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January 21, 2016
Leading like a boss (even if you aren’t)
There’s a great quote that goes something like this: when you get to the top of the ladder, look down and help someone else up. We’d like to amend that slightly though, because why wait until you get to the top? And why not turn the ‘someone else’ into ‘others’?
There are, and always have been, thousands of young people keen to get a feel for the workplace and careers they think might be for them, and the chances are that you were once of them. Writing letters or emails to HR teams and CEOs and sending CV after CV off to favourite companies, that then become any company you can think of until one day you get your break. Phew.
But then the hard work starts from the other side.
So should you wait until you get to the top to start offering these breaks yourself? We’d say no. Wherever you are on the career ladder you just need to be settled and comfortable enough in your role to feel confident hosting an intern. It’s a way to pass on the opportunity you’d have done anything for (and for the egotistical reason that it can feel pretty good!).
Our main reason, however, for leading from not only the top but the middle and only a few rungs from the bottom too has more to do with empowerment. When you were younger, how many women did you see as positive influences in the workplaces you aspired to work within? How many did you work under? The answer is probably not many, which means that when you’re in such a position you should use it to inspire as many young women as you can. You might not be at the top of your game but by bringing them in you’re showing that women in the workplace do exist, can make a different at any stage and you’re well on your way to the top anyway.
It also empowers young women to realise that getting into their profession isn’t about competition – it’s all about comraderie, accepting that we’re all in this together. It says ‘I’m bringing you in because I see your potential and I want to help you’, rather than deleting their emails and not even glancing at their CVs.
And you know what? As someone who has hosted work experience before and is planning on doing it again, it does feel good. Especially because I work in the digital sector, I like bringing young girls into my workplace, showing them what I do and how I do it to prove that it isn’t a man’s world and you don’t have to be a top coder to get into it.
It’s all about remembering your younger self and how she would want you to lead from anywhere, not just the top.
Stephanie Bolton
@StephanieBolton
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