FEATURE
SHE BELIEVED SHE COULD , SO SHE DID – EMBRACING OUR OWN STYLE OF LEADERSHIP
Even in today ’ s society , women are still significantly underrepresented in management positions , but why ? Hayley Brightmore , Director and Co-Founder , Knight Transaction Services , believes there are several factors holding women back . She tells Intelligent CXO what these are and how women can overcome them to become leaders in their chosen field .
Things are changing in the boardroom . I ’ ve seen huge progress in my industry – the financial services sector – over the past few years . More women are reaching leadership positions now than when I first started my career . But we ’ re not there yet and all is not equal when it comes to senior management roles .
There are deep-rooted reasons for this , of course , and change has been too slow . But some of the barriers are within our control and we
have an opportunity to make things better , both for ourselves and those who follow us . Here are a few things we can do – to lead by example and inspire the next generation of female leaders .
Banish imposter syndrome
There aren ’ t many women out there who will say they ’ ve never suffered from imposter syndrome . I ’ ve felt it ever since I was promoted to a managerial position .
I remember going into meetings and sensing that people thought I must be more junior than the man I was attending with , even when I wasn ’ t .
I felt I had to work harder to gain recognition for what I was contributing – and I still love seeing a flicker of embarrassment when people realise they have underestimated me .
As women , we feel this need for approval even when we know it ’ s irrational . I was always confident
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