How to Advocate for Yourself — and Other Women — in the Workplace

Our country was recently shaken by the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Within my circle of closest friends and colleagues — many of whom identify as feminists — the loss of our longtime shero and role model made us reassess how we have and how we will continue her legacy and pay it forward to ensure gender equality.

In my nook of the world — and what’s within my control — is advancing women’s leadership in American nonprofits and philanthropy. As a VP of a nonprofit organization, I am lucky enough to have internal influence within my organization, and external influence on the industries of which we are a part.

In the US, there are about 1.5 million registered nonprofits, which contribute to more than 5 million employment opportunities.

Yet, as Missionbox reminds us: “The majority of the nonprofit workforce — more than 75 percent in some U.S. sectors — is female. Still, when it comes to the highest rung of the ladder at big-budget organizations, women are much more scarce.”

One could point to the glass ceiling to explain this phenomenon: women typically take a mid-career break to take of childcare; gender bias remains prolific in the workplace; and of course the adage that women are less likely to advocate for themselves to be promoted, paid more, or have greater visibility within their organizations.

Here are some recommendations for professional women looking to overcome that third item: advocating for yourself and– in memory of RBG– paying it forward to others in the workplace.

HOW TO ADVOCATE FOR YOURSELF IN THE WORKPLACE

• Track your accomplishments; keep a professional portfolio that showcases the breadth of your work.
• Share your wins and your professional and personal successes with your supervisor. Ask your supervisor to share the information with others, especially at the highest levels of your organization’s leadership.
• Share your successes with your team.
• Seek feedback from your supervisor and others a level higher than you.
• Share your opinions and feedback with others– honestly.
• Find allies in your company who can act as your advocates and “be in your corner.” These can be peers or colleagues more junior and senior than yourself.
• Set boundaries regarding your limits, abilities, and capacity.
• Own your time in a meeting. If someone interrupts you in a meeting, state that you weren’t done. “Just a second Joe, I’m not finished yet.”
• Own your ideas in a meeting. If, in a meeting, someone mentions an idea you have just raised, acknowledge that with, “I’m so glad you liked my idea, Joe.”
• Ask your supervisor if you can take on a more “public-facing” role. This could be “public-facing” in the sense of “to the larger team” or “to all staff,” or this could be a true “public-facing” effort such as having women staff lead an external stakeholder meeting, introduce a speaker at an event, or moderate or speak at an event.
• Initiate advancement conversations with your supervisor. This doesn’t necessarily mean asking for a raise or a promotion (although you absolutely should have these conversations!). This includes asking your supervisor what type of professional development opportunities are available to you and what additional skill sets you would need to improve in growth areas.
• Ask directly for what you want — that project, that role, that promotion. Be specific on what you want and by when.
• Negotiate when needed.
• Don’t apologize for asking what you want or for negotiating.

HOW TO ADVOCATE FOR OTHER WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE

• Share others’ accomplishments. If you learn of a female team member’s success (in or outside of work), ask for permission to share with others — then actively share this information with the rest of your team. Think about other channels or other ways you might be able to share another’s good news.
• Give credit to other women in public forums. This could be in internal meetings, on group emails, or in staff chat rooms.
• Give praise to said team member in private with others and in public with senior leaders of the organization.
• Reinforce a woman’s idea or suggestion in front of others. If a woman shares an idea in a team meeting (to which no one responds or the group moves on), and a man shares the same idea, be sure to call credit to the woman who first mentioned the idea. “John, it sounds like you agree with the idea Jane just shared.”
• Reinforce a woman’s place in a meeting. If, in a meeting, someone speaks over a woman in the middle of her sentence, interrupt and bring attention to this. “John, could you hold that thought? Jane wasn’t finished.”
• Encourage women in your organization to share their ideas with appropriate stakeholders or decision-makers. If you know a woman has an idea on a topic and doesn’t raise that idea in a meeting: a) ask her to share her idea, or b) say something to the effect of, “Jane shared an idea on this with me recently,” and invite her to elaborate. If so inclined: before inviting her to speak, mention that you think her idea is a good one.
• Initiate advancement and professional development conversations with your direct reports.
• Find avenues within your company to give women team members a more public-facing role or task. (See note about this above.)
• Recommend them for stretch assignments — in other words, projects that are outside the comfort or competence zone of a team member. This signals that you support the professional development of this team member.
• Be an ally for team members who need accessibility and/or accommodation.
• Encourage your direct reports to set boundaries regarding their limits, abilities, and capacity.

These practical tips are meant to inspire confidence and courage to pursue career goals and can be applied in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, or of course, in the case of the Notorious RBG– at the highest levels of the national government.

Feel free to make additional suggestions for either list in the comments!