Risk, Resilience, Reward Mastering the three “R’s”: The key to women’s success in the workplace.
The 2019 KPMG Women’s Leadership Study: Risk, Resilience, Reward explores women’s experiences with risk-taking and the impact it may have on career advancement. Representing the perspectives of more than 2,000 women respondents, Risk, Resilience, Reward found that seven in ten (69%) women are open to taking small risks to further their career. However, far fewer (43%) are open to taking the types of bigger risks that may be associated with career advancement.
Interestingly, 48% of respondents said risk-taking helped them be more confident in their abilities, yet the findings also indicate that the inclination to take risks declines as women become more experienced in their careers―even as their self-confidence grows.
Women looking to move into leadership positions in today’s business world may benefit by taking more risks over the course of their careers and by being more self-assertive.
Here’s leadership advice from Laura Hay, Global Head of Insurance at KPMG:
“It starts with confidence. Success in business correlates as much with confidence as it does with competence. And acting with confidence breeds confidence. How can women act with more confidence?
1. Make a conscious effort to ask for what you want. This requires being clear about your true motivations, wants and needs. Such self-knowledge is the foundation for confidence and greater assertiveness.
2. Be aware of the impression you make – particularly your body language and tone of voice: establish your space, speak in a lower register (which some studies say can increase your sense of confidence and power) and maintain eye contact.
3. Speak early, often and calmly. Even more important – have a point of view; don’t just act as a facilitator. And don’t be afraid to defend your position.
4. Finally, take risks. No risk, no reward. We all know this, but fear of failure can sometimes prevent us from taking that critical next step. So, work on your mindset. Get comfortable with the idea of failure and develop strategies to build credibility so a failure won’t derail you. Think like an athlete: they face failure every day but quickly learn to recover and move on. Remember: the more risks you successfully navigate, the more confident you’ll become, and the more risks you’ll be willing to take. It’s a virtuous cycle.
And never give up. The only true failure is quitting.”