Why don’t women in the workplace help other women? Are we competing for each other’s jobs? Are we so mean-spirited that we don’t want to see other women succeed?
Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo’s chair and CEO, tackles these important questions in a compelling two minute video from the 2016 Women in The World Summit.
What can we learn from Nooyi? She offers three pieces of strong advice to help women help each other:
Seek Out Feedback from Other Women
Feedback by definition is information gathered to be used as a basis for improvement. What better place to get feedback than from other women who may have been in your shoes? Next time you write something or do a presentation seek out a woman on your team or in the room to let you know how you did and what you could do to improve. Don’t be afraid to ask for it.
Give Feedback the Right Way
When giving feedback be both positive and constructive. Start with what went well and follow up with what could be improved upon. Because you started with something good your less positive feedback will likely be much better received. You want the woman with whom you are conversing to leave the dialogue with an overall uplifting feeling – that you have her back vs. trying to stab her in the back.
Look for Female Mentors
Having the right mentor is often one of the keys to a strong career. While some of the most successful women have had male mentors this is a pattern that needs to change. Not because male mentors are bad (in many instances sheer numbers made them the only option) but because we need to model the behavior of women helping women. The more mentoring occurs between women the more women will naturally help each other in the workplace.
Nooyi ends with one plea: “Let’s figure out how we can help each other way more than we are today.” We at Progressive Women’s Leadership are in complete agreement.
