{"id":11287,"date":"2013-01-03T03:45:23","date_gmt":"2013-01-03T10:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=11287"},"modified":"2013-01-03T03:46:16","modified_gmt":"2013-01-03T10:46:16","slug":"one-of-the-few-women-at-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=11287","title":{"rendered":"One of the Few Women at Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"business(This article is part of a series originally published in Japan by ALC Press English Journal, and is written in “Global English”.\u00a0CLICK\u00a0HERE<\/a>\u00a0to see the accompanying video, spoken in “Global English”.)<\/em><\/p>\n

QUESTION: \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m one of the few women in a leadership position in my company, and often I\u2019m the only woman at meetings. Sometimes I feel lonely. Please help!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

ANSWER: \u00a0I feel your pain! I\u2019m a physicist by education, and have worked mostly with men my entire career, so I know what it\u2019s like to work in your situation. While about half of all workers are women, there are still relatively few women in leadership positions. And the higher up the hierarchy you go in most organizations, the fewer women there are. This is truly a pity because research has shown that companies with more women in leadership positions are more successful. Although I truly love working with my men colleagues, being one of only a few women leaders in an organization \u2013 and the only woman in meetings \u2013 can be challenging.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re not alone!<\/strong>\u00a0Gradually more women are being promoted to leadership positions in organizations. And the coming shortage of workers in the developed world in the next decade or so will accelerate women\u2019s participation in the business leadership. This is especially true in countries like Japan and Germany, which will experience the greatest shortage of workers! But, how can you survive until other women leaders appear in your workplace? Here are a few approaches that have worked for me.<\/p>\n

Have a \u201cGirls Night Out\u201d.<\/strong>\u00a0Occasionally schedule a social event with other women leaders at your company. This will give your spirits a much-needed boost, and strengthen valuable relationships.<\/p>\n

Start a professional women\u2019s network.<\/strong>\u00a0Organize periodic events with other women leaders within your company focused on increasing women\u2019s contributions to the business success. Some ideas are hosting \u201cLunch & Learn\u201d speakers, or a business book reading club. Oh, and don\u2019t exclude men! They can be very supportive of expanding women\u2019s contributions at work.<\/p>\n

Join a professional women\u2019s association.<\/strong>\u00a0There are many women leaders in other companies who are in the same situation as you. Seek them out via professional associations. In my experience women professionals are extremely generous in sharing their experience and advice with each other.<\/p>\n

Reach out to men, too!<\/strong>\u00a0Build strong relationships with your male colleagues. Don\u2019t be afraid to seek their advice, invite them to join you for lunch, or ask them for help. If you show sincere interest in them, listen generously to their stories, and express your appreciation, they will naturally be more supportive of you.<\/p>\n

Get a mentor.\u00a0<\/strong>Both women and men mentors are extremely valuable. A male mentor in a more senior leadership position can help you feel more connected to what\u2019s happening in your company. Don\u2019t run up to someone and ask him or her to be your mentor. Start by approaching someone you respect and saying \u201cI admire you, and would very much appreciate your guidance and advice on my career. Would you be available to have a conversation over a cup of tea with me sometime?\u201d If the conversation goes well you can say \u201cThis was such a valuable experience! Would you be willing to meet with me periodically to continue our conversation?\u201d<\/p>\n

Maintain friendships.<\/strong>\u00a0Don\u2019t rely only on work to satisfy your need for female companionship. Stay in touch with women friends outside of work. Too busy? Make time! I find a regular \u201cgal pal\u201d social event restores my sense of humor and heals my tattered soul.<\/p>\n

As a woman in a leadership position, you\u2019re a trailblazer. Women\u2019s contributions are absolutely vital to business success in this world, and I believe women must step up to playing a bigger role in solving the problems we face as a planet. Being a trailblazer can feel a bit lonely at times. Reach out, stay connected, and don\u2019t even think of giving up! Change is coming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(This article is part of a series originally published in Japan by ALC Press English Journal, and is written in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,847,899,1027],"tags":[1028,1188,435,1189,58],"class_list":["post-11287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communications","category-self-leadership","category-career-2","category-women-2","tag-businesswomen","tag-girls-night-out","tag-mentor","tag-professional-associations","tag-women"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11287"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11348,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11287\/revisions\/11348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}