6 Things Truly Successful Women Do to Get To The Top
We all know people who aren’t where they deserve to be in their careers , some people are clearly way out of their depth in a senior position but simply look and sound the part and others can clearly do way more but are overlooked. Truly successful women master the following:
Work hard and smart
You can work as hard as you want, but if you don’t understand the key things that is being required of you, you can totally miss the point of your task. You can also work too hard keeping your head down and get completely overlooked by your bosses. On the flip side you can also be so focused on just making everything look rosy, you neglect the foundations of your work. Understand the need to work hard to get things right, but don’t forget the need to make sure you get the recognition for it.
Manage down and manage up
Some people are great at managing their team, they do the right things and get the job done, but sometimes they may forget to help their boss look good. Managing up is basically making sure your boss looks good too and that might mean you just keep them updated of your work and understanding exactly what they want so that they can answer the questions their bosses are asking of them.
Other people are super great at keeping their bosses happy but are not so good at keeping their team happy. If you’re managing to deliver challenging and time pressured projects to your boss, remember that a big part of achieving that is because your team were able to deliver, so praise your team in front of your boss and make sure they get the recognition they deserve with not just words of thanks but actions that help them progress in their careers.3. Are comfortable being themselves but also understand the importance of perception
In a world where there are unconscious biases and stereotypes it’s important to understand that sometimes you need to adapt to get through some barriers. For example if you’re an introvert you may need to speak up more to get noticed. (Read here for how to get noticed if you’re an introvert) Or you could be the opposite, you’re an opinionated extrovert that may need to let others get a word in edge ways.
At the same time you don’t want to change who you are fundamentally. You should see this as tweaking yourself to allow others to see the best version of you, and bring out the best in others.
Being comfortable with oneself is a really grounding principle, if you’re having a hard time, or you simply don’t understand something then talk to someone and ask for help. Being comfortable with yourself means you are not afraid to ask questions or sometimes show vulnerability because this means that you can seek out ways to help yourself and get the understanding or explanations you need. I have seen many people pretend that they understand everything so never ask questions. Over the many years of pretending to understand, they become very insecure and are very damaging to themselves and others.
5. Not afraid to ask questions and challenge but also pick their battles wisely
The world is full of yes men so we’re constantly letting shit hit the fan before we change direction. Asking questions is a way of understanding and encouraging others to understand root causes to issues before they get real bad. Sometimes asking questions can get people to sit up and take notice that you’re a leader who spotted a key issue and wasn’t afraid to cause a ripple in the water. Other times you need to know when not to push back or challenge too much if you cannot ultimately win that particular battle. or end up making your boss look stupid.
6. Not afraid to be visible, promote themselves and give praise to others too
Women do find it harder to boast about one’s achievements as we can easily get labelled all sorts of names, but we shouldn’t be afraid to promote ourselves and acknowledge first ourselves how far we may have come or how much we’ve learnt.
Feel good about what you’ve achieved, don’t be afraid to talk about your past experiences and achievement, and give your valid opinion. Stay visible, sit at the table and speak up. In return also recognise the good work of others.
***If you’re finding it hard to stay visible now that you’re working from home click here ***
It’s a constant balancing act and sometimes we go too much one way and not enough of the other but over time we will master the art of achieving a happy equilibrium. At the heart of being centered are always core principles:
Work Hard, Be Honest, Be Kind to Yourself AND Others, Be Smart
Good Luck!
