Wise Woman Shining » Business Leadership

The Loss of the Man on the Floor

caseydawes — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:30:26 +0000

In the 1990s there was a great rush to outsource to “anywhere but the US.” The rational was to save money because the outsourced tasks were repetitive and non-essential. Innovation and management could be done in America, it was reasoned, because that was the part of the business that required experience and specialized industry knowledge.

Outsourcing has also hit the small business world, with many sending their virtual assistance, web development and even bookkeeping to the far shores. (Full disclosure–I have used a Malaysian web developer. He was quite good.) As our country suffers from the highest unemployment rates in decades, it’s easy to see one consequence of this strategy. However, there’s not a lot of discussion about another result, that I’d like you to think about.

For years, companies had suggestion boxes on the floors of their factories and in their offices. Innovations came from everywhere, especially from people who did repetitive labor. They could see where cost and time savings could be made. Because they weren’t always in danger of losing their jobs, or looking for another one, they had a vested interest in improving their work environment.

We don’t make this investment in people anymore and they don’t make it in our companies. We’ve lost a lot because of it. What can you, as a woman entrepreneur do to encourage innovation and improvement from your employees and contractors?

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Business Leadership for Women

caseydawes — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:53:31 +0000

Many women entrepreneurs that I know use a Vision Board to create an idea of where they want to go in their lives. Rather than pen and paper or computerized graphics, they create collages, just like they did in grade school, to capture their dreams. A Vision Board is an ideal, and vision in business is necessary for business leadership. But one component of business leadership is missing from the Vision Board (or any other ways of creating a vision) and that is that it doesn’t identify the personal transformation necessary to develop business leadership.

Women reach at least two, probably more, transformation points when they decide to become business leaders. The first is when we decide to own our economic future by starting a business. Right then, we make a choice not to be an “employee,” but to become a business owner. The problem is that we often still think like an employee and spend a lot of time–too much time–waiting for someone to tell us what to do. We either become perpetual students or find a business consultant that insists that we adhere to their way of doing things. (Hint: Good business consultants and coaches don’t insist on you following their “method.”)

At some point, one of two things happen: either the woman goes out of business or she undergoes the personal transformation necessary to become the business owner.

A second point happens when the woman has a few employees. We like being “friends” with our employees. We want to suggest, to console, to teach. We are rarely trained to develop the leadership muscle and we don’t have a lot of role models that demonstrate women’s business leadership for us. Fortunately, that is starting to change with women political leaders like Angela Merkel and Hillary Clinton, and business leaders such as Anita Roddick (founder of The Body Shop).

Like profoundly good male leaders, women leaders often go through a cauldron of fire, testing their resolve and helping them reach within themselves for personal transformation. While it’s not necessary to go through the gates of Hell to become leaders, it does take some effort and inner soul-searching to define your values, and personal characteristics. What makes you unique, burnished to a high degree, is what makes you a leader.

How does personal transformation occur? How do you develop business leadership?

It begins with the truth. In order to develop leadership qualities, you need to uncover and examine the good and the not so good of your life and who you are. Polish your strengths and acknowledge the stuff you don’t do so well. Try new methods and be willing to fail. Expect resistance, from others and from yourself. No one likes change.

We are the change we have been looking for, we just need to uncover it and bring a strong female flavor to business leadership.

Women Entrepreneurs, Are You Ready for the Next Step?

caseydawes — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:25:30 +0000

I tend to tear out magazine articles that start me thinking. I have one from Pink Magazine about leadership by Laura Lee Gentry. In it, she focuses four core skills that were “critical for successful executives: results orientation, team leadership, collaboration and influencing, and strategic orientation.”

As a woman entrepreneur, you are an executive of your own business. However, until you start thinking like an executive, you will hold yourself back to a low level of profit and success. It’s true that many women business owners start businesses to gain more flexibility and control over their lives, rather than create a million-dollar business. Eventually, most get frustrated because they aren’t growing the business that they want. It’s at that point that they often hire me as their business coach.

I often find that the four core skills outlined by Ms. Gentry are what’s missing from the leadership of the woman business owner. Goals (or results) are often fuzzy, or too small or not backed by any investment of time or money. If you want to get something done, you need to be very specific about what you want (e.g. Gross revenue in 2010 of $100,000) and define strategies, tasks and milestones to support that goal. You’ll need to invest time and money in sales and marketing, as well as fulfillment and customer service.

Team leadership requires that you understand people and how they work. A common mistake I see women entrepreneurs make is that they want their employees to be more like they are. The truth is, if they wanted to be an entrepreneur, your employee would be one. He or she isn’t. They are employees with different motivators than entrepreneurs. Your job is to figure out how to motivate them as individuals and as a team.

Collaboration and influencing pertains not only to your employees and contractors, but also to those in your circle of influence. These include fellow entrepreneurs, alliance partners, vendors, and yes, even government officials and your representatives. Don’t like something? Don’t do the “woman thing” and tell everyone but the person who is causing you grief. Pick up the phone and talk to them, or write a letter to your Congressperson.

Strategic orientation is the idea of looking at the big picture. Now ladies, our brains are wired for detail. We like detail. When we’re stressed, detail is exactly where we want to be. Spice rack organized alphabetically? Check! Holiday card list made? Check! Strategies for 2010 laid out? Uh….

Make 2010 the year you embrace your inner executive!