Being a stay at home mom has its perks – you don’t have to get dressed up, you can work out on your own schedule, and you don’t need to have the children’s lunch ready at 7 a.m. However, the most amazing and obvious benefit of being a stay at home mom is the opportunity to intimately know your children and to share all of the milestones of their young lives. No one can truly understand and love a child like their parent. Choosing to stay at home had its financial and career limiting consequences, but it’s a choice that I will never regret.

Being a stay at home mom however does not mean that you must put your brain or skills on hold. Especially in today’s modern world where there are countless ways for you to expand your horizons. And that’s exactly what I did. After driving many, many miles to practices, games, lessons and recitals, making sure that the homework was done and dinner was prepared, I spent countless late nights looking on the computer for ideas to sharpen my skills, and technology is what I came to love.

I am a problem solver. I love when I am given a challenge; know how to fix it, and how to fix it better. It started with setting up my own home wifi network. To most of my friends and co-workers, it’s probably no big deal, but in the stay at home mom arena – I was “big stuff”. Everyone wanted to know, “ how did I know how to do that?” Before I knew it, I was helping my neighbor, her friend, and then their elderly parents. And so began my journey, I became even more motivated to challenge myself. From school sports teams to the theatre department, the needs, as well as the expertise grew. I taught myself HTML, CSS, and how to create a Joomla site.

With each growing project a new skill such as Photoshop and Gimp emerged. I began to get noticed and was offered a position by my local principal in the Career Tech Department. The launching pad was perfect, it allowed me to further develop my skills and opened my eyes to the world of other opportunities out there. With my newly minted resume, an opportunity presented itself. The Global HR consulting firm, Exaserv, was looking for a Product Manager and the job description fit me perfectly. Some of the main requirements were organizational skills and the ability to prioritize, and all those years of being a stay at home mom had definitely helped to hone those skills. Not to mention my developed computer expertise!

It’s been over a year now since I’ve been back in the workforce and I have loved every day of employment. I am constantly learning and growing in my new role and enjoy all the “doors” that are opening for me. Staying at home to raise my children was the best decision I ever made, but taking that time to also sharpen my skills has given me the opportunity to go back to work and grow my career. It’s an experience for which I will forever be grateful.

About the author: Sophia Lidback is Product Manager at Exaserv, where her responsibilities include managing product development, writing and editing technical and functional user manuals and managing customer relations with respect to product implementation.  Sophia is a wife and mother of 4.

If your boss has just passed on you for a promotion, or your manager or employer keeps you under a constant fear of being fired, it’s time to evaluate yourself, and bring significant change in your job attitude. You might be hitting some career obstacles that have been preventing you from climbing the ladder of success.

Even highly skilled and hardworking ladies face these kinds of career hitches time and again. Why? Because women suffer from some visceral averseness that hamper their career growth in many ways.

Here are my tips that may help you improve your work efficiency and let you experience exponential growth at your workplace.

Never avoid taking on new things

Usually, women prefer to remain in their comfort zone. But, this attitude might bring damage to their job. So, until and unless you’re doing a highly specialized job, you should not avoid or show lack of interest for new assignments. Working in a different domain brings you an opportunity to enhance your job skills. The learning of new skills makes you marketable while help increasing your job efficiency. Plus, your enthusiasm for new tasks will also increase your professional worth before your employer, which, in turn, result in an upgraded evaluation report for you.

Practice to communicate effectively

Professional success is directly proportional to the effective communication. If your job calls have declined, or your clients and co-workers now do not care of what you’re saying, your career is in serious trouble! You are going through a communication obstacle. Professionalism requires communication that must be concise and polite to be effective on people. To learn better communication skills for workplace, you can go through the book “Mastering Communication at Work: How to Lead, Manage, and Influence” written by Ethan F. Becker and Jon Wortmann. From leaders of countries to leaders of companies to people just starting out in their career, Becker and Wortmann teach techniques that start with the essential wisdom of Aristotle and include the best practices in today’s global organizations.

