6 Ways To Feel Confident As A Female Working With Mostly Men

It’s no secret that women face many challenges in the workplace. Women are often underestimated and overlooked in corporate environments, and this can cause women to give up on their careers prematurely. If you’re a woman who works in an environment that’s dominated by men, it might be difficult to feel confident. There are a few things you can do, though, to boost your won confidence and assert yourself in a professional environment. You can even do this if you’re working virtually and using Zoom office backgrounds.

Keep Pace With The Competition

1. Identify the goals for the team. Women who want to be taken seriously in a business environment may have to work harder than their male counterparts. This is unfortunate, but it doesn’t mean that a woman can’t succeed. The first step toward success is identifying the objectives for your team. With this in mind, you can develop your own goals in service of team objectives.
2. Don’t submit to lower expectations. Some women feel as though their supervisors impose lesser expectations on them than those imposed on their male coworkers. Perhaps you’ve seen your boss push a male colleague to achieve better conversation rates, but they don’t have those same conversations with you. You need to make it clear that you want to be held to the same standard as men.
3. Prove your performance capabilities. If you demand to be subjected to the same expectations as your male coworkers, you should certainly expect to perform on par with their achievements, too. If you’re working remotely and using a virtual background with logo, you should reach out to your manager to ensure that your performance meets and exceeds expectations. This will help you ensure your performance matches that of your male peers.

Know Your Self Worth

4. Never let professional setbacks get you down. Regardless of their gender, everybody who pursues a career in business will eventually experience an obstacle. It may be a layoff, a subpar performance review, or an interview that doesn’t get a job offer. No matter what your setback is, it’s important that you don’t let it get you down.
5. Find self worth outside of your job. It can be easy for ambitious women to develop a sense of self worth that’s completely wrapped up in their professional performance. While it’s natural to derive satisfaction from your achievements, you should have other sources or self worth, too — friendships, hobbies, and relationships, for example.
6. Don’t let anybody make you doubt yourself. It’s not easy to be a woman in business. You will likely face a lot of passive resistance, but sometimes you will face blatant discouragement. If you encounter somebody who demeans your capabilities or professional potential, don’t take their word as law and consider the possibility that they are speaking out of turn.

Invest in a custom Zoom background if you’re still working from home. Fight for the respect and opportunities that you deserve as a professional woman in the workplace.