There’s an old saying that women have to work twice as hard as men to get half as much. While this may have some truth to it, there are things that you may be doing –without realizing it– that limit your upward mobility at work.
Women have come a long way in the workplace. We have fought for the right to work alongside men, the right to be paid the same as them and the right to be treated with respect. There’s no reason why we can’t compete like a man. The question is: why don’t we?
Part of the answer lies in the fact that women unknowingly undermine their credibility and sabotage their careers. In other words, it’s not just the men in HR ruining our chance for a promotion; we do it to ourselves too.
If you find yourself repeatedly being skipped over for a promotion, the following top three mistakes that women make at work might help:
Working too hard
Women often complain that they do more work compared to other people. The truth is no one was ever promoted by hard work alone. According to Frankel, likeability, networking skills, and strategic thinking are some of the other factors needed to grow into a successful career. Instead of working hard all day, skipping lunch and breaks, give yourself permission to “waste” a little time. Spend at least five percent of your day building relationships.
Doing the work of others
Women tend to take responsibility for not only their work, but also the work of others. There’s only one problem with this: while we’re busy doing the grunt work, men are busy building their careers. Promotions are rewarded for a job done, not doing the job. Stop volunteering for low profile assignments. They won’t only zap your time, but also won’t improve your career. Try not to let others delegate their work to you. Practice saying “I’d love to, but I’m just swamped.” There’s no need to explain further. It’s their job, not yours.
Failing to capitalize on relationships
Men rely on relationships to open doors for them. Women view it as taking advantage of a friendship or business partner. You’d trust a referral from one of your business associates, then why wouldn’t the door swing the other way? When in doubt, ask permission to use a colleague’s name. For example, “I’m trying to set up a meeting with George Smith. Would it be all right if I mention that I know you?” See how easy that was?
We don’t need connections! If only our boss sees what we are doing for the company, unlike those men.
It is hard to work with women in the work field. Women are sensitive, and we have to be careful when we are talking to them, especially with the ME TOO movement!
I enjoy working with women. They are organized, and responsible for everything.
I feel uneasy whenever I am working with a female. I am sorry, but I feel like you shouldn’t be working, and you should stay at home and feed your babies.
Whoa, wait. Are you serious? Do you think you are better than some of the women? This is offensive to me.
We have differences, and even in the field of work, men and women have their own strength and weakness.
Female workers are very competitive. I thought they are just easy, but I was wrong for that.
Women are very competitive and admire them for that. I have women co-workers, and damn, they are great! Men should be scared of them because they can wash us out of the company, I wear.
I have female staff, and as much as possible I gave them promotions. I mostly give promotions to female because I think they are better than male. Male just have the balls, most of the time they don’t do their work.
At least, they are few men who can see our real worth. Thank you, sir!
That’s what I hate in myself. I have connections, but I can’t use them. I feel guilty whenever I want to say those names that might get me promoted. It’s like I don’t deserve that kind of promotion because I did not work for it.
Please just accept the fact that men are the rulers of the world. ?