#PressforProgress, that is the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, and what 
a timely and gratefully received message it is at this moment in time.
Putting the spotlight on our careers and the working and business environments you see when you look around you right now though the lens of #PressforProgress, what do you see? How could you use #PressforProgress to effect greater change and progress in your careers and working and business environments?
I’ve had enough conversations around diversity within the workplace to know what a contentious issue it can be. No fundamental change and no great progress comes without discomfort or the willingness to have uncomfortable conversations though. So how are you going to #PressforProgress this year?
In your own career, how are you going to #PressforProgress?
What is progress for you right now in your career?
How can you make that progress happen?
What is holding you back from making that progress?
Is this career you’re in and this environment you’re working in really what you want? Hopefully it is, and I know for a number of you out there it is. If, however, you followed a path you felt you were supposed to, or ended up on a path that when you take the time to reflect on isn’t actually what makes you happy, or doesn’t allow you the opportunity to add the value and make the difference you want to make, then maybe #PressforProgress for you is consciously focusing in on what you truly want in your career? And what environment suits you best and gets the best out of you?
The beauty of this rapidly changing working landscape we’re encountering right now is that there is likely a path you can carve out for yourself. The 9-5 is not the only option any more. What could your working life look like if you wanted it to?
What ever your #PressforProgress is, find a role model, a coach or wise friend’s shoulder and start taking action to #PressforProgress in your own career.
In the working environment and business world, how are you going to #PressforProgress?
When you look around you, what do you wish was different? Looking back at your journey to where you are now, what do you wish you had or had known on your way up? How can you change that for others on their way up? What can you do to effect positive change for the next generation to come?
Maybe you’re in a position of substantial influence and can make big, impactful changes. What would be #PressforProgress for you that you could begin to effect?
Maybe you’re not and instead you find one woman who is keen to progress below you and you nurture her and provide what you wish you had on the way up. Encourage her to do the same when she looks back and sees other women navigating their next move up. If all of us did this surely #PressforProgress would happen on a big scale, one small action at a time.
In the wise words of a #PressforProgress role model, Michelle Obama,
“When you’ve worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. You reach back and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.”
And maybe then some.
Have friends who would find this article useful? Share it with them using the icons below.