My new year’s resolution 2011 is to think and act more like man. Now hold on a minute, I don’t mean surf all the channels, missing all the best shows whilst hogging the remote, drop my wet towels religiously on the bathroom floor and laugh when I leave the toilet seat up, instead what I aim to do is think like and act like a man when in the workplace.
Many women suffer from the syndrome of worker bee, running about thinking and bee-lieving the following mantra 'If I work hard, I will be noticed and appropriately rewarded' now when did that actually last happen to you? It doesn’t. In real life, the guy who got the promotion was less talented, more pushy and less of a team player than the perfect female candidate who didn’t apply for the job, because she didn’t have the complete set of qualifications or the right amount of experience. She worked longer and harder than everyone else though but humility won’t always get you noticed.
In a nutshell, 'ask for more and expect more' is not a bad mantra at work, this doesn’t preclude being a great team player and also sharing your expertise with others, but it does include asking your workplace to support your needs for a mentor or coach.
How many women feel they could benefit from a mentor? Someone to help them with both with skills and confidence which will improve workplace performance, but don’t ask for it to be funded...why not?
A common fear is in the asking, coupled with negative and self limiting thoughts of, 'How will I explain it? Budgets are tight at the moment and I just know I won’t be funded for it' What sort of argument is that?
It’s like watching someone shaking their head from side to side saying 'You won’t pick me will you?', your damn right we won’t! Why not articulate why you need a mentor and what benefits the organisation will get from this arrangement.
Now start acting like a man and get your mentor to work for you. Who do they know that you need to know? What groups do they belong to where you need to have a presence? How can you ride in their slip stream for a while and benefit from their connections?
A mentor is not a counsellor, they are there to help propel you forward career wise and to open doors and pass on advice that will ease your path....so ladies start believing you deserve more and start asking for it....you might just get it!
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