How to Lead When They’re Getting Paid 25p More Than You for Every Pound
Staying Focused When The Playing Field isn’t Level
Staying focused as a woman in the workplace isn’t easy when inequities keep piling up. My clients feel this deeply, and honestly, so do I.
The Pay Gap
The one frustration that keeps coming up is the pay gap.
Whether it’s a pound, dollar or Yen, have heard some clients say, “I am more likely to be doing the work more thoroughly than my male counterparts because I have to prove myself again and again, and I am still getting paid less than them! Globally, this is a hard pill to swallow but if we focus on the bitter taste we shall assuredly become more resentful, more angry, more bitter and twisted, more cynical and/or more depressed. So, how do we stay focused on arriving at our goals in spite of the inequality?
The Pregnancy Penalty
The next thing that stresses my clients is pregnancy.
When we want to have a family, boss women are often silently shuffled off or made redundant on the impactful projects. We are ignored or put on hold until we can prove ourselves again sometime in the future when ‘things have settled down’ for us.
The Promotion Problem
The other thing that pisses off my clients is the promotion thing.
The criteria just seems to be different for women. Generally, men show up and deliver the normal things and they get the promotion. Women sweat it out, do back flips, perform two miracles and still we wait for much longer to get the promotions.
There are a myriad of inequities are not imaged, they are backed up by career experiences women have and continue to share and by the data that shows we are behind the career curve in most areas of business simply because of our gender.
So the question becomes:
How Do We Move Forward in a System That Wasn’t Built for Us?
Below are some of the tools my clients find useful.
Keep Reminding YOURSELF of your Goals
The emphasis is to remind yourself - not others - as they may see you as:
too ambitious
too ridiculous
too much
And this could work to your detriment.
How do we remind ourselves of our goals?
Take time to WRITE down your goals. Start with 10 smallish goals you would like to achieve by this time next year. That is less than 1 goal per month. Then amplify your goals as you reach them. Remind yourself that you may not have control of other forces but you can find ways to implement your goals.
2. Implement your Goals
A generalisation is that women are naturally creative. Whether women are creative or not this is an opportunity to hone in on your creativity.
Commit to finding solutions to move towards your goals.
Take new forms of action.
Be creative in your thinking as to how you can move forward in an actionable way.
Hyper focus on what you want to achieve.
If they say it can’t be done this should spark something in you to find ways to overcome the challenges. Make sure you stay in your lane and stop looking over to other people’s lanes.
I remember Oprah saying a long time ago that her success was due to the fact that she focused on what she was doing. There were many people who were trying to do what she did but she didn’t try to figure out what they were doing - she kept her focus on her lane. Just as in a running race, if you watch behind to see who may be catching up with you and/or what others are doing, those seconds usually cost you the race.
If you want to win your career race, be focused on what you are doing.
Your level of daily enhanced excellence
Your level of experience
Your level of opportunity
Your level of gaining more accessibility
Keep your eye on your ball.
3. Invest in yourself
We are at the mercy of systems and structures that were not built for women and especially not for women with other intersections such as ethnicity. To counterbalance the effects of these daily inequities that women experience, investing in oneself is of critical importance.
Some ways to invest in yourself are as such:
Wealth investment:
If women are getting paid a fraction of what men are for every pound then it holds that investing in your money should be a priority as women’s money have to work more for them. If you don’t as yet know how to start, do some research but do start investing your money.
Health investment:
Ensure you’re looking after yourself. In my next blog I go into this in detail. Make sure that your health matters in your life.
Learning investment:
Figure out what stimulates your mind and creativity, then find a course or some form of learning that supports you with this.
Joy investment:
Find ways to be joy filled on a daily basis. Life and especially your work life is to be lived to the fullest. Throughout the day, instead of focusing on what isn’t working for you as a boss woman, refocus your attention to finding joy.
Some of the things that my clients have come up with are as follows:
Writing 5 things in a journal that you appreciate about your work on a daily basis.
Showing kindness to someone like buying a cup of coffee/tea/hot chocolate for them without them asking for it.
Taking time to smile and listen to someone else without judgement.
Finding time to mentor someone who has been asking for help
Connecting with someone in an authentic way.
Going for a walk during lunch time and meditating for five minutes in the park.
I also like to refer my clients to the Spark Joy phenomenon by Marie Kondo from Japan when they explore ways to expand joy in their everyday life and career.
Growth Happens When You Focus on You
Let me end by saying that when we look for ways to invest in ourselves without comparing ourselves to others; when we bring the focus back to us; when we stay on our lane… Then we grow and develop in ways that may surprise us and that assuredly shall bring us more peace in our working career.
If you’re tired of navigating these inequities alone and you’re ready to build a career strategy that actually works for you, I can help.
Book a 1:1 call with me today and let’s get you moving toward the career you want.
