Checklist for women!

For many people – women as well as men – having a ‘career’ means taking a leading role and achieving good results through the exercise of authority or influence. For others, it may mean becoming more skilled in one’s profession, or becoming an expert or a specialist. For others still, career development means constant learning and experimentation, and always being involved with new groups of people.

Although Women to the Top is primarily about getting more women into top management, other women wishing to move forward in their professional roles will also find this information useful. The checklist has been produced by top management candidates involved in the project. Not all the advice will suit everyone - make up your own mind! There is no order of preference in the list: pick and choose the points that fit your situation.


Have fun and do your best - here and now!
Be aware of the rules of the game
Choose the right employer and the right boss
Choose the right partner
Draw up goals – make a career plan
Broaden your experience
Get a mentor and become one yourself
Take charge – and take the initiative
Say yes – to the right offers
Demand annual feedback
Find the spotlight – and stay in it
Extend and develop important networks
Call attention to other women – be prepared to be a role model

Have fun and do your best - here and now!
If you want to grow in your present job or move on to a new one, the most important thing is to work for what you believe in, and start from where you are today. If your work and your day-to-day life are to be satisfying and enjoyable, be content with doing your best. You should develop because you want to – not because others think you should.

Be aware of your own skills and what you bring to the job. Are you one of those people who find it hard to express your strengths? The importance of humility and of not putting yourself forward is deeply rooted in our culture and upbringing. But taking responsibility for your whole self - including your strengths - is in itself a strength, and one that is appreciated by those around you. Make a list of your unique areas of knowledge and skill and check it frequently, particularly when you are finding your work difficult or stressful. Self-esteem begins with an appreciation of your own skills and strengths.

Be aware of the rules of the game
... …and stay aware of them. Gender roles are fixed early in life. When girls and boys grow into women and men and enter working life, they are marked by these roles. Additionally, there are other structures and conditions in working life that can obstruct women. A clear example is the fact that working life does not always take into account the needs of a family. It is still common that the woman is charged with – and accepts – most of the responsibility for the home and family, in addition to her job.

Structural changes and the active involvement of the employer are essential if this is to change. You will find ideas for changes that employers can make at the project website, www.women2top.net. Without structural change, women as a group will be unable to get to the top on the same terms as men, even if they follow all the career advice at their disposal. One consolation is that norms can change: what was unthinkable yesterday is self-evident today. This process can be speeded up.

Influencing the situation in the workplace and taking charge of your own professional development will be easier if you identify structures and patterns.

Success also has its own rules. Refuse to live up to preconceptions about how a woman should act! Question structures, acknowledge problems where they exist and dare to discuss things. Refuse to be superwoman. Learn the rules, and use them to your own advantage and that of other women.

Choose the right employer and the right boss
Before accepting a job offer, or deciding to remain at your current workplace, check what the situation is like for women there. Compile a list of obstacles and opportunities:

- What is the gender distribution of management and of the board? Are women and men   paid the same for doing the same work or work of equal value?
- What policies apply? Discuss with someone how the organisation lives up to its policies on   sexual harassment, diversity and gender equality. Is anything in particular done to   support women?
- What are the working conditions for managers? Is parental leave seen as a nuisance or a   good thing? Are men encouraged to take long periods of parental leave? Are meetings   scheduled for evenings and weekends? Is a lot of overtime work expected?
- What career paths are there? Is it possible to advance as a specialist, or step aside and   take a management post later? Is it possible to share a management post?
- Make an active choice about how often you can and should change employers. You need   to find a balance between acquiring knowledge and experience from a variety of fields,   and benefiting from long experience with the same employer. Which of these is most   important varies, depending on the industry or sector involved, but managers are often   recruited internally.
- Whatever the workplace, make sure you are working for the right boss: someone who will   support you and who wants to see you grow and develop. Is the chemistry wrong?   Change bosses! Before accepting a job, try to find out how the boss works. What are the   experiences of other women who have worked for him/her?
- Your immediate superior is your most important advocate. A woman who is confirmed in   her abilities will be happy in her professional role and will continue to grow.

Choose the right partner
Provocative? Perhaps – but it is about establishing the right kind of private life, regardless of who your partner may be. Balance in your private life makes it easier for you to devote your energy to your work.

If you have a partner: examine your own needs as regards balancing work, leisure and family. What is the division of labour like at home? Do you do more? Let go!

Talk to your partner about responsibility for any children you may have, and for household tasks. Share parental leave and the household chores. Give your children the same upbringing, regardless of gender. Give each other space, but be prepared to make demands and set limits. Talk about what is important to both of you and check back on this every now and again; big changes at work also affect balance in the home.

