No matter what your trajectory
may be, having confidence in yourself and your goals is hands-down the
top quality you will need for success. This confidence will fuel the
ultimate edge in any profession: perseverance.
“(Perseverance) requires an
unwavering sense of self-belief about yourself, your product, your
mission,” said Maseena Ziegler, author of a No. 1 best-selling book in
Hong Kong, "Ladies Who Launch in Hong Kong." Perseverance is the
characteristic common to the 12 female entrepreneurs about whom Ziegler
wrote. “It’s the ability to keep going despite all the challenges and
hurdles,” she said.
While men tend to be overly
confident, women are taught to be humble and demure. In order to
overcome that in the workplace, it is important to identify your best
traits and highlight them. One trait that women possess in spades is
intuition. “Most women can walk into a room, read the room, and be
fairly accurate about it,” said Lisa Johnson Mandell, author of the
best-selling book "Career Comeback." She encourages women to trust and
pay attention to those feelings, and — before communicating them —
critically analyze and understand why they feel a certain way about a
situation. If you can translate those feelings into objective
business-speak, you’ll blow the men-folk out of the water.
Kimberly Roussel, a successful
entrepreneur who opened the Los Angeles restaurant Kitchen 24, the
Hollywood club Cinespace, and a catering service, said she feels lucky
that her parents instilled confidence in her. She feels that it is
critical to have a level of conviction that enables you to take risks
and let go of the fear of failing. Once you defeat those anxieties, the
world can open up in surprising ways.
2. Monitor Emotions
While men struggle with being
vulnerable and emotive, women are encouraged from an early age to
express their emotions. This can prove problematic in the workplace.
Letting emotions take over in a business setting can often mean losing
control of the situation.
“Men don’t take business challenges
personally,” said Ziegler, “The'yre able to remain objective and in
control – and perhaps they make better business decisions as a result.”
Roussel says she struggles with
managing her emotions in business on a daily basis. “I make an effort to
keep emotions out of situations and be more rational," she said. "At
the end of the day, business is business, and you can’t over-analyze or
take things too personally.”
Mandell recommends taking a beat
before you react to a tense situation. And while a heated conversation
is bad enough, a reactive, emotional email turns into physical evidence
of rash behavior.
The ultimate manifestation of
stereotypical female emotion – crying – is the one behavior that nearly
every woman is both guilty of and advises against. “There’s no crying in
baseball … or in the boardroom,” said Mandell, “While it is natural, it
can make us look weak.” But don’t get yourself down over needing a good
cry. If emotions overwhelm in the workplace, go for an extended
bathroom break and get out what ails you. If you're finding yourself
doing this every day, it may be an indicator to examine your current
work situation.
3. Organize and Structure
Whether you’re working for yourself or someone else,
having your own personal structure to a day is a huge help in making
strides toward your goals. Roussel advises taking one step at a time and
one day at a time, and not allowing yourself to be overwhelmed by
larger, long-term goals.
Writing a to-do list is a simple,
satisfying way to tackle a day's objectives. Samira Asemanfar, founder
of the Los Angeles-based high-end nail salon franchise Bellacures, caps
off every evening by taking a look at her master to-do list and
adjusting it. “I take an inventory of my to-do list," she said. "What
did I accomplish today? What do I need to accomplish tomorrow and in
what order? It's hard to think about this early in the morning.”
Whether your schedule is set for
you or you create it yourself, sticking to a structured day — even in
your personal life — is imperative. Roussel rises early every morning,
heads to the gym, returns home and reads the news over breakfast. While
this is just the start of her schedule, maintaining her personal goals
and expectations every morning helps her be efficient throughout the
day.
Mandell stresses the need to be
prompt in work-related activities. Don't make excuses of being a "late
person" to yourself or others. Make a point of changing that behavior.
Being late to work, a meeting, or even to a social gathering, will imply
either that you don’t have your act together or that your time is more
important than that of the person who was waiting for you. Being prompt
reflects courtesy and reliability, both of which are powerful traits in
business.
