analyzing and start identifying how to move on. There have been countless times when my inner gut shouted from the rooftops to go seek out a new environment with people who appreciate you. Ask yourself whether the difficult conversations held with your manager ever moved the needle to support your professional development? If the answer over time is consistently ‘No’, then you should be doing something about it.

7. Support the talented women around you — remember there is room for more than one woman at the table. Identify talented colleagues, vouch for them and see it better to empower others without feeling concerned that it may be your seat they take. The power of the tribe is real, even if it is two people to start.

On reflection, there is a much longer list and endless stories of the right formula that can work here. The important factor to being a leader is also having the grit, determination, and perseverance to enable your best self.