By Kelsey Braun
On Tuesday March 9, Talya Meyerowitz met with the PRIMA Group on the second day of Lead #LikeAGirl during the month of March’s Women’s History Month.
Meyerowitz has previous work experience in advertising and has worked for PR Week Magazine. Currently, she works with groups all over to discuss ways that women can lift each other up in a workplace environment.
Through the use of Mean Girls references and examples of different ways that stigmas around women leaders have affected the work environment, Meyerowitz was able to conclude there are steps that women can take to lift each other up.
We need to bring the “pink elephant” in the room to the table. Here are some of Meyerowitz’s recommendations on Leading #LikeAGirl:
Look in the Mirror: Most importantly, we need to reflect on how we could be a part of the problem.
Address Bias Openly: We automatically create a picture and our own assumptions about one another in our head and it is time that we address these biases head on. Challenge: For the next week, when you see other women walking by, what are automatic assumptions that you make? In this exercise, try to be aware of these assumptions and challenge them.
Don't let labels hold you back: Labels Against Women - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luLkfXixBpM - In this video that Meyerowitz showed, there are lists of stigmas and labels that women are given in the work environment, compared to the labels that men are given. It is so important to avoid letting these labels hold women back from achieving their career goals.
Think about what percent of communication is the words we say: When we are communicating, there are three areas of communication that are being activated: words, tone, and body language. Of these three, spoken words make up 7%, tone of voice makes up 38% and body language is 55%. Especially now, there can be a lot of miscommunication through the use of texting. Meyerowitz says we need to be conscious of this to avoid miscommunication, which goes hand in hand with talking directly to each other in times of conflict.
Listen to WHAT each other is saying: Meyerowitz challenges us to do an exercise where we ask a friend to tell us a story for a minute and a half. During this time, the only thing you need to do is listen and focus on how this person feels as well as their excitement when they are telling the story. In doing this we will improve our listening skills, which is valuable in the workplace.
Additional Tips:
Give women honest feedback.
Champion each other in the workplace.
Smile! :)
Lead the Change.