In Anonymous is a Woman, Dr Nina Ansary wrote, ‘it’s hard to be what we cannot see’.
At AXIS Network we fully agree with Dr Ansary’s statement which is why we have decided to relaunch our Role Models programme.
Role models are important, especially for women who work in male dominated areas such as the UK Energy Industry and men who are less likely to be seen as ‘equal parents’ or as having
equal caring responsibilities in society.
Research* shows that role models motivate people, reinforce their existing goals and inspire people to pursue similar accomplishments. This has an amplified benefit for women and men who are looking to overcome gender stereotypes in the work place and society as a whole.
Our role model’s initiative at times has felt like hard work. People don’t see themselves as role models (and they are – all of us are!), and so there’s a certain amount of required effort we put in to encouraging people to take part and share their story with us. It’s also the area of our AXIS Network programme that we receive the least feedback on, making it difficult to know what impact it’s having. However when we talk about it as a team, we recognise that role models are trail blazers. They’ve carved the path ahead, and every subsequent journey becomes a little easier, a little more familiar, less daunting.
We have some amazing role models coming up in the next few months, why don’t you join them?
We need a diverse range of role models so everyone can find some little snippet to be inspired by. We want to encourage you to tell your story and be a role model for others.
Simply telling the story of your life or career might just inspire another who can find something in your story to relate to, something which makes them believe the next step they need to take is possible, because someone like them has done it before.
We are all role models!
If we’ve encouraged you to share your story, or made you think of someone you know whose story has inspired you and you’d love to see shared here, leave a comment on LinkedIn or contact us on: info@axisnetwork.co.uk. We’ll have a chat and see if we can create a post together.
Go ahead and share, you’ll be surprised at who you inspire!