If I Work Hard And Do Well I Will Be Recognized And Promoted Not

A n executive was quoted in        jobs we have. Perhaps we decide    Working Woman Magazine          that someone else was more         “Women are the best             “qualified.” Perhaps we decide     bargains around... They think if      that things were done unfairly     they work harder, they‘ll be          this time, but that things will    recognized.” Do we really want to     change. We hold tight to our       be known as “the best bargains        fantasy and to our current         around?” While we faithfully          position with its corresponding    execute the job at hand, people       pay.                               around us are promoted to                                                higher-paying positions. I            Because we may define competency   believe there are several factors     differently than men (see; Women   which contribute to this              in Those High Paying Positions     misconception. Women are more         Have Something I Don't Have, by    likely to value modesty, and we       Patricia Smith) we may tend to     are cautious not to over-state        over-emphasize our mistakes, and   our abilities. We prefer to have      under-emphasize our achievements.  our work speak for itself, rather     We are convinced that anyone who   than pointing out our                 has performed less than 100%       accomplishments to anyone.            perfectly, accurately,             Meanwhile, our savvy colleagues       completely, 100% of the time is    have learned to speak up for          not yet ready for another          themselves, perhaps even take         assignment. We stay in the same    credit for others’ efforts, and       position longer. We convince       ask for (sometimes demand) more       ourselves that we will speak up    responsibility and pay. Everyone      and speak out as soon as we have   is so busy doing their own job,       earned that right. We watch        they don’t recognize our              others around us move into         achievements the way we think         high-paying positions and wonder   they will. We are left with the       why such incomplete, shoddy work   is rewarded.                          incomes. We need to take charge                                          of our own careers and lives.      We are more likely to want to         Things won’t turn out exactly as   perfect things where we are,          we plan, but it is a great         before we will consider a             improvement over leaving it up to  promotion. “I’m not ready to move     others.                            on, I haven’t done everything I                                          want to with this department.”        The way we work causes us to       What’s the difference how we          appear unqualified for other       leave things? As soon as we’re        kinds of positions. Women are      gone, things will change, no          more likely to be task-oriented,   matter what we have accomplished.     rather than results-oriented. We   We need to point out our              pride ourselves on our ability to  accomplishments and our ability       get a lot done and check off long  to learn and expand. We need to       lists of duties. We are more       move on, leaving unfinished work      often comfortable taking orders,   behind.                               preferring to understand exactly                                         how we are expected to perform a   Women are more likely to leave        job. We want to be measured on     our jobs and careers in the hands     how hard we work, what long hours  of others. We let someone else        we put in, and how accurate our    decide what we can do and can’t       work is.                           do, or when we are ready to move                                         on. They’re waiting for us to         The jobs in American business      speak up. They decide we are          which pay more are much more       happy where we are. We are seen       likely to be results-oriented.     as “patient and cooperative.”         They require the individual to     While these may be nice               focus on the end result; profit,   attributes to have, they usually      profit margin, expense reduction.  do nothing to increase our            Tasks often have to be             abbreviated, delegated, or            the jobs which pay more, women     abandoned, if they don’t directly     must learn to live with these job  contribute to the end result. In      descriptions. We must learn to     fact, the higher paid the             work toward accomplishing goals.   position, the more likely that        Many, many women have learned to   the goal will be defined, but the     live with these undefined          job will not. “Increase new           positions, so can we.              business by $400,000, reduce the                                         reject rate to .03%, increase         Awareness is the first step.       productivity by 20%,” are goals       Small adjustments can make a big   which might define a position.        difference. This is a process, we  The process for achieving these       don’t have to be perfect at the    goals is as least partly              game of business, no one is. We    undefined and must be authored by     just have to be better.            the person doing the job. To do        About the Author: Patricia Smith is a businesswoman, speaker, and the Author of Each of Us: How Every Woman Can Earn More Money in Corporate America. http://www.eachofus.com Published At: www.Isnare.com