Hi! I’m Stephanie Breedlove, Co-Founder of Care.com HomePay, Author and Angel Investor.
I absolutely adore taking an idea and giving it life in the form a business, then leading it to its full potential. Nothing is more fun. (Seriously!) I’d love for every woman who wants to start her own business to say the same thing, so here I am, mentoring millennial entrepreneurs. When I’m not working, I like to recharge and head outdoors to hike, bike, or stand up paddle board!
Is that list of business news and trending articles you’ve tagged still unread? I get it. Allow me to help. Take a couple minutes to read my summary of articles serving the most pertinent, actionable business topics. Or, take 10 minutes to read the full article, and put another brick on the foundation of your growing career.
This Week’s Must-Read:
15 Biggest Challenges Women Leaders Face and How to Overcome Them
Who it’s for:
All women: those in a position to pay it forward and those striving for leadership. (It’s gonna take all of us!)
Why it’s important:
With women still pushing so very hard to reach the top, they’re faced with a range of challenges that many of their male counterparts don’t have an understanding of. It’s these issues that are preventing many women from achieving their goals of becoming leaders at their company, but there’s something we can do about it.
In this article, 15 members of the Forbes Coaches Council share the biggest challenges for their female clients and provide advice for women leaders everywhere.
- Being Treated Equally: You’ve got to go for what you want in your career and never give up. Do this by honing the skills necessary to give you the opportunities you seek.
- Building a Sisterhood: Support for other women is still a big problem. Empower each other by being humble, and showing togetherness and enthusiasm for laying the foundation for smart progress. Those of us that have ‘made it’ have a responsibility. Please step into it.
- Generating Revenue: Money solves everything. Focus on generating revenue in every position you hold.
- Being Confident: Get comfortable knowing that people will always try to take you off of your game. This is business, unfortunately. If you go in knowing this and stay clear on your purpose, then you will be successful in getting what you want.
- Speaking Up: It’s not enough to be in a leadership role or to sit at the table. You must also speak confidently.
- Building Alliances with Decision Makers: Work to build healthy relationships with advocates, position yourself as an expert, and communicate with confidence.
- Becoming a Member of the C-Suite: Take the bull by the horns. Know what you want and be relentless in your preparation. Equivocation will always be your worst enemy.
- Asking for Money: Don’t be afraid to ask. Don’t brag to establish authority. Don’t give away services for free. Master sales and get confident in your skills to price properly and gain respect.
- Standing in Their Success: Don’t shrink. This does nothing but delay your voice from being heard and being taken seriously. If you’re in the room, you deserve to be there.
- Tackling Imposter Syndrome: Get aware of your inability to internalize your accomplishments and learn to make accurate assessments of your performance.
- Overcoming Perfectionism: If you get paralyzed by perfectionist tendencies, pause, take deep breaths, take a walk or watch a TED Talk.
- Trusting Their Own Voice: Get rid of the question, “Who am I to…?” You are among the wealthiest, most educated and powerful women on the planet.
- Shifting Their Word Choice: Shift from judgmental to neutral words to win the role of respected leader, and eliminate being perceived as “bossy.”
- Dealing with Negative Thoughts: Become consciously aware of these and work to replace them with positive, encouraging thoughts.
- Re-Entering the Paid Workforce: Women leaders: Help these re-launchers advance themselves, even if your path was different and didn’t include a career break.
Top Take-Away/Final Thought: A majority of our obstacles can be eradicated by becoming self-aware and learning new skills. Significant progress largely rests upon our shoulders. Let’s get to work.