Having a career plan in place is important for everyone, especially for women professionals since they usually encounter more life changes than men on their path to success. To be noticed and to get ahead, doing good work is not enough—you have to take charge of your career and come up with a strategic plan.
Here are some ways women can navigate their way into leadership roles at the workplace:
Build relationships: Cultivate a strong and vibrant professional network. Build relationships outside your immediate team and even outside your organization. Joining women networks is also a great way to bond over similar interests.
Take charge: Develop a personalized career plan. Communicate your ambition and goals with your manager or mentor. Speak up when you need something and make the most of the opportunities that come your way.
Deliver excellence: Do your job well. Support from seniors and peers will be easier to garner if they think you are capable. And keep learning, especially from the most challenging tasks or projects.
Demonstrate leadership at all levels of your career: A leader thinks about solutions and gets the best out of the team. You do not have to be the designated leader to become one. Being proactive with solutions and coming up with novel yet practical ideas also showcases your management skills.
Keep learning: Keep your skills current by constantly learning new techniques and skills. Take advantage of the professional and leadership development programs offered by your company.
Seek out mentors: A mentor is someone who can guide and nurture your career and is committed to helping you grow. Seeking out mentors helps you to establish a truly beneficial relationship that can provide you with experiences, direction and connections at senior levels.
Cultivate and project confidence: Women often suffer from a crisis of confidence, in part because they don’t want to come across as aggressive. Cultivate confidence from the start of your career. A confident manager is more likely to be given critical assignments.
Get support: One of the most important factors for career progression is support from family, friends, coworkers, helpers and mentors. Delegate tasks and jobs intelligently and take support when you require it.
Mostly importantly, remember that you cannot have it all. The road to becoming a superwoman who efficiently and effectively deals with all aspects of personal and professional life is fraught with exhaustion, stress, unfulfilled aspirations, guilt at not doing things as best as you can.
So, don’t try to become a superwoman—instead, become the best version of yourself that you can be.
Set your priorities and work toward them but do not be unrealistic in your ambitions and do remember to take time out to enjoy life.
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