7 Power Gaps Women Face In The Workplace

In a recent Certified Practitioners In Practice (CPiP) Workshop, Master Facilitator and Green Leaf Consulting founder, Cynthia Radford discussed the 7 Power Gaps that prevent professional women from achieving their highest potential (researched and written by Kathy Caprino).

The 7 Power Gaps Include: 

1. Not recognizing your special talents, abilities, and accomplishments
2. Communicating from fear not strength
3. Reluctance to ask for what you deserve
4. Isolating from influential support
5. Acquiescing instead of saying “stop!” to mistreatment
6. Losing sight of your thrilling dream
7. Allowing past trauma to shape and define you

Have you personally had to deal with any of these power gaps throughout your career? These 7 Power Gaps prevent 98% of professional women from achieving their highest potential in their careers and as leaders who make a positive difference. 75% are hindered by three or more gaps. 

Whole Brain® Thinking insights help spark self-awareness, create practical action, and nurture lasting change necessary to bridge these power gaps. 

How to Leverage Whole Brain® Thinking to Help Bridge the 7 Power Gaps Women Face in the Workplace

During the CPiP Workshop, attendees were placed into groups and were asked to complete a Whole Brain® Thinking walkaround exercise which helped to ask the right questions based on people’s thinking preferences. 

For example, when referencing the #6 Power Gap: Losing sight of your thrilling dream, the group provided questions based on the four key quadrants in the Whole Brain® Model below (see figure 1).

(Figure 1) 

This group was able to come up with an action plan on how to bridge this gap. Sample questions and/or comments included: 

A Quadrant: Perform research and confirm which KPIs should be measured. What would success look like to you? Decide how we will be measuring success. Include dates/due dates and anything that is deemed quantifiable data. 

B Quadrant: What actions are you going to take to achieve your goal? Keep and maintain specific lists. Practice enforcing boundaries with more tenacity to free up time for pursing your dream.

C Quadrant: Find a mentor or sponsor to keep you on track. Talk to others and watch others around you to find out how to keep track of their dreams. Surround yourself with people that are going to support you. Support yourself, reward yourself as you make progress. 

D Quadrant: Keep a journal of your dream. Ask "Why do I have this dream?" and "Why is it important for me to not lose sight of it?" Create a mood board/vision board and spend time envisioning future possibilities.

By building and executing on this action plan, you'll be using Whole Brain® Thinking to empower and achieve your highest potential.