This is the final in a second series of blog posts that will look at four personal strategies you can put in place to help you get over the barriers to women’s advancement in the workplace. The first series looked at the myths that act as barriers, as discussed in a workshop moderated by Deborah Gillis, Vice President, Catalyst Canada at our WiN-Canada Conference held in Ottawa on Feb. 27, 2008. Catalyst is the leading nonprofit corporate membership research and advisory organization working globally with businesses and the professions to build inclusive environments and expand opportunities for women and business.

Strategy #4 - Seek out opportunities

Following along with your homework for this series you have set your goals (Strategy 1), started work on your self-promotion (Strategy 2) and looked for mentors who can help you achieve your goals (Strategy 3). Good for you!

Now let’s look at the final step in your personal strategy journey:  - Seek out opportunities.

How many of us fall into the “good student syndrome”, where we do our best work everyday and sit back and wait for our boss to give us the gold star? How many of us get the gold star? Probably not that many.

Don’t rely on your boss to manage your career. Seek opportunities for yourself. That is not to say that your boss can’t help you, but remember, your boss cannot read your mind. Let your boss know what opportunities you would like to be considered for and why.

Don’t be afraid to ask! Look for stretch opportunities; ask to be included in different stages of a project, to work on a new project, for a mentoring relationship or for training. Present well thought out proposals to your boss on how your skill set can help a project or how valuable the work experience would be to helping you achieve your goals and you will most likely, at the very least, be considered for a role.

At a recent WiN-Durham meeting, Tom Mitchell, Chief Nuclear Officer, for Ontario Power Generation spoke about this very topic. His career advice was to broaden out your experience, making your resume more diverse. He suggested this was just as important as diversifying your financial portfolio.

“A well-rounded employee who has exposure in different areas of the business is a more effective ambassador and a more valuable employee,” Mitchell said. He looks for this diversity when he is setting up teams. He tries to avoid “group think” by putting as many diverse backgrounds and experienced people on a team as possible. He suggested everyone should look for and cherish opportunities to diversify and grow, and run after them.

One of the barriers to women’s advancement in the workplace, identified by Catalyst research, is a lack of line experience for women. So go out there, move outside your comfort zone and look for opportunities to diversify your resume.

Ask for success!

Share your experiences on how stepping outside your comfort zone and asking for an opportunity has helped you in your career. Join the conversation!