Women in business: superwomen?

This article, inspired by a webinar [in French only], hosted by psychologist and speaker Pierrette Desrosiers, explores the opportunities and challenges that women in business can face. It is part of a series of modules focused on managing the human aspects of the family farm business. This text was adapted, with permission, from an article in Coopérateur magazine.

Between superwoman syndrome and the mental load, women are often faced with challenges that overwhelm and exhaust them. Psychologist and speaker Pierrette Desrosiers offers a few key insights to help understand their realities and offer solutions.

Multiple realities

Every woman’s reality is different, so there is no ultimate prototype of THE woman in business and agriculture. As a person living on the farm, your time is invested differently: ownership may be primary or partial. Available resources are not always equal when it comes to money or physical and mental health.

For example, you may have moderate energy potential or be able to lift 12 mountains at once while managing a family of three children. Labour availability also varies from company to company, as does the pool of skills and knowledge available on the farm.

Women’s realities also differ from those of men. Gender discrimination persists, whether it is with suppliers, customers or even employees. Access to financing is more difficult for women. Networking and mentorship opportunities are also more limited.

A lack of balance

A recent study on the division of farm tasks between men and women in Quebec [in French only] found that balancing work and family remains a considerable challenge on the farm, since the organization of domestic tasks is still highly gendered. Although men have come a long way, there is still a lot of work to do, especially when it comes to the mental load.

The mental load

Desrosiers explains: “Mental load is when your thoughts and emotions are overloaded by everything you have to plan, manage and accomplish. It leads to physical and mental fatigue.”

For example, you’re preparing for the start of the new school year, and planning everything it involves: buying school supplies, clothes, backpacks; registering your kids for activities; your child is sick... something unexpected happens! You pick him up from day camp, go to the doctor with him, have a dentist appointment, then an optometrist appointment, a soccer game, a dance class, a swimming lesson, breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc.

All of this places a considerable psychological burden on you, and also has an impact on the company.

Superwoman syndrome

This phenomenon is defined as “a set of behaviours and psychological traits observed in women who feel constantly overwhelmed by their many obligations, both at work and at home. They tend to want to do everything perfectly, to take on too much at work and to neglect their well-being for the sake of others,” explains the psychologist.

You’re acting like a superwoman if you’re overbooking your schedule and juggling multiple roles and responsibilities, without giving yourself the slightest break, either in energy, time or money.

Letting go is hard

Delegate? Easier said than done! In this context, the last thing you want is to appear weak. Caught up in constant stress, you can become exhausted without feeling like you can slow down. You also find it hard to recognize or express your own needs, putting those of others before your own.

Are you happy in your role as superwoman? The difficulty lies in the partial loss of satisfaction in life and the persistent feeling of never being able to keep up, despite relentless efforts.

Possible solutions

Sharing tasks can lighten your load. How can you identify which ones you could entrust to others? Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• What is the added value of this activity? Is it useful?

• Is it related to your earnings in the company or your personal life?

• Are you interested in doing it?

• Are you the most competent person for the task?

• Could someone else do it for you?

• Are you neglecting other, more important activities?

• What are the consequences if you don’t do it?

"By saying yes to one activity, you’re saying no to another."Beyond delegation, determining what is important is also crucial. Internal conflicts often arise depending on the responsibilities you choose to take on. As the expert points out, the challenge is “that by saying yes to one activity, you’re saying no to another. When your values clash, that’s when you have to decide what’s most important. You need to take a step back.”

Faced with the impossibility of doing it all, you must make choices to simplify your life.

Getting back to basics

In conclusion, Pierrette Desrosiers asserts that “if you don’t set priorities in your own life, others and life itself will do it for you. Prioritizing means letting go, of course, but doing so in order to focus on what’s essential.”

And what is essential to you? Well, that’s up to you!

Article by: Stéphanie McDuff
Adapted by: Mélanie Lagacé

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