Five Ways to Beat the Self-Promotion Paradox

iStock_000017490863XSmallBy Jacey Fortin (New York City)

It seems that women are doing almost everything right.

According to Catalyst’s October 2011 study, women educate themselves as needed, mingle with higher-level professionals, and seek out extra responsibilities. They are just as proactive as men when it comes to pursuing their goals.

But when it comes to closing the gender gap, Catalyst found that “the best way to advance is not one-size-fits-all.” In order for females to go that extra mile, they should invest more effort into one key area: self promotion. “Of all the strategies used by women, making their achievements known… was the only one associated with compensation growth,” noted the report.

But why? According to Connie Glaser, a best-selling author and women’s leadership expert, societal expectations for female behavior promote modesty and collaboration—but these traits don’t necessarily lead to professional advancement. “One of the best ways to get ahead in the workplace is letting people know you’re doing good work,” she said. “And many women feel very uncomfortable with that.”

Lauren Stiller Rikleen agrees. As the Executive-in-Residence at Boston College’s Center for Work & Family in the Carroll School of Management and the president of the Rikleen Institute for Strategic Leadership, she knows how difficult it can be for women to promote themselves. “It’s not that women are bad at self-promoting,” she said. “It’s that they are bumping up against these societal norms when they try to showcase what they’ve achieved.”

So how can women make their accomplishments known without feeling like braggarts or being penalized for self-promotion? Both Glaser and Rikleen emphasize that effective self-promotion is all about being strategic. They offered some useful tips for professional women who want to get the recognition they deserve.

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The New “Getting Ahead”: What It Takes to Succeed in 2012

Businesswoman Standing Out From the Crowd - IsolatedBy Robin Madell (San Francisco)

The news is getting old, and so is the standard advice. We’ve heard many times, and seen through repeated research, that many women are still not being given the development opportunities they need to rise up the corporate hierarchy. Yet solutions that move beyond the tried and the trite are hard to find.

To get the New Year started right, The Glass Hammer spoke with a diverse group of women in leadership positions in law, technology, and finance—as well as workplace experts in other industries—for practical strategies that you can really use. We asked our participants to address truly progressive solutions to help women put their own “glass hammers” to better use against that stubborn ceiling. Here’s some advice you can really use this year.

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Voice of Experience: Anita Nemes, Managing Director, Global Head of Capital Introductions, Deutsche Bank

AnitaNemesBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

One of the key lessons that Anita Nemes has learned throughout her career is the importance of personal career management. Nemes, Managing Director and Global Head of Capital Introductions at Deutsche Bank, explained, “Just doing your job extremely well is not enough. You have to take responsibility for your own career, thinking about where you want to be next year and the year after that.”

“It’s not just about getting your job done. It’s taking the initiative to get to where you want to be.”

And that means trusting your instincts and taking risks. She explained, “Sometimes it’s really worth taking risks. When I started in prime brokerage, it was a much smaller business than cash equities, where I had worked previously. But I had a vision that hedge funds were here to stay and grow, and that’s exactly what happened.”

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Don’t Let Lateral Anxiety Derail Your Career Ambition

Business teamBy EJ Thompson (New York City)

A coworker of mine, Kate, recently got promoted alongside two other female coworkers, all of whom who had been at the company for the same amount of time. But suddenly, about two weeks after the promotions, there was some internal shifting within the company. Kate was moved laterally to an independent role, meaning she will be reporting to no one but herself. The other two women, on the other hand, are technically on the same level as her, but are still directly reporting to managers. It was, unsurprisingly, a rough couple of days within the department.

Kate was thrilled about this extra move – it was going to give her more time to work on her own projects, really throw herself into them, showing her talent and most likely opening doors for further promotions. For the two other women she had initially been promoted next to though, it was a moment for bitterness, a touch of understandable jealousy, and some resentment that they were not chosen. And this reaction weighed on Kate as well.

Instead of owning her promotion, being proud and excited about the extra boost, she spent the majority of her time worrying about what the other two women were thinking about her. Instead of being proud (yet modest!), what she was mostly concerned with was what the other women were saying about her, what they thought happened, and whether or not there was any way she could correct their misperceptions. Sound familiar? Why do we let lateral anxiety get us down?

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Mastering the Art of Active Coping

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iStock_000012181015XSmallBy Jacey Fortin (New York City)

How do you respond to stress? Do you avoid big problems, or confront them head-on? Do you distract yourself with smaller issues, or ignore them to focus on what matters most? Do you seek help from others, or go it alone?

All of these behaviors fall under the banner of ‘coping,’ and each individual does it differently. But if you’re in a position of leadership, your coping style may have a greater impact on your job performance than you think.

