Women In Leadership: How They Are Real Game Changers
There have never been as many women in leadership positions as today. However, that has been an uphill battle. There is still a need for more gender diversity in the workplace and leadership roles, though progress and change are happening. Despite the difficult work to get here, women have shown excellent leadership skills and demonstrated how a good leader could look different from what society may expect. A good leader can be empathetic, can want employees to feel valued, and can bring more to the table than many people initially assume.
The stereotypes of what a leader is and how they behave are being broken down, and a lot of this is thanks to women stepping into leadership roles. Women help promote collaboration and bring unique perspectives to problems. There’s still much to be done before things are equal in most workplaces, but women have made strides and significant changes.
Women don’t necessarily lead differently because of their gender. It is often about working as a minority in a male-dominated workforce. This changes how you operate, needing to know how both men and women work to get ahead. And a different perspective can lead to different leadership skills. Often, a woman in a leadership position can change company culture and how certain tasks are done. Leaders should want to see improvement and help those improvements come about. Women moving into leadership positions are bringing about positive change.
Building Others Up
Women in leadership positions build up other women and marginalized groups, often knowing firsthand how challenging it is to make it into a more homogenized leadership room. And not only do they help support other women, but they are also generally more supportive in the workplace of employees.
More and more, we are seeing how positive reinforcement benefits a workforce. Employees want to know their efforts are noticed and appreciated. It helps them feel more motivated and be more productive overall. And often, the leaders that are helping employees develop through encouragement and teaching are women.
People need to know that their skills are valued. It helps them keep moving and want to do even better in the future. Finding ways to motivate employees has never been so crucial, and boosting their esteem on certain projects is a great start. With a lot of potential for burnout in the workplace, a cooperative and supportive environment helps prevent employees from losing steam.
Women in leadership positions often provide more positive feedback and work to cultivate an enjoyable work atmosphere. They often try and help employees reach a higher potential and want to promote growth through learning and engaging. Employees who feel seen and appreciated will be happier to come to work and do better work while there.
Women in Leadership: Open Communication
Have you ever felt a boss was completely unapproachable? Or found yourself afraid to ask questions when being trained for a new position? Leaders working from an intimidation standpoint don’t bring about the best in employees. People may do what they say, but it may be done poorly due to misunderstandings. Or it may get done poorly because the employee was stressed and felt overly judged doing their job.
A leader should be someone who can listen to others and hear them out. They can accept different perspectives and utilize them instead of only following their own ideas. A company benefits when the best ideas are utilized, not the ideas only thought up by the boss. Women know what it’s like not to be heard and often strive to improve communication and make sure every voice is heard. Working within a male-dominated workforce can often make women leaders more likely to seek feedback and work alongside others. They have opened company communication channels and created a more open and collaborative culture.
If an employee has a great idea, they’ll be more likely to share it with a company they believe values their input. And they will also share it if someone is willing to listen. Leaders are not immovable mountains at the top of a pyramid. They are people working to direct a team toward a common goal. And if that goal can get done better and more efficiently by moving in a new direction, wouldn’t you want to know how? Women have been able to create a space where good ideas are heard and celebrated, and people can better communicate with one another.
Take Risks And Fail Better
Women are resilient. They know what it’s like to have a door closed and have had to work with that roadblock instead of giving up. Women are often adept at taking failure and using it to improve. It is not a death sentence to be told no or shut out of a meeting. Many women are comfortable encountering challenges and can come up with creative solutions. And when leading by example, employees gain more resilience in the sign of adversity and learn not to take failure as the end of the road. No business is perfect, and you want employees who can ride out when things are rough.
All businesses have ups and downs, and knowing how to handle when something goes wrong is the mark of a true leader. The ability to handle failure and learn from it is necessary to progress and help a business carry on. Women leaders are great at taking risks and learning from when they don’t work out. And calculated risk-taking is part of every business. No deal is guaranteed success. Knowing how to pick yourself back up and keep going is the make of a good leader. Employees need someone who can handle failure because failure in life is inevitable.
One of the worst things to do is to fail and not learn from it. But if you can take a bad business deal and turn it into a moment to remember, which you and your employees can use, you’re in much better shape. And your employees are as well.
Women in Leadership: Empathetic Approach
Women lead with a lot of emotional intelligence. And understanding where employees are coming from and what they’re feeling is a great bonus for a leader. Since women are often still underpaid and undervalued at work, they have to work a little harder to be noticed. They also often work with more men, requiring an understanding of how different people work and respond. Women bring empathy and an ability to understand people when moving into leadership.
More often, empathy has become a necessary and critical part of leadership. If you do not understand your employees or cannot put yourself in their shoes, you won’t be able to know how they need to be led. You won’t know what they need and what they may respond to.
Women are so often raised to consider others. Social connections and community are vital aspects of our society and what we expect women to utilize. And this has only helped women grow into leadership positions and succeed in leading others with compassion and empathy at the forefront. A stern boss that is above everyone else is unreachable and often out of touch. Someone who can feel and relate to others allows for connection. Employees want to feel heard and understood, and an empathetic leader can provide that.
Work To Do
This is just a small list of the benefits women have provided in leadership positions and how they’ve been changing how that role works. Unfortunately, some of the circumstances that build these traits come from workplace bias and harmful practices that don’t benefit women. Turning failure into a positive is often because many doors are closed on women from the start. Many women have proven to be resilient and keep striving to build more equality and equity in the workplace, but there is still work to be done. And the pressure to be resilient takes a toll. Women in leadership positions have been able to initiate more changes, but that doesn’t mean the job is done and the world is an entirely equal place.
Women leaders have been able to help pave the way for more women to step up. And that is a great positive. They have also shown that leadership can look differently and often should to help employees work cohesively. And the more we work together, and from a position of empathy and understanding, the more positive solutions can be developed. A company thrives on good ideas that can be heard and put to use.
There’s a lot to be learned from women in leadership. And no doubt more to come as workplaces become more diverse and open to different ideas. Check out these great leadership training seminars to help you grow if you’re interested in improving your leadership skills.