Don’t afraid to ask questions or hesitate to ask for help

It’s always comforting when you know what you have to do on the job. If you don’t have queries about your work or what’s current in your job, you’re definitely out of your career track. This is a sign of lacking erudition, indicating you’re no longer acquiring new job skills. Yes, you’re missing out on productive career opportunities.

No matter what your position in your company, there always come times when you need to seek help from other knowledgeable colleague/persons. There’s no individual on this earth who has all the answers. It’s always better to ask some well-informed professionals than to attempt to bluff or formulate answers with trifling base, which makes nothing but fool out of you. Sooner or later, asking for help will actually contribute greatly in your career growth as this will reflect your dedication to problem solving as well as your influential communication skills.

Remain updated with ‘what’s new’ in your profession

Having knowledge of what is going on in your field not only works for knowledgeable conversation, but also allows you to reap from the new development and opportunities in your industry for your personal career growth.

Invest in yourself

Although looking good is the part and parcel of professionalism, that isn’t all you need for your well-groomed professional appearance. For your impressive professional image, your appearance must be supported by your attitude and your skills. So, invest on your own knowledge base and be confident and articulate. Even if you’re looking for a new position, you’ll have to have enough career resources so that you and your skills would be welcomed by a new organization with open arms.

Last but not the least, be positive and take action. Women tend to be hyper sensitive to personality conflicts, as well as to gender-role stereotypes. To overcome this adverseness, they need to work with calming voice for conflict resolution.  Stop asking yourself off-putting questions like ‘Why me?’ and ‘What if?’ Rather, focus on affirmative questions like, “What can I learn from this incident?” and “How can I exploit this event?’ Then, proceed to take action. Instead of self-pitying, get involved in the soul-searching that begins with a positive attitude, and that will help propel you forward.

Proceed to grow exponentially!

About the author: Gloria Tesch is a passionate blogger and Internet marketer who loves to impart her knowledge and ideas on various topics with others. She works as an SEO professional for Printsasia.com, an online bookstore. She is also an avid reader and, therefore, suggests some good and economical books through her blog or article.

Personal development is incredibly important for both employees and employers, yet few take it as seriously as they should. However, by making personal development a part of your office culture, you can create a company staffed with a well-trained, knowledgeable workforce eager to further their career with you. To help you increase your employees’ interest in personal development, consider the following:

Get Involved

One of the best ways for you to get employees interest in training or making personal development a part of your company culture is by taking your own personal development seriously. Attend trainings yourself, and be actively involved in finding your own development events and helping those around you find trainings beneficial to them. Another great way is by acknowledging that others are taking their personal development seriously. Thank employees for attending trainings or point out their accomplishment during the next staff meeting.

Promote Opportunities

While it may seem like a no-brainer, many employers and managers actually overlook marketing their own training opportunities. Don’t just post a flyer on the community board briefly listing any training opportunities. Be sure to send out emails, let employees know about such opportunities during meetings, and also be sure to pull employees aside that you believe would most benefit from such trainings and give them a heads up. The more aware employees are of the trainings available to them, they more inclined they will be to attend them.

Create Cross-Training

Cross-trainings are not only good for your employees, but they are good for your business too. When you have employees that can competently perform other jobs within your business, it makes promoting from within easier, and also makes the need to temp staff during an absence unnecessary. Offer opportunities for cross-trainings in both inter- and intra-department settings so that employees truly feel like they have the ability to move both laterally and upwards in your company.

Keep Opportunities Available

Trainings don’t have to only be off-site or on the employee’s personal time. Remember that while the training may be benefiting your employees professionally, in doing so it is also benefitting the productivity of your company. So provide learning opportunities throughout the office and do so on a regular basis. Create a multimedia library with relevant CDs, DVDs, and workbooks; offer in-office trainings that employees can attend on company time; and bring in guest speakers during lunch hours that employees can glean information from. The more accessible training is the more inclined your employees with be to take advantage of it.

