Rise to the Top: From Comfort Zone to Power Zone

On 26^th September 2023, members of the TOPX network gathered together with members of the ACE network of the Princess Maxima Centre for a jointly organized event all about helping female professionals grow their careers – and step into their power zones.

The event began with a keynote speech by Mira Vasic, PhD, entitled The Game of Power and Leadership. In this engaging speech, Mira explained that making your way in the business world doesn’t have to be confusing or intimidating. One only needs to realise that business is a game – and just like any table-top game it has fields of influence, players, unwritten rules, different levels of power, and a need for strategy.

Mira dove into each of these aspects of the game of business in turn, guiding the attendees to understand and map their own fields of influence, identify the other key players in the game, and understand how the unwritten rules may differ for ‘players’ of different genders or at different power levels.

By sharing her own experiences and expertise, Mira drove home several different key messages to keep in mind when playing the game of power and leadership at work, including:

·         Just like when you’re playing scrabble, don’t take things personally – it’s just a game.

·         Deals are made at the coffee machine. In other words, you can also do business informally.

·         Never just ask – negotiate!

·         Don’t do a disappearing act, i.e. accept only assignments that are low-profile. Ask for. High-output, high-profile assignments that can boost you to a new level of power.

Following Mira’s inspiring speech, it was time for the panel discussion featuring Professor Anke-Hilse Maitland-van der Zee of Amsterdam UMC, Dr. Jan Molenaar of Princess Maxima Center, and Dr. Esther Breij of Genmab, moderated by TOPX Junior Ambassador Marlinde Schoonbeek.

The conversation began with a look back at the career paths of each of the panelists. We learned that Anke-Hilse found her power zone by focusing on what she liked, and on what she was good at. She also shaped her career path around a mix of personal and professional goals, saying, “You don’t have to have a single focus to be successful.”

Next, Jan explained that while he finds it important to always have some “safe ground” to step back on, “you need to step out of your comfort zone to make steps in your career. I’m still a bit uncomfortable where I am now, but I had to do it to grow.”

Esther built on this point, saying that acting as a typical “leader” was long out of her comfort zone – she naturally prefers to be embedded within teams – however it was a necessary skill to reach her current position of managing a large team at Genmab. How did she do it? “I asked for help from a coach,” Esther explained, “And learned to build a good team environment by speaking from both my head and from my heart as a leader.”

When the panel turned to the question of “how to get ahead”, Jan began by stressing the importance of telling people what you want. “If the people around you know where you want to go, they might help you!”

Esther then related that a key lesson for her was accepting that being herself – even when it was uncomfortable in a business situation – has helped her embrace her leadership roles. “I was fighting myself, trying to behave in a stereotypically masculine way as a leader, but it just doesn’t work for me. So, I decided to be myself and that works better, although sometimes it’s uncomfortable. Being authentic doesn’t mean you can’t play the game of business, it just means you play it in a way that is authentic to you.” Anke-Hilse agreed, saying, “I can only be in a power zone if I can be myself.”

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