Just ask Leslie Pratch. She’s the CEO and founder of Pratch and Company, which specializes in assessing and grooming executives for leadership roles. She also has an MBA and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, so her insights go beyond the surface level. Early in her career, she published a study on gender, motivation, and coping [PDF] as indicators of leadership effectiveness. And she found that the only trait that consistently predicted leadership ability in both men and women was an aptitude for ‘active coping.’

“I want to differentiate my use of the word ‘coping’ from the common connotations, which barely scrape the surface,” Pratch explained. “I use it to refer to a sense of mastery. Individuals can learn to master the situations around them and take an active coping stance, assuming they have the willingness to become more self-aware.”

In other words, anyone who wants to improve her coping methods must take an unflinching look at her entire personality—hidden motivations, unresolved issues, confidence levels and more. And if you think this level of introspection sounds better suited to the psychologist’s couch than to the corner office, Pratch says think again. Drawing on years of extensive research and real-world applications, she asserts that “looking at the subconscious levels of coping is actually the best prognosticator in terms of determining leadership.”

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Ending the Beauty Bias

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In the mirrorBy Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)

In the past, studies have revealed that those with more symmetrical faces are perceived to be more attractive and those considered beautiful or handsome are seen as intelligent and good. Those of course, are just general perceptions, but what happens when your physical appearance actually influences how competent others believe you to be at your job?

A recent controversial study paid for by Procter & Gamble (a manufacturer of popular makeup brands, a fact that should not be overlooked) revealed that wearing makeup increases people’s perceptions of a woman’s likability, her competence, and her trustworthiness.

The study featured 25 female subjects, aged 20 to 50, who were white, African-American, and Hispanic. Each was photographed barefaced and in three looks that researchers called natural, professional, and glamorous. One hundred forty-nine adults (including 61 men) judged the pictures for enough time to make a snap judgment. An additional 119 adults (including 30 men) were given unlimited time to look at the same faces. The participants judged women made up in varying “intensities of luminance contrast,” which means how much their eyes and lips stood out compared to their skin. The results revealed that participants viewed those wearing makeup as more competent than barefaced women, whether they had a quick glance or a longer inspection.

It seems our youth and beauty obsessed culture has reached an all-time low if judgments about attractiveness are spilling over into judgments about competence. But according to Marjorie Jolles, assistant professor of Roosevelt University’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program, this has always been the case.

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Achieving Global Growth and Discovery by Letting Go of Fear

monapearl1Contributed by Mona Pearl

Opening up your eyes to see the bigger picture of the global marketplace is one of the most important steps leaders in the 21st century can do to help their businesses succeed.

Unfortunately, it is also one of the easiest and most devastating actions they can fail to take. For those who spent their whole life looking at the world through a keyhole, throwing the door wide open can be overwhelming. There’s so much to take in that it is easy to miss opportunities that could be right in front of your nose.

Engaging in international business may require reaching beyond your comfort zone while developing the spirit of adventure. In many cases, people are too conservative, too afraid of change and of the unfamiliar, and therefore, they resist global opportunities out of fear. The key to growth is to let go of fear and focus on 5 main points for success and growth globally.

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Five Ways to Reignite Your Career Passion

Contributed by CEO Coach Henna Inam

Does this situation sound familiar? You have worked hard to climb the corporate ladder. You’ve had to burn the candle on both ends to get there. When you get to the corner office or the next rung in the ladder, after the initial euphoria of meeting your goal wears off, the grind remains. The rewards can seem a bit empty relative to the sacrifices made and the energy expended to get there. At various points in your career it is easy to burn-out. Or you decide to opt out by physically leaving or disengaging. According to a Gallup survey, 71% of US employees are disengaged. Your disengagement is not just linked to your productivity but also your health and wellbeing.

It’s easy for us to disengage either by leaving our work or leaving our full passionate selves at the door when we enter our workplaces. We ask ourselves, “Is the effort worth it to continue to climb the corporate stair master?” The answer to the latter question is very personal. However, one thing is pretty clear. As women leaders, our passion for what we do is a big part of our success and fulfillment, as well as our power. So how do we reignite that passion when it’s beginning to fade?

Here are five steps to reignite the passion and fall in love again with what you do. Remember the five P’s to reigniting the passion in your work.

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Voice of Experience: Fiona O’Hara, Senior Executive, Technology DOO, Accenture

FionaOHaraBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

According to Fiona O’Hara, Senior Executive and Technology Director of Operations at Accenture, meeting challenges head on is critical for getting to the next level.

“Don’t shy away from challenges and stretch roles. You will be able to rise to the challenge and you will learn so much more than if you stay in your comfort zone,” she said.

O’Hara added, “It can also provide a opportunity to show what you are capable of and in doing so may serve to advance your career more quickly.”

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