If you're connected to me on Facebook and Twitter, you'll know that I've been doing a lot of research about how women develop their careers to be seriously considered for board positions. I've asked many of my senior contacts for their tips and advice about how a woman prepares herself for board level and you'll read about those in the next few weeks.
With that in mind, I was inspired to tell you about a coaching client I spoke to last night. A woman who is climbing the career ladder - not quite at board level yet, but certainly reaching.
This was the first time I'd coached her and so as I asked if she was on the other end of the phone, comfortable with a cuppa, she said 'Actually, I've got a beer and a cigarette!' which not only made me laugh, it also gave me an indication right from the off, of the type of woman I was speaking to, someone who meant business, a woman with attitude and I wasn't wrong.
She told me how she was interviewing for a much more senior position. A position where she'd be the lead in decision making and for the first time, leading a team. She explained that although she wanted the job, she was terrified of getting it. Terrified of being put in the limelight, of being under pressure to deliver, when she had no personal track record of being able to do to that.
The more we spoke, the more she explained. Her fear was that she was reaching too high, too high in terms of her experience and ability. She was keen to be honest about her achievements to date, and honest about her limitations too. She is clearly putting herself under pressure going for this role.
I had to ask 'Why are you doing this?'. I wanted to know why she was putting herself under this pressure right now, why she wanted to metaphorically stand on tip toes and stretch so high for this particular post. Her answer was reassuringly firm 'Because if I don't, I'll stay at this level and I won't know what I'm capable of achieving'. She said she needed to scare herself a little in order grow and raise her own bar. I liked that a lot!
This is exactly the type of real conviction that women need to harness in order to put constant pressure on companies to give them a shot at senior managerial roles and board positions. It's the only way that the world will change and the only way women will tip the balance at the top.
By the end of our session, she had come up with 3 things that, in her first week/few months in post (yes of course we presumed she'd get the job) would set the stage for her, with her team, the expectations of the role and to inspire the company to compete with its competitors at a much higher level.
She also had 3 things she was going to do in the next month to prepare for that. At the start of the session, she classed her confidence at a high 5 out of 10 and by the end, it was a definate 8/10.
She closed the session feeling more convinced of being able to not only get this role but also to excel in it. Next month, we'll continue with that and I can't wait to hear her progress. What a star.
Comments