Overcoming Obstacles to Achieve Success

Women are making great strides in the business arena, but they still have a long way to go. More than 40 percent of small business owners are women, according to the business website StartRunGrow.com, and women are hailed for their unique style of leadership. That unique style, however, is not enough to fully overcome overt gender discrimination, false beliefs and stereotypes that still run rampant in the workplace.

In many cases, men still receive higher pay than women for doing the exact same job. Men are also more likely to receive promotions and move up the corporate ladder, especially in firms where false beliefs and stereotypes about women remain engrained.

One false belief is that women do not want to work in the first place. If they do work, there is no way they are as dedicated to their jobs as guys are. This means, of course, women are not willing to do any overtime or relocate.

People often think women’s dedication to their families detracts from women’s dedication to their careers. This means women will always put their families before their jobs – even if the women are single with no children. The topper is that women are too emotional to lead. After all, they do tend to cry at sappy greeting card commercials and chick flicks.

The macho attitude also comes into play when men who hold firm to their stereotypical beliefs are stuck with a female boss. Such a situation actually has the power to make a man feel ashamed that he must answer to a woman in the workplace.

Other pseudo fears men have about women bosses include the woman’s lack of knowledge and confidence in the business arena, a woman’s inability to perform complicated tasks and the fact that they are so hard to please. The latter false belief makes an especially dandy excuse for men who turn in shoddy work. If she’s telling me my work is not right, a man may think, it must mean she’s never satisfied no matter what type of job I’ll do.

Another false belief is that women must act like men in order to successfully lead. This belief was strong in the 1980s and resulted in masculine-styled “power suits” with obnoxiously overstuffed shoulder pads. Women thought they needed to keep up with football scores – or look like a football player – to compete in a man’s world. On the flipside of the issue, if a woman dresses more feminine at work, she can often be labeled a sexpot or worse.

While some of these beliefs are laughable, they still prevail, as does the flack women often receive for being assertive in the workplace. Women are often seen as not being aggressive enough – yet when they exhibit aggressive behavior, they are often labeled a witch, to put it mildly. On the other hand, when women lead in a manner that is nurturing and kind, they are often seen as spineless, weak and incompetent – although great for a chat around the water cooler.

Tips for Overcoming Stereotypes and Achieving Success

Rather than trying to lead “like a man” or “like a woman,” GenderSmart Solutions President Jane Sanders suggests women kick out the set styles altogether and lead with flexibility as each situation merits. She notes that sticking with a single leadership style can perpetuate the stereotypes rather than help eradicate them.

Another major key for overcoming the stereotypes is for women to just be themselves. If a woman is naturally outgoing, her leadership style should reflect that, just as an introspective woman should lead with her natural abilities in mind. Women can do well by not trying to live up what style is expected, but rather by focusing on their strengths and leveraging them to their advantage in the business arena.

Women can also pay attention to the way they interact and communicate in the workplace. Certain behaviors may also be reinforcing the stereotypes without women even realizing it, Sanders notes. These include exhibiting a lack of confidence by seeking validation at every turn as well as adding disclaimers to your work. “This is a good idea, right?” exemplifies the former while “I would have done a better job on this but…” exemplifies the latter.

Other changes women can make include getting rid of constant apologies, taking credit for their work and otherwise making sure their progress in the workplace is known. Providing a boss with regular updates on a project can work well, which is a way to show you are working toward a solution or answer to an issue. Making decisions without the consult of several other people is also a plus, showing a woman’s independence, self-confidence and ability to think for herself.

Women who are succinct, to the point and confident about their work are seen as much stronger and more effective than those that ramble on aimlessly or cower in the face of conflict. When conflict does arise, women can exhibit even more confidence by dealing with directly but also with a touch of empathy, Sanders says. When a woman has center stage she needs to learn how to keep it. She should not tolerate interruptions, although a polite response to “please hold that thought while I continue” works better than an abrupt or curt comment.

Keeping a personal life personal is another must for women. Since the stereotype about family already prevails, keeping talk of them out of the workplace may help diffuse the false beliefs. Women also do well by keeping other personal details private, such as weekend plans, new boyfriends or trouble with the hubby. Any mention of drinking, sex or redecorating the kitchen can and may be used against her.

Trying to talk people out of their stereotypical beliefs generally does not work, notes StartRunGrow.com. Some of those beliefs may be so instilled it would be easier to draw water from a rock. Action always speaks louder than words and women should instead keep a positive attitude and not be afraid to proudly display their strengths. Such action can allow their true talents and value to the workplace shine through.

Essential Skills & Qualities of an Effective Leader

Being an effective business leader is not just about having a good idea, but about having a set of skills that will allow you to make it happen and lead others in joining with you to make your business the best it can be. Many people have some of the business skills naturally, but you can also work to develop the skills that you notice you are lacking or are not as strong in.

