This episode is the fourth in the Series on Navigating the Male Dominated Fields of Procurement & Supply Chain.
In the prior episodes we talked about:
- the different ways unconscious biases can show up in the workplace
- the “double-whammy” that women in the functions encounter
- how you can remain true to themselves and still get the job done
Today we are going to talk about why women fear failure more than men. Find the show notes on my website at PowerYourImpact.com/5.
In Episode 1, I shared the results of my interview with Executive women from Procurement & Supply Chain. One comment that I heard repeatedly was
“women don’t raise their hand for the challenging assignments”
To clarify, you probably do raise your hand to volunteer, and you likely accept an assignment when asked by your manager. But, are these opportunities promotable?
As a woman, you want to be helpful and nurturing, but if your assignments are disproportionately balanced with non-promotable ones it could be slowing your advancement.
There is a difference between opportunities that benefit the organization versus those that have high visibility and high impact.
I learned early on in my career that raising your hand for the challenging assignment, even if you didn’t check all the boxes, was key.
The company was experiencing repeated quality issues with a critical ingredient and it was starting to have a costly impact to the bottom line.
I had no experience in the specific Industry and had heard stories about how the supplier base was not “partnership” like. I would be completely out of my comfort zone, but the assignment would be highly visible and impactful.
That’s when I remembered some advice I once received: “The day you start to feel comfortable is the day you need to try something new”.
I raised my hand to lead the task force to identify and address the root cause of the quality issues.
It was a rocky start. I recall going home many evenings wondering if I had made a mistake in taking this on.
I was not going to let the imposter syndrome shake my confidence.
I had resources available to me to help me get up the learning curve and navigate the process. I was not expected to have all of the answers myself.
Ultimately, we identified the root cause of the issue and implemented the necessary changes. The task force was successful. Six months later I was promoted!
You don’t need to check all the boxes before raising your hand. Trust that you have the skills and the know how to get the job done.
I invite you to review your portfolio of tasks and see if it includes promotable assignments.
