Women in Business’ POW featured Ramneet Sachdev, a former Baruch graduate that came to tell women to stop settling for less! Sachdev has pointed out that women tend to be viewed in a negative light, which can be shown with a simple google search. Sachdev typed in “why women” on the google search bar and let google auto-fill do the rest of the work. The results were discouraging. “why women cry” and “why women complain” were among the top search results which were alarming to Sachdev. With these results, she made the point to say, “you don’t represent you. You represent all women,” so every action must be deliberate.
So how do women start to stop settling and take the initiative? Just two easy things.
Step one: Stop being what is expected. As the google auto-fill shows, this is how society views women. In order to stop these views women have to step out of the box that not only society but they have put themselves in. Only 22 of the Fortune 500 CEOs are women, and the amount of women in congress is only 18%, which is a nearly insignificant number. Insignificant enough that society doesn’t see women as leading CEOs or congresswomen, but just women complaining and crying. To change those google auto fills, women need to show what they can do and surprise the world.
Step two: Know what you really want in life. Ramneet calls these your non-negotiables. These are things that you consider so important to you that you will not tolerate if things are not up to your standards. This is to show confidence and an unwavering spirit. This breaks the sterotype that women will settle for what is given to them because they are too weak to stand up for themselves. By having these non-negotiable you are clearly stating this is what I want, and I won’t take no for an answer. Your non-negotiable could be having a set vacation time like Ramneet, or to work in a POC friendly environment.
The next time you are looking for a job ask yourself these three questions.
What does your ideal day look like?
What do you need day to day?
What are the top 5 things you need in a career?
If you can’t answer these questions you just might be settling for anything that may come your way.