Three ways to champion other women at work
It may be 2021, but being a woman in the workplace can still be tough. So it is a really good idea to do what we can to support and lift up our fellow career women when possible.
If we all make an effort to champion other women in the workplace, we stand a much better chance of levelling the playing field and smashing the glass ceiling that little bit faster – for all of us.
With that in mind, here are three ways you can champion other women at work.
1) Help women be heard
A common of many women at work is men talking over them or simply not asking them for their opinions at all, If you are a woman with a senior role, one of the best things you can do, then, is to ensure that women’s voices are allowed to be heard just as loudly and clearly as any man’s.
Offer them seats that are front and centre in the meeting room and make a pilot of going to them for their opinion at least as often as anyone else. If they are interrupted, interrupt the interrupter snd ask them to finish their point. These are all simple things that can make a huge difference.
2) Challenge the image of strong women as being aggressive
When a man in the workplace is confident and assertive it is seen as a good thing in careers as diverse as property jobs and banking. However, when a woman displays the very same characteristics, she is often looked down on as being aggressive or unpleasant.
This is often referred to as the likeability penalty. Qualities that are seen as good for men, such as confidence, strength and assertiveness are often seen as undesirable in women who should be kind, nurturing and passive, All this does is hold women back and make them less likely to get the results that men do. If you notice it in your workplace, do what you can to challenge it.
3) Be encouraging
Unfortunately, when it comes to advancing their careers, a lot of women are hesitant to go for big promotions or put themselves forward for prestigious projects because they are so used to being overlooked or ignored in favour of men or because they feel like their childcare needs will count against them for example.
One of the best things you can do is to encourage them and reassure them that they are capable and they can do the job. The more women put themselves forward, the more women will be hired and the more managers will see just how capable they are – it really is that simple.
We can help to make changes that benefit all women
When women help women, we can make changes in the workplace that will benefit us now and our daughters in the future. So, although it should not really be our job to make changes, doing whatever we can to champion each other is something that is really important for us all right now.
Photo by CoWomen
