What it Takes for Women to Rise

Women Rising: The Unseen Barriers is an in depth look at the challenges women face in the quest for leadership. Women need to be able to view themselves as leaders before taking the helm. This article delves into some of the issues women face at work regarding leadership roles and is must read.

In the section Becoming a Leader, they speak of a character named Amanda, who is in her thirties with a hedging career in investment banking going nowhere fast. Two CFO’s decide to strategize and give her a career boost allowing her to clearly envision herself as leadership material.

In order to rise as a leader; it is necessary to internalize the position of leadership. It may sound a bit aggressive and slightly uncomfortable, but this is exactly how it’s supposed to feel. This article is directed at women rising in leadership positions and encourages women to work a little harder amongst men to make this happen.

Internalizing new strategies will help one gain new ground. Others will take notice, realize your potential, and see you in a way they never saw you before. Authoritative positions require a sense of self not uncommon to what some may call, marking one’s territory. The statement at the end of the article describes Amanda as shedding her skin. Acquiring new skills is meant to highlight the process behind the idea of the transformative leader. As women, we need to transform ourselves, try new behaviors, be strong, and speak our minds in situations with our staff, that we had not in the past. Be demonstrative, step up to the plate, make staff see you in a new light.

Even though she was nervous and somewhat fearful in the beginning, she was able to see herself finally as the two CFO women had seen her, and her staff eventually saw her that way too. Her staff gained new respect and began to take notice. There are many ways of achieving this and in Amanda’s case she happened to have mentors that planted positive information about her in a way that “raised her profile.” As her team began to appreciate her ideas, Amanda started to have more respect for herself.

“These relationships, both internal and external, gave Amanda the confidence boost she needed.” It sounds almost subliminal, but people will follow and listen to important people, it’s just human nature. Great article.

References

Ibarra, H., Ely, R., & Kolb, D. (2013, September). Women Rising: The Unseen Barriers. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2013/09/women-rising-the-unseen-barriers/