Time to Speak Up and be Considered a Leader

Time to Speak Up and be Considered a Leader

To be considered a leader and make progress in the workplace, women need to find their voice and speak up. It's the one way we can overcome society's propensity to favor those with a Y-chromosome when considering leadership candidates.

I thought about this when reading the latest dismal report on the progress of women in the Canadian workplace, published by Catalyst. It comes as no surprise that the top pay and the top jobs still go to men.

Our evolutionary heritage may favor men but it also favors those with oratorical skill. As women, we can't do much about the former but we can use our gift of superior language to take advantage of the latter.

It isn't enough to be a hard worker. To be recognized and rewarded, you have to speak up and talk about your expertise. Your skill benefits the group and you want to remind everyone that you add value. That's what creates leaders.

There is no need to be overly concerned that you have to say something earth-shattering or profound to justify taking the floor but also be sure that what you are saying is relevant.

I used to work with a guy who was very good at this. Each day he read two top newspapers from which he memorized a few 30 second sound-bites. Then he peppered them into his remarks at meetings throughout the day. Because of his ability to access and distribute this different information, people gave him more credit for being a good leader than he deserved.

I also worked with someone who talked lots but said little. He liked to listen to himself and, for all the time he took, he never passed on any useful information. The group quickly lost patience with him. However, on the flip side, I also watched someone with skills and expertise not be given proper credit because she was too shy to speak out.

Marcia Reynolds, author of the bestselling book "Wander Woman" says that this is not just a skill problem. Women need to look at the assumptions they hold that keep them from speaking up, such as:

1) I only speak up when I have something important to say (a half-baked idea could spur other ideas),

2) I don't want to look like a braggart or a show-off (you need to brag and show off a little to be seen) and

3) my ideas get shot down anyway (yes, women get "dissed" more than men in meetings but the only way to overcome this is to speak up more until they finally hear your great ideas).

Clearly the message here for women is to do your work but be ready to talk about it. We all need to be speaking up more. The collective voice will be hard to ignore. Developing your verbal skills and using them will give you an immediate leadership advantage. What do you say about that?

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