Female Leadership

You’re walking into the boardroom. All eyes are on you. You take a seat. Take a deep breath and WHAM – now you’re on. What’s next?

Every day leaders are made, deals get sealed, and negotiations fall through.. So what separates the ‘made’ deals from the ‘broken’ deals? Following these simple yet forgotten ‘seal the deal’ rules:

Every successful wise woman has a toolkit full of whatever it takes to make it work. An arsenal of trade secrets … a bag of goodies. It’s like the bag Mary Poppins had – it was bottomless and filled with unlimited possibilities. In examining your toolkit, the first thing you need to do is take an inventory of what you have and what you DON’T have. While it’s important to know what you have, I believe it’s equally if not MORE important to know what is MISSING.

Mothers are our first example of real leadership. Mothers demonstrate the most important leadership skill, and that’s the ability to know what is most important. Mothers concern themselves with doing the right thing - not always doing things right. Mothers are great leaders. They are concerned with efficiency and effectiveness. If they weren’t, can you image the state of the household? Mothers learn quickly to prioritize, which means they have to separate what is important from what isn’t. Once they’ve determined what is important, they then put their energy into what is essential.

2010 was a great year for women. We are on the edge of new financial power, becoming an economic force. We are improving society by influencing how women are viewed in the workplace. We are growing businesses at a rapid rate, redefining family roles, and exercising major leadership to make a difference in the world. We are a force to be reckoned with and it’s only getting better! Here’s my list of 2010 women who give each of us hope for making that difference:

Have you ever tried communicating with a person who is downright stubborn? They appear immune to all the usual methods of communication and persuasion. Their attitudes are more negative than most. And they seem to glean some pleasure in being this way. For example, your company contracts with a person who does your media and publicity. But every time you talk with him he is blunt, sarcastic, rolls his eyes (yes, I can hear that over the phone), exerts covert hostility and only gives information on a-need-to -know basis. Fire him? Not possible – it’s the boss’ nephew.