Across the globe, we take a moment to recognize and celebrate the outstanding achievements of amazing women and their place in history. Trailblazing women have been leaving their indelible mark on society, culture, politics, science, business, sports, and so much more throughout history. However, the courage and grit of women every day to lead the way for progress and change are unfortunately often disregarded, underappreciated, or largely uncredited.

Sadly, society hasn’t quite reached the point where women are seen on an equal playing field with their male counterparts. There are exceptions to this rule, but we have a long road ahead in the general advancement and acceptance of women in all walks of life. And in the workplace, the struggle can be frustrating and lonely.

But it doesn’t have to be.

Women are strong and resilient and know how to get things done. We are natural leaders, teachers, and communicators eager to serve with a greater purpose. And we have the innate ability to nurture and lift others so they, too, can achieve more.

Our inherent abilities make us the perfect advocate for other women. But sometimes, we fail to step in or speak up when the moment comes. It’s not necessarily intentional, but instead, we move so quickly through our own lives and responsibilities. We miss out on the cues and clues that open the door to empowering and championing those around us.

As we review the current landscape of women in the workplace, we’ve hit another unfortunate challenge with the impacts of the pandemic and subsequent economic implications it’s caused. Women have been nudged out of the workplace in alarming numbers, more so than their male counterparts. While many of those women are taking this moment to pivot and perhaps enter the world of entrepreneurship or explore a new field, many still take on lesser roles or step away from jobs entirely as they take on extra work at home.

Now more than ever, we need women to champion women. We need to become even braver than before. It’s time to examine the places we inhabit and seek out opportunities to change the landscape to one that allows women to step in and rise up. We can learn to recognize and showcase the many strengths and capabilities women of all types bring to the table.

What can women do to help their sisters go further faster? We’ve compiled a list of actions each of us can take in becoming a stronger ally and advocate for the considerable amount of female talent that can use a leg up.

1.  Make Space for Women in Every Room and at Every Table

If you are in a leadership role of any kind or find yourself organizing meetings, project teams, or events, bring women into the fold with you. Women offer unique and valuable ideas and insights and just need the opportunity to share in a meaningful way. Having a seat at the table is a great place to start.

Providing women of all levels a chance to offer input to work being done only increases the likelihood of success. At your next event or meeting, look around the room and see how many women are present. Ideally, we should all be aiming to have at least 50% of participants being female.

2.  Clear the Way for Women to be Heard

Having a seat at the table isn’t the only thing to do. The women in the room need to be heard. Which means they should have the opportunity to speak without being interrupted by the men in the room. Unfortunately, that is a practice that is all too common. And even more unfortunate is that many women don’t know how to manage these scenarios to speak up, or as leaders, clear the way for them to have their time without interruption.

When these moments arise, it’s up to each of us to speak up and as professionally as possible stop the interruption and ask that the woman at the table be allowed to finish.

Of course, there are also those moments where the women at the table aren’t speaking at all. For whatever reason, we allow the men in the room to converse most of the time. Whether we are afraid to talk or feel what we have to share is of little value, we can learn to face those fears and learn to participate because we do have great ideas and offer a different perspective that shouldn’t be missed.

As women leaders, we can help by making it easier for other women to join the conversation and support them when they do.

3.  Seek Opportunities to Build and Teach Confidence in Others

Women can teach other women coming up in the ranks much about having the confidence to assert themselves. But confidence isn’t gained overnight. And young women have a tough time building confidence in many of today’s modern workplaces. There may be significant remnants of the old boys’ club in play, or they may find themselves reporting to managers who are unsupportive of their achievements and growth, resulting in doubt about abilities and failure to move up the corporate ladder.

Whatever the case, confidence in women is achievable, especially with the support and encouragement of other women—in particular, women in more senior roles.

As we learn to be more confident, it may begin by providing a safe environment to share fears and anxiety with those we trust. When we know we have the support and advocacy of others, we are more likely to take greater risks, seek more responsibility, and share diverse ideas. And the more chances we take based on the support we receive, the more our confidence naturally rises.

Creating a work environment where women have the opportunity to build confidence, be themselves, participate with courage and conviction, and finally be free of self-doubt and hesitation makes for a more inclusive workplace and ultimately figures into the health and wealth of the bottom line.

4.  Become Known as the Cultivator of Talent

Perhaps a more self-serving benefit of women helping other women is the inevitable result of becoming known as someone who cultivates top talent.

Unfortunately, and often incorrectly, women are seen as being competitive with one another and punished for it. Men are very competitive with one another, yet it’s viewed as sportsmanlike behavior that’s healthy. For women, it’s seen as caddy and vicious—a double standard for sure, but one that can be remedied with the consistent and visible support of other females.

Women can be stronger advocates for each other if we look at the other women in our workplaces, seek out those who may need our help, those who might be struggling, and those who may not have any other women in their immediate responsibilities. We shouldn’t only look for the current rock stars and stand with them alone but find those who may become better if they just had a nudge in the right direction or some thoughtful guidance. Those are often the ones who flail and crash because they are alone as they try to fight their way up the ranks, often leaving before having the opportunity to show what they can achieve.

Use your eyes and ears to find them and leverage your experience and influence to develop and nurture them. You will not regret it, and the performance of the organization with be better for it.

5.  Amplify Other Women’s Achievements

As women, for some reason, we have a tough time talking about our accomplishments. As young girls, we were taught never to brag about ourselves and be the “nice girls” who are sweet and quiet. Well, that doesn’t work so well for career progression.

