Breakthrough Women of 2015
Woman in a Man’s World:
Do You See Gender or Talent?
In recent years, there has been a real movement to increase the number of women successfully working in the commercial construction/corporate real estate industry. As a woman who has had a successful 25+ year career in this and its supporting fields, I am frequently asked “So how did you do it; how did you not only excel but thrive in a very, male-dominated world?”
For the record, I despise that saying.
First and foremost, I never thought of it that way. In my opinion, if you allow yourself to think that way, you’re coming at it from a negative mindset before you even walk in the door to get started.
Reflecting back, I never saw myself as any different than anyone else. As I mentioned in my blog Double Down on Your Strengths, Individualization is a talent theme in my Top 5 Gallup Clifton StrengthsFinder.
Intuitively, I have always leveraged this talent because I don’t see gender, race, creed, etc. I see people and I’m naturally curious and want to be a resource to them. Because of this, I didn’t become intimidated if I was the only woman in the room. That’s because I never even noticed that I was the only woman in the room, and if I had, I’m pretty sure that it wouldn’t have made a difference to me.
As an example, I remember when I was working in economic development for the Greater Houston Partnership nearly 15 years ago and managed the site visit of an Italian-based aviation manufacturer.
The delegation was 20 people, including eight or so city leaders/executives. After a full day of events (including a five-course dinner at an upscale Houston restaurant), one our guests congratulated me on a great day. He also boldly mentioned “and you were the only woman the whole day.”
Amazed, I thanked him for this odd compliment and then realized that I had spent 14 hours with this group and hadn’t even noticed that I was the only woman.
We are now nearing the end of January 2019.
There is an opportunity for us to change our thinking once and for all and stop thinking in terms of gender. If we apply ourselves tenaciously to the task and consistently to do a fantastic job, we will be rewarded. My career is a testimony to that.
I am not delusional; I know that (in many cases) women still must outwork and outshine our male peers. That old saying that “Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did, but backwards and high heels” is unfortunately still a little true today.
However, I’ve seen great strides in the business and technical professional world each year since I entered the workforce with my first part-time job in 1986. Companies (many of them now led by women) know and appreciate the value that diversity of thought has on the advancement of their organizations’ visions. For those companies who don’t realize or appreciate it, they will soon become dinosaurs because intelligent, talented, creative women are here to stay!
Best States for Female Entrepreneurs
In fact, statistics from the University of New Hampshire indicate that the number of female entrepreneurs is growing steadily in the U.S. In 2018, 23% of entrepreneurs seeking angel investing were female — up from 19% in 2014. And even more encouraging — since 1972, female-owned businesses in the U.S. have surged 3,000%. The list of states best for female entrepreneurs is featured here with Texas ranked as #1: Best States for Female Entrepreneurs
It is incumbent upon those of us who have achieved success to mentor and invest in the next generations of emerging women and men to move this forward. Why young men you may ask? Because if we only focus on young women, then we will continue to perpetuate the silos.
We all need each other to thrive!
Men need to welcome us as their allies and their colleagues; they should not walk on eggshells around us; otherwise, we will not truly be able to collaborate and advance our organizations and ourselves.
In the end, we are all still just people and we all have choices. Will you choose to walk into a room with a positive, empowered mindset or with one of weakness?
Best Selling Author, University of Houston Research Professor and Accomplished Motivational Speaker, Brene’ Brown puts it so succinctly: “Don’t walk through the world looking for evidence that you don’t belong because you will always find it.”
The power lies in your thinking
It is also fueled by putting action behind that thinking. In a coming Blog Series, I will provide my advice for advancing careers (non-gender specific); I will also define the 30 Tips that I’d give my 30-Year-Old Self. Stay tuned…
In the meantime if you’d like to continue this discussion, please contact me at dlandry@authentizity.com.
This video was created more than 4 years ago. My viewpoint on this topic shone through then…
