Working a 9-5 as a women and becoming a corporate powerhouse is something many aspire to do. With more and more women taking the dive into leadership positions and replacing the typical male ceo gaze, there are a ton of lessons and advice to be given. One area we often miss as women in the corporate world is having a mentor and advice to advancing your career, leaving us to figure it out for ourselves as we climb the ladder.
As a women who has climbed the corporate ladder and is surrounded by mostly males, I know what it is like to not get the advice you are looking for. Women and Men have very different experiences in the workplace and how they achieve success and adversity looks and feels MUCH different that that of a woman’s journey to career success.
Here is the best career advice for women from a woman.
1. Observe
The first piece of advice I will give to all women is to sit back and observe. I don’t care how long you have been at said company, we have ears and eyes for a reason. Observing your surroundings and conversations in your job will allow you to understand each persons personality and role within a company, thus helping you understand how to speak to others and how you can better leverage your role to theirs. Take in every meeting, every conversation, every expression, really anything you can so you can leverage to your own needs.
2. Know What You Want aka Find Your WHY
Knowing what you want out of a job and better yet life will only set you up for success. Finding your “why”, why you are in this job, why you are pursing it, why you want to advance in your career, what you want out of your career and what you want out of life will help create alignment throughout your entire life. Knowing what you want and why you want it doesn’t have to be complicated either. You may think well I need to pay bills, I have kids, I want to travel, I want to start my own business, I want to buy a house, I want to be a badass corporate career women who breaks glass ceilings, I want to be CEO, whatever the hell it is, embrace it, make it known and make it your reality. Every-time you are feeling stuck or confused or in lack, go back to why you are in this career and what you want out of it. This creates alignment with yourself and helps your mental clarity during good and tough times while working.
3. Speak clearly and concisely
As women who are in the corporate world or own their own business, we must speak in a clear and concise manner. I know, I know, we all love to cuss and say like and literally. BUT you are LITERALLY killing your messaging when utilizing these “slang” terms. Know what message you are wanting to convey and utilize language that will make anyone understand your plan. This is an area I have struggled with in the past. Saying like or over complicating the point I am making. Channel your inner “man” and say what needs to be said directly. This goes for both emails and speaking in person with co workers or clients. Also, tying back into observing, see how others react when you speak clear and concise vs not. This may not work at every endeavor, adjust as needed per personality.
4. You don’t have to work more to earn more or climb the ladder
If someone would have told me this four years ago, I would have laughed in their face. This is single handedly the best advice I learned myself as a woman in the corporate world. Story time. I worked in tech sales for a long time and I worked my ASS off. I worked 10x harder than anyone on my team, booked more meetings, brought in the most revenue and guess what..I was the LEAST paid person on my team. My co workers were doing half of everything I was doing and making more base salary than I was, maybe not more in commissions but they were not less respected either. I left that job and took a HUGE pay raise as a BDR manager and guess what, I work 20x less than I did before and make 20x more. This could be a whole post in itself so moral of the story, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WORK MORE TO EARN MORE MONEY AND GET PROMOTED.
5. Find a Mentor
For the love of yourself, please find yourself a mentor. It can be a family member, someone at your job, really whoever but just find someone you can confide in and share goals and learn from. Find a mentor can be challenging but this can open up SO many doors down the road for you and your career. Heck you may even en d up being a mentor to someone else down the line once you see the value this can bring to your life.
6. Don’t Settle
Do not, I repeat, do not settle for anything bad. Don’t let people treat you like shit, don’t work for a company that pays you little and expects you to work 24/7. Do not settle for anything less than what you deserve and want. This ties back into knowing what you want and your why as well. If you do not understand why took that job or why you want to advance your career, you may indeed allow yourself to settle. Now we go through different seasons and sometimes you have to take shit from your boss or co workers but know the difference between a few one off instances vs everyday occurrences. We are in charge of creating our reality and this is no different in the work place. Know your own worth and do not settle for less. I don’t care the circumstances, if you have kids whatever it may be, do not stay put in an abusive work relationship, it’s toxic and will imped on you getting where you want and need to be.
7. Make Connections
This may differ depending on your role but make as many connections as possible with your co workers and people in other departments. You never know who these people may become and what avenues you can venture down. I used to reach out to different departments at my old job and make it a point to connect with certain people and create a relationship. Much of how the corporate world operates is by who you know. Make those connections with others, learn from others and help others. You never ever know how your paths can cross in the future and how these co worker relationships can benefit you.
8. Don’t Burn Bridges
Case in point to the above advice, don’t burn bridges. I don’t care if you have the worst boss ever do not burn that bridge with them or anyone in the company. You do not need to like everyone, and most of the time when someone is an asshole, everyone else is aware of this not just you. Obviously in certain situations you should always protect yourself depending on the circumstance. If it’s a matter of clashing personalities and someone being an asshole, just ignore it and get back to work or find another job.
9. Embrace Rejection and Failure
It is okay to fail and be rejected. While this is frustrating, it is a huge lesson and blessing in disguise. Failure creates success and teaches you lessons. Rejection flat out sucks, but you can learn a lot about yourself in those moments. If you can figure out how to not take these things personally and rewire your brain to see the opportunity, you will come out a much stronger corporate women warrior. Be nice to yourself and remember that every successful women and man failed many times before getting to where they are today.
10. Find Hobbies Outside of Work
I think we as women want to prove ourselves and make it known that we are powerhouses and can do it all in the work space. While this is great, it can also be very draining. Make sure you find hobbies outside of work. Maybe its’ exercising, arts and crafts, reading, whatever it may be, find what makes you happy outside of work. For me, I love to work out and hangout with my son and get outside. I also work on this blog which brings me much joy and allows me to see life outside of work. Don’t let your whole existence revolve around work. That is yes a large part of our life but so is knowing who you are and what makes you happy.
11. Don’t Overshare
There is a time and place to share your weekend plans and a time and place to voice your frustrations. Try your best to not voice frustrations with those who can’t be trusted, maybe vent to someone in your family, a friend or therapist instead. Don’t dim down your personality but there is no need to over share either. Find that balance that feels right for you.