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International Women’s Day: Make it happen!
Founder of Women In Wholesale Elit Rowland offers her advice on International Women’s Day whether you’re winning, losing or learning
I’m no Dragon’s Den inventor, but my day-to-day role involves a lot of pitching ideas in order to make things happen. Sometimes these are met with great success, others with none, but every time, I’m learning along the way.
You may want to introduce free pizza Fridays, introduce a workplace ‘escape room’ or pioneer a new sustainability strategy. It doesn’t matter how big or small your idea is, you need buy in from those around you.
Here are a handful of things that have helped me to turn blue sky thinking into real life wins, plus what’s helped me to scrape my ego off the floor when things didn’t go so well:
- Think about how your idea is filling a gap. If you’ve reinvented the wheel, that’s fine but remember to explain how your wheel is better.
- Can you answer the question ‘why are we doing this?’ in one sentence? Keep this in mind at every stage of the journey and don’t forget your reason why.
- When it comes to presenting your idea to senior management and colleagues to get buy in, get practising. You’ve got eight seconds to win everyone’s interest (check out this link: https://hbr.org/2012/01/why-you-need-a-better-elevator).
- Create a one-page plan to cover all corners. Don’t scrimp on research but stick to a single page to keep it punchy and precise.
- Share your vision with contacts and colleagues. They may spot potential obstacles or opportunities, plus allies in the right places can be a fantastic catalyst for change and innovation.
- If your idea doesn’t set the world on fire, be open to other perspectives, don’t take it personally and always listen to feedback, it could lead to the best idea you’ve ever had.
