What is the most important asset to needed help accelerate your success in business? What exactly do women have to do to succeed? Here’s the simple science.
As an executive coach and mentor, this is a question I hear a lot. There are so many talented female leaders out there, but they feel as though they can’t break through the final hurdle to the top.
Today I want to look past gender issues and unconscious bias and ask women to do some self-examination. Is there more you could be doing to help you get over the hurdle and accelerate your success? In my experience, there is.
There’s a lot of research out there to support my opinion that our mindset is the most important asset we can have behind us. In simple terms, you could say this…
The woman who believes she can succeed is the woman who will do it.
Let’s take a closer look at what might at first seem to be a pretty glib statement.
Alia Crum, a psychologist at Columbia University, presented a TedX talk called “Change your mindset, change the game.” It focused on the way mindset and expectation influences healing, with a positive mindset likely to bring about patient recovery.
Megan Dalla-Camina and Michelle McQuaid took this a step further in their book, “Lead Like a Woman.” They say gender mindset has a direct impact on the likelihood of career success for women. They say, “As our mindsets get activated—by a memory, a situation you find yourself in, or a remark someone makes—it sets off a cascade of thoughts, emotions, and goals that bias how you respond to life. It’s quite important then to be intentional and mindful about the choices we’re making.”
A positive gender mindset is based in the belief that being a woman is a benefit in the workplace.
Our skillset is valued and needed in the workplace and it’s not necessary to fit into the male model of leadership.
A survey by Lee Hecht Harrison seems to back this up. They found successful women believed there were no barriers to their success and that they had the abilities and accomplishments to forge ahead. This belief influenced their behaviour, leading them to achieve their goals.
What does this mean for you and your leadership aspirations?
If you’re not getting the results you want, it’s time to take a look at your mindset. What are you telling yourself about being a woman in the workplace? Do you see it as a help or a hindrance?
The next question you need to consider is how that mindset is influencing your behaviour. As Carolyn Mullany Jackson says, “Leadership isn’t a circumstance; it’s a state of mind.”
Are you acting like a leader? Are you using leadership behaviours like self-advocacy and actively asking for opportunities for self-development?
If you find yourself hesitating before you act, or you speak up, it may be your mindset holding you back.
Our team of mentors at Empowering Ambitious Women can help you change your mindset and develop beliefs which will help you succeed. I’ve worked with women who are limiting themselves and I’ve shown them how to break free. I’d love to see you win the success you want, so please reach out and see how mentoring can benefit you too.
