Perfecting your career to death. Why it’s time women lowered their standards
Stephanie MacKendrick is President of Canadian Women in Communications and a recognized thought leader on women’s advancement and board diversity. You can follow her on Twitter @SMacKendrick
The better you do something, the better the chances of success. Correct? We’ve been told that since kindergarten; do better, cross those “t”s, dot those “i”s. Few would argue that excellence brings rewards. So research that shows that girls tend to be better students than boys,that they grow up into women who are better at following the rules in business should translate into better career advancement for women compared to men.
The lamentable statistics tell us that is not so.
I’d argue that perfectionism – particularly for women – is the slippery downhill slope that presents itself when you reach “excellence” and try to push beyond it to achieve perfection. It’s the ultimate self-sabotage tool. Think about it. If perfection is your standard, what are your chances of succeeding against that benchmark? Or of being able to advance and move forward when you’re stuck trying to perfect the present? And it’s got to be a killer of job satisfaction when you can’t consistently attain your own self-imposed standards.
But worse yet is the fact that perfectionism keeps its practitioners so busy that they rarely have time to do other equally important career development tasks – networking, strategizing, building profile and communicating accomplishments.
So that’s why my career advice to women is this: “Lighten up and loosen your standards if you want to get ahead. Be part of the 80/20 world; if you can get 80 percent of the way with 20 percent of your time, shout hurray and move on.” (Unless you are a surgeon in which case this advice definitely DOES NOT apply).
Category: Career Girl
I agree. I interviewed an entrepreneur in December and she talked about the fact that for years she had not sought help or advice from other business owners (male or female) because she felt she had to do everything perfectly – that if she asked for help it was like signaling a weakness. She knew a lot of other women who felt the same way. But she’s gained hugely from changing tack and going to others for help when she isn’t sure how to achieve a particular goal. I think seeking of perfection may be another reason fewer women than men will apply for a job they appear not to be totally qualified for – we think we have to tick all the boxes and that if we lack a few skills we won’t be considered for the job. Men just plunge in regardless.
I can relate to every word wtreitn in this article. My daughters had promising careers in India and left for USA after marriage. They however used the time available to prepare for and answer GRE and TOEFL. They enjoyed the experience of studying in American Universities and are now holding good jobs. But of course the initial years were difficult and as mentioned in the article, to depend on one’s spouse for spending money was not easy despite the fact that their husbands were very considerate and allowed them a lot of freedom. So I suppose one has to figure out how best to utilize the opportunity.
[...] Stephanie Mackendrick, President of Canadian Women in Communications, wrote a piece titled Perfecting Your Career to Death: Why it’s Time Women Lowered Their Standards concerning the perfectionist attitude held by so many women that ultimately leads them to not [...]