If you are a single parent, don’t overdo it. Find a network that will support you in your private life: other people who can pick the children up from the daycare centre, stay at home with a child who is ill, do the cleaning or whatever else is necessary for you to establish a balance between your private life and your job.

Don’t feel guilty about not always putting work first. Point out that family life provides invaluable training in handling conflict, negotiations and creative solutions! Having to be home at a certain time also gives you an incentive to really get things done at work.

Balance is about daring to set limits for yourself when dealing with conflicting demands on your time and energy.

Draw up goals – make a career plan
A lot of senior managers say they never planned to have a career, ’it just happened’. While not following a deliberate strategy, they perhaps had some sort of vision of an interesting job and the opportunity to exercise influence, and were then hand-picked for a managerial post. This might work for some, but if you prefer to live by active choice you should draw up specific goals for your career.

Analyse your skills, your motivation and what drives you forward. Make use of personality tests or 'assessment centres'. Talk to mentors, coaches and your own role models, such as other managers, strong women in business and politics, or perhaps a relative.

Ask yourself how you feel about the need for power and influence. What does success mean to you? Does professional development mean being a top manager, or being a specialist? How far are you prepared to go, and what compromises may be acceptable? What are your demands as regards balancing work and private life? What does ‘quality of life' mean to you? Don’t compare yourself with others - start with yourself.

Thorough analysis will show whether you have a chance of achieving your goals with your present employer. Your career plan should contain a challenging vision, as well as short and long-term goals. Where do you want to be in one year, three years, five years? Follow up your plan on an ongoing basis and analyse your progress: which goals have been achieved and which have not? Why did things turn out the way they did?

Broaden your experience
Map the career paths in your organisation or sector. Check what background top managers have, how they were recruited and what kind of general experience is in demand. Gain experience of many different fields, since this will broaden the range of future career choices, including ones at other workplaces.

Get operative experience, in jobs where you are responsible for results, e.g. in sales, manufacturing or production. It is harder to reach the very top if your main experience is from administrative staff functions. Show that you want to get ahead. Apply for management development programmes and supplement your training if necessary.

Get a mentor and become one yourself
A mentor or coach can help you in your personal and professional development, bring you a broader network and help you become more visible in the organisation.

Mentorship is a dialogue in which the mentor shares her/his experiences and advice with the mentee. The mentor is not an expert or problem-solver, but helps the mentee find solutions of her/his own. The relationship is voluntary and mutual. Mentorship has traditionally been free of charge but there are now a number of companies organising programmes at a fee. This often involves extended mentorship, with coaching included.

Coaching and counselling are often synonymous, except when a therapy situation is involved. Perhaps the most important difference between a mentor and a coach is that the coach is specially trained in the role of professional counsellor and works to stimulate and encourage people in a structured way. This often involves focused and delimited assignments where the goal is to change behaviour or achieve a given result. A coach assumes that the solution is to be found within the individual or group, and listening and asking questions achieve this solution.

It is of course crucial that the mentor and mentee have confidence in each other and that they agree to maintain strict confidentiality. It is sometimes easier to have an external mentor, but this means missing out on the benefits of a broader internal network. Before you decide, you should formulate your own development needs and goals and make sure your boss supports them.

Some points to keep in mind when choosing a mentor:
- Identify a mentor with the knowledge, experience and personal qualities that you want in   your mentor. Man or woman? External or internal?
- Should it be a person who is like or unlike you? Don't choose a mentor simply on the   strength of personal chemistry. Someone who is a mirror image of yourself may not be   the kind of person who can help you develop in the way you need to.
- Make sure the mentor is an experienced and respected leader who is interested in your   progress.
- Both of you must devote sufficient time to meetings.
- If the relationship does not feel right from the start, give it a little time. Talk about your   expectations and agree on what can be realistically achieved. Review progress after a   while, and if it feels right, keep going. If not, find a new mentor.

Becoming a mentor yourself gives you the opportunity to reflect on your own leadership. Being selected as a mentor also shows that those around you respect you and think you are good at what you do. It will also raise your profile. Take the chance if you can - it might be a good investment both in your own development and in that of others!

The most common talking points between mentor and mentee
1. Relationship with one’s immediate superior
2. Getting one's ideas accepted
3. Finding time for different activities in life
4. What it is like to be the boss of older colleagues
5. The next step

Take charge – and take the initiative
Don’t wait to be asked! Tell your boss that you are prepared to take on more responsibility. Or tell another person in a senior position. Discuss with others in the organisation what you need to do to get ahead. Don’t wait for - or put your trust in - the formal decision-making process: a lot of recruitment takes place through acquaintanceships and networks.

Do you need more flexibility to help you advance, or to reconcile work and family life? Examine different solutions. Find out what others are doing, and propose similar arrangements for yourself and your workplace. Make your ambitions clear regarding both your job and your career!

Get experience. Start by joining the boards of small companies, and then grow with the task and move to bigger ones. Set limits so that you find the balance you need for your job and your private life.

Say yes – to the right offers
For many women and men, the time in our lives in which we want to progress in our careers coincides with wanting to start a family and bring up children. Employers see us as most malleable and attractive when we are around thirty. This is despite the fact that nowadays we remain in education longer and also live longer. Before accepting or declining an offer, think about what your ideal work situation is. What conditions and other arrangements would enable you to take this step? Think creatively and be prepared to make demands. If you say no despite everything, explain why and make clear that you will be interested later when the timing is better.

Don’t be afraid to try and advance further at a later stage in your career – it’s never too late and you are never too old.

Say yes to offers of new projects, jobs or leadership roles, even if you think ‘I could never do that’. Trust other people’s judgement. If people didn’t think you could cope, you would never have been asked. Nobody employs someone just to be nice! If you want to, then go for it!

Accept roundabout routes, even if they take you outside your original career plan. Careers do not move in straight lines, and you have to take chances.

Be prepared to put yourself in an exposed position where you will be subjected to questioning and criticism. These come with a position of greater responsibility. Try it on for size, and then decide whether the workplace or the managerial post is right for you.

Be clear about your limits and what is not negotiable. Make sure you have reasonable terms of employment before accepting an offer. Find out about the salary structure at the workplace and in the market and demand a good salary! As you assume more responsibility, ask for a salary review to ensure that you are paid accordingly.

Demand annual feedback
If you fail on a project, or find your leadership role or a task difficult, discuss it with your boss, your peers and other colleagues at your workplace. Listen to them and absorb what you need to in order to become stronger and move on. Learn from your mistakes.

Surround yourself where possible with colleagues who infuse you with energy and who are working for the same goals as you are. Watch out for ‘yes-people’, though. Conflicting views that spark debate can lead to much more creative and successful solutions than people might think.

Be prepared to ask why you were not offered a job you had applied for or wanted, and learn from the answer. Does this mean that you will be a potential candidate later on, when you have more experience or training? Then get that experience or training! Does the answer mean that your career prospects are limited? Get a new job! Whatever choice you make, make it yours.

Find the spotlight – and stay in it
Good results and letting your work speak for itself are not enough. Make your work known to peers, other colleagues and those responsible for promotion. Remind your boss of your skills and performance. Have you received praise from a customer? Ask the customer to tell your boss.

Show that you are prepared to take on new and difficult tasks which test your leadership qualities and challenge your skills. Hear about an interesting project? Then show your interest and tell people that you want to be involved.

Take the chance to be seen outside the organisation, too: as a speaker, by writing opinion pieces in the newspaper, or by assuming posts on boards and working groups. Be prepared to showcase your skills!

Extend and develop important networks
Internal and external networks can be crucial to your career development. A network can be anything from regular meetings with friends to an organised activity. The common denominator is that the people involved feel that they benefit by it.

Types of network include:
- Professional networks outside your job, for example in trade or sectoral organisations or   associations.
- Networks of people who work with other matters or in other fields but within your   organisation or sector.
- Women’s networks for mutual support and acknowledgement. Other people’s professional   successes and failures will help you get better at identifying and removing obstacles, and   finding or becoming a role model.
- Courses, lectures, meetings and the Internet can function as starting points for a network,   whether formal or informal.

Networks give you the chance to share your experiences, learn shortcuts, give and receive feedback, keep your ear to the ground and above all provide you with a large number of contacts. Networking is a chance to make new business contacts. It might also include supporting, recommending and marketing one another: doing one another favours.

Networks are useful for your personal as well as your professional growth. If your career is to develop, you need people in your network who have power and influence. As long as the most senior positions are dominated by men, women who want to advance need to be in the same networks as men in senior positions. Women who work in female-dominated professions might find it useful to meet more men, in order to learn how they think. Women in male-dominated professions might need networks with more women.

Bring other women to the fore – be prepared to be a role model
It’s easier to move up the ladder together!

Take every opportunity to make the case for women who have stuck their necks out, both in the public eye and in your everyday work in the organisation. Show by your words and deeds that you think women should be allowed to call attention to themselves. Is the group critical of her? Don’t join in and don’t remain silent – make your own views clear .

Do you actively support other women who have advanced in their careers? Do you tell them that you feel they have done/are doing a good job, that you consider them role models and that you would like some advice on how to reach the top yourself?

And if you are on your way up - do you turn around every now and then and give a helping hand to the women below you? Do you share your experience and advice? Do you listen when someone asks you to?

Become – and remain – a role model. You and other women will benefit from it, as will men. Be prepared to practise what you preach, and show by example what can be done. Share the valuable experiences and advice that others have shared with you.