Women can eliminate that mindset by being the ones to permit other women to share their achievements. It begins by recognizing them first. Show them how to do it without it sounding overbearing or braggy, but instead is conveyed in the context of the value added or the impact made.

Women have the power to help other women simply by being a voice and channel that sheds new light on each other’s successes. It’s an easy and impactful way to lift other women and allow the communication of these achievements to become part of the norm.

6.  Become a Sponsor for New and Highly Visible Opportunities

If you happen to be a woman who is in the position to sponsor an opportunity, by all means, bring other women into the fold. This will ensure they are seen as top talent. Many organizations launch special projects or pilot programs inside the company and seek out the best of the best to make up the team. If you are already sponsoring a project, assign women to the team and in leadership roles where they can be heard and seen.

And if you aren’t currently sponsoring a project, look for or define a new proposal to provide that platform for new female talent. Often there is just the need for a foot in the door to bring positive attention to more women. Be proactive and become that leader.

7.  Ensure Women are Included in All Areas of Decision Making

In some instances, women are added to projects or teams simply to tick the box on numbers or presence. It’s unfortunate, but it does happen. And in these circumstances, these same women become silent voices that are just there to do the grunt work, and that’s all.

Instead of encouraging this practice, women should be brought in as decision-makers and influencers of all the choices made.

When important decisions are being made on things like significant investments, the direction of the business, market shifts, organizational changes, or anything else where the outcome impacts women, it’s essential that more women are involved as those decisions are being made.

Proactively seek the process and protocol for how most decisions are made. Insert yourself and other women into the flow by making yourself and them vital to the choices being made. Perhaps there are key experts whose research will influence the decision, or they are the primary users of the decision outcome—these are the women that should be included in the final decision process.

This isn’t an easy one to change overnight, but pressing for more women in decision-making ensures an inclusive workplace that’s gender-equal and responsive to its female workforce’s needs.

8.  Openly Challenge the Idea that Women Must be Likeable and Shift the Language

We have all heard the feedback about certain women that don’t get promoted or are passed over for a critical opportunity because they are too abrasive, aggressive, bossy, or ambitious. While the same behaviors by men are described as confident, strong, and a great leadership style.

It’s another double standard and one that needs to change if women will be able to excel in leadership roles and move up the ranks.

It’s time to drop the idea that women have to be likable to lead.

When we find others challenging a woman’s behavior, our response should start with asking if we’d be as put off if it were a man doing the same thing. Likely the answer would be no.

As women, we all have been the recipient of this response. Therefore, we can counter that response by no longer allowing it to be a norm. We can help by shifting how women are described and insert positive adjectives that men receive instead. We can call out the negative comments and show how the woman is doing her job well. We can articulate that the woman in question is a strong leader, pushing her good ideas, or speaking in a direct style, and that’s okay.

We have the opportunity to change the culture by calling out the double standard and replacing it with positive reinforcement and good performance feedback.

9. Ensure Constructive Feedback is Provided, and Promotion Paths are Clear

One area where most women lack information is in performance reviews. Feedback is often missing vital information that outlines areas for improvement so that professional advancement can occur. Without that constructive feedback, the path to promotion is unclear.

Male counterparts do not experience the same level of ambiguity. Direction and detail are typically provided, and advancement is inevitable if the performance is improved. Women receive more generic feedback that’s harder to act on and typically unmeasurable.

If you don’t know what skills to build and how to do it, you won’t get better at your job.

Speak with the women in your organization to see if they are receiving the feedback they need to advance. If the reviews are too generic, coach them to engage with their manager to seek further input or ask their HR representative how they can gain the clarity they need to take action.

When it comes time for performance reviews, be a vocal advocate across the enterprise, ensuring the men in the organization understand how to give proper feedback and hold them accountable.

10. Encourage Each Other to Take Risks

Many women have a hard time taking risks in the workplace for fear of failure or that it would be a career killer. But taking risks is part of growth and often births marketable ideas and innovations.

Corporate cultures are just starting to nurture this idea of risk-taking for innovation. However, encouragement can often fall short when it comes to the women in the mix.

Women can champion other women by providing the right environment for risk-taking. We can clarify to everyone that the initiative will involve risk and that the outcome is intended to be a learning opportunity for all involved. Encourage and support by articulating the risk’s value and framing any failures as positives for the business. Be sure they and other women see no punishments for taking risks, but instead see how it paves the way for new ideas. And if the initiative succeeds, praise the women for their willingness to take a chance for the organization’s advancement.

It’s essential to encourage and applaud failure when shifting an organization’s culture to one that supports risk-taking. Without failure, there is no success. We all fall more than we win. It’s in the failures where we learn the most.

11. Teach Women the Power of Building a Network and Help Them Connect

This last idea is one that women forget or disregard to the detriment of themselves and their careers. Yet, we cannot stress how essential it is to build a great network. There is so much to gain from connections, but it does take a lot of effort and attention to keep it healthy.

Women often have more competing priorities than men. We have to run home to take care of our families, make dinner, clean the house, ensure the kids are doing homework, only to race back to work the following day and start all over. Finding quality time to build meaningful connections can seem impossible.

But when the time comes where you need to reach out for a new job, a unique opportunity, or support for a business idea, you’ll wish you had taken the time to build the right connections.

Women who have done it and done it well can teach other women how to build meaningful connections and keep them nurtured and productive. We can show each other just how critical it is to long-term career success and how enjoyable it can be to engage with like-minded people who share common interests or goals.

Having a solid network can do so much for our mental health and is a lifeline in many of life’s most challenging situations. Perhaps it can start with women championing other women and growing from there.

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