Valerie Ryder, PWA Professional Development Director and Executive Coach at Ryder & Associates, facilitated a mini-workshop, ”Self-Managing your Career”, during PWA’s April 6 Networking Aperitivo. Valerie asked those present to share their best proactive professional move. She shares the results of this live survey here along with her tips for proactively managing your career.
In today’s world it is increasingly important that women be responsible for their professional progress. On the one hand, the career options presented to women are exponentially higher than just a few decades ago. My mother’s generation, for example, had the broad choice between being a nurse, a stewardess, a secretary, a housewife or a nun. Mom was a perfect example: since she was too tall to work on a plane and too disorganized to work in an office, she decided to go into a convent, then changed her plans when she met my father, and became a housewife. Now she’s a nurse (although there is some continuity in that she’s still tall, disorganized and religious).
On the other hand, nowadays changing employers and even careers regularly is commonplace and well-accepted. Some employers and hiring professionals have even come to expect to see a variety of qualified experiences. (Mind you, job-hoppers are still frowned upon).
Too often, however, women’s careers are shaped by chance events, suggestions from friends and family who mean well but who may not be best placed to give professional advice, and occasionally, benevolent bosses.
From reactive to proactive
What can you, as a working woman, do to shift from being reactive about your career, to managing it proactively? You can start by making the following reiterative process a conscious part of your life.
1. Define and refine your career objectives for a rolling 2-4 year period. Think big. Be ambitious. Fight off any self-limiting beliefs (often manifested by nagging, pessimistic inner voices) or negative external influences that may hold you back from realizing your potential. Be aware that you can be the best planner on earth, yet there are always unforeseen circumstances. It’s worth keeping that in mind in order not to be discouraged or surprised about unexpected events which may prevent you from reaching some of your original goals.
2. Just do it. Dare to pursue your goals, with assertiveness, self-confidence and creativity. For a variety of reasons, this area tends to pose many challenges to women. Read on for plenty of examples and tips on how to accomplish this.
3. Evaluate your progress. Periodically assess the situation – are you on track? Have new variables emerged? When they do appear, it’s time to revisit your objectives while taking the new factors into account. Setting your goals is not a one-time, static occurrence; rather, it is an ongoing requirement to getting where you want to go.
No woman is an island
This process is simple to comprehend on a rational level. But for many, it’s easier said than done. How do you set your goals, when you’re not sure about what you want to do or are able to accomplish? How do you communicate more assertively and increase your self-esteem? How do you give free reign to your creativity, without fearing possible unwanted consequences? Getting help and support along the way is essential – there are very few stories of women (and even fewer of men, I would contend) who have succeeded on their own.
Building your personal support team can be done in a number of different ways, starting with enlisting the support of your spouse and/or family. Make your boss or business partner a sponsor of your success. Find a mentor who is willing to guide you. Take advantage of your company’s HR department, in areas such as training, career planning, and organizational development. Work with a professional coach. Reach out to peers and other people in your network who can help you in some way.
Real-life examples
At a Mini-Workshop I facilitated recently for PWA Milan during a Networking Aperitivo, I asked the dozens of women present to answer the question: What is the best proactive action you have taken in terms of your career? Following are the word-for-word answers, compiled into five different categories:
1. Assertiveness: Daring, Asking, Negotiating
Changing companies every 5/7 years – Wanting my boss’ job! – Sending out cold emails – Leave my (old!) job – Focused search in new country – Reinventing my career in a new country – Take risks – Negotiate better conditions – Maternity is not an obstacle: let me try and I will demonstrate I can also work – Applying for my current position in the company, getting more money – Proposed myself for a job I had never done before and succeed in it – Ask my boss for a new position – Being honest about what I could offer from the beginning of a new contract – Get husband and grandparents trained properly to support us and give relief from children and house responsibilities
2. International experience & travel
Working for an international law firm – Having gained international experience in my job – Being ready to travel a lot – Having travelled everywhere to learn and to teach
3. Launch own activity
Establish my srl – Starting my own business – Create an independent activity (Iva) – Being an entrepreneur of your own life – Starting a project
4. Life-long learning
Attend coaching school – Going back to b school – Learn new skills (language, computer, business, self-organization) – Discovering my core values and life purpose – Being gender bilingual
5. Networking & politics
Being a member of a professional association – New contacts – Enter politics
There’s something to say for women from the previous generations – they may not have had many career options, but they sure did have common sense. Some of my mother’s favorite sayings, still applicable to women today, are: Ask and you shall receive. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. God helps those who help themselves. Knowledge is power. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. In short, assertiveness, perseverance, initiative, education, creativity…sound familiar?
