Take These Steps Towards Leadership & Authority
 
 
Do you want to have more authority at work? Do you want to act like a leader and have others perceive you as leadership material? Well, these 3 steps will set you on your way.
 
First, one note on what doesn’t work:  You can’t act like one of those successful, abrasive, aggressive male executives. Because, you know the word, the B word, that’s what you’ll be stuck with. And try to make a persuasive presentation when that description precedes you. You’d be operating with a handicap.
 
Deal With Your Appearance
We can take our clue from what works from the research done for political candidates. In their words, “You have to have face credibility.” If you place an ad for a male candidate next to an ad for a female, viewers start detracting points from the female before she starts talking. In other words, the woman is graded on her appearance—not so for the male. This doesn’t mean you have to be young and slim, but it does mean you should take the free advice of the consultants (it surely wasn’t free originally): look like a woman with authority. The advice is to take some time with your hair and a little makeup. Your clothing should never be Friday Casual, even if everyone else is dressed that way. You should be dressed like an executive—and it would not be a mistake to be better dressed than the men. Suits are suggested, but I believe a woman can wear tailored dresses. In fact, I like this idea as it underscores that she’s not trying to be a man. And you shouldn’t be, because that doesn’t work. We tried this experiment for 3 decades and saw that it didn’t help.
 
Formulate Your Credibility
Make an effort to gather together pieces of your credibility and plan ways to weave them into conversations and introductions—that you can live with. I know it’s not comfortable, at first, but it’s absolutely imperative that you do this. An advanced degree is not necessary in most cases. There are other things that make an impression with men:  How about a successful marketing campaign that you were a part of, or a well-known client you helped nab?  Put the results into concise statements that you can use now and then, and then some more. Give people the facts that show your competence. Put numbers in there to get the male brain’s attention. If you’re asking why I keep mentioning getting the men’s attention, it’s because 84 percent of upper management in the Fortune 500 companies is male-run. Women have only made it into 16 percent—nowhere near the halfway mark.
 
Now that I ventured into the numbers realm, I think it’s fascinating that this 84 percent is suspiciously close to the number of state governors who are male—86 percent. Now that we’re in the twenty-first millennium, aren’t you surprised that women have not passed above the 20 percent barrier when appearing outside the private sphere? I’m surprised— I’m surprised and looking for ways to help women with this “obstacle.”
 
The Language Of Authority
You have to admit the first 2 steps are doable: You can deal with your appearance, and you can formulate a great verbal resume with just a little forethought. Now the third step is equally doable. It just takes a little practice to recognize when you’re using passive language, and quickly adjust it back into active language—the language of authority. Look to Phyllis Mindell, author of How to Say It for Women:  The active form in English is subject-verb-object (such as, The CEO wrote her talk). To translate that into the weaker passive voice, we must insert a version of the “to be” verb (such as, The talk was written by the CEO). Here are a few examples you want to add to your Avoid List:
 

• The project was completed before the deadline.
• A proposal is required before June.
• Your willingness to give me a personal tour was very much appreciated.

 
Change those weak sentences into these active versions:
 

• The team completed the project before the deadline.
• The telephone company requires a proposal before the deadline.
• Thanks for your willingness to give me a personal tour.

 
 
Tip:
 
For your next meeting, design a few sentences that display your credibility, and say them in the active voice. Of course, this needs to be in relation to the business topic at hand, but you can do it! And I’m sure most of the other participants will not do this type of preparation.
 
Further Reading:
 
Blog, Powerful Communication For Women — How To Change “I Speak Like A Girl” to “I Know What I’m Talking About”
 
Website, WomensMedia, by Victoria Simon and Holly Pedersen,  Fearless Communication
Our At-Home Style Is Not Successful In Business
 
Podcast, Women’s Lunch Talk, Nature vs Nurture —Men and Women: Different But Equal
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Tags: authority, communication, working, women