Women’s empowerment: telling it how it is.
Gemma Brindley is a Director at national audit, tax and advisory firm Crowe Clark Whitehill. She is also one of the firm’s champions for the newly launched Women’s Empowerment Programme.
Women’s Empowerment is something I am passionate about. I want everyone, regardless of gender, to receive the encouragement and guidance I did early on in my career. Everyone needs support at some point in their journey. I am a committed champion of our Women’s Empowerment Programme because I want to help others make the most of their career opportunities.
At our regional launch in late October, I heard from Jane Kenyon of Well Heeled Divas. A really engaging speaker with strong views on female empowerment. She gave us food for thought and opened our eyes to a whole new perspective.
Who knew that only 10% of a person’s ‘promotability’ is performance based; 30% relies on personal brand (how well you put across both yourself and your skills) and an overwhelming 60% is down to visibility? It seems if you are the person who is everywhere, talking up your skills and engaging others you are far more likely to be promoted.
How many hard working people do you know who do not understand why they are totally overlooked when promotions are on the table? No-one has told them performance is not enough. Performance is required; skills are required; how you communicate is what makes the difference. Beavering away with your head down means you are simply not on the radar. Women suffer particularly from this as so many seem programmed to support others.
It’s time to get up on our feet and meet people, talk about our skills, talk about how we can contribute to projects and not be side-tracked from our goals. Don’t wait for others to spot you, create your own spotlight, get out there and make yourself known… then you will really go places.
You can contact Gemma at Crowe Clark Whitehill at gemma.brindley@crowecw.co.uk
Just before you go out and dazzle the world……Rock the Cotswolds has put together a nifty infographic on ‘Seven ways to self-empower at work’ – look out for it on our blog pages.
Now…..Go! Go! Go get ‘em.
Rock the Cotswolds is a not-for-profit campaign created to promote the talent and creativity of the area.
It is sponsored by Crowe Clark Whitehill in Cheltenham – their belief in what we’re doing and generous support helps keep the campaign alive and kicking!
