If you have, you are not alone. This difficulty is often even more constant for women. One study found that women provide 33% less favourable evaluations of both their past performance and future achievements than men.
This happens for a number of reasons, including modesty norms we learn from childhood, unconscious biases and even imposter syndrome, which often leads us to question our own achievements.
The workshop: I am Remarkable
In 2020, I had the opportunity to participate for the first time in the I am Remarkable workshop, an initiative that was created at Google to help all people, especially those from minority groups, to develop skills in self-advocacy and recognition of their achievements, both in and outside the workplace. Having access to this opportunity was transformative for me and my career as a woman in technology. Since then, I have been making an intentional effort to expand this movement and help more people.
In 2022, I was elected one of the leaders of Vivo Mulheres, our Telefónica gender affinity group in Brazil. One of the first ideas I proposed and helped implement was I Am Remarkable and since then, we have achieved incredible results.
The first class of the workshop was held exclusively for Vivo Mulheres participants, together with facilitators from Google, who supported us in the process of internalising the workshop at Telefónica. Subsequently, my work colleagues Paula Prado, Carolina Figueira, Kelly Rodrigues and I, while leading Vivo Mulheres, specialised and became official IAR facilitators.
Since then, in the last few years, we have voluntarily conducted the workshop for more than 500 people at Telefónica in Brazil, covering various areas such as Technology, Information Security, Finance, Audit, Human Resources, Procurement and B2B.
In addition, we also held exclusive sessions for members of other affinity groups, such as Vivo Pride, Vivo Igual and Vivo Afro, as well as other groups for more specific segments, such as women in technology and women in leadership positions. This approach allowed us to create an inclusive and belonging environment, where participants felt comfortable to share their experiences and achievements.
How the workshop works
We conduct the sessions in a variety of ways: hybrid, remote or face-to-face. They generally last 90 minutes and are divided into three parts.
- The first involves presenting data that demonstrates the importance of self-promotion in our personal and professional lives, as well as combating biases and prejudices as they shape how we perceive people, especially those from minority groups.
- The second part is a practical part, where we exercise the recognition and sharing of our achievements as a group.
- The third and last part is the moment when we reflect on the impacts of all that we learned during the session and how we can further develop these skills in our daily lives.
As a facilitator, my mission is to lead the workshops and ensure that people learn what they need to learn in a clear way about self-advocacy and diversity, in a safe and welcoming environment.
Passing on the lessons of I am Remarkable
After two years of doing this work, I have learned several lessons that helped me to improve my self-advocacy skills and be a good IAR facilitator to help other people. The main ones are:
- Practice self-advocacy constantly: Although self-advocacy is not an easy task for many of us, it is a necessary practice. Like a muscle that needs to be exercised to get stronger, self-advocacy requires practice and consistency.
- Start with small steps: If you don’t know where to start, try practising on your own, writing your attributes in a notebook and then saying them out loud in front of a mirror. If you want to go further, share those attributes with someone close to you whom you trust.
- Inspire others: Another crucial reason to share our achievements is the potential to inspire others. As a woman in technology, I always looked for female references to encourage me to believe that if other women made it, I could be here too. So, by sharing about yourself, you can certainly help motivate others.
- Plan your professional evolution: In the work environment, it is also essential to talk about our deliveries and achievements, as by sharing our contributions, we create visibility for our work and strengthen our professional presence. Show your managers, through quick alignment conversations, your progress on strategic tasks that are generating results. If you prefer, also share with your colleagues in a team meeting. You can also make LinkedIn posts about a career breakthrough you’ve had, such as completing a course or participating in a relevant work initiative, for example.
- Diversity and respect are important: In order for us to feel safe to express ourselves and be who we are, we need to be in environments where we feel welcome. So always seek to create a welcoming and respectful environment wherever you are, both for yourself and for others.
