Today is International Women’s Day, so what better time to celebrate women together!
There was a time when women were not even allowed in the workplace — and if they were, they were treated pretty poorly and only given menial tasks to complete.
Guess it was our tiny lady brains holding us back from doing real work?
Fortunately, times are a-changing; diversity and equality are now being celebrated in workplaces worldwide.
The number of successful female entrepreneurs, women in senior staff positions, and female industry leaders is higher than ever, paving the way for the next generation of powerful women.
Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done. After all, one of the reasons that we celebrate International Women’s Day is because we still haven’t achieved full gender equality or equal pay.
There are still fewer women in business and politics than men, and there is always a noticeable gender pay gap across the globe.
But progress is being made, and amazing women in business have overcome the barriers meant to stop them.
It’s time to celebrate all of the extraordinary qualities and skills that women bring to the workplace.
Inspirational team players
Women tend to work well in groups — we’re natural team players who can share, communicate and work together to reach our goals.
If you work for — or own — a start-up or small business, you’ll know that it’s crucial to have a team that works successfully together. In these cases, teamwork doesn’t just make for a pleasant office culture — it can also be vital to your company’s survival.
Female teamwork isn’t just restricted to the workplace either. It has transcended office space and reached out to other women across different businesses, industries.
One of the neat things that we’ve noticed as women in business is the number of female entrepreneurs that use their success to lift other women — sharing stores or advice on social media or their platforms.
Many online female entrepreneur networks have been formed to support and promote women in business around the world.
If you’re a businesswoman looking for advice, inspiration, or networking opportunities, then it’s worth joining one or more of these incredible communities.
Powerful leadership
Women make for exceptional leaders. Of course, a person’s leadership abilities can’t be based on their gender. Everyone has individual characteristics, skills, and strengths that play a factor in their propensity to lead.
However, some inherently feminine qualities contribute to women being heralded as influential leaders. We’re motivated, flexible, excellent communicators, and passionate about what we do.
These attributes don’t just serve individuals — they help elevate our teammates and other women in our industries.
For example, female entrepreneurs and CEOs share their stories to inspire and empower women in their industries and beyond.
Just look at the female founders of huge brands, like Sara Blakely of Spanx (who currently holds the title of the youngest self-made female billionaire in the US) and Arianna Huffington, founder of Huffington Post.
Both women and many others share their journeys and advice in books, interviews, blog posts, and podcasts to motivate others.
These women haven’t just created businesses — they’ve also successfully built their brands that win trust and influence others.
It’s what we love about the majority of women in business. We’re not just content with earning our success— we want to see the rest of our gender achieve success too.
Effective communicators and natural mediators
One typically female trait that we should always celebrate is our ability to communicate clearly and efficiently.
On the whole (of course, there are always exceptions), women tend to be much better communicators than men.
Clear communication is vital to any business success, regardless of whether the people you’re communicating to our teammates, third-parties, and customers.
A lack of communication can cause mixups, waste company time and money, and set back projects in a huge way.
That’s why it is crucial to keep your comms channels open — and not just to talk, but to listen to what the other person is saying.
And when it comes to resolving conflicts and giving constructive feedback, we’re good at conveying what we mean to say with tact and aplomb.
Women tend to be empathetic, natural mediators, treading sensitively to avoid hurting feelings and misunderstandings. We have high emotional intelligence and are usually very good at recognizing ourselves and others’ emotions.
Strong organizational skills & goal-oriented planning
Women in the workplace are more inclined to have a holistic approach to their work — recognizing the impact that each task or project has on their plans and the wider business.
It’s what makes them better at organizing their workdays (and those of others), juggling multiple tasks, and finding success.
Maybe it’s because we’ve always had to be one step ahead when it comes to assessing what the future holds for us, but women are great at planning out their careers and goals too.
Whether this is a controlled ten-step career or using a more spiritual approach like using a vision board to help you focus on and realize your goals — women have figured it out.
It’s probably something to do with our natural ability to multi-task; women are used to balancing careers, partners, children, aging parents, and social lives (as well as fitting in a bit of “us time” occasionally!).
We’ve always had to do this, which means we’re naturals when it comes to juggling multiple plates, adjusting to changes, and making difficult decisions.
Choices
The theme for #IWD2021 is #ChooseToChallenge: the idea that “we can all choose to challenge and gender bias and inequality”.
Together we can all call out women’s achievements and make a more inclusive world.
Choosing to challenge the workplace is another way to drive positive outcome for women. Not only is the inclusion of female employees a step towards professional and social equality, but it also encourages creativity and dynamic strategizing.
Women bring different skillsets, feminine insight, and personal experience to their roles, proving that inclusivity and diversity in the workplace can only lead to a more successful business model.
International Women’s Day is a chance to celebrate women in the workplace and the fantastic attributes they bring — elevating businesses and industries and driving them towards success.
We’re looking forward to watching the progress we have made towards gender balance grow even more over the coming years.
During this Pandemic, many women left their jobs to support family – the numbers are staggering. Many have started home based businesses due to the economic uncertainty.
The future of women post pandemic is going to be an interesting story to follow. Stay tuned.
Happy International Women’s Day 2021!
Kayleigh Alexandra writes for Micro Startups, a site dedicated to giving through growth hacking. Follow her on Twitter @getmicrostarted. This post has been updated.