Take Development Seriously

Many employees don’t take advantage of personal development because they often don’t know where to begin. To help employees focus on their strengths and weaknesses and how they can improve upon them, turn regular reviews into development sessions. Don’t just tell them where they can improve. Ask employees to pick out areas in which they would like to improve, and then coach them how to get there. Become a mentor to your employees or find another employee that would be better suited to do so. Also be sure to set timelines together so that employees understand that you take their development seriously.

If you want a motivated and loyal workforce, you need to make it obvious that you are interested and invested in their personal development. Provide them with frequent and adequate opportunities, demonstrate your own eagerness to improve yourself, and offer extra support where needed. Most people are eager to better themselves, especially professionally, but often get overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin. Take the time to develop your staff, and they will be more inclined to work harder and longer for you – which will ultimately, make your company more profitable. It’s a win-win for everyone.

About the author: Amanda Andrade, SPHR, CCP, GRP  is the Chief People Officer for Veterans United Home Loans – Fortune magazine’s 21st best medium workplace and one the fastest growing companies in the United States according to INC magazine. Amanda has led human resource organizations in both public and private sectors, serving employees in diverse work settings, focusing on environment and behavior in the workplace. Connect with Amanda on Google+.

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In February, the New York Times published a feature on why gender equality stalled, drawing attention once again to the fact that despite this being the 21^st century, men and women still aren’t equal in the workplace.

We know that in the US, women are paid 77 cents for every man’s dollar and that only 4.2 per cent of Fortune 500 CEO positions are held by women – and this situation is replicated across the globe. So what’s stopping women getting a fair deal? And why don’t we speak out about it more?

Here’s a thought. I read yesterday about pop star Katy Perry who, upon receiving her Billboard award in December 2012, announced, “I am not a feminist, but I do believe in the power of women.” Perhaps this is part of the problem. Many people today still regard the term ‘feminist’ as something derogatory. And Katy shows that women are in many ways the worst culprits for perpetuating this myth.

When did feminism mean anything other than getting a fair deal for women? It reminded me of this excerpt from journalist Caitlin Moran’s book, How to be a Woman:

When statistics come in saying that only 29 per cent of American women would describe themselves as feminist – and only 42 per cent of British women – I used to think, What do you think feminism IS, ladies? What part of ‘liberation for women’ is not for you? Is it freedom to vote? The right not to be owned by the man you marry? The campaign for equal pay? Did all that good sh*t GET ON YOUR NERVES? Or were you just DRUNK AT THE TIME OF SURVEY?

It’s as if we’ve taken a step backwards. The word ‘feminist’ that once was short-hand for liberation, doing the right thing and creating a more equal society is now more generally associated with men-hating, making excuses and whining.

Another alarming fact is the increasing ‘lack of ambition’ in our young women. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, quotes some surprising statistics in her book, Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead. For example, in a survey of 4,000 employees at big companies, 36% of men said they want to be CEO but only 18% of women said the same. Just think of the creativity, emotional intelligence and ultimate productivity that the global economy is missing out on if this continues.

At this point, I feel it’s appropriate to take some advice from an incredibly self-aware 16 year-old called Tavi Gevinson who says in her inspiring TED talk:

One thing that can be very alienating about a misconception of feminism is that girls then think that to be feminists they have to live up to being perfectly consistent in their beliefs, never being insecure, never having doubts, having all the answers…and this is not true and actually recognizing all the contradictions I was feeling became easier once I realized that feminism was not a rulebook but a discussion, a conversation, a process.

So my final thought is that we should reclaim the word ‘feminist’ not in an aggressive way, but in a conscious way. As women, aspiring to be the CEO doesn’t mean we have to be perfect or ruthless. It’s as simple as believing we can get there and working really hard. So let’s reclaim the essence of feminism at work, start shouting a bit louder about inequality and change some of the appalling statistics about unequal pay and promotion we keep reading about.

