As if working in a man’s world wasn’t tough enough, add to that working in a male dominated industry. Women have come a long way in their struggles to get a head in these fields, but there is still room for improvement. Below are some of the methods, ranging from easy to more complicated, that helped me crack my glass ceiling and I believe can help you too.
Know your sports: Let’s face it: sports dominate a lot of the small talk in conversation among your male peers, customers, or superiors. Because I grew up a tomboy, discussing sports was easy for me, but I found a lot of my female colleagues or managers struggled to related or be able to participate in many of these conversations. If sports are simply not your thing and you don’t want to invest a lot of time watching games, it’s understandable. However, a 30 minute investment in watching ESPN’s popular show PTI (Pardon the Interruption) can keep you up to date on the latest sporting events and sports figures. The hosts are two of the best sports writers around and are also very entertaining. Some of my previous female managers and sales professionals claimed this show really helped them stay abreast of what was going on in the sports world.
Recognize the cultural challenges you face: This became very apparent to me when I was a young sales professional in the Bay Area, CA working with Asian Freight Forwarders. Some of my male Asian customers were delighted that I was conversational in Japanese, but to others it simply didn’t matter. I was a woman…period! To get around this challenge in my most complicated accounts I would bring a male Asian colleague. Although I asked the questions, many times they turned to him to answer. Don’t take it personally. Simply view it as a challenge and determine a way to circumvent it in a respectful manner. I am currently facing a similar challenge with in the Islamic culture for a book I am researching. Not a problem; I know women who are Muslim and who can help me gain the same results I need.
Know your product or subject: The greatest way to gain respect with in your field, regardless of who dominates it, is to really know your stuff. When others can see the value you add, it generally doesn’t matter who or what you are- you are needed! What matters most in business is the bottom line, and intelligent leaders realize this. One word of caution: try not to be the team “know it all” and do not let others see you as the “go to person”. This is a trap many intelligent women fall pray in the hopes of either being liked or respected. Simply be mindful of this as you share or communicate your ideas and solutions. Watch the body language and patterns of those you are trying to impress.
Know the importance of respect: It’s a great feeling to know that you are liked among your peers or superiors, and that your customers enjoy doing business with you. But don’t be deluded into believing they necessarily respect you too. This is vital. An example of respect is what they call you. Don’t permit anyone to shorten your name or give you a nick name if that is not how you want to be addressed. My professional name is my full name. Only those closest to me have the right to call me by my childhood nickname of “Tommy”. I have had to explain to some (in private) that I do not want to be introduced by this nickname, but by my full name. It is feminine and I am very proud of being named after my father. Also, don’t let them talk you into always being the meeting note taker. Unless your title is Administrator, or you really love doing this, I don’t recommend it. This denotes caretaker and that is not necessarily your role as a female leader.
Toot your own horn!!!: Women have the hardest time doing this and it is understandable. No one wants to come across as arrogant or draw unnecessary attention. But if you want to be respected, and hopefully get ahead, this is a must! I have found the easiest way to accomplish this is to talk in terms of what my team did. Granted I am lavishing praise on others, but this tactic does remind them it is my team, implying my leadership did help. A peer’s region recently beat out mine in gaining the most accounts in a given fiscal year. Although coming in second was still a great achievement, I am competitive and like to win. When we were in a board room meeting and I was praised for my team’s effort, I couldn’t help but also remind upper management that although my team took second, they did generate the most high revenue yielding accounts, which is also important to the company’s bottom line. I praised my team, but also let management know about another accomplishment and just how important it was to the organization.
