PART ONE: WHAT WORKING WOMEN WANT NOW
Through our recent research and 1:1 interviews with over 200 ambitious working women, we’ve learned what working women want NOW.
And it has less to do with money, promotions and equality than you think. Although important, these are not working women’s primary internal drivers.
Women want
more growth,
more fulfillment,
more meaning,
and more impact.
In this two part blog series, we will share both women’s biggest frustrations and greatest desires for their careers.
Irregardless of their level in the organization, how much money they made, or their company size, women described these 5 common frustrations that keep them from having more growth, fulfillment, meaning and impact. All the while causing them to feel frustrated, unseen, unappreciated and paralyzed toward progress.
5 BIGGEST FRUSTRATIONS FOR WORKING WOMEN
NO CAREER CLARITY OR GAME PLAN
Women feel like they do not have the time or space to think about their careers. They show up to work and go through the motions. Their skills and results diminish after doing the same thing month after month and year after year. They want to be challenged, stretched and able to take risks and makes mistakes. They want to develop a plan for growth. And be able to share it with their boss in a supportive environment.
LACK OF CONFIDENCE
Women often suffer from the limiting belief of “I’m not good enough” as well as impostor syndrome – that feeling that others will learn that they simply are not that good at their jobs.
In almost every interview with successful female leaders we found – women need more confidence.
Increased confidence empowers women to take risks and put themselves in the running for more challenging projects. This crisis of confidence leads women to a lack of understanding of what value they bring to work and impacts how they show up everyday.
If you do know their value, they struggle to articulate it. They have a difficult time promoting themselves without feeling sleezy or guilty about putting their teams down in the process. As a result, they default to no self-promotion. And go unrecognized and unnoticed.
The by-product is a lack of internal capital and not having a seat at the table. No value and no confidence = no growth.
TIME TO DEVELOP AUTHENTIC RELATIONSHIPS
Women regret not making time to grow their network of authentic relationships. They want mentors and CRAVE spending more time with others that they can learn from – people who will elevate and challenge them, and genuinely care about their career progression. Women with families feel especially overwhelmed and frustrated that they don’t have more time to invest.
What most women want is a genuine connection with others and the guilt of not making time for these connections often makes them more isolated and disconnected – its a catch-22.
REAL FEEDBACK
Women often feel stuck, and are waiting for feedback. They want to know when they did a good job or what they need to improve on so that they can feel confident to pursue the next level.
A common narrative is they know they were paid more than their peers at the same level yet were held back for doing too good of a job and being too dependable.
***IMPORTANT FOR MEN***
Women want feedback. Real, candid, direct feedback. This is tricky to navigate in today’s political and “me too” environment. But be honest. Tell women why…they got passed over for promotion or didn’t get to lead the newest challenge.
And more importantly…tell them what they can do to improve!
STOP BEING THE SHERPA
Women want to know that they are positively impacting their companies and the people, clients and communities they serve. This service-obsessed mentality can lead to overwhelm and burn out. They are often ‘promoted’ to be the sherpa of their organizations – carrying the heavy gear on their backs and making it easier for the rest of the team to reach the summit.
Initially rewarding, this often becomes a point of resentment and often the cause of why they leave.
At Thrive-Her have found there is a significant gap in programs that exist in the market to help women get what they want at work. Most programs focus on leadership or skill development – the textbook knowledge.
But no one is teaching the playbook.
We have developed The Next Level to fill that gap and teach the playbook skills and knowledge of:
-How to communicate your value
-Increase your visibility and
-build a vibrant community of support
and have a thriving career or business you love!
Thrive-Her’s coaching program for women, called The Next Level, is focused on helping women get more of what they really want at work. This program is the only program for ambitious women that will help women who feel frustrated and paralyzed in getting to the next level of their career to having complete clarity, bold confidence and a rock solid plan to create a thriving career and business you love.
The Next Level coaching program starts on March 11, 2019 and we have slots remaining for ambitious, action-focused women, willing to roll up their sleeves, take risks and do the work to get what they want! Click here to book a discovery call and talk about how to get your career to The Next Level!
----------
COACHING
Want to live your purpose and create a thriving career or business you love? Need more support and accountability to make it all happen? Hire Tricia as your coach: www.thrive-her.com/4sessions
SPEAKING
Looking for your next speaker for your business resource group, conference or event? Email Tricia at [email protected]
FREE WEEKLY TRAINING
Become a Thrive-Her insider and get free weekly training delivered to your mailbox each Thursday morning, click here to subscribe at www.thrive-her.com/join
COURSES
Pinpoint Your Purpose - design a life worth living, fueled by your purpose. In this course you will pinpoint your purpose, discover your strengths and create a vivid vision for your future. www.thrive-her.com/purpose
The Next Level - for the ambitious woman who is ready to level up - create your career vision, communicate your value with confidence and build a vibrant community of support to take your career or business to the next level! www.thrive-her.com/the-next-level