WayCoolPeople - Breaking the Glass Ceiling

Breaking Through The Glass Ceiling
By Karen Faith Heller

There has never been a better time in the history of women working to break through the glass ceiling than NOW. Armed with the proper perspective and the right "rules for success", now is the time for women to SHATTER the glass. I want to share with you my "rules for success".

Rules for Success:

Establish Your Personal Guiding Principles
a. Take Ownership
b. Poise for Constant Change
c. Thirst for Knowledge
d. Outrageous Sense of Urgency
e. Commitment to Excellence

Build a Solid Reputation
a. Find what "others" need
b. Plan to Succeed
c. Plant the Seed

Empower Your Resources Through Networking
a. Internal
b. Customers
c. Alliances, Partners and Competitors

Establish Your Personal Guiding Principles:
It is really important to KNOW yourself. Believe in something you can live by. Believe in something you can be PASSIONATE about. Let me give you 5 things that you can start with. You can take these and make them your own.

Take Ownership – First step in any list of guiding principles is to "take ownership". These are YOUR guiding principles, not the "company’s", not the "department’s", not the "division’s", not your "boss or co-workers" – but YOURS.

Poise for Constant Change – In the past, change was synonymous with time. The technology era has accelerated the process of creating change. The technology arena’s requirement for constant change gives women the opportunity to change their roles in today’s companies.

Thirst for Knowledge – The technology arena also has another characteristic that most people may not notice. Experience is no longer measured by the number of years with a certain topic or skill set. Today’s experts are individuals that have mastered the assimilation of new knowledge in a very short amount of time. If you are going to play in the technology arena, thirst for knowledge. "Don’t snooze or you will lose"

Outrageous Sense of Urgency – Now is the time to do it. Do it now. Don’t wait.

Commitment to Excellence – No matter what gender, the rewards and recognition still go to individuals who have a commitment to excellence.

Build a Solid Reputation

Find what "others" need.
Once you’ve determined your guiding principles, the next step is your "call to action". Create and define your destiny by acting on the things you believe in. Whether it’s your company, department or division, find a cause, a need, something that "others" want solved. I would like to emphasize the word "others" – what "others" need to be solved.

Plan to Succeed.
Next, determine a plan of execution, a strategy - a roadmap. Envision the solution, with the problem already solved.

Plant the Seed.
Then, lead the first steps. Do not surround yourself with all the reasons why this need cannot be solved. Most brilliant discoveries and solutions are laughable and seem ridiculous in the beginning. It is the inventor and discoverer that make the impossible possible. They simply planted the first seed. The rest is history.

Empower Your Resources Through Networking
No inventor ever became famous if no one knew what they created, or if they failed to inspire others to what they believed in. All great accomplishments start with an individual that believes in something and are relentless in pursuit of that idea. It is not an accomplishment until people become inspired to make that idea a reality. This is the age- old art of networking – the inspiration of others to follow your cause.

In the technology arena, you must inspire and empower your internal customers, your customers, your alliances and even your competitors. Today, your impact is no longer localized, but realized on a global scale.

It is an era where a large corporation can no longer rely on the "large eating the small", but the "fast eating the slow". It is an era where employees no longer stay in one career for 15-30 years, but move every 3-5 years. It is an era where an individual can establish a company, leveraged by technology and a sound business model, and can threaten a large corporation. It is all these things that highlight networking as the most important skill set in the technology era. For most women, it is also a very natural skill set.

Whether you leverage internal resources within a major corporation or leverage additional resources outside your corporate boundaries, these relationships are not only valuable, but also required. Having said that, I would like to point out a very common misnomer about the skill set of networking. It is NOT "I know a lot of people that can do things for me".

Networking is about relationships and therefore is a two-way street. If you want to build a solid network you can rely on, you must make the effort to manage those relationships. It is a partnership where the secret recipe is "give and take", where both parties continually benefit from one another.

You will have mastered the art of networking when "one plus one" equals more than just "two", when your relationships are truly meaningful and mutually beneficial over the long term.

For so many years we have watched our dreams disappear through the glass ceiling. With the advent of the technology era, I have witnessed strong women pioneers who have cracked the glass ceiling. I encourage all women to establish their personal guiding principles, build a solid reputation and then network, network, network! Set your goals. Aim high. Face the challenge "head-on". Have faith. Shatter the ceiling!