by Carmen Oleksinski
For many reasons, I had been looking forward to New Year’s Day 2021. Not only was it an opportunity to say goodbye to 2020 (good riddance!), but also each change in year sets the tone for renewal, reflection, and hope for the year ahead. The January session of the Women in Transport book club touched on this theme of forward thinking with the motivational book How Women Rise by Marshall Goldsmith and Sally Helgesen.
How Women Rise asks its readers to think about the personal habits and behaviours that have supported their careers and enabled the success they have achieved thus far. It then challenges us to think about whether these same behaviours are still serving our career progression. In some cases, they probably aren’t.
The author’s often repeated phrase (and a title of one the authors’ related book) is ‘what got you here won’t get you there’. How Women Rise specifically expands on this concept from the angle of women’s experience in the workplace. Drawing on their knowledge as career coaches, the authors outline twelve habits that women often fall into or find comfort in that in effect limit their career opportunities.
The book club session was filled with many nods of agreement as attendees spoke about the habits that resonated most to them. Some examples we discussed include:
The need to please others, and related to this - feeling discomfort about making others uncomfortable.
Rumination on past failures or mistakes, rather than accepting that they taught you a lesson and moving on.
Overvaluing expertise and putting pressure on oneself to know everything rather than valuing and believing in your thinking patterns.
Minimising your achievements through words, or even minimising yourself with actions.
Not advocating for yourself and your goals. There is power in describing your career intentions to others. Once they know what you’re after, they can better support you to achieve them. Don’t assume what you do or what you want is obvious to others!
Elevator speeches. We’ve all heard why they’re good to have yet many of us don’t take the time to make and practise one. One attendee, however, offered an example of a time it came in handy during a literal elevator ride with a company leader.
Feeling uncomfortable leveraging relationships, particularly with senior people. It can feel like you don’t have much to offer them. It’s worth keeping in mind, however, that everyone brings a different perspective and senior leaders can benefit from hearing your thoughts on a subject.
While offering insights on how to recognise limiting behaviours, the book also raised new questions. For example, how much does the onus of changing behaviours rely on women? How should traditionally male behaviours change to enable a more welcoming work environment that supports a diversity of people and ideas? Also, how are these habits affected by the remote, virtual working world? Does the fact that it is harder to detect micro-behaviours in online meetings help or hinder women?
One of the most important conclusions of the discussion was the realisation that everyone is in this struggle together. Habits are hard to break! Even senior women leaders may find themselves relying on these habits without realising it. The fact that this book resonated so well with Women in Transport members indicates the scale of the challenge women face in the workplace. Many were reassured, however, that by recognising these habits and talking about them with others, we can find the willpower to shift to positive behaviours. It’s a gradual process, but one that we’re never alone in.
Save the date
The Women in Transport Book Club will continue to meet quarterly, with the next session scheduled for Tuesday 27 April from 18:30 to 19:30 to review Rebel Ideas by Matthew Syed. To reserve your place click here.
Annual membership of Women in Transport is £60 per year providing access to professional development and networking opportunities. We very much welcome guest blogs from our members - a great way to share the incredible diversity of opportunity in transport, raise your profile and connect with our community.
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