In this episode, Bec and Annie discuss the importance of being assertive but how it takes energy and is not always needed. Bec finds being assertive very easy - but this means she sometimes has to watch her tone and hold her breath. Whilst Annie is perceived as very assertive or direct, but doesn’t actually think she is assertive for much of the week.

You’ll hear about how being assertive is related to confidence, but not exactly the same thing. We agree that assertiveness is generally important for progression, but it’s a tool that’s part of influencing and it should be used with care. There were a large number of listener questions for this episode about how to be assertive, without being perceived as ‘bossy’ or ‘harsh’. We try to address these questions with practical tips for the listeners but we don’t necessarily see some of these ‘bad’ connotations as bad. Watch out for a little rant at the end by Annie, who doesn’t want our listeners to aspire to being ‘soft’ in the workplace.

Content recs, references & extra reading

• The Authority Gap: Why women are still taken less seriously than men, and what we can do about it, Mary Ann Sieghart
• Navigating high conflict personalities, Reboot podcast

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