"Navigating a demanding industry -- It's not all sunshine and rainbows" Series - Part 12
Brittany Piacente
Senior Compositor at Wētā FX|VES Member|Compositing Mentor at CG Spectrum College of Digital Art and Animation
Today’s topic is:?advocating for yourself and others
What is an "advocate?" In Latin, this means “a pleader on one behalf” or “one called to aid.” According to Merriam-Webster, it is "one who supports or promotes the interests of a cause of group or pleads the cause of another." Being an advocate can have many forms/topics; some more complex, controversial, sensitive, or trying than others. It may be as simple as practicing or role-playing a difficult conversation that a friend or colleague intends to have with their boss or recommending your network for opportunities. It can also be more challenging, like fighting for disability cause or filing a complaint with human resources at work for?discrimination?or harassment.
This is where I'm expecting some people to go, "Woah, that's a lot of pressure," or "Wow, now she's getting contentious (Yes, I think you are all sophisticated and prefer me using some new words. Haha!)." Seriously though, I want to address that advocacy is very much a "choose your own adventure." You can have as little or as much to do with it, as you please. But realize that not one size fits all and it's not about one single topic. There are many types of advocacy, formal and informal (paid vs unpaid), including, but not limited to: self, parent, peer/individual, citizen, and systemic (legal, health, eduction, etc.). It takes many forms, large and small. Some require additional training or are through an organization. Many have similarities, but each type is unique. Self-advocacy is what I'm hoping is your biggest takeaway from this article. But if I can open your eyes to also advocating for others, in whatever capacity, then that's perfectly wonderful for the people around you!
Whether you are advocating for yourself or others:
Advocacy is taking action to help people say what they want, secure their rights, represent their interests, and obtain the services they need. It can enable people to better understand each other, promote problem solving and participation, highlight available resources and services, and educate the greater community. You likely advocate for yourself and others often in your daily life, yet you may not think of it as advocacy.
Advocating for others:
When you're advocating for someone else, you're either speaking for them, when they’re unable/can’t, or supporting them to speak for themselves when they can. You don’t have to be in the same position or have the same illness or disability as the person or group you’re advocating for. You’re there to amplify the voice of the person you’re advocating for or empower them to advocate for themselves. No matter what issues inspire us, you can simply start a conversation, speak up, point out issues, broaden your view or stand up for someone or something you believe in. “Speaking up can help grow awareness, and people can’t change without awareness,”?Amber Cabral.
Advocates can be your second set of eyes, ears, and voice; questioning things for you, assisting your understanding of information, processes, services, choices, and/or rights. They can also see outcomes for you that you didn’t think were possible, and/or imagine you in a spot that you never thought you’d go, similar to a career sponsor. This is very much something?Xiomara Torres?touches on in her talk. “We can all be advocates."
"Standing up for others helps foster diverse, healthy company cultures that breed better collaboration, creativity, and globally-minded ideas;?that?is the “norm” we want to build for ourselves and those after us," The Forem. Recognizing others for who they are, what they do, and that they matter creates motivation. "When we advocate for others, we can discover our own voice,"?Adam Galinsky. It builds us up in the process. Advocating for others directly increases self-confidence and performance. "Effective self-advocacy comes from a place of generosity first. If you take an empathetic approach to everything you do, opportunities will come to you. People want to empower people who help them and help others. By going one step further and considering your privilege when reaching out and advocating for others—either of rank, race, or gender—you not only help build a new corporate dynamic that will ultimately stand to benefit the whole organization, but you commit to learning, growing, and helping others do the same,"?The Forem.
We relate to each other by telling our stories—where we came from, who we are, what’s important to us, etc. Some cultures are more comfortable with this than others, but it's important that those stories are heard. Sometimes people just need an extra hand. Honor and share your journey. "Tell your truth,"?Clint Smith. Don't be silent.
Self-Advocating:
Self-advocacy puts people in charge of their own lives. We are the commanders of our own voices. Advocating for yourself is becoming your biggest ally and learning more about yourself in the process. Without advocating for yourself, you may find that you're overly stressed, anxious, burnt out, or generally unhappy, which can impact your life and work. But self-advocacy can allow you to seek guidance and help rather than falling into a helplessness mindset. It is an important part of maintaining your mental health and wellbeing; essentially knowing and taking ownership and responsibility of your needs and what’s necessary to feel whole and effectively communicating that to others. Setting boundaries is one of the many things that you can do to protect your mental well-being and ensure others respect your values when self-advocating.
On the side of it's not all sunshine and rainbows, "Self-advocacy is an essential method for speaking up for yourself and navigating inequitable power dynamics to make your needs known. Opportunities to learn how to self-advocate, however, seldom line up with the people who need it the most. Speaking up for your needs requires a strong sense of identity and an innate feeling of self-worth built over years of social support that many people do not get to have. Breaking barriers to basic rights and opportunities to participate depends on people being able to tell their own stories using their own words and emotions, which is painful in traumatic exchanges. When you have been pushed to the outside, labeled by stereotypes, and taught to feel inferior, self-advocacy is even more essential but also embedded within entrenched histories of discrimination and deficit thinking. Burdening people with this formidable task and leaving them on their own without the tools to defend themselves is unjust. As long as inequities exist, self-advocacy skills must be central to education," The Practice Space. I highly recommend reading that linked article as much of it pertains to more than just self-advocacy in education.
One thing I'd like to delve deeper into is the strong sense of identity. Effective advocacy requires you to have self-knowledge. Taking inventory on your feelings and knowing when you're not feeling up for advocacy or shouldn't engage in it-- when you're stressed, overwhelmed, exhausted, etc. Pay attention to what drains you as well as what re-energizes you.
