In a recent interview with Influencers Radio, Executive Coach and Diversity Speaker Dalisia Coppersmith shared her insights on how strong women can navigate their unique challenges in the workplace, where their performance is praised but their personalities are often criticized. Her personal mission is to “Restore the women who can change our world.”
During the interview, Dalisia shares her own and other strong women’s experiences in using their strengths and voices to achieve the impossible, only to be criticized for not being soft enough–no matter how hard they’ve worked to adjust for others. She explains the “Hero to Villain” cycle, where strong women in leadership are asked to tackle tough projects and when they succeed, they become a target for criticism. She said, “I ask people to think of the women at work that they love to hate. All of us have worked with someone who was very strong, outspoken, but not necessarily doing anything wrong. I’m talking about the women who have worked very hard to soften their approach to deliver their message in the right way, and it never seems to be enough… Over time, if one of these women has achieved just one thing too many for some people’s tastes, she becomes the villain. That’s where personality criticism starts. These women are relied upon, and then they’re vilified.”
