Skirt Strategies: 249 Success Tips for Women In Leadership
These practical tips and strategies are meant specifically for women in leadership positions. Sometimes we need a little encouragement especially when we are managing and motivating others. Here is a look at just a few of the tips you get in the book packed with powerful strategies.
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EXCERPTS
Tip #10 Publish something, even if it is a small article in the company newsletter, and include a picture of yourself. It will build your credibility as a leader.
Akin to public speaking, writing forces a thought process that galvanizes your expertise and molds your opinions into text.
For those of you who are good at writing or see yourself as a subject matter expert, challenge yourself a tad more and begin a blog.
An added bonus is your name in print. Your readers associate that with expertise.
Click this link to hear Katie and Carol speak about this very subject on their podcast.
Tip #14 Don’t ever get defensive at work. Even if you have to bury it, don’t EVER show it.
Women are more likely to be sensitive to the people issues at work. And when it involves ourselves, the sensitivity heightens. Business issues can be interpreted as personal, and that leads to an increased likelihood of becoming defensive.
When we coach leaders through their challenges, this issue is a tough one. An overblown reaction to any interpersonal dialog immediately puts everyone on eggshells. The potential for success takes a nosedive. Budding partnerships regress.
Think of it this way. At the heart of our defensiveness is some level of insecurity. But instead of working through it in a way that develops it into a growth opportunity, we are throwing chaff out there as a diversion technique and killing the potential for achieving change.
Listen to yourself. Manage yourself. Manage your passion.
Link to the podcast about this very subject.
Tip #33 Tough conversations are easy to avoid. Have the courage to make them happen.
The “dreaded conversation” takes guts and the discomfort is usually worth the outcome. To make it happen effectively takes some know-how, but not as much as you might think, and if you start out on the right note, the likelihood of success is good.
Work with a coach or a well-spoken girlfriend to get adept at opening up the tough conversation, script the first few lines, or review a conflict management technique to help get started.
Our challenge to you if you are avoiding a particular conversation:
- Begin by writing down how you will initiate the conversation
- The goal you would like to accomplish by having the conversation
The rest you will not be able to script, so woman-up and make the appointment to talk.
The right thing to do is often the most difficult thing to do.
Tip #123 Measure people by the size of their hearts, not by their position or authority.
The value of a woman in the workplace is her ability to bring compassion. Treat everyone with respect. You never know how it will be returned, but the law of circulation guarantees it.
Tip #177 When tempted to criticize your boss, bite your tongue.
Tip #178 Never end a relationship by burning a bridge.
Tip #179 Learn to negotiate using your principles, not your emotion.
Tip # 238 Find a key spot to sit at during meetings where you can hear and be heard. Never hide in the back.
Little things send a strong message. There is a tendency for many women to give men the seat at the table. Ever noticed that men don’t really do that for us? So many drivers affect this behavior. For one, we live our lives as natural nurturers, which gives us a servitude mindset. We see ourselves as the backroom enablers for others to be successful – an important role, for sure, but one that gets reflected to others as “I see myself as unimportant.”
We also, may give up our seats in our quest to protect male egos, knowing that it is not as critical for us to take the front and center as it may be for someone with a fragile ego.
It could also be that you are feeling you won’t be listened to anyway, so why push your way into the front row? This stems from your own self-confidence issues.
Resist the urge to fall prey to any of these de-motivations. Sit at the table. If this is your meeting, sit at the head of the table.