Recently the Australian Women in Recruitment Association held their second ever event, a panel discussion to discuss the influential book, ‘How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back’. Our own Lotus People Director, Sinead Connolly, joined Sally Carr and David Bellas on the panel at LinkedIn to share their own experiences and wisdom. With all of the Lotus team in attendance, here were our key take aways;

Be your authentic self

Despite being such a simple concept, being your authentic self is a challenge that most people can identify with, and this is often magnified in a professional work environment. Whilst it might sound like a cliché, the panel agreed the best advice they have received is ‘to believe in yourself’ and be authentic.Portraying your true self and coming across as genuine, whilst also relating to your audience can be a challenge, however, this is integral when taking that next step in your career.

Self-promote

Most women don’t want to brag or self-promote, despite being proud of their achievements. This can be because we allow ourselves to be affected by our own self-limiting beliefs. Self-limiting beliefs are fear based and strengthen overtime. Sinead spoke about neuro-plasticity and how we have the ability to rewire our brains to over-come this. In order to progress in your career, it’s important to put your hand up, ask for recognition and continue to learn and grow. As a leader, it is important to facilitate self-promotion in others, but also act as their advocate and recognize the shared joy advocating an individual can bring to a team.

Perfectionism is unattainable

“Perfection is an impossible goal and should never be a pursuit in life” – Serena Williams. You don’t have to be perfect to progress in your career. Done is better than perfect. Be proud of your own achievements and support your peers to do the same, rather than striving for perfection.

Mindfulness

We often have so many thoughts racing in our heads at once that we aren’t actually present in the task at hand. Sally and Sinead discussed how taking time out in their days for meditation and mindfulness has actually created more space in their lives and provided a clearer focus. When a task feels overwhelming, it is important to break it down into small, achievable parts. Start small by building new habits – small, incremental changes in your daily life, can lead to large, life-changing results.

Sinead also voiced the importance of mindfulness when listening to your body. If your health is starting to suffer, this is the universe telling you to slow down. Touch base with yourself and take some time out every day just for you.

Delegation is key

Often, women try to take on everything, and often succeed in carefully balancing a career, a family and a social life, however, operating at full throttle isn’t sustainable forever and, eventually, something has to give. David, Sinead and Sally all shared their struggles with actually letting go of control of certain tasks, but also the relief they felt after delegating. They explained it was not due to a distrust in their team that they were hesitant to delegate, but a voice in their head that said ‘I should be able to do all of this’. The panel then discussed the rule of three: prioritize, delegate and focus on three things; it is better to do three things well than do ten things mediocrely.

Final words of advice 

David: To be able to constantly improve and grow, you need to have one or two mentors to help you with your blind spots. It is impossible to identify all areas for improvement yourself, you need people around you with different perspectives who can offer constructive criticism.

Sally: As a leader you must get to know your team, everyone is uniquely different and it is important to know what drives individuals. Get to know them on a personal level, not just a professional level, by finding out their strengths and passions, you will be able to help them rise.

Sinead: It is so important for women to back each other and cheer each other on. Call on a female support network, whether that be colleagues, friends or through a mentorship program.

If you’re interested in hearing more about upcoming events, head over to our LinkedIn page now.