CHAPTER 1

Career Myths Impact Women’s Success

The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.

—Gloria Steinem

It is an important time to celebrate the advancement of women. We have made visible progress in the last few decades. The number of women entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders in corporate leadership roles is growing. However, there are still many challenges women face that are different than that from their male counterparts. Women sometimes have beliefs or career myths that may interfere with their personal career satisfaction and success.

A myth is defined in Dictionary.com as a traditional story, one concerning the early history of a people or social phenomenon. It’s a widely held, but false, belief or idea. A myth is a misrepresentation of the truth. It might also be described as a folktale, legend, tall tale, or a cock-and-bull story. Women might choose to believe them for a variety of reasons. We want to believe that if we are committed, work hard, and assert ourselves, we will be recognized and rewarded. Managing our career and finding joy at work would be much simpler if our beliefs about work held true.

When we encounter a challenging situation at work that we aren’t prepared to handle, it may be that the situation defies our preconceived beliefs about the way things should be in the work environment. It’s important to reflect upon the ideas we have about work and identify those that are true and those that are myths. When the reality you are faced with at work doesn’t align with your beliefs, you can overcome barriers by creating a clear plan to address the issues.

Over 200 women contributed their input about self-limiting false beliefs or career myths that had an impact on their satisfaction at work and career success. The women also provided helpful tips, advice, and recommendations for helping women overcome the challenges and achieve career success.

This book explores career myths and the true barriers that women may encounter at work. It offers you an opportunity to reflect on your strengths and development areas and create a plan for moving toward greater satisfaction and success in your career. Your commitment to your own development and to helping women advance is appreciated.

The Top Five Career Myths

While every woman’s story is unique, not every woman will experience every myth in her career. These five career myths were the most commonly selected on the global survey and in group meetings as having a detrimental impact on women’s career success. Women from the ages of 18 to 53 responded to the survey. Approximately 80 percent of the respondents were from the United States. Women from Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, South America, and Africa participated in the survey.

1. Women can expect to be compensated fairly and rewarded for their contributions in the workplace. While negotiation skills can be learned, this issue is much more complex than mastering the art of the “ask” alone. This means understanding the unique value that your talent brings to an organization, and how your work contributes to achieving business goals.
2. Women’s skills and experience matter more than their communication style and appearance. Women are often judged as less competent based upon their physical appearance alone. Focusing your development plan on the skills and knowledge that is needed to advance in your current role or obtain your next position may not be enough to overcome this bias.
3. If women are assertive and drive for results, it will always benefit their career. Women who demonstrate strength and assertiveness may be judged negatively. Women must carefully strike a balance between the focus on results and relationships to move forward in a career. We haven’t yet overcome the social expectation that women are the primary caregivers in the family and that a successful career may be viewed as a distraction.
4. Advancement for women is dependent only on performing well. There are many reasons that women may not advance even when they have the knowledge, skills, and experience to perform a job. Women need to be aware, informed, and coached to overcome barriers. Leaders need to ensure that workload distribution and performance measures are consistently fair across all team members.
5. Men and women believe in equality for women. While many men and women support the advancement of women in the workplace, both men and women have unconscious biases. We are all guilty. This calls for all of us to increase our own self-awareness. We can only overcome unintentional discriminatory behaviors when we know of them and take action.

How to Use This Book

• Read, reflect, and assess your own satisfaction and success.
• Create a development plan to leverage your strengths and grow in opportunity areas.
• Ask for feedback and input from trusted friends, colleagues, managers, mentors, and coaches.
• Find other women and men who will support your career development.
• Share your development plan with them.
• Revisit and update your development plan on an ongoing basis.