What do you do when you are only 1.56m tall and look like a teenager, despite your ‘big girl suit’, surrounded by very ‘long-titled’ people who are the decision makers in a large firm? If you are like me, you rely on 7cm stilettos and the power of underestimation. The power of underestimation you ask? Well that is knowing that you have the upper hand. Know that people, because of your size and youth, do not expect much from you. And when that is the case you can do one of two things:

1. perform really bad and give them what they expected;
2. exceed their expectations so that they look at you through a new lens.

I have lots of experience in the field of underestimation. Not long ago a woman asked me if I was visiting my mom at the office? As a woman that made me feel really goooood (cough!). As an up and coming business person, it kind of had me worried.

If your company is prone to underestimation then I’m afraid the big girls suit and stilettos aren’t gonna help you much.

So what are you to do? Easy. OK, fine not so easy. Use the stilettos only to get your foot in the door, let go of hollow promises, and just make sure that you exceed expectations at all time. Build a good reputation! Forget about large campaigns and airy fairy words to make promises: spend your energy and efforts on what you deliver instead. Know your stuff, determine what is expected from you and exceed it! If you follow those simple rules then over time the ‘big girl suit’ and 7 cm stilettos really won’t be necessary to give your business the status of a highly respected company.

By Jeanne Fredericks