Have you heard this before?

“She got the role because she’s a woman.”

Perhaps you’re the woman they’re talking about? Or perhaps you’re the manager they are talking to?

Whichever role you play, you would no doubt have heard these words around the traps. Whether it’s at your workplace, in the media, or in your community, with the push of promoting more women into power, comes the pushback of women ‘not earning’ their power.

“Why did she get the role? She doesn’t have enough experience. She isn’t qualified.

The system is rigged.

We’ve gone too far…”

This was an uncommon ending to an all-too-common story.

Supporting women into leadership roles, can look to some people like a shift in prejudice. But it’s not. Not if the woman ultimately earned the right to be there, too.

But how do we handle these situations?

Here are my top tips.

Advice to women

If you are the topic of this conversation, then… Just. Keep. Going!
If you were hired to fill a quota and you honestly don’t think you can do the job (false modesty aside), then you shouldn’t be doing the job.
If you were hired to fill a quota and you honestly, deep down believe you can do this role, then just get on with it. The murmurings will stop when it becomes obvious that it was a lot of hoo hah over nothing. And besides, there is something deeply satisfying about being underestimated, don't you think?

Advice to managers

Stick up for qualified women.
Use a clear and transparent competency framework to justify the appointment was fair.
Encourage sceptics to broaden their definition of ‘qualified.’
Outwardly celebrate the success of underestimated women.

Gender equality is not just about having more women in leadership roles, it’s about fairly promoting women into leadership roles, then unreservedly supporting them to succeed.