Choice or Sacrifice?

“Compared to their male counterparts, women tend to lack self-belief and confidence – which leads to a cautious approach to career opportunities” Institute of Leadership and Management report into Ambition and Gender, 2011

Research from the BBC yesterday showed that women are under-represented in many of Britain’s top jobs from boardroom and the courtroom, to politics and policy.   On the Women in Social Housing Linkedin site today, women are debating whether this is because women are making sacrifices, or exercising choice.

For me, in my 30's the route to getting what the balance I wanted, was to set up Indigo.  It took self-belief and confidence and it was certainly a bold rather than cautious move.  It also took a lot of planning, reality checking and careful negotiating with everyone else implicated in my decision to leave corporate life.  As a result for the last 15 years I have been able to spend the time with my family I craved, whilst doing work I absolutely love.

In my coaching I am working with women across the career spectrum and one consistent theme is: How do I get more of what I want?  For some of them it is about getting that promotion, building great relationships, learning how to think strategically, doing work that makes a difference and gets noticed, selling themselves and the work they do without cringing.  For others, it is about working out satisfying ways of balancing life and work, finding unique moves within and outside the corporate world of creating space to bring up families, look after relatives, travel, focus on education….the list is so varied.  Often , as much it is about skills, planning, action, it is about dealing with those gremlin – like anxieties of confidence and self-belief.So, What do you want?  What’s your view?  Choice or sacrifice?