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The Ten Attributes of Successful Women Business Leaders

Written by: Sylvia Allen

Article Overview: There are many highly successful women out there. How did they achieve that success? Although each woman is unique, but they share common traits that contributed to their overall success. This article, excerted from my book "A Woman's Guide to Sales Success" talks about ten attributes that successful women share.

The Ten Attributes of Successful Women Business Leaders

There are many really successful, powerful women out there. How did they achieve that success - what did they do to “break” the glass ceiling? Let's look at ten attributes that contribute to the success of powerful women.

1. Lack of fear
Many people (men AND women) are held back from success because of fear. Fear of what? It could be any number of things, including fear of failure or of the unknown, to fearing a lack of knowledge … the list goes on and on. One of the traits of women is they want to be COMPLETELY knowledgeable before they go ahead with anything, whereas men are content to have some knowledge, knowing they will pick up the rest on the job. Successful women may experience fear but they don’t let it hinder their success.

2. Empathy
Empathy is experiencing how the other person feels. Women are naturally empathetic. Being empathetic requires taking the time to listen to the other person and “feel” how that person is feeling. Women take time to listen, which is very important to relationship building. Even at their highest ego, women shut up and listen. This is one of our best traits that differentiates women from men.

3. Relationship Building
As stated above, an empathetic approach helps build relationships, useful for employees, other professionals and clients. By caring about, and understanding, the other person the work relationship becomes healthier.

4. Intuition
It’s commonly accepted that women are more intuitive than men. But what does that mean? Merely that women can “sense” what will happen (good or bad) before it even happens. A great book dealing with intuition is THE TIPPING POINT by Malcolm Gladwell … it explains, and demonstrates, intuition in a number of ways. Often, women ignore their intuition, but successful women learn to use this sense to their advantage in dealing with clients, prospects and associates.

5. Power of mentoring
Women are nurturing and caring. As a result they are good at mentoring. It’s very important to mentor those coming up behind you as you not only contribute to their growth and success you build a great support team behind you.

6. Competitive and decisive
Successful women are competitive and decisive. In general, women are taught to "play nice" and men are taught to "win". The business world is competitive and often referred to in game terms. Women who accept and are comfortable with this are more successful. Successful women also have the ability to make decisions and take action as necessary. And, they don’t worry over a long period of time if it is the “right” or “wrong” thing to do. They just do it!

7. Saleswomen
The majority of successful women are in sales. Now, they may say “no” to that; however, think about this - they have “sold” their boss on a promotion, they have “sold” their clients on working with them, and the list could go on and on. We are all in sales … even when negotiating for a job or negotiating with our children to eat their vegetables! Understanding how to successfully negotiate with others to achieve the desired result is key to achieving success in any business.

8. Capable of multi-tasking
Men are linear; women are multi-dimensional. Women can have a variety of projects going at the same time, all in a state of “readiness” but not completed; men tend to work one project at a time, start to finish, before going on to the next task. This multi-tasking ability allows women to handle a greater diversity of projects.

9. Goal setters
Successful women have written goals. They not only write down their goals but also have a plan for implementation and achievement. Goals that aren’t written down are just dreams.

10. Good communicators
Lastly, all these traits contribute to women being good communicators. They empathize, they listen, they are intuitive … all of this contributes to the ability to communicate effectively.

The key to success is to believe in yourself. Women who utilize their natural talents, are willing to be work hard and embrace competitiveness will find that if they assume the role and act the part they will become it!

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Article Tags: attributes, ego, empathetic approach, empathy, fear of failure, glass ceiling, intuition, job, lack of knowledge, malcolm gladwell, men and women, powerful women, prospects, relationships, successful women, taking the time, tipping point, work relationship



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