Last night I attended Young Women in Business's Beyond the Glass Ceiling: Women Power Houses event. And WOW...I am still speechless with all of the amazing advice we were lucky enough to receive from 5 incredible women in business.
I have so much more to say, but I wanted to share a few important take-aways from the panel.
Leadership: True leadership comes from learning to ask great questions, so you can come up with and generate the answers on your own.
Salary: Don't be afraid to ask for higher salaries. Do your research, and add 20% to what you think you should ask for. Ask am I being paid the same as the person previously in this position or in this department?
Negotiate: if you can't negotiate pay, ask for delayed start, more vacation, professional development, ask to carry over what you were previously getting at a different company. SELL YOURSELF!
How to avoid the burn out: ask for help! Be mindful of your time, give yourself room to forgive yourself when you make mistakes, and always remember to take care of yourself.
Journey Advice: explore and play in your careers, figure out what part of your role you love and continue to mold it into your dream job. Take opportunities, show empathy and don't be too hard on yourself.
How to overcome challenges of being a women in the workplace: use those challenges to motivate you and push you forward, celebrate that you ARE a women and don't apologize for it. If the unconscious bias is built into the culture, take the opportunity to change it. BONUS: Do the power pose!
Mentoring: treat mentorship as a balanced relationship and build off of each other's skills and knowledge. Always hire someone who can do it better than you, if not, why would you hire them if you can just keep doing it yourself?
Professional relationships: ask what you can do for them, build long lasting relationships as you never know what opportunities will come in the future.