Women Spend Too Much Time Seeking Perfection
Women seeking perfection at work, and feeling that they have to be better and smarter than men, was one of the topics discussed in a panel presentation held this week by the National Council for Research on Women.
Their advice: DON’T!
Instead, the panelists recommended that women need to work on becoming more resilient and comfortable with failure.
While this blog focuses on success, the sage advice of these panelists is that the experience one gains from picking themselves up from failure is from where learning, development, and confidence comes.
The panelists offered that one of the many, many reasons for women not making it through the pipeline to the top leadership ranks is that women have not been told that failure is natural and that rejection of them, their ideas, or their demands is to be expected at work.
They also noted that often when women are faced with failure and rejection, they don’t stand up for themselves, their ideas, and/or their needs. Instead, women incorrectly conclude that they are not good enough or that they can’t get what they need in terms of pay, position, or work/life balance. As a result, they opt out of trying to get ahead in the workplace.
Successful women expect and embrace failure and rejection as part of the journey to success. They persevere and don’t opt out — they are resilient, not perfect.
Have a story of failure, rejection, or resilience to share to encourage other women? Tell us!