Here’s the big secret when it comes to winning awards: Just enter.
Don’t wait for somebody to tell you to do it, or for your boss or mentor to offer to nominate you. Just click on the form, punch in the information and hit ‘submit’. Simple. There are no guarantees you’ll win or be named a finalist, but you’ll at least be in with a chance.
For four years now I’ve had the absolute pleasure of running the Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards. It’s my favourite part of the work year (despite the all-nighters and stress involved), that culminates in one amazing, fun and all-out inspiring event (last year our winners shared the stage with Julia Gillard). We get to know every single one of our finalists, facilitate the start of lifelong connections between them, and watch as our awards alumni go on to land promotions and new opportunities, get incredible media exposure, and simply do more brilliant things.
I’ve met and interviewed almost 100 finalists since launching this program and learnt a few things about what sets them a part.
So, having just put the call out for nominations for our 2016 event, with an emphasis on emerging leadership talent, I wanted to share a few things I’ve leant about successful nominations.
Make time. The first thing successful applicants do is see entering awards like any other ‘professional development’ exercise and prioritise time for it. It’s basic maths: You’re either in, or you’re not. They don’t see the awards process as a chore, they see it as an opportunity to showcase their work. The hour you spend entering an award will be more worthwhile than the extra hour you spend stuck in your inbox. Schedule the time in your diary, clear your head and enter.
Get over yourself. There’s no need to worry about ‘bragging’ about your achievements. Believe it or not, plenty of other women have bragged about what they’ve done before you, so get over the fear of talking yourself up. You’re worthy and deserve to be recognised as much as anyone else. Women with any kind of profile don’t get it by keeping their head down and just working really, really hard. They speak up, they put themselves out there, they enter awards. They’re loud and proud about what they’ve done and know that just filling out an awards application is an excellent way to document the past 12 months of a career.
Provide data-backed examples. As for their entries, successful nominees stick to clear and concise language that gets straight to the point. As we editors like to say to journos: Don’t bury the lead! Successful award nominations include great data, clear examples and information on projects. They make it as easy as possible for judges to see exactly what’s been achieved and how. Meanwhile, they don’t apologise for being successful, nor do they waste precious application space talking about how challenging their life has been and/or crediting their team or a mentor with everything they’ve achieved.
Know the criteria. All good awards programs have criteria entrants need to address — and often very good candidates simply miss out on being named a finalist because they’ve failed to demonstrate how they meet such criteria on their applications. Successful award nominees know addressing such criteria is vital. So read the criteria before you start applying, along with any relevant instructions, and ensure your application specifically addresses what the program aims to recognise.
Put clarity over beauty. An application doesn’t need to be beautifully written — not everyone’s a writer. But an application does need to be clearly written. Use bullet points if you must, just keep it simple.
Read all instructions and just get started. Seriously, just get stared! Don’t put off nominating for an award — or you may never actually get around to it.
This year our awards celebrate emerging female leaders. We’re looking for the household names of tomorrow. You don’t have to be leading a team of 100 people, or have started a one million dollar business, you do need to be able to prove how you’ve demonstrated your leadership and that you’re emerging.
We have a great range of categories recognising women across tech, legal, private, public, NFP and entrepreneurial sectors.
Meanwhile our ‘Agenda Setter’ award recognises emerging AND established leaders, recognising someone who’s seriously changing the game for women. It’s one you can either self nominate or nominate someone else for.
Stop squirming about the idea of nominating for an award and consider this: the application process is a simple career move, like updating your CV. It enables you to put to paper what you’ve achieved in the past 12 months — which may ultimately help you articulate it in a performance review or at a networking event. And if you’re named a finalist, or even win, it provides an instant step up in your career, an accolade that stays with you forever.
Enter the Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards.
