What Are Glass Ceilings Anyway?
Brita Long of Insight Global answers the title question elegantly: The glass ceiling is a popular term to describe the invisible barriers women encounter when trying to advance in the workplace. Thank you, Brita! So, if these barriers are invisible, how do we recognize them and get through them?
Outwardly, we can tune-in to the culture of the company. Let’s say I look around my workplace to see that there are no women holding Executive roles and only one woman in Management. She is the one who has the most interactions with our workforce. Our workforce is almost exclusively made-up of women who are generally self-managed in specific roles until a new product is rolled-out. Although the company nets over $400-million annually, the workforce is paid just 10% over minimum wage. In this scenario, the entire ceiling is made of very visible barriers, right?
I mean, if a company’s whole leadership is made up of men, sometimes regardless their creed or color or otherwise, and the company does not pay fair wages to its workforce, that company’s culture is not likely going to welcome Women or any other marginalized group to rise through the ranks. Maybe when we see the big picture of this company, the ceilings aren’t invisible at all.
Likewise, if you look at your company and find similar circumstances, it’s probably time to answer some specific questions about your own glass-ceiling. You know, that one we created to keep us right where we’re at, in this comfort zone? We all have self-limiting beliefs/ceilings but too few of us choose to shatter them. Maybe we feel like we’d be doing it all alone or that we would have to become “manly” to get there, which makes other Women uncomfortable when they’re around us, or maybe we’ve accepted the lie that this is just my life and the way it is … None of these reasons really matter if our workplace reality has visible ceilings made-up of all male leadership and inequality. So. The first question is “why am I working here?”
Obvious answers include real-world concerns: I have to pay the bills and put food on the table and get myself to and from work, and take care of others. All of these reasons for working wo be working are completely legitimate. However, if I have any aspirations to achieve Management or beyond and I work in an environment where the glass ceilings are visibly real and that the only ceiling squishing me is one of my own creations, I can grow and change by finding a new workplace!
That’s when I am working in a clearly diverse population at every level of the company, from Workforce through Executive Leadership. Then, I am perfectly positioned to shatter my own professional glass ceilings, right? Yes! Then, you understand that if you are working for a company that is not going to allow you to advance, it’s time to find the company that will! Yay! Now we’re working with a company that encourages and rewards innovative initiative from everyone and any one—including You! What do you do then, now that you really see the possibility of being a successful Manager of your Division, what do you do?
We take inventory! Hmmmmmm, curious, eh? Let’s ask some questions of ourselves as if we are asking a precious student who has come to You as Her Guide, her Teacher, her unjudgmental voice and vision of clarity. And so we ask …
How do I contribute to Co-Workers and the Company in my current role at work?
What issues/problems do my Co-Workers bring to me for solution/resolution?
When does my Boss/Company reward my contributions? What am I being recognized for, specifically?
Which skills and experience am I using most frequently when problem-solving at work?
Who speaks positively about my contributions in the workplace?
Even with 1-word answers to those questions, we have begun to Resource our Self. If I am always on-time and on-task, I contribute Reliability and Readiness –those are huge contributions, Woman! Maybe my Co-Workers always come to me when a recurring over-reach of technical abilities arises during project development because I am able to get everyone communicating towards possible solutions. I bring Group Cohesion/Leadership, another massive contribution.
My Co-Workers and I may not be social friends but we are solid Co-Workers, with great respect for one another and an appreciation for pushing boundaries until blindness is about to descend, which is when I bring Kindness, Respect, Resolution, and Humor to my workplace. All these contributions are Resources many of us Women take for granted in ourselves but recognize and celebrate in others. Isn’t that just the dambdest thing … Anyway, you get the gist, yes? Good.
So, in asking and answering these simple questions, we have Resourced Self and are feeling pretty darn good about our valuable contributions. Now it’s time to spot the Missing Elements by asking more questions of that precious Student.
What is keeping me in my current role at work? Some obvious answers are semi-valid: I’m good at my job. I’m comfortable. I haven’t really let anyone know that I am interested in Management. I haven’t been ready to go for Management until recently. I don’t have the technical skills. I have never been a Manager before. Identifying the Missing Elements is a whole other process to be discussed in a separate article.
But for our shattering purpose here, we have just Resourced Self right through an invisible glass ceiling to realize the possibility of stepping-up and into the role of Division Manager. When we understand that glass ceilings exist to see through from one side and to stand on from the other side, we will stand where we boldly declare our own contributions, strengths, and worthiness, to make all things possible.
Go boldly Resource yourSelf, you fabulous female!
by MistressMind Assemblies
© MMA 2024
Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MistressMindAssemblies/