When women combine their authentic feminine leadership strengths with sound business acumen and advocate for themselves, they can achieve their highest aspirations for business leadership.
Today, 51% of all managerial and professional positions are held by women. Women are moving into levels of leadership where they influence strategy and guide organizational direction. Over the past decade, women's rate of advancement in the labor force has outpaced the men and more are rising to top leadership positions in organizations.
The number of women making $100,000 or more has grown at a faster pace than it has for men and in the United States, 6% of women earn at least $100,000 and as of 2010, they account for 6.3% of the top earners in the Fortune 500 companies.
Women executives in the C-Suite are good for the bottom line. Business research reveals that corporations with more women in leadership positions report higher financial performance than those fewer women in senior management.
Based on 20+ years of research with highly successful business women, Sharon Hadary and Laura Henderson, authors of "How Women Lead," repeatedly found eight key strategies that women were using to get into the success pipeline.
The Eight Success Strategies
Empower the Woman Leader Within: Success starts by recognizing, valuing and practicing the leadership strengths that you as a woman bring to business.
Own Your Destiny: Define success in your own terms based on your values, passions and vision.
Be the Architect of Your Career: Acquire the credentials for success. Basic business experience is essential to moving into senior leadership.
Advocate Unabashedly for Yourself: Be your own best advocate. Show how you build your personal brand to create the business case to position yourself as the candidate of choice.
Translate the Stories Numbers Tell to Drive Strategic Results: Set a high priority on developing financial acumen. Learn to read the stories that numbers tell is essential.
Create Exceptional Teams: Leaders mobilize exceptional teams to achieve visionary goals.
Nurture Your Greatest Asset--You:
You are your own greatest asset. Let’s face it: you are the most interesting and important subject in the entire world. You will always be at or near the center of your world. It’s a comfortable place to be! So, one of the most exciting—and, often, one of the most intimidating—experiences lies in gaining a fuller understanding of just who you are.
Skillfully integrate your professional and personal life and focus your personal time and energy.
Turn Possibilities into Reality:
Reach a hand out to other women, use philanthropy to drive change, and stay open to serendipity, the unexpected opportunities that bring joy and meaning to our lives.
Sources: Sharon Hadary: How Women Lead: The 8 Essential Strategies Successful Women Know
John G Agno: Women, Know Thyself: The most important knowledge is self-knowledge.
John Agno: When Doing It All Won't Do: A Self-Coaching Guide for Career Women
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