Ruminants are animals like cows that live exclusively on plant food and struggle to extract sufficient protein from their diet. If you think about it, rumination describes what ruminants do. Do not wear “analysis equals paralysis” as your personal slogan. When you find yourself going down that questioning past, interrupt or distract your thoughts. Instead of accepting and moving on, we mull over, dwell, regret and put misplaced energies in trying to rewrite events. Do you know how men deal with it? They say they made a mistake everyone does it. How many of us are guilty about this? Ruminating is a variation of holding on to the past. If you recognize that you have perfectionist tendencies, you can serve long tern interests by learning to delegate effectively, prioritizing and getting comfortable with taking measured risks. Risk taking requires us to be open to failure. Coaching data gathered revealed that at the executive level, men are most likely to be rewarded for daring and risk taking while women at similar levels are most likely rewarded for precision and correctness. Why women though? Gender expectations from childhood and expectations that gets reinforced in the workplace. Do you want to create that negativity as a leader? Striving for perfection also creates a negative mindset which says that if a little detail goes awry the whole will be ruined. It keeps you riveted on details and distracts from the big picture that is expected from a senior role. Striving for perfection is unrealistic and creates stress for yourself and those around you. Maintain a healthy self interest in your career and development and be brave take the leap. The truth is that top leadership roles are focused more on potential for the next level of responsibility rather than management of current level of responsibility. Loyalty is a trap women fall into easily – it causes us to sacrifice our ambitions, sell our talents and potential short because we think we are doing a marvelous job and the team or (fill in blank here) needs us. I picked three to share here: Habit #6: Putting your job before your career.ĭo you devote so much of your time doing a superb job that you neglect to take steps to go to the next level? The research shows that one common reason women put their jobs before their career is rooted in one of their greatest virtues: loyalty. This book highlights 12 habits that we women struggle with: sometimes without even recognizing it.

This well researched book shows how the skills and attributes that got us in our current roles will also be the ones holding us back from advancing to the next level.

How Women Rise – Break the 12 Habits holding you back from your next raise, promotion or job. Sharing some lessons from a book that I read recently from women’s leadership expert Sally Helgesen and author, Marshall Goldsmith.

How women rise