How women advisers can create white space for new ideas

Recently, I attended Commonwealth’s 2022 Summit for Women Advisors, our event tailored for women advisers. One question frequently asked in our industry is whether women advisers have unique needs when it comes to navigating their practices. We’ve polled our advisers and have been guided by their strong, affirmative responses. Although men and women advisers share many of the same challenges and pressures in building a practice and helping clients, there’s no denying that women face specific hurdles both in the workforce at large and in the financial advisory business due to some distinct nuances. One of those key differences was how much “white space” women have when it comes to creating and freely expressing their ideas.

DEFINING THE PROBLEM

A recent Harvard Business Review study provides a good illustration of this difference. The study, “How Gender Stereotypes Kill a Woman’s Self-Confidence,” found that “to achieve professional success, people must voice opinions and advocate for their ideas while working in decision-making teams, so it’s a problem if women are staying quiet when it comes to male-typed subjects — and if their ideas are appreciated less when they do express them.” If it seems surprising that women often have their ideas dismissed and have limited space to make their voices heard, I can assure you that it’s true. If you ask any woman you know or work with, they’ll probably list specific, recurring examples of this problem in their professional lives.

One of the keynote speakers at the summit, Dorie Clark, helped shed more light on this issue. Clark specializes in self-reinvention and teaches executive education at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School. In her session, “How to Build a Following on Your Ideas,” she offered suggestions to our women advisers to help their ideas stand out. One of the suggestions was to create what Clark calls “white space.”

BUSY DOESN’T MEAN BETTER

To help your good ideas percolate and come to life, you need to create a white space period in your day for pure focus. Staying busy may seem like the path to success, but, without time to reflect, you could be using your time and energy for the wrong things.

The power of saying “no.” To get a benchmark for the discussion, we asked our attendees how difficult it was for them to say no to requests, even when they knew they shouldn’t accept them. In a room filled with smart, sharp women business owners and advisers, almost 75% said it was impossible or very difficult to say no. They also stated that it was even harder to decline projects when it was something they wanted to do. It’s important to create the ability to say no, even to good things, to cultivate this necessary white space.

The toll of additional labor. The attendees also discussed the stress of being asked to help with supplementary projects, sit on boards, and volunteer at schools and different organizations outside of work. Additionally, most women still bear a disproportionate share of the responsibilities for child-rearing and household chores, spending two hours more each day on these tasks than men. It’s no wonder so many women feel overwhelmed and overworked by the extra labor and in their day-to-day schedules.

To combat these habits of “busy culture,” Clark urged the group to be vigilant and set goals about when and where they would spend their time.

ALLOW YOUR IDEAS TO FLOW

When it comes to your practice, what intentional choices do you make that allow your innovative ideas to shine? By giving yourself the white space and quiet moments to contemplate and plan, you can better position yourself to thrive. It’s important to remember that saying no more could lead to a more powerful yes for both you and your practice.

[More: Correcting the blind spots in our practices]

Kristine McManus serves as chief advisor growth officer at Commonwealth Financial Network.