Most of us feel like this some of the time, if not most of the time with the dual demands of an ever increasing work load and more home responsibilities such as young children, teenagers or ageing parents.

In fact women still spend three times longer doing house work than their partners  and then you can add childcare on top and your own grooming needs.

I often wonder about small things ...such as ...how different my life would be if I didn't have to worry about my nails, make-up and blow drying my hair. Yep, I could just tell myself that it doesn't matter and not bother but that's not what M&M tool number 3 is all about. It's not about keeping your head down and just getting the job done because that wont get you the promotion and it wont get you noticed.

And guess what happens if you aren't noticed? You stay where you are and you stagnate. Worse people think you are un-ambitious.

This Forbes article suggests that  It's women's fault  that women don't get promoted more or paid equally. I don't go so far as to say that it is our fault but I will say that we don't know what we don't know. Gender IQ is about being savvy about gender differences that impact your career. For instance do you know that the reason men get promoted more often, generally, is because they work hard at establishing a relationship with the boss more often than we do? In fact you may very well notice the carpet tiles being worn out at appraisal time by your male colleagues!

Tool number 3 then is - work hard on your visibility. What does that mean? It means work to create your personal brand by caring about your appearance and telling everybody how great you are. (is it a coincidence that most of our C suite women are American?) Blow your own horn!

When I tell women these things they often look horrified. But, it is part of your responsibility to know what works. Whether it’s fair or not is irrelevant.

Something else that women tell me is that they are called aggressive if they 'ask' more often and this can be tricky. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

If you want to know how to navigate some of these issues and work towards creating or enhancing your personal brand I suggest you learn from the best (a core NLP skill) or at the very least, find somebody who has already achieved the things you want to achieve and ask them to coach or mentor you.

If you want to kick-start this process you can use our benchmarking services. For the past ten years we have been doing extensive research on your behalf and have collated validated data taken from 100's of corporate executive women. The result is a fantastic tool that allows you to measure yourself against a set of competencies that have worked for many women who have already done what you want to do.

Have you ever wondered what competencies senior corporate women have and how your compare? If you would like a copy of our FREE 10 page report you can fill out this form Free report and we will make sure you get one by return. Alternatively, if you would like more details on the tool for your personal use please email me tracey@eve-olution.net

'Men are allowed to have passion and commitment for their work ... a woman is allowed that feeling for a man, but not her work' Barbara Streisand

What do you think?