TAKE A BREAK
Did you know that us Aussies have on average five days of unused
leave each year? That makes us one of the worst nations in the
world at taking a holiday. Why, people, why? Many of you said you
felt unable to take leave due to commitments at work while others
felt they needed to be in a job for at least a year before asking for
annual leave. We all know the pressure and competition in the
workplace, but you’re doing more harm than good by not taking
that well-deserved vacay.
‘When we get too stressed, it affects every system in our bodies.
All of those things have a long-term impact on our health,’ says
psychologist Melissa Podmore, adding that mental health burnout
is an epidemic. ‘[After a holiday] you’re going to come back more
refreshed, more insightful, hopefully more creative and you’re going
to have fresh views on your projects or your goals.’ Basically, you’re
going to be better at work if you take a break. #S T O P
‘MANTERRUPTERS’
The manterrupter (n): A man
who often interrupts a woman,
especially in the workplace. Just
think Donald Trump interrupting
Hillary Clinton 51 times during
the first US presidential debate
and Kanye West interrupting
Taylor Swift at the VMAS.
Studies show that men
interrupt at twice the rate ofSTA M P OU T
C U T- OF FSCALL IT OUT!
And use your own
style of conversation
to do so. ‘I would
say, “Thank you,
John, for your kind
interruption – now,
back to the strategy
I was sharing with
you”,’ says Gopal.JUST KEEP TALKING
‘Keep momentum
going and the
manterrupter will
eventually realise
it’s time to stop.’CONFRONT THEM
‘Have a private chat.
Keep it short and
professional: “I was
surprised at the team
meeting that you
interrupted me
several times. It
took away my ability
to fully canvas my
proposals”.’women, and women are more
likely to be interrupted during
meetings. You can have the best
idea in the world, but who’s going
to notice if you’re being cut off?
‘We speak up, only to be shot
down by a louder, more forceful
male colleague,’ says Shivani
Gopal, founder of The Remarkable
Woman. ‘Interruptions are, in
essence, a verbal assertion of
power, enabling the interrupter
to take the f loor of the current
conversation.’
So what can we do about it?
A former aide of former president
Barack Obama and other female
staffers developed a simple tactic
to put down these manterrupters- ‘amplification’. Every time a
woman made a key point in a
meeting, another female colleague
would repeat it, giving credit to
the original speaker. The result?
It forces others to acknowledge
the comment and prevents them
from passing it off as their own.
The next time a colleague voices
a stellar idea, shout it loud and
shout it proud! They’ll do the
same for you in return.
We can all band together to
support our female colleagues by
amplifying their ideas. Because
sisterhood, ladies.‘Kanye,
Imma let you
finish but...’WORDS BY SHARI NEMENTZIK; MEL EVANS; POLLY TAYLOR; KAREN ASP. GETTY IMAGES; ISTOCK
COSMOPOLITAN June 2017 85
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