About the author: Sue Stoneman is CEO and founding partner of learning and development agency, NKD Learning. She is a change management, employee engagement and learning and development expert. Prior to setting up NKD Learning in 2005, Stoneman spent over 20 years in a variety of PLC and private equity businesses, including British Airways, Hyundai, Barclays and Terrafirma. She has a breadth of experience as a board director, having held senior positions in Marketing and Sales, Customer Operations and HR.

If someone would have told me back in college, I would have made a career working in IT supporting Human Resources (HR); I would have laughed. I was an Art and Marketing major back in 1995 and I had a part-time job working in the campus computer lab. I accepted the position to get access to the latest illustration and photo software, and wound up spending a majority of my time around Computer Science majors, where I was able to develop a better understanding of datasets and databases. The rest of the time was spent teaching an English major how to turn the computer on.

I was reluctant to embrace my knack for helping people understand how to use databases to organize their important data, so my first job out of college wound up being in sales job. Even though I enjoyed sales, I found myself gravitating back to process improvement and using technology to become more efficient in my position. My efficiency eventually led to a promotion and I suddenly found myself back on the IT path. Along with the promotion came an opportunity to consolidate national sales into one location.  My responsibilities included data clean-up/migration, process improvement and training.

After completing this project, my boss recommended me for a new SAP HR implementation. I was reluctant at first, because I had no prior HR experience. Other than being hired and reviewing my benefits, I had little exposure to HR’s roles and responsibilities. I have to admit, I thought it would be a little boring, but I decided to take the plunge and I never looked back! I became a part of an HR implementation team where I gained configuration experience and became intimately familiar with HR operations, processes, and issues.

I was exposed to a world of organizational management, personal administration, compensation and retention strategies, development plans and training/learning opportunities. Looking back, this was the best thing that ever happened to me – I had the opportunity to merge my two talents, IT Systems and the ability to connect with people. Better yet, I was able to hone my SAP/HR skills at a time when automated HR solutions were really beginning to take shape.

As I’ve progressed along in my career of SAP/HR systems, I have been able to observe how the systems and their functionalities have expanded over the years. HR’s business model has always been to put people first, but as more companies invest in enterprise software, it has allowed HR to automate processes, make information more visible along with promoting paperless environments. These systems have allowed for streamlined integration of HR functionalities, which has enabled SAP to focus on a more end-to-end life cycle.

Today, I receive compliments for how well I handle myself at conferences and tradeshows. I believe my ability to listen, helps me connect with people and combined with my ever growing SAP knowledge pool, it helps me to connect with potential clients in order to determine the solutions that can be best implemented within time and budgetary constraints.

Today, I am a Solution Engineer for Exaserv, a SAP HR consulting firm. Needless to say it’s been anything but boring. With the mergers and acquisitions of several large HR companies over the past several years as well as the strides that my company is make in the industry, I look forward to seeing what lies ahead within the HR/IT world.

About the author: Stephanie A  Lichtenstein a SAP Consultant at Exaserv is a results-driven SAP professional with 9+ years of SAP HR management and training experience including systems application roll-out, support, and HR. She has been involved in several full cycle implementations of SAP HR. Her strongest implementation experience is in Organizational Management (OM), Personnel Administration (PA), and Talent Management

Photo credit: iStockPhoto

I have always been the type of person that wants to get the most out of every experience in my life. A large part of personal fulfillment comes through interactions with others. If you are open to it, there are always “random encounters” that can make your life more fulfilling and enriched.  By opening myself up to random encounters, I discovered a fulfilling career in human resources with a progressive, inspiring company.

One of my early random encounters as a young professional was with a recruiter who piqued my interest in the profession.  He allowed me to see how my passion of helping others could be fulfilled through recruiting. I obtained a position at a small staffing agency when I first relocated to Atlanta.  Working at that staffing agency left me wanting more. I simply did not feel fulfilled through the brief interactions and placement of talent, where many placements were the goal. There was a misalignment of goals between me and the company. My goal was to truly get to know each and every person’s passions and goals both professionally and personally and help them fulfill these even after placement.

