“Your daughter won’t do well in math. She should plan to be a teacher or a secretary.”
“Welcome back! Charles was promoted into that role while you were on maternity leave.”
“We’d like to see you get more operations experience before you’ll be ready for this position.”
These are statements from just a few of the stories women share with me about the barriers they face in their careers. Like these women, people place limitations on you that deplete your confidence and slow your progress.
In fact, a 2018 tech industry study by Brandon Hall Group found that women are less optimistic and more pessimistic than men in their chances at being promoted to senior levels in their career. 44% of women said they were confident or highly confident they could advance to more senior levels of leadership compared to 61% of men. And, 32.4% of women responded that they were actually pessimistic about their chances to advance, compared to only 19.6% of men.
The track record for the advancement of women into and through the leadership pipeline makes it tough to be optimistic about your chances to be promoted. Even opportunities to move into lateral positions that expand your experience and skillset are often limited for women, especially in technical fields.
Don’t allow these limitations to define your potential! Women have got to use their inner power to be resilient when the odds are against you. Your best defense is to play offense. When you have the ball, you have the power to push through. You have more control when you run your playbook.
When I’m speaking at conferences and talking with professional women, or working with my coaching clients, they often tell me that they feel stuck. They don’t know what actions to take in order to change the game.
Do you feel stuck? Uncertain about how to create and run your playbook?
How can you get to the point where you can say “Yes, I am highly confident that I can advance to more senior levels of leadership in my career!”
There’s no silver bullet, but there are steps you can take now that can change the trajectory for your career.
Download my free guide to discover the 7 Steps To Advance Your Leadership Career
