Five Reasons Why Self-Advocacy is Important for Professional Women

Advocacy is a powerful thing to do on behalf of someone else who may not be positioned to speak up or act for themselves. To advocate means to utilize your position, seat, access, and voice to support another person, and doing so because it is the right thing to do. It allows someone to be seen and accepted for who they are and for the potential that they hold within themselves that needs the assistance of someone else to unlock. Self-Advocacy is stepping up to move the needle for one’s own benefit. As professional women, we need both: someone who is positionally able to raise our profiles, and we must also put skin in our own game to seize the moments to do so for ourselves. This article will share five reasons why it is important for women to gird up their courage to self-advocate for what they need and want.

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Boundary Setting: Self-advocacy begins with the establishment of boundaries. Boundaries are a necessity and a form of professional “self-care.” Learn the discipline of setting clear guardrails around your time, workload, and responsibilities. Ensure that you give as much attention to building your career while working in the role of producing and delivering work products. By taking a more balanced “both/and” approach to how you see your work as a means to support your aspirational vision, you will be more in choice about what you say “yes or no” to, which will support avoiding burnout while ensuring your workload is manageable and serves your ultimate career objective.

Seek Feedback: Actively seek feedback from trusted colleagues, supervisors, and mentors. Use this feedback to identify areas for growth and development, as well as to showcase your achievements and contributions. Make this activity an organic practice where you tap into those who work the closest to you for “real time” observations especially after delivering presentations, leading meetings, as well as how you are showing up in collaborative spaces. Inquire casually, listen to understand, and ask clarifying questions. Request examples of how to improve and what would allow you to be more impactful. By holding curiosity about how to get better will enable you to lessen the “sting” of any feedback you are hearing that is “blunt” or seemingly unfavorable. Close the moment with gratitude and thanks for the “gift” of knowledge and awareness for what was shared with you.

Equal Opportunity: Self-advocacy also means sharing your skills, accomplishments, and career aspirations, to ensure that you are considered to be competitive overall and in contention for the same opportunities as male counterparts. However, oftentimes women hesitate to step into the limelight and hope that someone else will “see” and “tap” them into the game. Self-advocacy is a power move that is not waiting for someone else to act, but instead requires courage and self-belief enough that “you are ready for more.” Until we signal and ask for more, your needs, wants, and wishes cannot be met.

Career Advancement: By actively advocating for themselves, women can increase their visibility within the organization, which can lead to promotions, raises, and other career advancement opportunities. Do not be afraid to voice your opinions, ideas, and concerns in meetings and discussions. Assertiveness is key to making your contributions and perspectives heard and valued. By raising your hand, volunteering, and expressing that you are seeking “stretch” roles and looking for challenge, doors that were previously closed or were inaccessible can now be explored to gain the targeted development and brand exposure.

Know Your Worth: Take time to think about your specific strengths, unique value proposition, how you deliver value to the organization, and relate & connect the work that you do to the bottom line. Continuously work to increase your value via training, mentorships, and coaching for skill development and career growth. Benchmark by researching the market value for your position, job level, and skill set. Use this information during salary negotiations for new roles, or performance reviews to ensure that you are being compensated fairly. The gender pay gap continues and self-advocacy is crucial in negotiating and calibrating fair compensation. By proactively discussing salary and benefits normalizes the conversation and will help women achieve equitable pay for their work as well as being positioned for promotions.

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In conclusion, self-advocacy is another confidence builder in the coffer as women set boundaries that support long term career vision, ask for feedback, and use it as a “continuous improvement” tool, while understanding their value proposition and benchmarking to know their worth and compensation factors. By bringing all of these elements together, forward progress and promotability are well within the sights and traction needed for the climb and road ahead.

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Sheryl Brinkley is an Executive Coach & Career Acceleration Catalyst, and a Women's Leadership Pipeline Builder & Sustainer, specializing in Hi-Potential & Mid-Level leader progression into Sr. Level & C-Suite positions. She is a certified Emotional Intelligence & Positive Intelligence Mental Fitness Coach supporting her clients in their holistic self-actualization pursuits while deepening self-awareness for maximal leadership impact.

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