Luckily, I was working at a staffing agency in an office building that also housed Response Mine Interactive (RMI), a company that truly valued its talent and wanted to see them grow. I discovered a unique opportunity with this forward-thinking company through another “random encounter” that I had in the building with two of RMI’s passionate employees. RMI was in dire need of a corporate recruiter and who better to fill this role than me?

The appreciation for this role that had not previously existed was felt immediately and expressed from the intern to executive level.  After all, being in a services industry, talent is what we sell.  Without talented people who had a passion for contribution, RMI could not prosper. Growing the business became a side effect of finding talent that wanted to grow with us and had goals that aligned with Response Mine Interactive’s mission.

After working just a few years at RMI, I began to realize that one of the most fulfilling aspects of my role was participating in panels at local colleges and acting as an ongoing mentor for students. I wanted to expand this fulfillment into my daily life at RMI. Thus, I began to take a more prominent role in developing these hires once they became a part of our agency.  Although, RMI was an environment that encouraged growth, initiative, and an entrepreneurial spirit, simply bringing them into our environment wasn’t enough. I wanted to lead them down the path of professional and personal growth.

I slowly began taking more time with each of the hires; spending time answering their questions and concerns, educating them, and providing insight. Sure it was great to receive flowers and “Thank You” notes; however, the most rewarding aspect was being able to leave every night feeling as if I made a difference in someone’s life.  In turn, they had made a difference in mine. They fulfilled my desire to interact on a more intimate level with each and every person in my company as they all had something to give that led to my personal growth. I could then pay this growth forward to others.

I couldn’t get enough of this fulfilling feeling and began to work with Ken Robbins, President, to construct a role that enabled me to focus on making a difference in our employees’ lives every day. I joined the Society of Human Resources and attended their annual conference.  At this point, I knew there was no turning back for me. I met and interacted with so many amazing people.  Random encounters, we’ll call them. They had a passion for making an impact on their employees’ lives and introduced me to many ways of ensuring that this impact permeated not only the work place but people’s personal lives as well.

Every day I am so thankful for my interactions with people and my ability to see what each person has and wants to give. This in depth understanding of what makes them tick allows me to form a deeper bond with them and have a greater impact on their growth. It wasn’t through self-reflection that I was able to find fulfillment, but through valuing the unique random encounters with people that taught me more about myself, and how to make a lasting positive impact on all those I work with.

About the author: Amanda Papini, Recruiting Director at Response Mine Interactive started her career in recruiting at Medical Staffing Network in 2005, and moved over to a corporate recruiting role at BKV and Response Mine Interactive in 2007, where she built an internal recruiting practice for both companies.  Amanda has since staffed over 250 full-time employees within both companies; an average of 50 hires per year.  After assisting with RMI and BKV’s growth over the last 5 years, Amanda decided to move over to focus solely on RMI’s talent acquisition and take on a role more dedicated to employee development.

Photo credit: iStockPhoto

Students and clients come in and out of my office with the common agenda: the intent to talk about career transition.  These transition goals can take many shapes, such as moving from a generalist role to an analyst role, moving from a specialist to a manager, and often segueing out of one function and into another (think finance to marketing).

Regardless of the type of change they are looking to make, my advice is always the same: Get Your Story Straight.

When you are seeking to drastically alter your job responsibilities and are hoping someone will have enough faith in you to know that you can successfully make that leap (on their dime) you better have a compelling story.

Your pitch should outline three major points:

Why you want to make the change.