Some of the best ways to develop skills are to study and to practice. Doing one without the other is often ineffective because you either do not understand what it is you need to be doing or you don’t actually know how to do what you grasp conceptually. Therefore, you should balance study of a skill through reading or taking a class with practicing the skill in your business. Of course, the longer you work in business, the more potential you have to be a truly skillful and effective leader.

In addition to benefiting yourself, knowing the skills of an effective leader can also help you identify employees in your small business who should be promoted to positions of leadership. People who demonstrate most of these characteristics will probably help your business grow if you give them the opportunity to step up and take responsibility over some aspects of the business. Therefore, keep an eye out for these important skills in the people you hire, and give them the chance to demonstrate these skills and grow in them so you will eventually have a business full of people who can effectively take leadership on projects when you need them to.

Communication
Leaders who are off in their own little bubble and cannot communicate effectively with those around them ultimately do not have their ideas put into practice well. As a leader, you must be able to interact well with the people you work with, and this can be done through written or verbal communication. Verbal communication skills are a must-have, because you need to get a message across when you are working with others. Written skills are also helpful because you can create materials that effectively supplement your verbal communication to drive the business onward.

Listening
Closely tied to communication is the skill of listening. Being a good listener is the first step toward communicating well because it keeps you from talking past each other when you aren’t on the same page. Practice listening to people and hearing them out before assuming you know what they are thinking. Use reflecting questions to confirm that you are hearing what the person is saying. Often people will come to you with problems and think you solved them, but really you just lent a listening ear and allowed the person to talk through the issue and come up with a solution.

Charisma
A charismatic leader is one who can rally people in support of a business idea. In addition, once the ball is rolling, the leader can keep people on board through good times and bad by maintaining energy with a charismatic personality. If you don’t naturally have much charisma, practice energizing yourself before beginning work every day, especially if you have to lead meetings or talk with clients. In addition, pay attention to engaging your own and others’ emotions to be more charismatic in your business leadership.

Vision
Without vision, your business is not going to go anywhere. As a leader, you need to be good at looking ahead and seeing where the company is going. You also need to have an idea of what it is you want your business to accomplish. One of the best ways to have vision as a leader is to write a great vision statement for your business. This statement should describe what the business will look like in five years. If you refer to this statement regularly, you will be able to use it in making decisions and have it pervade your leadership of the business.

Foresight
Closely tied to vision is the skill of foresight. In addition to seeing where you want to go, you also need to be able to identify what obstacles you might face in the coming months and years. This big-picture thinking is partly based on a solid education in the realm of your business and an attention to the overall trajectory of your field, but it is also based on intuition. A great leader has a gut feeling of what might go wrong, and can adjust for it even when the intuition is not a conscious awareness.

Strategic Planning
Leaders need to make strategic planning decisions and guide other people who work for the business in acting according to these strategic plans. After getting a grasp on the situation, the leader needs to be able to create a plan that will actually work. Much of this is based on an intimate knowledge of the industry and an education in basic business practice. However, the leader also needs to have creativity to think up a plan that will work better than the standard business practice in situations that require something new, not the same old plans that all of the competitors are using.

Adaptability
Plans don’t always go the right way, so the next skill an effective leader needs is adaptability. You must be able to gauge how a plan is going and adjust it on the fly to meet the changing demands of the situation. One of the hardest things for many leaders is being able to let go of a plan that is going awry, despite having poured time, energy and resources into it already. As a successful leader, you must gauge when a plan is a lost cause and when it is wiser to transfer your resources to a modified approach.

Coaching
If your business employs anyone other than yourself, another critical skill to have is the ability to coach or mentor those who work for you. Unless you are really lucky or have a lot of money, you probably won’t be able to hire the best employees right away. Instead, you need to find people who have potential and work with them to develop that potential and make them into effective employees for the work you need them to do. As the leader, you need to be able to coach your employees and give them input and direction, while also giving them the freedom to try new things and learn on their own rather than being completely dependent on you.

Teamwork
A leader cannot stand alone all the time. Instead, the leader must rely on others in the team to do their part to make the business successful. As a leader, you need to surround yourself with others who you trust to do their jobs well and propel your business forward. If you are good at identifying people who have the skills that you are weak in, this will help your team to be stronger. In addition, you must be good at delegating tasks and leading sessions in which a team can work together to come up with a better idea, plan and execution than you could have done on your own.

Integrity
One last leadership skill to focus on is integrity. Having this will ensure that your business operates with honesty and ethical behavior in a world that encourages the opposite. Although integrity might not seem like it will put you ahead in the short term, in the long run, it will help your business’s reputation greatly. It will also help you develop a loyal following of employees and clients. Before acting, always consider whether what you are going to do captures the spirit of integrity, and if not, modify your plans until they show integrity.

