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By Michelle Mindell

We spend a good portion of our careers working on our individual goals: climbing the corporate ladder and attaining the positions desired.

Here are a few tips on how women can continue to achieve their goals, and help others reach for the stars.

• • Stretch and be willing to take risks: Men are not afraid to apply for a job when they regard themselves as only 60% qualified, whereas women feel they must be 100% qualified. Go for it!

• • Recognize your areas of weakness and address them by surrounding yourself with people who excel in such areas. Embrace what you don’t know and bring your whole self to work.

• • Be willing to learn and develop new skills that are completely foreign to you.

• • Be an informed risk taker. You will find like-minded people.

Lift up others

• • Help the men present understand the effect their behaviors create. It’s okay to educate them on style differences between the sexes. While it is natural for us to be most comfortable with others who look and act as we do. We need to separate this in determining if that person – male or female – can be a good leader.

• • When you identify a potential leader, help them progress. Encourage them to explore new opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise be able to experience. Put them in front of the executives.

• • Provide stretch assignments outside their comfort level.

Make the most of your mentor/mentee relationship 

• • Don’t focus on age. Just as younger generations can learn from their experienced colleagues, senior members of the team can learn from their younger counterparts.

• • Prepare for your first meeting with a mentor or mentee. After the meeting, follow up and get to work.

• • Recognize and accept a non-working relationship. Be willing to move on and seek out a new mentor

Take control

• • Stop second-guessing your decisions. Women are held to a different standard than men in the workplace. Simply saying this is unfair can derail a woman’s career. Rally together and ask, “What can I do to change this?”

• • Volunteer and serve on community boards. You will learn a lot about yourself and your leadership qualities. You will take these valuable developmental experiences back to your career.

• • It’s okay to say no. Take care of yourself and live by your decisions. Take reflective time and focus on what’s sacred to you. Set clear priorities and keep them. Let go of the guilt and be present in the moment.

This article originally appeared in 2017 and has been updated. It is part of a series by the Oswald Women’s Leadership Council.