Hi There,
I was part of a lively discussion with some of my friends recently about women and success.
This eventually led to an analysis of why some women were successful and other were not. Was it because those in the former group were slavish imitators of men, or were there other factors?
The result was that we all agreed that there should be affordable mentoring for women and how that could be best accomplished.
I am going to put together a women’s group mentoring program shortly, but I still need the answer to the topic question from a larger number of you.
I also would like your opinion on what topics you would like to see included in an affordable mentoring program.
Over to you.
Cheers
Catherine
Our Brisbane consultants are certified to administer DiSC assessments for individuals and team building. 
Catherine Day is an authorised assessor for MSCEIT (Myer Salovey Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test) - your ability to perceive, use, understand, and regulate emotions.
A successful woman understands that the real strength of the leader comes from an ability to elicit the strength of the team. She knows that if she can engage the team in the vision so that they ‘own’ it, there is a shared sense of destiny, and a compelling reason to get up in the morning. She is a good listener and understands the wishes of each individual, and therefore how to motivate them to realise their dreams within the collective vision. It is a win-win for everyone and shows that the power of the group far outweighs the power of any one person. I believe this to be more insutinctive in women than in men, who enjoy the competition and the desire to win above all else. Successful women understand that winning is the outcome of having a shared approach.
A successful woman is a woman that knows herself and is willing to share her skills and thoughts as honestly and as candidly as the situation permits. A successful woman is also a woman that knows her limitations and is happy to acknowledge that and seek assistance and support to meet today’s challenge. She also knows that to remain successful, now and in the future, if she has identified an area for development she sets about to strengthen her skills or experience in this area. This can be achieved by seeking a mentor, conducting research, undertaking study and/or by participating in projects and partnering with someone with expertise in that area. A successful woman also seeks to assist other women be successful – for all the right reasons, their expertise, their skills and the diversity that they bring to any team.
A successful woman enjoys the love of her family and/or friends and builds a career that is balanced and enjoyable. She also builds a work team that is balanced and contains diversity of opinion and naturally gender.
A succesful woman is without ego. She succeeds because she loves what she does an imparts passion in others. She understands that it is important to be true to oneself.
She is instinctively aware of the need to lead by example and listen to and support those around her.
It doesn’t even occur to her to mimic male behaviours, because she is sure of herself.
I disagree that “a successful woman is without ego.” All women, like all men, fall somewhere within the range of human egos. Many successful women have huge egos, like many but not all successful men. So I do not think this is the total distinguishing factor.
I do think that many women take more time than most men to understand the people working with them (in business, home, social, volunteer, etc.). So we come back to emotional intelligence, and how women use this dimension to motivate and reward their co-workers. I think that success is built on :
a. analysing a goal and the situation around it
b. identifying required resources (both people and material/time/money)
c. identifying people who can contribute AND GAIN from the project
d. and working to build this team and to lead it to success.
Why many women have stronger emotional intelligence than most men, and how to develop this — perhaps this is the real question.
Love the concept of emotional intelligence. I’m going to work on mine for the greater good this week.
I was thinking about a few successful women that I know through work and socially. A few things that they have in common are charisma, confidence and strength. They are also focussed and articulate. Thinking about the way that they do business; they are not slavish imitators of anyone (let alone men) and have cultivated their own uniqueness to equal success.
Catherine, bring your mentoring program to London. We need you!
Christine Bridge, Underbrand, London, UK
I recently met (another) successful woman, working in a male dominated industry and department. She struck me as powerful, yet not domineering, efficient without being obsessed, clearly knew what was happening in the business without feeling the need to do everything herself.
She is clearly confident in herself and the people around her – and her staff clearly appreciated the show of confidence. She was quick to praise and equally quick to provide constructive criticism – always expressed in the form of ‘how can we do this better’…not ‘you have done this incorrectly’. She is honest with herself and her staff.
She is an excellent communicator – clear and concise with the content of her message amplified with an engaging tone and positive non-verbals.
She is immensely likable – I am not sure if this is essential…but it did occur to me she would be a wonderful boss!
She is clearly well respected – by her people, peers (senior executives) and clients.
She is still, even after many years with this company, passionate about what she does, and said she gets a ‘buzz’ because she believes she has the personal power to affect the customer experience positively, to keep improving and to grow the business.
While showing me around the operation, she greeted probably close to 150 people, over several hours, by name and in many cases asked specific personal questions (how’s the new bub? etc). Not gossipy – she just clearly cared…