I don’t know about you but whether I’m feeling like an impostor, self-censoring my own tweets because I don’t want to appear too opinionated, or apologising for existing, I often feel like I’m the poster girl for the overly polite working woman stereotype. I triple and quadruple check my emails before sending them, painstakingly analysing every word. I play down my own achievements. I often criticise myself and point out my flaws so that other people can’t be the first to do it themselves. I’m ambitious, hard working, intelligent and creative. But I’m also overly conscientious, a little bit of a worrier and a wannabe people-pleaser. I want to be successful but I don’t want to be threatening or rude or *gasp* bossy in the process. Heaven forbid!
So, when I saw these handy infographics created by the brilliant Sarah Cooper, I couldn’t help but laugh. There are 9 infographics in the series total but here are the ones I’ve been most guilty of at some point in my career. You can see all 9 non-threatening leadership strategies for women on The Cooper Review.
Although I’m certainly guilty of so many of these things, I’d like to think I’m improving. I try to be more direct with my emails, I try not to apologise for things that don’t really matter and I no longer play down awards I’ve been nominated for as if they’re “no big deal”. I still need to stop censoring my social media accounts, though. Far too often, I’ll tweet what’s on my mind (usually very valid concerns) before deleting my tweets or posts half an hour later because I don’t want people to think I’m an angry person. I am an angry person but that anger comes from a good place!
