Thank you ”Magnus 52” – Using my alter ego to strengthen my career related self-confidence

“What would Magnus 52 do in this situation?”. This is a blog post about what a friend of mine (and vice dean of a large organization) calls “gubbism” (eng. translation “old-man-ism”), which can be a helpful strategy for e.g. young women and other stakeholders to increase the self-confidence, braveness and basically take more space in the career context. Before I will introduce “Magnus 52” let me introduce myself. My name is Magdalena Stadin and I am currently a guest PhD in the HTO-group during the fall of 2019. I am obviously a woman and I am in my early 30s. Magnus 52 on the other hand, he is a white man that is 52 years old. Magnus finds himself very valuable due to his great competence and high education and has obviously a really good self-confidence, and no problem with asking for more, so to speak. However, Magnus can also be really helpful in terms of overcoming barriers in the working context when it comes to presentations, networking, and “asking for more” (e.g. salary) among other things. The principle is easy, if or when you feel somewhat uncertain about daring to do something, or hesitating if you are good enough to do something, just think “What would Magnus 52 do in this situation?”, and you will find the answer. Such as when I emailed prof. Åsa Cajander and asked if I possibly could be a guest PhD in the HTO-group during the fall of 2019, I first asked “Magnus 52” if it was too awkward to just email a professor (that I did not even know) just like that, about such a thing. But hey, I guess you have figured the answer from “Magnus 52” by now.

P.S. Please be aware about the fact that over-use of “Magnus 52” may have consequences for how you are perceived by others.