So 2025
“Let's unbox ourselves. Bring the whole self to the Boardroom. Maybe you already do? I mostly have left my boxes behind (mum's a rebel), but see others in theirs. Unboxing product marketing? A bit 2019. Unboxing yourself? So 2025.”
That’s from a post I threw onto LinkedIn, late in 2024. Well they say ‘if you want to hear God laugh, make plans’, and that feels apropos.
This week, I was considering making an application, but thought it out of reach. I DM’d a friend:
“It’s an incredible opportunity, but on paper I’m almost-but-not-quite. I know there’ll be value in the application process itself, but that’s a big investment of time. I don’t know what to do.”
Her reply?
“How much research have you seen showing that if you were a man you wouldn’t be hesitating in applying but because you’re “almost but not quite” perfect in every way. Like are you kidding me? If you know you can do it, you want to do it, then reach for it.”
What a wake up call that was. In three short sentences my thoughts were reframed, revealing that my self image - one who has moved past the personal barriers that stop women progressing - needed reflection under new light. It’s right there in the research - and my thinking was textbook. I was about to hold myself back from aiming for something awesome, and it took an outside perspective to hold a mirror up, and say, ‘hey, don’t trust that impulse. It’s not serving you.’
It makes me think about ego - our idea of who we are. I trusted my judgment when ‘computer says no’ because I believe myself to be brave and confident. Now that I know I’ve as much capacity for a wobble as anybody does, it’ll change my decision making process. How cool!
I’m so glad I applied. I think in fact it is out of my reach, but the work of the application was right to hand.
So, to take us back to that LinkedIn post, here’s how it ends:
”Perhaps, start by only wearing joyful garments that celebrate life. The criteria? Do you feel like a million bucks in it? Throw it on and wear that thing.
Photo chosen for presence of two of my heroines, Fiona Bycroft and Sophie Wiltshier, and for the time and place, a transformative event called Rock the Frock, at ONEONESIX, in Whangārei.
Image credit Greg McLelland.”
