Hira Ali - Her Way to the Top: The Glass Ceiling Is Thicker Than It Looks

My husband for believing in me and staying by my side throughout everything. His unconditional support in my career has been phenomenal.

My son for being my major source of motivation. His avid interest in this book journey and his endearing daily query, Mama, is it finished yet? is what kept me going.

My family members, to whom I owe a ton of gratitude for their unwavering support as well as their appreciation, critique and concern.

My friends who play an active role in helping preserve my sanity.

My professional contacts, coaches and mentors for all their support, advice and valuable suggestions/mentoring.

Last, but definitely not least, my book coach, Liz Buckley, who offered me exceptional support, and my publishing team for turning this dream into a reality.

Leadership Trainer, Motivational Speaker, Writer, Executive Career Coach and licensed Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) Practitioner.

Hira is a multi-faceted coach who has impacted hundreds of people from various industries and professions across the world. From teachers to students, executives to police officers, business owners to corporate career women, her client base is diverse, and her commitment to helping everyone achieve their highest potential is unwavering. With outstanding client reviews of 98%, its clear her clients find tremendous value in Hiras unique approach.

Hiras success as a professional coach is grounded in the belief that human potential is infinite. Helping others become the best version of themselves has been the most rewarding aspect of her career. Its also enabled her to connect intellectually and emotionally with incredible individuals from a variety of backgrounds people who have unlimited potential and just needed a focused guide to help them unlock it.

Hira is an Associate Certified Coach accredited by International Coach Federation and a professional member of the Association for Neuro Linguistic Programming. Her widely acclaimed leadership and coaching articles have been featured across a variety of leading outlets: The International Coach Federation, The Huffington Post, Thrive Global, Women @ Forbes, Ellevate Network and many more. Her recent blog on overcoming self-doubt and Impostor Syndrome was published on Thrive Global, shared by Arianna Huffington, and then retweeted, liked and endorsed by thousands in less than 24 hours. Her career development podcast, 8 Minutes of Learning With Hira Ali, has been featured in HuffPost as one of the top 100 rising podcasts with guests. She has also been featured in several podcast interviews that have inspired listeners across the world and are available on Advancing Your Potential.

Hira is also a registered coach and mentor at various international organisations including: American Corporate Partners, the National Health Trust, Mentor2mentees, and The Cherie Blair Foundation. She was nominated for the prestigious WATC rising star entrepreneur award, and is the recipient of the Top 100 Women Lift Effects Star Award. She has also been selected as one of the top three finalists for the Baton Awards, Entrepreneur of the Year. Hira is extremely passionate about empowering and coaching high-performing career women. After training women in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, the US, Canada, and Australia, she earned the title of International Coach & Trainer for Women in Leadership. In Her Way to the Top: A Guide to Smashing the Glass Ceiling, she highlights the career challenges women face globally and the cultural implications of these challenges.

Those concepts and the strategies to overcome them are also reviewed in her new online womens leadership program Career Excel. Career Excel is a comprehensive online leadership training program available to help women achieve their professional potential through live coaching, global networking, and an in-depth curriculum. The program aims to empower women to be fearless at work, home and in life.

*If you are ready to move to the next level and wish to be better positioned to effect change in your career then be sure to visit www.careerexcel.us

For free trainings and activities related to the book, dont forget to register yourself at www.advancingyourpotential.com

You got this! See you there!

Men are taught to apologise for their
weaknesses, women for their strengths.

Lois Wyse

Recently I have been part of many initiatives that seek to mentor young girls in schools and colleges. Last year, I supported a teen girl conference attended by more than 200 teenage girls from schools across London. The most striking characteristic these girls shared was their unswerving confidence. These girls were asking thoughtful questions carefully crafted and coherently delivered with uninhibited courage. Some were poised enough to conduct on-camera interviews. Several of them had their future plans mapped out, and they communicated those goals to the rest of the audience in a very self-assured manner. They were already confident, eloquent and knowledgeable.

I couldnt help but wonder if these girls would manifest the same undeterred courage as they grow up. What if they lose that courage and confidence? That sobering thought made me think about all the revealing surveys which indicate just how much confidence girls shed as they mature.

A Girl Guiding study recently found that while 63% of seven- to ten-year-old girls feel confident in themselves, only 31% of 17- to 21-year-olds feel that way. The same study also found that a mere 35% of 17- to 21-year-olds believed they had an equal chance of succeeding compared to their male colleagues, whereas 90% of nine- and ten-year-old girls believed they did.

In 2011, the United Kingdoms Institute of Leadership and Management surveyed British managers about how confident they feel in their professions. Half the female respondents reported self-doubt about their job performance and careers, compared with less than a third of male respondents.

Professor of Economics at Carnegie Mellon University and author of Women Dont Ask, Linda Babcock, found in studies of business school students that men initiate salary negotiations four times as often as women do, and that when women do negotiate, they ask for 30% less money than men.

The Confidence Code reveals that at Englands Manchester Business School, Professor Marilyn Davidson asks her students every year what they expect to earn, and what they deserve to earn five years after graduation. Every year there are massive differences between male and female responses to that simple question. She reports that, on average, men think they deserve 80,000 a year while women believe they are worth just 64,000 or 20% less.

Another survey conducted by the American Association of University Women revealed that girls emerge from adolescence with a poor self-image, relatively low expectations from life and much less confidence in themselves and their abilities than boys do. Furthermore, the study identified adolescence as the moment when girls begin to doubt themselves: while 11-year-olds tend to be full of self-confidence, by 15 and 16 they start to say: I dont know, I dont know, I dont know.

But then if young girls are confident until the age of 13, what exactly happens after adolescence that leads to this drop in confidence?