This blog is for all the powerful female leaders. If you don’t happen to be one - please share this with one you admire.

To all my fellow female leaders:
When you feel as though your organization wants you to suppress your natural strengths and behaviors so that you fit into the corporate culture, I encourage you to resist and just be YOU. As a female leader, you have so much to offer by being yourself. Your employees don’t need you to replicate the behavior of male leaders, they need you to leverage and build on what you already do well.

Don’t “lean in” to the unproductive leadership behaviors of aggressiveness, politicking, and over confidence. Instead, “lean in” to the important skills of listening, curiosity, and believing in others so that your employees feel empowered to reach their full potential.

Navigating these mixed messages can be difficult, I know. You want to “fit in” and feel as though you belong in the club but at the same time, “fitting in” just doesn’t feel right or natural and sometimes conflicts with your values. I get it. Staying true to who you are can be difficult and at times it might feel impossible to maintain your positive and energic attitude - keeping it at the highest possible in every moment.

There are some things you can do to make sure you are keeping your energy and attitude the highest it can possibly be in every moment. Let’s begin with awareness., because to be honest, if you’re not aware of how you are perceived you can’t make adjustments. Being aware means that you are constantly observing and assessing yourself (discernment, not judgement) and your surroundings. You need to have clear awareness of who you are, why you are who you are, and how you are reacting in all situations.

It will take time to get the awareness part mastered - intentional, hard work, and reflection. Once you feel you are becoming more aware, you will want to begin practicing acceptance, which is why you might have noticed “discernment, not judgement” in brackets. When you create awareness, don’t judge things as right or wrong (wait, what? I know, we are pretty good at judging ourselves), you should simply be noticing. When you simply notice, without judgement, it will allow you to accept what is - the whole hot mess, all aspects, traits, quirks of yourself and others. When you accept it all, there is no reason to take things personally, it just is. You accept things for what they are and know that everything is perfectly okay, just as it is. And that’s the truth.

Next, get ready to makes conscious choices. You always have a choice in how you respond. Let me repeat that, you always have a choice in how you respond. This is so important to know and believe - you have a choice. It takes intentional awareness to choose how you will respond, rather than to allow an emotional reaction to happen. It takes practice to respond intentionally without judgement. But, the payoff of mastering this can be life changing.

I can’t stress enough how critical, these three parts are: Awareness, Acceptance, and Choice. They might seem obvious, things you know or have heard before but, they can be so difficult to practice consistently. I suggest really focusing in on these three to begin.

As you “lean in” to your natural strengths as a female leader, you will be challenged, get frustrated and want to take on the leadership behavior you see being modeled by your peers and likely, those above you. Resist the temptation! The right thing to do is not always the easiest thing to do. Here are a few other important things to remember:

• Trust the process - have faith and look for the lesson in each experience, then shift as needed.

• Be authentic - be the greatest and best you, walk to the beat of your own drum, and encourage others to do the same.

• Be fearless - embrace the unknown and take reasonable chances without worry.

• Create confidence - you are the culmination of your life’s work, trust yourself and let go of concern.

• Connect - know the impact each person, place and thing has on you and your influence on them, you are never truly alone.

• Be present - focus your attention and be fully present in the moment, this is the biggest gift you can give anyone.

• Always give it your all - power is achieved through intentions, full commitment and full energy.

I believe in your power as a female leader. I believe you can change the culture of leadership within organizations. Together we are better!

This blog contains my interpretation of the copyrighted work of Bruce D Schneider and the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC).

Other Resources

Support Women Owned Businesses

Women’s History Month

Power of the Pack: Women Who Support Women are More Successful