Developing and promoting our professional brand is fundamental to our career growth. A strong brand will get you noticed, open up relevant opportunities that are exciting, and build trust in your capabilities and knowledge. Unfortunately so many Leaders, particularly Female Leaders, leave it up to others to create and share their branding narrative.
It tends to be more difficult for Female Leaders to promote themselves. For women, the terms "likability" and "success" don't always go hand-in-hand. This issue is sometimes termed the "likability conundrum" or the "likability and success paradox" which are created as a result of gender norms. These norms indicate that women should be more flexible, agreeable, and nurturing. So when it comes to leading a business that requires making hard decisions about talent, influencing their peers, and focusing on bottom-line results, these leaders can be viewed as being too aggressive or not likable.
But everything is changing in today's environment. These are now all "pre-COVID" norms so let's take this opportunity to control the content of our stories and promote our female brands with pride and loud voices.
Discover Your Story
First, what is your narrative? What drives you to do the things you do? Who are you?
This is often a very hard question to answer. As individuals, we are busy just living our own experiences to really see and acknowledge the common thread, or "narrative", that guides our decisions and actions. A really good technique used to discover your story is to just start jotting down your thoughts as you reflect upon your past. What are the key moments in your life and career that have really left an impression and what were the situational factors? Whether it's a big project you launched, a key transformational moment you were involved in, or the best job you ever had, write this all down. What are the stories being told about you? What stories do you find yourself sharing about your experiences? Write it all down.
As you do this, you will start to recognize the common thread that links all of these big decisions together. And this, my friends, is your narrative.
Pay Attention to Work and Life Separation
You may find yourself writing down stories that are only about work events. Or maybe you're writing down experiences about only personal events. Pay special attention to why you are separating the two.
Both types of experiences are still your experiences. They have shaped and defined who you are as a whole person and they are both equally important to your narrative. Don't leave it out just because you don't think it's relevant or may hurt your brand, because it won't. It strengthens your character and further shapes your story. Now that everyone has experience working remotely, it is even more clear that the two worlds make up one whole.
A Pivotal Moment Called COVID
We are experiencing a change in tides now that everyone has been thrown into a world where work and home are all the same. Where women are traditionally lifting the heavy weights, with home and children, their partners are now experiencing (and sharing) the same mental overload. The balance that once may have worked between couples are shifting and gender norms are being challenged.
A personal story:
My husband and I struggled, along with everyone else, when we had to find ways to balance our work days while also taking on homeschooling responsibilities. We didn't have a lot of time to really think it through as we were thrown into the situation and forced to stay afloat as quickly as we could.
Without having a real discussion about how to best divide the responsibilities, I took on about 90% of the homeschooling while my husband disappeared into our home office between 8am and 6pm, only to come out to get food or water. After a couple of weeks, I was overwhelmed, angry, and completely burnt out. After all, I also have a business to focus on as well as personal aspirations and interests that were all being neglected.
It wasn't until I took a deliberate pause and asked my husband (with genuine sincerity), "did we just participate in a gender bias?" I was horrified. I consider myself to be a pretty independent woman who expects to share all of our home responsibilities equally. My husband is a very active partner who is involved with the children's activities as well as the chores around the house. So it disappointed me that this had happened to us.
We quickly made adjustments to our day and we now share the workload more equitably. Although I can't speak for him, I do believe that my husband is now witnessing first-hand how hard it is to balance things at home while still maintaining a strong reputation and high performance at work.
Message Development
We often believe that our work speaks for itself. As long as we work hard and show positive results, we will be recognized and presented with exciting new opportunities. Unfortunately, this is not the case especially with everyone being so overwhelmed. We are on our own now which makes it more important for Female Leaders to take control and develop the right message.
Example:
A 40-something year old woman (let's call her Lisa) has done pretty well in her career. After graduating, she started her career in Sales and then moved into Account Management roles. Over time, her responsibilities broadened as she managed larger clients, was accountable for larger goals, and leading larger teams. Her career trajectory was leading her straight for a General Manager position with her organization which means she would have a national team that included various functions, P&L responsibility, and ownership of the products within her organization.
Before she was promoted, however, she and her husband welcomed their first child. Her original plan was to take a few months off for maternity leave and return to work. While she was gone, she experienced minor health issues that were a result of her pregnancy and her leave lasted almost two years. Fortunately, she recovered quite well and wanted to return to work.
The role that she was originally being considered for was already occupied so she applied for other General Manager positions without luck. Not only was she not getting the jobs, she wasn't even hearing back from the Recruiters or Hiring Leaders about her application. During the few calls that she did have, she was asked why she had a gap in her employment and her response was simply "to focus on her family". After pushing for feedback as to why she wasn't being considered for a General Manager role, she was told that her skills may be out of date given the time away. Ultimately, Lisa found a job as a Sales Manager which took her back in her career by several years.
Changing the Narrative
Consider this. As Lisa kicked off her job search after being away for 2 years, she already had a lot going on professionally but she didn't control her own narrative well. What she didn't promote or leverage were the following:
An active network consisting of former colleagues who had worked with her in the past and knew her capabilities.
A sponsor who advocates for her experience and connects her with other Leaders.
Several speaking engagements where she talked about her industry expertise and leadership skills.
A strong social media presence where she's actively participating in group discussions.
A website and blog where she shares her work and thought leadership.
Volunteer opportunities on Boards or Fundraising events where she showcased her relationship management and leadership skills.
Now, with all of this in place, her story has suddenly shifted from "I took a couple of years off to focus on my family" to "I am active in the industry, well-known for my thought leadership, and maintain a strong professional brand (all while focusing on my family)". Now that is super powerful.
The world's perspective on female talent has changed, so let's change how we tell our story. Start with discovering your story and brand and then promote the heck out of it.
About An McLeod
An McLeod is Founder of HEXA Executive Search. She is an experienced Executive Search Leader and Certified Coach who helps high-growth companies build their leadership teams and bench strength.
Comments