Women have 3 assets that I see as secret weapons in the business world. For the past 30 years or so, women have been encouraged to behave as their male counterparts do so they can succeed and achieve equality. To me, this is backward and counterproductive because they have several valuable skills that businesses need to grow and serve their customers well. Since people are unique, these assets show up differently in each woman. Today I'll share the 3 most important of these abilities with you. My hope is that these skills will be recognized for the powerhouses of strength that they truly are.
Women have strong verbal communication skills. In fact, scientists and psychologists tell us that women speak more than 3 times as many words during a day than men do. Furthermore, our conversations tend to involve responsive listening and focus on the process of relations rather than sharing facts. Women know how to build rapport, understand a person's strengths and weaknesses, and can easily include encouragement in conversation. Businesses need effective communication and team building skills, especially in sales, marketing, and negotiations.
Second, women are intuitively skilled negotiators. They have been conditioned for centuries to get what they want through negotiation and community. No matter how you feel about it, this is an historical fact and is our present reality. Women had little economic power, and they learned how to work in a system where they weren't the boss. Rather than direct bloody fighting and wars, they learned to work with others and create good compromises or find a win/win outcome. Now that they have economic freedom, they can use the skills they've learned to help themselves reach their goals and do it with class. these skills can help an organization flourish by creating partnerships with those they do business with. Win/win situations are good for everybody, and women have a talent for finding ways to make that happen. They've done this socially for centuries, and their mothers have taught them these skills from infancy. Women just don't recognize it and thus think they can't negotiate in business matters. They can, and they can often see win/win options that their male colleagues miss.
The final secret weapon women have is their ability to work as part of a team. Again, this is partially due to their inborn character as a female and partially due to their cultural conditioning. Have you ever noticed that when you're with a group at a restaurant, one woman at the table says she's going to use the ladies room; almost immediately others will go with her? They often will go as a group and will come back to the table together. You don't see this behavior from men. Our culture seems to value the image of a self-made tycoon who takes the business world by storm. Reality is very different though. Most "self-made" business tycoons have a quality team of support staff behind them. It is actually the power of the team that brings success. Those companies who reward employees for good teamwork will profit and will survive when hard times come. Women excel at teamwork, and they should be sought out for this quality. Mary Kay Ash understood this well, and she became wealthy by creating a team and helping each team member to reach his/her personal goals.
Women who recognize the power of these 3 secret weapons can accomplish anything they want to do. Using her strong communication skills, her ability to negotiate well, and her teamwork skills, the sky is the limit. Will she be a self-made tycoon? Probably not, and to me, that's as it should be. Can she build wealth and reach her dreams? Yes! You would win that bet! |
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