I often liken a great positioning statement to a funnel.  This is your story, but not your story as told to a new acquaintance at an office party.  It is your story extremely focused on how it relates to the position you are seeking. Every sentence you share should have a purpose in that it moves you towards the end goal of X position or Y company.  Irrelevant information (undergrad major if completely different than goal, a timeline of every job you have had and all major responsibilities, where you lived for a brief stint) have no place in this statement.  Instead share bits of information that help the listener understand more about why you want this role and why that is interesting.  For example:

Having grown up in rural Minnesota, the farming industry was a key economic force in my town and I have had a keen interest in this area since I drove my first tractor on my uncle’s farm.  After graduating with my MBA I plan to take this interest and passion to the grain industry in a finance role where I can utilize my previous analyst experience in a strategy role to impact the growth of an industry so rooted in small town America.

Proven success in core competencies of this new role

Pepper your positioning statement with ke

y achievements that showcase the skills necessary for success in the desired role.  Instead of saying you want a role in consumer insights because you are data driven, prove it by stating “I quickly learned my knack for analysis after spearheading a project where we analyzed seasonal purchasing data to better understand consumer trends when planning our customer incentive programs for the winter holidays.”

Conversation points to show you have researched the company:

The theme of your story should consistently display your knowledge and understanding of your desired company, industry, or function.  A former financial analyst who is looking for a business development role at an interactive marketing company should make sure the story shared includes a passion for the impacts social media is making on business, an interest in marketing analytics and an appreciation for a start-up culture.

Networking and interviewing is all about relationship building and successful story sharing.  When in a job function transition it is imperative that you have a story that weaves together past experience and education in a way that explains why you are looking for a different role and more importantly why you are qualified for this new opportunity.  Finally, don't be afraid to own your story.  I have found that those that can successfully combine honesty and relavancy often are the most likely to land the best positions for their skill sets and in the long run are the most satisfied employees.

About the author: Maggie Tomas works at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota as Associate Director and Career Coach in the Graduate Business Career Services office. Her background includes teaching and career counseling at the college level, namely at the University of St. Thomas, University of California Santa Barbara, and  Brooks Institute, where she served as Director of Career and Student Services.  She is a contributing writer to several blogs and publications including Opus Magnum, Women of HR, and Job Dig.

Businesspeople and leaders from all walks of life face a steep climb to the top, but for women the road is often filled with obstacles (both real and imagined) that simply do not exist for men.

The media narrative continues to spout that true equality has already been realised in our workplaces, yet the facts don’t quite align with their spiel. American women for example still only make seventy-seven cents for every dollar a man earns in the same job, and the statistic is even worse for women of colour. Hispanic women for example earn just 56 cents for every dollar a white male makes. Women make up a disproportionately small amount of our political and business leaders, and while the numbers show growth the underlying differences remain.

This has led many women who seek leadership roles to wonder what they can do differently to make room for themselves at the top when the odds seem stacked against them. Here is some practical advice about how to deal with some of the issues women face in leadership, and how you can help turn the statistics around.

Recognise your abilities

Women do not struggle in leadership roles because they lack the necessary skills, but because society has inculcated into us a sense of unease at exercising our abilities. Don’t buy into the system. Recognise your own abilities as a leader and don’t be afraid to direct.

Engage with the male environment

Many women (especially in business) work in male-dominated environments that perpetuate an office culture that sometimes feels alienating. Even if it might not be your scene, don’t ignore group social and work events just because you may be one of the few women attending. Even if your presence is awkward at first, demonstrating to the men of your office that you are part of the team just like everyone else helps intra-office relations and helps breakdown some of the initial hesitations in male-female office dynamics.

Break your own glass ceiling

Women business leaders are actually more likely than men to be the head of their own business, as opposed to working their way up an employment chain. Women entrep

reneurs who run their own businesses do not face the same challenges as women in other business sectors because they are already at the top: instead, their problem is breaking the glass ceiling they set for themselves.

One example is women leaders’ attitudes to expansion. Women business leaders are statistically less likely to expand their businesses and hire staff even if they are well placed to do so. Although the reasons behind this are unknown, examine your own choices and see if there are any reasons why you might not be expanding when you could.

