Q. What is one myth that women bring to leadership coaching?
A. Hands down, the most popular is: “My work should speak for itself!”
Often, women come to coaching with a familiar story, such as: “I am an accomplished, experienced professional/lawyer/doctor who does great work and my junior (male) colleague just got promoted to head the department. I can run circles around him, technically! What’s going on? I am so deflated and frustrated! I feel like quitting!”
When we unpack it, there is often this dangerous myth: ‘My work should speak for itself’. Now, to be fair, this success strategy was very effective in school and university – good work was rewarded with a high grade.
However, the recipe for success is much more complex at work and in organizational life.
Here, advancement – particularly into leadership positions – calls for a mix of skills and competencies, including the capacity to make you and your work visible.
So, women who solely rely on the success strategies that served them throughout their education – without developing the skills and practices of making themselves, their work, and their leadership visible – can be overlooked, or at a disadvantage.
Here are a couple of good reads on the subject:
Three Lessons Women Learned In School That Could Be Holding Them Back In The Workplace
Women's Leadership Myths
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