Women Helping Women: A Statement and Challenge

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

You might be wondering what I know about women helping women. My name is Renee Flores. I’ve a husband and 2 kids who are both in college. I’ve worked in marketing, sales, legislative advocacy and Digital over the past 25 years. Let’s just put it out there that I’ve been a busy working woman for these past 25 years and things really aren’t slowing down

Just before normal life halted due to the global pandemic, I accepted an invitation to visit with a women’s leadership student organization on Texas A&M University.

Topic: Work life balance from the perspective of a Fortune 10 executive.

Work life balance is challenging topic on any day and particularly so for women. This group of women is a diverse, highly engaged and achievement-oriented cohort pursuing education in diverse fields. So, I genuinely wanted to do right by these young ladies and empower them for their next chapter more than anything.

What are you worried about?

At the beginning of my presentation, I asked if they knew what my most important goal was for the time we had together. The answer? To talk about their questions rather than blather on about me.

I started with an overview of my career path, but that was just the opening act. I shared a few of my obstacles, hard choices and mistakes. I spoke about the people who guided me and helped me on my path. And after that as the warm-up, they were ready to talk.

I wasn’t surprised at their questions, but I was impressed. This was clearly not the first time they had thought about making the transition from academia to the workplace. We talked about conflict in the workplace, personal budgets and feeling like an imposter (more on these later), as well as::

• “Messing up” in the workplace

Yes. You will. I mess up a lot. The key is to learn and apply that knowledge so that each of us gets better. Figure out what’s important in your job and workplace and be self-aware about your areas for improvement. That can be different for each of us and where we are in the employee lifecycle. Sometimes we come up short because we lack knowledge or experience; we
might make mistakes because of our blindspots (i.e lack of emotional intelligence) or areas that aren’t strengths (attention to detail, managing conflict). Either way, being self-aware and getting honest feedback from peers, supervisors and mentors helps each of us develop. Don’t
beat yourself up, learn and move on.

• Making friends at work

Friendships are one of life’s blessing. But leaving old friends and making new ones can be intimidating. You’ll have to put yourself out there and be open to relationships. Say “yes” to group and individual lunch invitations, coffee or social events. Give yourself the chance to be surprised at a friendship that you wouldn’t have expected.

• Negotiating salary

Do your research and know your numbers! Empower yourself with knowledge of competitive salary ranges and total compensation by experience, market and title. There are plenty of online resources like Glassdoor, Salary.com and PayScale that provide data. Be sure to think about the total picture of health benefits, perks, savings plans, financial and charitable contribution matches and whatever is important to you. The negotiating will take courage. Once you know your facts, role play with someone and practice in front of a mirror to prepare for the actual conversations.

• Taking Career decisions

Your priorities may or may not change over time. Don’t become complacent, but constantly evaluate where you are personally and professionally and what’s most important to you. Know how jobs are trending and what skills are in demand. Hold that up against your personal priorities including different family stages like starting a family, caring for aging parents or addressing your own health and wellness issues.

We are all in this together

Too many smiles to fit in a picture, but we managed

I shared not just my successes, but also my vulnerabilities and my own questions with them. I feel so happy to be part of their story. Those future leaders inspired me with their insightful questions and I hope I gave them some perspective on the real work world that makes their next chapters easier. As I looked around the room that evening, I was certain of one thing —

We are all in this together! Regardless of the generation, personality, education level, cultures and tenure in the employee lifecycle, women can help women achieve business and personal goals. That’s both a statement of truth and a challenge

If you want to have a chat about my experiences as a woman, as a mom or as an executive at a Fortune 10 company, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter.