Article: Why so many women in tech get told they’re ‘not strategic’

This article reminded me of some discussions during our last meeting around promotions compared to our male counterparts.  https://www.fastcompany.com/90548817/why-so-many-women-in-tech-get-told-theyre-not-strategic 

Here's a snippet of some of the tips:

If you’re confident you deserve a promotion and believe you’ll be passed over, here’s my advice:

1. Make sure your strategic contributions are clear. If you created a solution to a problem, and no one knows it’s your solution, that’s your new problem to solve. Your contribution needs to be clear or else it doesn’t exist—that’s a hard truth.
2. Contribute to the overall health of the business. Executives are focused on building the business—they care about people strategy, growth strategy, retention strategy, and financial health. If you’re not contributing ideas on all fronts, start now. Your function doesn’t matter—you can impact everything. You can suggest a new recruitment strategy, try to bring in leads from your network, contribute to customer success, and find ways to make or save the company money.
3. Up-level your presentations. In forums where you’re presenting, always take a step back and set the context. Don’t dive into details and numbers right away. The level of detail you operate in can’t be easily understood by execs. Always open with “Before we get into the details, just a quick reminder—here’s our strategy. Related to how we’re executing on this strategy we have three key takeaways for you.” While you may think this removes the opportunity for you to share the great details of your work, it’s actually giving you a better platform to showcase your strategic impact. Execs will walk away thinking you can articulate what’s working/not in your function.
4. Understand the difference between management and leadership. Proving yourself as a manager is critical to becoming a leader. But being a good manager doesn’t make you a strong leader. We’ve all had difficult team members that are tough to motivate and manage; at worst they seek to undermine you, and at best they constantly challenge you. Leaders are able to take these employees and either remove them or inspire them to do their best work. Leaders are people that team members want to work hard for, not against.
5. Build your visibility—up. Here’s an important distinction: I didn’t say build up your visibility. You need to focus on building your visibility upwards. If you want to move up, you need champions who are higher up than you. This is your boss, alongside their peers, all the way to the CEO. There are a lot of ways to do this.
   1. Always participate in company-sponsored activities. Execs will be there, and in the world of digital burnout, you’ll have an opportunity to stand out. You’ll at least make a positive impression for being committed and being a leader. If this makes you feel extra-taxed because you already have family commitments—I hear you. Do as much as you can.
   2. Spot problems, suggest solutions, and make sure people above you know you’ve suggested solutions.
   3. Ask smart questions in front of large audiences. There’s no better way to be seen and heard by execs than being the only person who speaks up in a company meeting. Come up with a question about your market, competition, or growth strategy and you’ll be noticed for intelligence and willingness to speak up.