Transcript
For me it’s two things. One is to encourage women and the other one is to challenge them. And encouraging is really to ask them to voice their ambition and to encourage them to dream bigger. And I think here is really in society, women are told to be humble, not to ask for too much. And I think it’s also socially less acceptable as a woman to openly say, you know, I want to be a CEO, I want to become a manager. So we make ourselves smaller. So as friends and sister and colleagues, we can really sort of makeup for a little bit of that by encouraging. And then the other part is challenging. So, what I mean by that, is that you won’t accept if someone makes themselves smaller. So you can call women out, for instance, if they brush off a compliment or if they give credits for their work to someone else or really if they’re not presenting their skills or competencies, like if they undersell in that sense. So yeah, so those are my two tips to encourage and to challenge.
I’m all about networks because I think this is the greatest way to learn, to acquire knowledge, to get contacts, to grow. And what I often do with my coachees, I sort of encourage them to find other women that they can align and spare with. Because I think it’s a difference or you can also do that with men. But I also think it’s always important that you have a few women that you really trust. And, personally, what I have, I have a business buddy that I talk to every day and I have a women’s group that I set up where it’s more about personal challenges. And then, I also have a group of female founders actually where we’re sort of in this same functional area. And here my tip is if there is something you need or want to grow and it doesn’t exist, you know, then just create it, because people love to connect. But often they’re not the ones who put out the invitation. So if you can be the one, who puts out the invitation and say “okay, on Saturday we’re going to meet at two o’clock at this cafe”. And people just need to say yes, then you get what you want. And others get what they want as well. So really it’s a win-win and network creating situation.
