As a business coach and author of a business book for women, Discovering Your Inner Samurai, I am frequently asked this question in interviews, "What are women doing wrong in business?"
The emphasis is usually on what isn't working for women. For example, women can have difficulty making the big bucks, getting funding, and competing in the business world. Interviewers often overlook what women are doing right.
What I've discovered about women entrepreneurs who excel is that they do so in some ways that are similar to their male counterparts and in other ways that are distinctly different.
Here's how I've answered that question:
Both women and men entrepreneurs who excel:
- Are self-disciplined.
- Hold strong, clear visions about the direction of their companies.
- Follow detailed plans of action to support their visions.
- Know how to make tough-call.
- Use mentors and coaches to keep them strategically aligned for success.
- Exude confidence and determination.
- See problems, failures, and setbacks as opportunities, openings, and clarifiers.
Women entrepreneurs do all that and then some. More often then men, women also:
- Create lifestyle businesses that encompass the full spectrum of their lives.
- Have a natural affinity for customer care and service.
- Are three parts “strong woman” and one part “good girl.”
- Have strong, values-led businesses.
- Trust and follow their intuition.
- Are "whole"-istic in their decision-making.
- Measure success by their quality of interaction with people and how much they help others.
Do you see yourself in this list? Are their things you do that are specific to being a woman entrepreneur that our male counterparts don't do as often? If so, let us know!
Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™
Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success
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