It’s hard to achieve success in male-dominated industries, but if you work very hard and do it all on your own without much help from anyone, you might reach a point where you’ve made it far enough up the ladder that a man can finally take you under his wing in order to ride your coattails. Here’s how to do it all by yourself so that he can help you when you no longer need help.
Look for a Mentor, but Don’t Find One Until Much Later, When You’re Maybe Actually His Mentor
Having a successful mentor would be a great way to navigate your chosen field, by gleaning their wisdom and experience. Unfortunately he’s probably too busy taking chances on promising young men that remind him of himself, so you’ll have to go it alone until a day when your success is so undeniable that he sees a way to help you out by establishing a professional relationship that benefits him as much or more than it does you, just like you always imagined!
Believe in Yourself Until a Man Finally Tells You He Believes in You at a Point at Which it No Longer Matters
Without male bosses or authority figures telling you what a promising talent you are, you’ll have to draw on inner strength to soldier on in your field. Do this until you’ve overcome all the obstacles and then, when you’ve finally become the exception to the rule in your industry and no one can question your worth, he will swoop in to tell you, “Hey, not bad!” in sort of a negging way that is meant to imply you should still work to gain his approval, even though you now definitely outrank him. You’re really doing it now, boss lady!
Work Harder and Smarter So He Can Assume You Didn’t
As a woman in a man’s world, you’ll probably have to work twice as hard to achieve half as much, so that when you finally crack through that glass ceiling, he’ll inevitably assume you know nothing and everything was handed to you because you’re pretty or something. Now he can take you under his wing to show you how it’s really done! Hey, at least he’s trying to help you now!
Congrats! You did it all on your own without any of the friendly golf games where industry secrets were traded. Now get ready for a man to come by and “help” you by taking credit for all your hard work. You’ve earned it!
