Don’t let others make assumptions about you or your future. Be vocal. Communicate your goals again and again—and again, for good measure. 😉 🎥 @fullpotentialrealized via Instagram
The assumptions made about working women are just ridiculous. And most of the time there is no one in your corner to advocate for you.Try having a conversation with and listening to your employees first. How hard is that 🤔🙄
Interesting. I am a mother of a 3.5 years old and my personal situation on travels/taking on such new growth opportunities isn’t the same any longer as it used to be few years ago when the baby was a newborn, so yes, personal preferences and professional situations do expand flexibility wise and also strongly depend upon the perallel support systems women have from their spouse/family at home as well. I also resumed work post maternity leave just after 6 months and when the baby was 11 months, started on a totally different new role learning from the scratch with the added responsibilities so navigating aspirations to the business/employer on regular bases is equally important. If an employee herself isn’t regularly navigating and expressing aspirations/ambitions and situations, the memories and the past messages are logically likely to remain, so it is a two way chanel.
I so appreciate this post on both a personal and collective level. Absolutely it’s still happening!! And it’s enraging. What a huge swathe of talent we lose when we make assumptions on who has ‘potential’ and who we ‘want to cultivate.’ Thank you for emphasising that working hard is not enough. 💪🏻 Understand how to navigate such (broken) systems, and advocate for ourselves and others. And keep challenging assumptions when we hear there - especially when we spot them in ourselves.
This brought me back to when I came back to work after having my 2nd child with another one barely 2 years older. So many assumptions were made by management about my capacity/willingness to travel without ever broaching the subject with me. I was gently but surely side-lined without me having any input. I still could - and would have - travelled, it's just that I needed a little bit more notice than a few days to sort everything out at home. 🤷
Love the notion of this, and the example of real advocacy. However, important question: do men need to know how the talent process works? Are they being passed over based on assumptions? My hypothesis is that the answer to both of those questions is generally “no”. And if that’s the case, then instead of focusing on how we train women to close the gaps created by the system, why don’t we instead focus on closing the gaps in the system so everyone can be supported through their careers?
Assumptions are one of the biggest killers of female career! Two near-miss stories from my life: 2016: You are 30 and married, are you sure you want to move abroad and take a new job? ☠️Assumption: 25yo + single would do that, 30yo + married would not 👊Me: I can pack tomorrow ✈️ 2020: You are coming back from maternity leave, this job in HR seems perfect for you. ☠️Assumption: when you have a small baby you want a job that is easy for you, ideally sth you have done already 👊Me: I found this job opening in Digital, it's completely new to me, but my competencies match the requirements, I want it, I am sooo ready for the challenge 🤩🚀 Please, don't let your assumptions kill someone's dreamed career.
I was not only told that “there is no way you are actually coming back from maternity leave” Then when I ACTUALLY did return from leave (as I stated I would!) I was told “there is no way you will be as good as you were before, because you are a mom now.”
Very true!!!! Women often get bypassed for executive roles due to many reasons that remain unchecked. For example, some women can't or don't want to have kids. I always say that with the amount of education and experience I have, if I were a man, I would have been in a managerial role by now. I still have to fight to prove that I'm actually capable. Never ending battle.
I couldn’t agree more. One addition: women aren’t aware of the talent management process until they are exposed to it. I can say that was my experience. It wasn’t until I sat in those meetings that I knew for certain how succession planning worked. Why? Because management is afraid of setting false expectations. How do we overcome this? Two ideas that are not novel at all: 1. Ladies, ask your boss or HR how the process works and how evaluations take place. Just asking signals your interest in progressing. 2. People Managers: have those talks with individuals on your team. Understand their individual desires before you walk into that talent management meeting of any level. Asking is not guaranteeing and if there are gaps that you see between individual desires and your managerial POV then you need to have the tough but fair discussion about how to close those gaps. Give that person a chance to prove themselves; you might be surprised. If not, at least that person knew you were fair.
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1moI admire how she advocated for her in that scenario, which is unfortunately rare. Many women might not have spoken up or supported her like she did. It's not ONLY about speaking up for oneself but lifting others up too. The captions doesn't capture the full impact of this video. In my community, I hear daily about how many women feel they're just at work to find an outlet, often dealing with depression. What this woman did in that meeting was commendable. Let's support each other—lifting others instead of tearing them down, because staying silent would have been easy.