Use your authority

It is a recognised double standard that a strong-willed man is a leader but a strong-willed woman is at best a ‘ball-buster’ and at worse … well, something way worse. The negative connotations (or sometimes downright profanities) used in association with women in authority often leads women to hesitate for fear of being labelled. However one must rise against the stereotype and simply do what needs to be done – whether you’ll be called names or not. If an employee needs disciplining, don’t hold back just because you fear for your reputation. When leading a project, take charge firmly but in a way that doesn’t alienate others. If you don’t have a problem with your leadership skills, usually others won’t either. Expect the respect you deserve.

Above all, do your best. It is such a simple maxim, but nobody can criticise your work if you constantly work hard and to the best of your ability. Show yourself to be a great worker and leader not ‘just for a woman’ but as a person. Rising to the top may have certain inbuilt difficulties as a woman, but as long as you work hard and refuse to let the system play you, then there is no reason why leadership roles should be out of your reach.

About the author: Kate Simmons is a freelance journalist and full-time consultant currently working for a company offering leadership development courses. She is mainly interested in topics related to education and business.

Photo credit: Unknown

I was chatting with a colleague over coffee discussing how stressful 2012 was. We chatted about the targets we missed, the challenges we faced, and we went on and on with an amazing crystal clear memory of everything we knew we could have done better. We suddenly stopped and gazed astonishingly at each other. Just the day before, both of us were awarded by the CEO for our achievements in 2012. And here we were, less than 24 hours later, sounding like total quitters instead of behaving as winners.

When did we learn to become so harsh on ourselves and why do we do that to ourselves?

I went home thinking whether this has got to do with us women so passionately engulfed with proving ourselves and our capabilities in the workplace. In the midst of it all, have we become blind to our success stories that we fail to promote them, celebrate them and more alarmingly, reward ourselves for them?

The answer is an unfortunate, “yes” and this is a fact regardless of which part of the world we come from, our culture or our background. Women are raised to constantly watch what they say, cautioned against strong personalities, taught to remain low key, to name a few.

There is a plethora of business literature and research describing the challenges women put up with in the corporate world due to stereotypes and perceptions, male dominance, limited opportunities, lower wages compared to male colleagues and the reasons behind it all. As undoubtedly and genuinely that these challenges exist, it is not my intention here to go over these. My real aim is to initiate our thinking process by asking ourselves the following question,

“What has each one of us done to bring a change to our situation?”

Let’s face it, for a lot of us, we fear being judged so we react in manners that may further contribute to our withdrawal into our own caves rather than pushing us out into the front rows. Here are some of the behaviors we should consider reshaping, changing and even stopping those which are nothing but self-sabotage:

• You quietly and eagerly wait to be assigned to a project. You know you can do it, so you hope that your boss recognizes that. Wrong. Go after the opportunity when you see it, do not wait for it to knock on your door. This will do miracles if you are a team leader. It reaffirms you as leader of the pack.
• You dread to fail even before starting. You become risk averse and dare not to think out of the box
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  . Think again. It’s perfectly ok if you fail. Failure is all about lessons learned and can only make you stronger. Your resilience level is an indication of your leadership skills. So even when you fail use it to your advantage.

• You do not celebrate your success. You achieve a difficult target, and if you are lucky enough your boss recognizes that, otherwise, your achievements go unnoticed. Whilst it’s not realistic to ask for that pat on the back every time you lift a pen, please stop being modest and reserved when it comes to major accomplishments. Celebrate your success with your team, family, and even friends. Be self-appreciative before you ask others to appreciate you.
• You are quiet in meetings. Do you offer your opinion only when asked to?  Or do you not know when – or how – to interject in a conversation? Time for a change here, too. Don’t be afraid to speak up. Yes it can feel very intimidating at first but by practicing the use of some idioms in the right context such as “I’m thinking out loud” or “I’m playing the devil’s advocate here”, or “it might be a silly question…” will help you overcome this fear and seamlessly insert you in the discussion. You owe it to yourself and your team to let your opinion be heard.

