How, and why, we need to empower the next generation of women

I love reading articles & listening to Ted talks about Women supporting Women.

Earlier in my career, it was a very different atmosphere - it was women feeling threatened by the younger generation and not understanding that helping them would help themselves in the long run.

I had a boss who was not a mentor. She had no interest in mentoring me or helping me to grow in the job I was hired for. Yet, in my performance evaluation she said I was not ambitious. I was a clock watcher and never worked overtime. By this point I was so aggravated in the position that I stood up for myself and pushed back. (back then I was very shy and a consummate people pleaser- so pushing back was totally against my nature). I confronted her and said 'I am ambitious but if you don’t give me the chance to learn, the opportunity to try my hand at the work how can you expect me to prove myself? Why would I stay late when I have no work and you do it all yourself. I need you to trust me, to delegate and for you to train me and then I can prove my worth.'?

She later went on mat leave and had no choice but to try and trust me. I rose to the challenge and furthermore I blossomed into the role. I had not been prepared but I dove in headfirst. I loved it. It was the first time I really felt a connection to the work. I dreaded her return from mat leave though, and found another job soon after she came back. She was shocked and could not understand, but I explained to her honestly. I could not go back to the way it worked before. I was much too unhappy.

Now things are different though and thank goodness. Women support each other. We help each other by mentoring and leading by example. I want my team to grow and succeed. I want them to want more responsibility and to advocate for how things can be done better, more efficiently and effectively. I have trained them, but they have also helped me grow and learn as a manager.

Why am I writing about all this? I recently read an article by Elisette Carlson on how to empower the next generation of women and I loved it. It speaks about different ways to empower women:

1. Make women aware of their superpower!?Do you have a team member who is awesome at analytics, one at sales or another in handling office politics ? Encourage them to flex those muscles and to grow in those roles. Using their superpowers can help drive their and your company’s success.
2. Create a culture of belonging- Women, like everyone else, want to feel like they are part of something. How do you appeal to a woman and let her feel a part of the culture? Equity in pay, offer work/life balance, hybrid when they need to work from home, managers who lead with empathy, show them their opinions and they themselves are valued.
3. Build more diverse boards – According to himforher.org a 2021 study on gender diversity showed that 40% of high growth companies (in the USA) have no women on boards and 78% have no women of colour. Representation matters in the office and board room. The tone set in the boardroom trickles down.
4. Introduce inclusion in the onboarding process- create DEI programs and stick to them.
5. Fit the job to the candidate instead of the candidate to the job – women’s traditional skills of empathy, interpersonal skills, vulnerability and gratitude are actually their superpowers and more and more research is showing that interpersonal skills are the most crucial skill sets in the changing economies
6. Offer mentorship and leadership programs within, and outside, of the organization - Identify their strengths and passions and help them to grow professionally by offering mentorship or coaching.

Happy empowering!