Females in business- How to harness your power.

The number of female leaders is rising.

As a female owned business, Integral is always supporting and encouraging women leaders. Good news is, there has been a lot of progress with women holding positions of power and rise in women-owned firms. According to the Census Bureau’s Annual Business Survey, there were 6,861 more women-owned firms in 2018 than in 2015, which is up .6% to $1.1 million. More women in leadership roles are pushing the boundaries for gender equality. Let’s keep that number rising. 

RockefellerFoundation shares that women’s lack of representation in positions of leadership  is widely recognized and Americans don’t like what they see in regards to workplace equality. Women have struggled with pay gap issues and uneven opportunities for advancement.

With the Golden Age for women entrepreneurs upon us, this blog post dives into females as leaders, in business, and key ways to make the path to success smoother.

What’s holding women back?

The biggest setback is the mindset that the business world is dominated by men. Let’s face it, a majority of the people in a room during a business meeting, or on a web call are men. However, that has drastically changed within the past few years, so this is the chance for women to take charge.

Female leaders are important. RockefellerFoundation shares that more than 70% of Americans believe that having more women in leadership positions would have significant impacts on the wage gap, changing policies, and a diverse workforce.

What makes females great leaders?

Women leaders have qualities that are great for increasing a sense of teamwork in the workplace. Women show enthusiasm, passion, and a capability to take command. Fisher College of Business shares that compared to male leaders, female leaders are more likely to attend to followers’ personal needs, be open to new ideas and others’ opinions, and reward the satisfactory performance of others consistently. Communication has proved to be a strong skill for women, which can build up open communication and clarity at work.

Females obtain skills that make them great leaders. So if women excel in these areas, more should be in positions of leadership. 

How is anyone supposed to believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself?

It all starts with your mindset, and confidence is key. What are leaders doing that set them apart? They are pursuing what they want, not waiting for things to come to them. Believing in yourself and believing you can do anything that you set your mind to, is the first step to success. And since the underlying gender bias is a setback for women in the workplace, having a mindset of gender equality is important. Recognizing the need for change, along with your actions and attitudes at work.

Believe in yourself regardless of bias, assumptions, or anything that might be stopping you from achieving what you want. Focus on your accomplishments and qualifications. If you think you are ready and capable, don’t let anything stop you from getting what you want.

Along with having confidence in yourself, here are some tips to truly harness your power.

Home and Work life balance

Women are constantly juggling responsibilities and commitments both inside and outside of work. Everyone has a different notion on balance and what we should be prioritizing, but what’s really important is finding the right balance for you. 

Don’t Compare Yourself

Finding a true balance is unrealistic. Balancing a priority of both work and taking care of a family is a give and take. Define what your job means to you, and don’t compare your priorities to others in business. Some days might be a work overload, and other days you might find yourself putting your work aside to spend time with your family. Instead of being hard on yourself, do what you can to prioritize everything important to you and take that day by day.

Failure helps you grow

Failure is inevitable.  Oftentimes, we don’t believe in ourselves because we are afraid of failure. Without failure, you can’t reach success. The best way to overcome fear is to recognize the fear, and do it anyway. Leaving your comfort zone can be challenging, but with high risk comes high reward. Not only do your own failures help you grow, learning from the failures and successes of others can help you on your journey to success. 

Knowledge is power

Knowledge is the key to success, so learn as much as you can. Successful leaders have to love to learn and can learn from anyone. They are open and willing to never stop learning, because there’s always room to grow. They have the ability to take views, insights, and examples from others into their own situations. Using everything as a learning opportunity is important.

Get rid of negativity

Avoid negative people or conversations as much as you can. There will always be people  who doubt you, so focus on the people that support, motivate, and fill you with positivity. 

Networking

Taking time to build connections is extremely important. Networking allows you to identify career opportunities, foresee changes in the organization, be up-to-date on industry trends, and build a successful team.

Think Big

Your dreams are as big as you let them be. Women can underestimate their own potential. Use your imagination to explore different possibilities and outcomes. 

Enjoy the process

As much as your attention might be on becoming as successful as you can, remember to enjoy the journey. If we don’t enjoy the journey, it’s going to be hard to reach your highest potential. 

 

For a little more help with work and home-life balance, here are the top 5 books recommended to working moms:

1. Good Morning, Monster: A Therapist Shares Five Heroic Stories of Emotional Recovery By Catherine Gildiner

2. Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself By Dr. Joe Dispenza

3. Do Less: A Revolutionary Approach to Time and Energy Management for Ambitious Women By Kate Northrup

4. Cleaning up your mental mess By Dr Caroline Leaf

5. Off Balance: Getting Beyond the Work-Life Balance Myth to Personal and Professional Satisfaction By Matthew Kelly

Want more of Our Thoughts? Check out our post about The Benefits of Working In-Office, and Changing Mindsets