Photo: huffingtonpost.com
We all know in order to thrive, we need to speak up more at work. Especially when it comes to women’s empowerment at work, we’ve heard just about it all…
Yet what do you do when you can’t even seem to get a word in edgewise at work? It’s all fine and dandy to recommend employees, female employees especially, speak up more, when in most cases, work conversations are monopolized by a select few. And that’s when you are even invited to the conversation…
If you speak louder, especially as a woman, you are automatically categorized as overly aggressive and brash. Add to that being a black woman, and you readily fit the “angry black woman” stereotype. If you try to be too diplomatic, you’re dubbed as the office doormat, and become invisible at best, ignored at worst.
I’ve been in numerous office environments and meetings in which I’ve literally had to jump on top of the table, pull a Jackie Chan pose, fly up in the air and land on my curls to get noticed. Not really, but you get my drift…It took all I had in me to get a word in edgewise for just about a minute or so…So I’ve had to learn, the hard way:
1. Don’t ask for the floor, take it! In male-dominated, patriarchal-type professional environments, you’ve got to fend for yourself. Don’t sit there with your perfectly manicured finger raised (the index one, please). Find something to say (and no, it doesn’t have to be earth-shattering), and say it, loud and clear! If it helps, stand up and speak up!
2. Steal the spotlight! This is one of the only times you can break a holy commandment! Use your facial expression, and your entire body language to get the spotlight! Lean in, stand up, make eye contact, this is your moment, take it or lose it!
3. Go ahead, fake it ’til you make it! Yes, your heart is beating, your palms are sweaty, and your vision field just got awfully blurry. Feel the fear and do it afraid! State your opinion or question with as much assurance as you can muster. Remember you’re being paid for this!
How do you manage to get a word in edgewise at work?
The Corporate Sis.
