Coffee and Conversations
Welcome to the next post in the Coffee and Conversations Series. In case you missed the last posts we have started this new series to capture and share advice shared by some of the inspirational women in our personal lives. In each of these posts, we will write about some of the key takeaways that resonated with us and that we thought might help others and help inspire further conversations in your own personal network.
Not getting enough respect – ask for a change in your job title
In a male-dominated workplace, it can be a challenge for a woman (including senior women) to assert their authority. This week I was having a conversation with a female leader who had started off with her company in an entry-level position and had risen to a leadership position through simply being good at her job (like a lot of female leaders out there). She talked about the challenge of getting respect from those who had been in the business for a long time and still remembered her as the admin girl. The challenge of getting respect from those who felt that she had been promoted over them or felt that they should have been promoted first (as they had been in the business longer). The challenge of getting respect in a male-dominated industry and didn’t really understand who she was and what she did.
Interestingly one of the solutions that she came up with and agreed with her boss a change in her job title to better reflect her seniority (and her role).
It was not a promotion. She was already doing the job and her role didn’t change. Instead, it was a change in her title to reflect her actual job. While this didn’t solve all her challenges and a title doesn’t automatically give you respect – this did help people understand what she did and her seniority within the business.