Words by: Angel Tully
Artwork by: Madison Marshall 

There’s a well known phenomenon facing women which prevents them from breaking through to upper level management positions and ridding themselves of being subject to inherent societal sexism. It’s called the glass ceiling.

As a young woman only beginning to scratch the surface of a professional career, and having grown up in a household where I was consistently empowered and praised for my achievements, I can only naively look at the issues which face women in the workforce pursuing leadership roles. As much as I would like to say “I would definitely not sit back and let the men dominate”, or “I wouldn’t undersell myself because I am embarrassed of celebrating my success”, the reality is that I don’t know what that experience is really like. Perhaps many women thought this way once too, when they were at the dawn of their career.

While I may not have enough experience to speak on institutional sexism, I spoke to a strong woman I know who does — a woman who is admired by many for her strength and positivity.

Lisa is the CFO of a defence company, she works in an industry typically associated with, and dominated by men. Not only has she been able to grow alongside the business over the years, she has done so surrounded by a supportive team, many of whom are women too.

In our discussion, Lisa reflected on the wins and the hurdles she has faced over the course of her career. She shed light on the current challenges faced by women in the workforce, and gave me some insights into the way forward towards gender parity in professional careers.

TALK THE TALK

The plain truth is that leaders have traditionally been male. With that has come certain assumptions, that traditionally masculine qualities are congruent with qualities of a strong leader. Although accepting this reality is not the way forward for gender parity, Lisa believes that women have a lot to learn from a traditional masculine leadership style.

Women are so afraid of stepping on someone’s toes, or coming off as “pushy” or “bossy”, that we take a passive and hedging tone to interactions in the workplace, even when we’re in a position of authority.

As a leader, Lisa has consciously shifted her communication approach to act with a more dominant and “masculine” tone. However, she believes that this tone should be embraced by all women, not just those who lead. She argues that women should rid themselves of tentative and apologetic tones, and recognise the value of what they have to say without questioning their own authority.

With an authoritative voice, comes respect from colleagues and self-confidence. Channelling a “fake it till you make it” mindset not only allows you to present as a confident leader, but also prepares you to take on the challenge of having the difficult conversations, and gives you a boost when confronting people who treat you poorly. Lisa believes standing your ground is the best way to be respected as both a leader and as a woman.

ACTING BETWEEN THE LINES

Thanks to workplace discrimination laws, diversity quotas, and good old PR scandals, overt gender discrimination in the workplace is quite rare. Yet, sexism still exists. According to Lisa, it’s nothing that company policy or law can reverse — it is built into society’s understanding of gender roles.

Sexism in today’s workplace isn’t about women getting slapped on the ass and getting called ‘gorgeous’ or ‘babe’. Today, sexism is expecting that women will empty the dishwasher in the staff tearoom, and assuming they’ll be the ones to take minutes in the meeting, instead of leading discussions. Even in positions of workplace authority, women are still expected to play the role of homemaker. Thus, change cannot come from implementing new rules and policies, it needs to come from a shift in cultural mindset.

IT’S A MAN’S WORLD, WE NEED A MAN’S REVOLUTION

Lisa recalled hearing a quote which deeply resonated with her; Gen X were the first generation to interpret the phrase “you can do anything” to mean “you have to do everything”.

Whilst women are now praised for pursuing traditionally male careers, men are not provided the same level of support to backfill the roles that women are moving away from. Without men taking over some of the responsibility as homemakers, women are forced to work twice as hard to fulfil both roles, often preventing them from advancing into upper-level management. We shouldn’t have to choose between having a family, and having a kick-ass career — a dilemma most men have never had to face.

So what has to change? As much as we’d like to think that women hold the power to enact real change in gender parity, Lisa believes that the real change needs to come from men.

Not only do men need to support their partners in the household equally, but they are responsible for rejecting the pressures of toxic masculinity, and emotional avoidance, that prevent them from taking on non-traditional male roles. By sharing caretaking and homemaking responsibilities more equally, women have the freedom and flexibility to actively pursue career developments.

I asked Lisa what advice she would give to her younger self starting out in the workforce. Her answer was something that I believe will resonate with many women: Be courageous and push yourself forward. Have confidence in yourself. Don’t be afraid to put yourself in uncomfortable positions where you aren’t sure you’re ‘cut out for it’, and don’t undersell yourself to others. We can learn from the confidence of some men who put themselves out there with undeniable self-belief.

I have often reflected on the barriers to senior roles faced by women in today’s work culture, as a young woman hoping to make it to high-level leadership one day. Likewise, I have considered how far society has come over the past few decades, since our mothers stood in our shoes.

But there’s always been something that just didn’t sit right with me, and that was gender hiring quotas. I was disheartened by the fact that I might be hired purely on the basis that I am a woman, and nothing to do with whether I am the best candidate for the job. I don’t want to be pitied.

When I discussed this with a man close to me, he asked me, “why should you feel bad if you have a platform for the position to be handed to you? Men have been doing that for years — you should take advantage of it now that it’s your turn.”

Quite frankly, he is right.

I had never thought of it that way. Perhaps this is the exact apprehension that Lisa retrospectively wished she could take back, perhaps I am not as exempt from the glass ceiling that women have felt closing in on them for decades.

Now is the time to change our mindset. We are living in a world where women are increasingly celebrated for their careers, and are being given more opportunities in a range of industries — so why not use the proverbial “diversity quotas” to our advantage?

I encourage all women who aspire to lead to seize the opportunities presented to you. Be courageous, be assertive, be feminine, be true to yourself, and be bold.