4. Hone Communication Skills
Speaking from behind a lectern,
participating in a conference call or composing an email, excellent
communication skills are essential. While some people may be naturally
gregarious or charismatic, even introverted women may still excel at
this, as long as they are assertive and pay attention to detail.
“All too often, we soften or weaken
our message with words like ‘you know what I mean?,’ or ‘if that’s okay
with you?’” said Ziegler. “What you have to remember is that you’re an
intelligent, articulate woman and you’ve more than earned your place at
the table.” If you have a tendency toward falling back on weaker
language, prepare what you have to say in advance of any meeting so that
you’re sure of the words coming out of your mouth.
And in a world where most
communication is done via email, you will get bonus points (or at least
no points deducted) if your emails are spell-checked and grammar-proofed
— no matter how casual the communication. A person who communicates
sloppily will be perceived as someone with poor attention to detail.
5. Find a Mentor or Community
“You always hear of those good ol’ boys’ clubs,"
said Mandell. "But you never hear about any good ol’ girls’ clubs.” It
is crucial to actively seek out women with whom to connect in your
industry. It is easy to get wrapped up in seeing another woman as a
threat, but that will only keep both of you down. “Older women need to
look at younger women as allies, colleagues, equals," Mandell said. "And
younger women need to look toward older women as leaders, mentors and
gurus.”
If you’re in an office, try to pull
the same “boys’ club” moves that the men do. Invite a female colleague
to play tennis or lunch. Or you can go an even more basic route. “A lot
gets done at the urinal,” said Theresa Zagnoli, CEO of the consulting
firm ZMF. “Now I always talk to my women colleagues in the bathroom just
so the men know they have been left out. When I get back in the meeting
room I will say things like ‘Beth and I were just discussing ... ’ They
hate it.”
When you’re just starting out or
changing careers, seek out women in your industry and build
relationships with them. It sometimes seems easier to ask for quick
favors, but often that will not be well-received. Roussel recommends —
particularly to women starting out in a new industry — finding a woman
who is doing exactly what you want to do and offering to work for her
for free. While this may not be feasible over a long-term period, try
helping a woman you’d like to shadow once a week. Not only will you be
obtaining a free education, but you also are likely to come away from it
with a stellar relationship.
6. Keep Personal Life Personal
In most modern work
environments, the line between friends and co-workers is often blurred,
and before you know it, your entire office knows about your marital woes
or your chronic insomnia. Mandell advises against revealing too much
about your personal life in the workplace. “Be it romantic life, home
life or health,” she said, “if you say you have a headache, guys are
going to think, ‘Oh, it’s that time of the month.’ ” Gushing about your
personal problems will give colleagues an altered perception of who you
are as a person. The relationships will seem more frivolous and casual.
And while there’s no problem with being friends outside of work with
your co-workers, refrain from talking about last night’s traumatic first
date until your lunch break.
By the same token, it is critical
to protect your personal life from being invaded by your career. While
many people check emails until bedtime, make sure that when you want a
break — whether to connect with a family member or go for a run — the
phones go away. Not only is it good manners, but it allows you to take a
mental vacation from the intensity of the work day. Balancing those two
sides of life — knowing how to distance yourself from work in personal
time and from personal life during work — will help you thrive in both
worlds.
7. Stay Informed and Connected
Of the women interviewed, most
begin their days checking newspapers, blogs, RSS feeds, Facebook and
Twitter to stay connected with the world around them. While the majority
are involved in media-focused industries, this is not an exclusive
skill. Knowing what’s happening in your own career field — from real
estate to teaching 1st grade — will set you apart from the pack. Seek
out blogs, set up Google alerts, and follow leaders in your industry on
Twitter to keep yourself continually in the loop with what’s happening
each day. This will allow you to be ready to participate in any
conversation and come up with new, relevant ideas.
Social networks, if you know how to
use them, are valuable resources. Roussel makes a point of commenting
on posts, wishing people happy birthday, and providing updates about
herself to ensure that her network is continually maintained. “Keeping
in touch, putting yourself out there, networking … you never know," she
said. "You can connect with someone online and then months later they
give you the biggest job you’ve ever had.”
As long as you set time aside in
your schedule, you may happily browse your global community to maintain
connections with people in every facet of business.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment