Career progression doesn’t have to be a given

One of the biggest frustrations I hear women express is of giving everything to their work, but hitting a wall when it comes to career progression.

Some of these women have also simultaneously balanced caregiving responsibilities, making huge sacrifices that put their own self care on the line.

But they can seldom give voice to the disappointment because your only option really is to put on a brave face and keep doing what you always do.

Expecting your past work or a past achievement to speak for itself is understandable.

The truth is that you can no longer expect it to guarantee success, because that’s simply not how the world turns.

Every actor or footballer has an agent to win them their next role or contract.

Closer to home, your own organisation - whether it is a corporation or a local authority - is probably spending a huge amount of money and manpower to win its next project or investment.

No one in the world can afford to rest on their laurels.

And you shouldn’t, either.

You have to outgrow the little girl looking for a pat on the head after finishing her chores.

I know those are harsh words, but you cannot reduce your brilliance and your potential to this dynamic of seeking validation.

I say that as someone who has had to learn that lesson myself.

As I shared with a client yesterday, “I’ve done everything you told me to” is no strategy for career progression in today’s competitive world.

Much less so if you have your eyes on leadership.

And I really need you to get this distinction: that a leader is the person who decides what gets done. Not the one who is waiting for orders.

(Of course, I am oversimplifying what it means to be a leader, but you get the idea).

Last autumn I launched the Leadership Lab because I wanted to help young women develop the qualities and the acumen that would not only accelerate their path to leadership, but to give them the tools to thrive once they achieved that role.

Because the norm as a woman working in a majority male industry is to live with a persistent feeling of “I need to do more, I need to catch up”.

And I am on a mission to change that.

So the Leadership Lab is designed to give young women a head start in their leadership journey to counter that disempowering soundtrack playing in their minds right from the outset of their careers.

If you are under the age of 33 and want to have this competitive advantage in your career sooner rather than later, I invite you to apply to join the programme by booking a call with me in the first instance.

Enrolment for Cohort 2 of this programme closes on the 9th of March.