Don’t be afraid to disagree on a business related matter as long as you do it in a professional manner. If you want to point out a wrong thing being said, do that without being offensive or defensive. Discussions can sometimes be aggressive, so avoid emotional pitfalls. And whatever you do, hold those tears please. Be assertive and remain in self-control mode.

With many of us in the process of shaping our resolutions, let’s agree on making the new year our year of small but effective changes. True, it’s a long and winding road ahead of women in the business world however by being able to adapt some of our behaviors to become enablers can only be of help to us in our journey.

About the author: Hanadi El Sayyed is a Senior Human Resources Business Partner working for Majid Al Futtaim Properties, the market leader in development and management of shopping malls in the Middle East. Based in Dubai she  specialises in strategic workforce planning and development with an emphasis on corporate sustainability and sustainable development. You can reach her on Linkedin or on Twitter as@Hana_ElSayyed.

Studies have shown that companies with diversity in their top teams produce improved financial results. Yet according to McKinsey, women hold less than 20% of the seats on corporate boards and executive committees in both the US and the UK and, from Forbes, only 4% of Fortune 500 company CEOs are female.

Recent news stories have also revealed that women earn 14.9% less on average than men for the same job. In a Gender Salary Survey conducted by the Chartered Management Institute, it’s suggested that a woman can earn £423,000 less than a man in her career.

So, how can we ‘sharpen our elbows’ and make it in a business world that for many still seems like an old boys’ network?

1. Be confident

An article in The Wall Street Journal asked the female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies for their tips on how to be successful in business. Angela Braly, CEO of WellPoint, said, “The most important factor in determining whether you will success isn’t your gender, it’s you.”

It’s pointless trying to change the system – the only thing we can truly change is ourselves. Be confident in yourself and speak up. Be heard. Have conviction in what you’re saying. If you truly believe in something, this should come naturally. It’s not about being a “bitch”, it’s about being confident in who you are and what you stand for.

2. Know thyself

Find out what is really important to you. What drives you? What is your purpose? This is more than just what you want to be (i.e. a job title) or what you want to achieve, it’s the ‘why’ that’s important. This is what engages the emotional part of your brain and when you use this to its full potential, it’s extremely powerful.

If you can really clearly define your purpose, it will give you a clarity and motivation to succeed in what

you want to do.

3. Do your research

Now that you “know yourself,” develop yourself. Build up your skill set in any way you can through formal training, learning, reading – anything. Developing your communication skills in particular will serve you well.

The next component of this is to know your market. Truly understand the market, the customer, the business. Delve into the details that others might neglect or miss. Seize every opportunity to contribute valuable insights.

4. Take risks

This is commonly mentioned by female leaders. Challenge yourself constantly by taking risks in the projects you take on and the roles you seek out. Doing this will generate a strong motivational force and result in valuable on-the-job learning. Hopefully, you’ll get the recognition you deserve but if not celebrate on your own.

5. Celebrate your achievements

It’s a harsh business truth but sometimes, you won’t get the thanks you deserve or the praise that you want. Internal motivation is a powerful tool and it can be truly disheartening if you aren’t being motivated externally as well. That’s why it’s important to consciously make an effort to recognise your achievements.Write down the positive things you have accomplished. Outcomes you have achieved. And enjoy them! Celebrate with friends and family. Reward yourself.

Ultimately, the business world still has a long way to go before men and women are equal. But we can make a difference in the world of work, one woman at a time. It’s not about competing with men, it’s about being the best version of ourselves.

About the author: Sue Stoneman is CEO and founding partner of learning and development agency, NKD Learning. She is a change management, employee engagement and learning and development expert. Prior to setting up NKD Learning in 2005, Stoneman spent over 20 years in a variety of PLC and private equity businesses, including British Airways, Hyundai, Barclays and Terrafirma. She has a breadth of experience as a board director, having held senior positions in Marketing and Sales, Customer Operations and HR.

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