Self-advocacy in health care is hugely important to make sure you're getting the best care possible for yourself. You can advocate for yourself by asking questions, raising concerns, getting second opinions, etc.
Professionally speaking, self-advocacy is knowing your needs, as well as your worth, and being able to communicate it competently and convincingly. Only you know what you need to succeed. You need to believe that you can achieve your goals and you're worthy of good things, if you want someone else to believe it. Step away from the imposter syndrome and know when to ask for help. Present yourself in a positive light and also be able to positively explain your imperfections. Like any other valuable skill, it takes time and practice.
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I'd like to say that when you're trying to move up the ranks, you just have to show that you can assert your ideas with confidence, take ownership of decision making, and take risks, while remaining inclusive, open-minded, and collaborative. But in some studies, as well as my own experience, many women encounter gender or race-specific barriers in self-advocacy. "Women face a unique gender challenge when it comes to self-advocating. There have been various studies that point to a negative perception of women who assertively advocate for themselves in the workplace as well as those who do so without being assertive enough. The perception disadvantage increases for women of color who self-advocate,"?Jocelyn Gafner.
To attain your goals, ask yourself, "What am I trying to achieve by speaking up for myself?" It may be multiple things, but it's best to break them down individually. You need to be able to communicate your value with data and make your desire for growth and career advancement known. Actively championing your needs is an essential piece for directing your professional growth and achieving your goals. "Advocate for yourself by being specific and explicit about what you have accomplished and what you can accomplish for the organization in the future. Your leaders sometimes can't see it as clearly as you can," Bethany Kurbis. But it starts with a workplace that creates a safe environment to support advocacy. "The more comfortable you feel, bringing your full self to work, the easier it will be to advocate for what you want," Rachel Monta?ez.
Advocating and Me:
On many occasions, I have taken the simpler path of advocating for others. Acting as a sounding board for a friend or coworker is not usually a crazy scenario. There have only been a few times, but those are not stories for me to tell. When I feel strongly about something, I will absolutely go all in. Being a lead has taught me a lot about advocating for my team, especially when it comes to workload, hours, and rude clients. It allowed me to connect with my team and see how I could convey their needs to production and upper management. Having been bullied and, for a short while, been a bully (not proud of this), it’s not something I tolerate if I witness it happening to other people. Being a woman of color, also motivates me to speak up for those that can't or don’t feel they’re being treated equally.
When there was a call to analyze the gender pay gap and the systems in place (or lack there of) for career development at work, I jumped at the chance to air those grievances and thoughts on how to make it better for everyone. I encouraged my closest work friends to join as well, if nothing else, but to listen. One of the men that came with us is an advocate for fair treatment. His eyes were opened to the differences in appearance and experience of some of the females in the same workplace. He was pretty baffled hearing some of the statistics and stories that were told. By the end, he had a greater appreciation and understanding for what changes they were trying to implement and break down with this open conversation.
Honestly, it’s much easier for me, and I think many others, to speak out for someone else than it is for us to speak up for ourselves. A few years back on the job, I was once pulled aside and told to "not be emotional while at work." It happened after a dailies session where I let out a frustrated, "I'm not sure what you want," after having gone back and forth on addressing the same note with the same feedback each time. It was an endless loop. I channeled a much, MUCH milder version of Noah Calhoun in The Notebook (I know you all can picture it Haha!); "What do you want?" Ironically, the person who said to not show my emotions, was not the person I was speaking to in that session. In my head, I immediately said, "What the hell?! I have literally watched a man aggressively yell at a Lead, in front of everyone... and no one said sh!t to that guy." But aloud, I said, "Okay, sure thing." Ineffective friendliness and agreeance at its finest. I didn't want to start a fight or get into trouble, so I just bit my tongue. But that moment sat with me, on loop, for a few days... until I couldn't take it anymore. I eventually confronted this guy (professionally; I was not aggressive in my tone) and asked him, "Would you have said the same thing to me if I was a man? I feel like what you said is pretty biased." The bewildered look on his face was enough to show me that this unconscious bias just became conscious. Luckily, he was open to this conversation and I broke it down and we worked through it. After having worked in the industry for a long time since then, I can now see I could have handled the initial situation better, with the communication tools that I have grown since then, but I am still glad that I spoke up. Some days my inner voice is louder than others.
When it comes to self-advocating for my health, I'm not as cutthroat as I should be. This is definitely something I am actively working on because I need to. I have needed to go to the doctor, for over a week now, for my asthma. I ran out of my regulatory medication and I was fully aware of my wheezing throughout the day or coughing in my sleep, but I kept pushing it off. I used my emergency inhaler multiple times, knowing damn well it was only postponing the trouble breathing. All in an effort to maintain the good graces I currently have within my team. Internally, I knew they would be supportive if I told them I need to step away for an appointment, but I have been fighting this fear of being a "bother" to the busy schedule and that they need me to do these shots. It took my partner sarcastically telling me I should write about how to advocate for my health for me to stop and go... "Sh!t. I'm definitely doing this wrong." So I spoke with my team yesterday, went to the doctor, and now I can breathe again! My final words for today's article will be to fight through the uncomfortable and speak up for what you need.
I'm constantly working on myself and implementing the topics I'll be talking about in upcoming articles. It takes work. I don't get it right every day. I am not perfect and I don't have all the answers, but I try to stay open to the possibility that a little change can go a long way and if sharing my story might help just one person, it's well worth it.
I'd love to hear from you. Have you advocated for yourself or someone else lately? Is there anything you would highly recommend for anyone trying to advocate for themselves or someone else? Please feel free to share your thoughts!
Here are a few links on advocating for yourself and others (these are not owned by me, just articles/videos I've found helpful on this topic):