As a young girl grows up, she is taught to be polite, to have manners to listen. Etiquette on point, talk like a lady, sit like a lady. I often wonder if this deters women from taking a strong role in the office?
Being assertive is a trait that is often not taught to little girls. I for one struggled immensely with this in my leadership role and as a result had to undertake many mentoring sessions to become the strong leader I am today.
As such, I had to reflect on how the cultural surroundings coupled with social ils prohibited this lack of assertiveness in my early career days. I believe that we need to start teaching younger girls to speak up, speak their mind and don't shun away from the head seat at the table.
These traits need to be cultivated at a tender age so it becomes second nature to young girls.
In the words of Sheryl Sandberg "Every woman I know, particularly the senior ones, has been called too aggressive at work. We know in gender blind studies that men are more aggressive in their offices than women. We know that. Yet we’re busy telling all the women that they’re too aggressive. That’s the issue".
Be Assertive, be aggressive, be you!
XOXO
Kristin89