2017 was a tough year for me. I had just handed over the biggest and most amazing IT project of my career.
My client: a very traditional German engineering company with around 14,000 employees.
My role: project manager for the global roll-out of an IT system for the engine engineering division, the plant engineering division and the after-sales business.
I loved it and my client gave me a very impressive reference.
Too Feminine....
At the time, I had long blonde hair and was super confident. Then I started looking for roles and projects in Switzerland. It wasn't easy because I didn't have a strong network. To cut a long story short, I had two interviews where the feedback was "we don't think you can deliver" and the second
"we don't think such a tiny person can deal with our engineering people".
The latter was for a project identical to my client's, with a company half the size and in a similar industry. So copy and paste to half the size.
This feedback was devastating to me. Even more so when I met the chosen project manager and he confirmed that I was better qualified for the role.
Bias and impressions
On reflection, I seemed too feminine and soft with long blonde hair for IT project management roles in the engineering industry. This impression was confirmed by a well-known recruiter (female). My light bulb moment was when I realised that I had a big project at my client at a time when I had short black hair. So I cut my hair short and within a few months I had an exciting senior role in a Big 4 consultancy.
I am the same person no matter what colour, length or style of hair I have - but my impression on others is different. I think we all have a lot of unconscious biases about how we see people and what kind of boxes we put them in. And I have them too.
Becoming aware of these biases is one step.
And consciously using the different impressions we can have is another.
Our clothing, style and body language are the elements that create our first impression. They are part of the message we want to convey to the audience. And the audience can be our boss, our colleagues, a client, people at an event.
No need to be masculine....
There's no need for us women to be masculine in our roles in business.
This is one of the driving motivations behind the passion4projects.academy.
AND we can choose to be more masculine and/or feminine whenever we feel like it. It is our choice.
Your Props in Communication
Think of it as a play - you have
- the audience (boss, client, colleague,...)
- Your message that you want to get across
- The stage (the setting or situation where you want to deliver your message) and
- All the props you would like to have to make the desired impact (clothing, body language, accessories, make-up,...).
This is where your power lies.
What is my learning - any inspiration for you?
- I became aware of this bias and my perception.
- I choose consciously how I want to be seen
- I am more self-confident and assertive and I speak out against this kind of B.S.
I have set up the "passion4projects.academy" so that it will become normal to see successful women in leading roles in projects.
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