Susan Galer* says that instead of just being great in their current job, women who want to be leaders need to take steps to invest in their future.
I want to make one thing clear: self-sabotage is not the reason women aren’t in more leadership positions.
At the recent SAP Ariba Live commerce conference, renowned leadership coaches Sally Helgesen and Dr Marshall Goldsmith highlighted five examples from their best-selling book, How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job .
I gave them kudos for not labelling any behaviours as gender-based, and encouraging men to take responsibility for more inclusive workplaces as well.
“We don’t view these behaviours as women’s behaviours,” said Helgesen.
“They are human behaviours, but they are the behaviours most likely to hold women back.”
Put your career ahead of your job
Instead of spending so much time doing a great job in their current role, Goldsmith said women also need to invest in their future, such as learning new skills that will result in a promotion.
And if you have one out of the six skill prerequisites, demonstrate the confidence to learn the rest on the job.
Men do this all the time.
Women, not so much.
“Many women get assignments, do a great job, and in recognition … eventually become indispensable,” said Goldsmith.
“[Then] they can’t get promoted.”
“It’s important to do a good job.”
“But don’t get so focused that you inhibit your ability to move up … your good work won’t speak for itself.”
Expertise plus relationships matter
The most effective leaders walk into a new job and figure out who they need to know to be successful.
Too often, women keep their heads down and become domain experts.
In contrast, great leaders “build visibility and connections as they build their expertise,” said Helgesen.
“[Some] women are disappointed when someone else is promoted who doesn’t have the expertise in that field … without recognising that other person put in a lot of work building the right connections and visibility.”
Be your best self-promoter
Helgesen said her research showed women are best at high-quality work yet often struggle to be recognised.
She told the story of a woman engineer in Silicon Valley who was floored when her manager praised her work with a gut-wrenching caveat ─ she wasn’t well-known.
Although the woman felt awkward, she began emailing her manager, explaining how she’d connected with new people every week.
“He thanked her for helping him understand who his unit was connected with,” said Helgesen.
“Don’t expect others to spontaneously notice and value your contributions.”
“When I’m coaching someone, I tell them to think about what they contribute and what they want to achieve as information that can be valuable for other people to know.”
Let go of perfectionism
Helgesen said countless studies have found the average woman is much harder on judging herself than men in 360-degree feedback programs.
Women can avoid the perfectionism trap by taking their own mistakes in stride.
Goldsmith shared how he’d forgotten to pack long pants during a trip for a major presentation, and then stumbled walking on stage.
The audience gave him a standing ovation at the end of his speech.
Helgesen said this was an epiphany for her.
“I realised that my commitment was to my material and not my audience,” said Helegsen.
“I was demonstrating what a stressed out, perfectionist woman looked like.”
“I wanted to create something more relaxed and fluid, which required me to let go of perfectionism … I’m thinking of having buttons printed with the words ‘Oh well, I’m a human being. Oh well, I made a mistake.’”
Get help
Both speakers got the audience to their feet with a listening exercise that revealed how people can learn from others and ask for help, a prerequisite for career growth.
“When you ask for ideas, treat them like a gift,” said Goldsmith.
“Say thank you.”
“If you want to use it, use it. If not, put it away.”
“You don’t have to do everything people suggest.”
“You just have to listen.”
Taking constructive action on what’s holding all of us back is sound career advice.
* Susan Galer is Communications Director of SAP Global Communications.
This article first appeared at www.forbes.com.