Action Coaching: Values … Organizational and Personal (Part 1) …

What are the values of your organization?

Have you ever thought about an organization having values?

What about your personal values?

Do they fit with your work … or your organization?

It’s interesting, but our own team has been doing a lot of work lately on recognizing and identifying values … their own and others.

I believe it is important because ActionCOACH has its own set of guiding principles we use to run our business called our “14 Points of Culture.”

If you aren’t familiar with how “Points of Culture” might look … here’s ours:

ActionCOACH‘s 14 Points of Culture

1.    Commitment
I give myself and everything I commit to 100% until I succeed. I am committed to the Vision, Mission, Culture and success of ActionCOACH, its current and future team, and its clients at all times. I always recommend products and services of ActionCOACH prior to going outside the company.

2.    Ownership
I am truly responsible for my actions and outcomes and own everything that takes place in my work and my life. I am accountable for my results and I know that for things to change, first I must change.

3.    Integrity
I always speak the truth. What I promise is what I deliver. I only ever make agreements with myself and others that I am willing and intend to keep. I communicate potential broken agreements at the first opportunity and I clear up all broken agreements immediately.

4.    Excellence
Good enough isn’t. I always deliver products and services of exceptional quality that add value to all involved for the long term. I look for ways to do more with less and stay on a path of constant and never ending improvement and innovation.

5.    Communication
I speak positively of my fellow team members, my clients and ActionCOACH in both public and private. I speak with good purpose using empowering and positive conversation. I never use or listen to sarcasm or gossip. I acknowledge what is being said as true for the speaker at that moment and I take responsibility for responses to my communication. I greet and farewell people using their name. I always apologize for any upsets first and then look for a solution. I only ever discuss concerns in private with the person involved.

6.    Success
I totally focus my thoughts, energy and attention on the successful outcome of whatever I am doing. I am willing to win and allow others to win: Win/Win. At all times, I display my inner pride, prosperity, competence and personal confidence. I am a successful person.

7.    Education
I learn from my mistakes. I consistently learn, grow and master so that I can help my fellow team members and clients learn, grow and master too. I am an educator and allow my clients to make their own intelligent decisions about their future remembering that it is their future. I impart practical and useable knowledge rather than just theory.

8.    Team Work
I am a team player and team leader. I do whatever it takes to stay together and achieve team goals. I focus on co-operation and always come to a resolution, not a compromise. I am flexible in my work and able to change if what I’m doing is not working. I ask for help when I need it and I am compassionate to others who ask me.

9.    Balance
I have a balanced approach to life, remembering that my spiritual, social, physical and family aspects are just as important as my financial and intellectual. I complete my work and my most important tasks first, so I can have quality time to myself, with my family and also to renew.

10.    Fun
I view my life as a journey to be enjoyed and appreciated and I create an atmosphere of fun and happiness so all around me enjoy it as well.

11.    Systems
I always look to the system for a solution. If a challenge arises I use a system correction before I look for a people correction. I use a system solution in my innovation rather than a people solution. I follow the system exactly until a new system is introduced. I suggest system improvements at my first opportunity.

12.    Consistency
I am consistent in my actions so my clients and team mates can feel comfortable in dealing with me at all times. I am disciplined in my work so my results, growth and success are consistent.

13.    Gratitude
I am a truly grateful person. I say thank you and show appreciation often and in many ways, so that all around me know how much I appreciate everything and everyone I have in my life. I celebrate my wins and the wins of my clients, and team. I consistently catch myself and other people doing things right…

14.    Abundance
I am an abundant person, I deserve my abundance and I am easily able to both give and receive it. I allow abundance in all areas of my life by respecting my own self worth and that of all others. I am rewarded to the level that I create abundance for others and I accept that abundance only shows up in my life to the level at which I show up.

At ActionCOACH … our Points of Culture are our guiding principles and provide context and direction for our company and our team.

When we recruit, our process is really a “de-selection” program … and it’s mainly a de-selection process on the part of the candidate.

Why?

Many people simply don’t want to be part of a company run according to a set of guiding principles.

Sometimes, other people may say they want to be part of a “principles-driven” company … but quickly discover working in a “principles-oriented” environment becomes extremely difficult – for them.

Why?

Because in truth, their own personal values are at odds with the overall values of our organization.

There’s nothing wrong with that … it’s just that those people tend to move on to other endeavours because they don’t feel our company is a good fit for them.

Now, is this type of system “perfect”?

No.

No system is.

But it does gives us a base to gauge our overall performance as an organization and also gives us and our team a way to hold people in our organization (and each other) accountable.

Because if you don’t have a company culture … a culture will develop … and the chances are very low that culture will “automatically” reflect the true values of an owner.

So how do personal values affect or influence a company’s values?

We’ll look at that in an upcoming post …

Jodie Shaw