What is standing in our way to be our authentic selves—to be at the top of our game, our life, our career, our aspirations?
What we have learned: To be seen as a leader in life and work, we first need to see it for ourselves. And as women, we need to support each other in community for our own success and that of the women around us.
It’s simple, right? Yet it’s difficult to believe and change our mindset to make it so. We look so much outside of ourselves to see the many reasons why we are not worthy, not prepared, not credible, not enough, not possible.
We look for the data, we take another class and search for the answer out there. Even with all the credentials that can be earned, few women make it to the top. Although women represent the majority population in the healthcare workforce, a JAMA Open Network study found that women made up only 15.3% of CEOs in healthcare systems and only 15.8% of CEOs in health insurance groups. We need to change this narrative. It starts with a fresh look at ourselves—what story do we want to be a part of? The next course and next chapter to read is inside for each of us to uncover. What’s holding us back from opening our door to that next move, next climb and next position?
The answer is us. Ascending to the next level is still constantly influenced by an old way of thinking, with the traditional roles of women deeply entrenched by our culture story.
There is self-doubt, fear of being misunderstood or not taken seriously, our internal voice not being enough, inside a culture where men are expected and promoted to excel. That mindset has been engrained in us from an early age. It becomes our path to follow, with a road that’s not straight and that has more obstacles than we can overcome. Increasing the difficulty makes it challenging to clearly see our door for direction. We respond by overcorrecting with effort in all aspects of life, exhausted with only more self-imposed doubt. It becomes comfortable and secure, an expectation until we recognize it and break through.
Straight from women wanting to support other women, here are some pearls to help you open your door with courage—to let go of what’s holding you back and making room for what’s to come. It’s time to create your new narrative. Following are the tools we captured from the women we’ve coached:
- Prioritize the authentic you with self: self-trust, self-confidence, self-care.
- Set and balance your priorities.
- Leverage relationships, networks and new learnings.
- Stick to your core values as your foundation.
- Build upon your strengths.
- Show up with clarity, courage and conviction.
- Give yourself permission.
- Be brave to stop and create pause.
- Embrace mistakes to grow.
- Be willing to be curious, take risks and be fearless.
- Check your emotions to show up with intention.
- Make a readiness plan to focus your actions.
- Move from the doer to the thought leader, trusting others to get things done.
- Engage a confidential thinking partner in a coach to discover blind spots and reveal the authentic you.
- Inspire a community of women to change the culture.
- Always know you have a choice and that the answers are inside of you.
- Most importantly, celebrate you.
The power of community is the path to us owning our future. It facilitates our vision of what we can accomplish and the direction we want to go. Unifying our power, our message, our place.
It’s us. Our story. Our narrative. Our choice. It is time to make our move with confidence, to push open the door to greater possibilities.
Elisabeth Fontaine, MD, and Jill Berry Bowen, RN, FACHE, are the founders of Let’s Lead LLC.