~by Skornia Alison~
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Women have come a long way in their pursuit of becoming business leaders in the corporate world. Today, we have successful female business leaders who are working side by side with their male counterparts. Business leaders like Irene Rosenfeld, Indra Nooyi and Ursula Burns are some examples of famous women leaders who proved that leadership knows no gender.
These women leaders achieved phenomenal success because they have the courage, talent and skills to become what they are today. But there is more about them to inspire us than the aforementioned qualities. Some of them deserve a mention here:
1. Be An Example
Being female puts added pressure to prove yourself. Since you are leading a team that has a majority of male workers, you have to become an exemplary leader to inspire them. You need to show them by example how one should behave in a difficult situation.
When the chips are down, they should draw strength from you to carry on and give their best. Being a women leader could be challenging, but it will inspire your team to emulate you.
2. Stick to Integrity
People respect workers who have high moral values regarding their work. As a woman, you can face stronger competition from male counterparts that might affect your will to pursue the high-quality approach and you might be tempted to lower your standards. However, this will only set a bad example for your team and you will be left with mediocrity.
To set the highest standards for your services, you need to create and promote a culture of quality work. You have to instill in your team a pledge to produce work without compromising on quality. If you do it right, you will be successful at the first and the most crucial part of running a business.
3. Remain Focused
This is one of the most challenging aspects of being a female business leader, particularly when you are a working mother. Running a business is a full-time job that demands your absolute dedication and commitment. However, this can be a bit tricky when you are a housewife and a mother.
You want to work during the night, but you have errands to run. Similarly, you want to travel abroad, but you have a family who needs your attention. All these responsibilities can distract you from doing your job, and you have to struggle really hard to focus on your role as a business leader.
Once you successfully achieve that focus, it will become a lot easier to achieve the desired results for your business.
4. Maintaining Relationships
As a business leader, you will be dealing with a good many people including your team, business partners and vendors. At the same time, you will be looking after your family. So it will never be easy to make the transition from a housewife to an entrepreneur. You will have to be extremely good at managing your relationships if you want to make your dream business a reality.
What you will desperately need here is the ability to effectively manage your time between your business relationships and your family. You need to balance your attention to your professional and personal relations. Slogging yourself in your business only leaves you with mistrusts, insecurities and apprehensions.
5. Manage Your Fears
For decades, women have been considered weak. But times have changed. Now women are considered as strong as their male counterparts. This has been proven by famous entrepreneurs like Oprah Winfrey and Alison Prince.
As a female business leader, you’ll be competing with male contenders who will turn out to be strong competition. So you will most likely be dealing with fears and insecurities that might make you want to quit after a time.
In such a scenario, you’ll have to learn to manage your fears and reassure yourself that you are as strong as the opposite gender. Rather than making your fears become your weakness, you should channel them to help you achieve your goals in life.
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Female business leaders are shaping the corporate world. You could become one of them by following the above-mentioned 5 secrets to success.
Meet the Author: Skornia Alison
Skornia Alison is a Life Coach cum Business Consultant at essay valley. She has a knack for writing insightful posts on business leadership and business management. Nowadays, she is busy blogging about female business leadership.
