Written by: Jody Kennett, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Every working woman is leading her career, business, financial future, and professional growth. In addition, with every spoken word, every action, and all interactions with others, she is also developing her leadership skills and brand as a leader. Women’s leadership takes into account the unique experiences women face in the working world and addresses these specific challenges while also bringing forward the key skills all leaders need to develop. As a certified Women’s Leadership Coach, I have coached many women leaders advancing their careers and growing their business which has given me great insights to the key growth areas and obstacles many of us face. Here, are a few of the top women’s leadership skills that will support you in growing your leadership, business, and career.
Own Your Power As A Women Leader
Owning your power is the single most important leadership skill every woman must develop not only to be a leader in the space you occupy, but also to stand in your worth never compromising or being limited by anyone else’s opinion, position, or power. What does owning your power mean? Let me share with you some examples so you can see how easily, quickly, and often this happens in our daily work environment.
I was coaching a young, fast-rising women leader in a competitive field and her superior had asked her to help with a volunteer project; it was massive in time and energy commitment while also being a project that was completely not in this leader’s area of expertise. She was standing in the ‘say yes to everything asked of you space’ when she agreed to take it on as she is seeking a promotion down the road. Then, in one of our coaching sessions, she discloses how this specific project is not aligned for her at all and that it is creating overwhelm at the mere anticipation of it. The conclusion is made to drop it and a commitment is set to email the superior to let him know. I casually mention, "and you will not be apologizing in that email, right?"
With a surprised look on her face and also a very quick ‘aha’ moment soon followed by a smile, she says, 'absolutely, your right…' and added something to the affect that she would not have thought twice about it. We say yes because of our belief others have power over our career advancement or business growth, but that right there is giving our power away to another person. We alone hold the power in our words, actions, presence, and belief in ourselves; no one else has power over us, and the sooner we ‘hold’ our own power and stop giving it away, the sooner we will feel the freedom of empowerment.
I often have shared with my clients a bold, harsh visual with them when I hear them share something they believe or have experienced or done that surrounds this topic of own your power. The visual is of me holding something in my hands which is our power in knowing our worth, our beliefs, our capabilities, and value, and then reaching my hands out and releasing it saying, “here you go, it’s yours now, take it”. A bit harsh I know, but also a powerful visual that demonstrates a point. Do not give your power away ladies, ever, for any reason, never. Hold it sacred and own it.
Speak Confidence Into Others About Yourself And Your Work
Having, feeling, and thinking confidently is great and yet you can still improve upon that as a leader by speaking and presenting confidence. Of course, we cannot speak confidently about ourselves or our work until we have confidence in ourselves so every woman leader needs to begin with a strong, solid foundation of her own self-confidence. If you have low self-confidence or struggle with confidence, begin by building it with a counselor or confidence coach. As a certified American Confidence Institute coach, I have learned we can all build our confidence and it absolutely develops by what we think and believe.
Let me get back to the main point here about how important it is for every woman to speak confidence into others about themselves and their work. This is such a crucial skill because it can land you a new job in an interview, it can close a sales deal in your business, and it builds trust in others when you lead and present. To showcase this, I want to share an experience when I witnessed a women leader speaking confidence into others for a new contract.
I was flown to L.A. where I was meeting the owner of a coaching company that had hired me to do work with her at a large global Wall Street type company. It was my first time meeting her in person and I met her in a boardroom at the company we would be doing work for minutes before meetings with the senior director team. None of these directors had met her and she was responsible for building trust and confidence with them in short meetings. As the first director walked in, she had built rapport and an executive leadership presence with them within seconds. Yet, that is not what was most impressive. As I listened to her lead the conversation, she humbly, yet confidently shared the results, success, and goals of the work she had been doing. She knew her audience, knew what they needed to hear and was not shy at speaking to the value that she and her team were delivering to the company.
It was masterfully done, and I believe it had become second nature for this woman leader. It can be for you too so we all must be practicing it right away. The problem is we often are trying so hard to be humble, we forget that the customer, client, or audience needs to hear, feel, and see confidence in us to proceed. Sharing your value, your results, the success of what you offer is speaking confidence into others about your capabilities and what you will deliver so they can benefit. There is a time and place for humility. Practice speaking confidence about what you do and offer with your next client, sales opportunity, or in your next presentation.
Giving Too Much, Ask For Too Little
Whether you are an entrepreneur or career woman, every one of us has experienced giving too much and asking for too little at some point in our working life. Whether it is feeling as if we are new and building our career or not wanting to look greedy or some other limiting belief such as needing to prove ourselves, us ladies need to stop overdelivering and begin asking for more of everything! We do not need to prove ourselves; we merely need to show up, share our brilliance, deliver our work ethic, and have people witness it. Just the other day, I was working with an entrepreneur who was giving a lot away for free that now needs to transition into asking for the next step, a sale and investment to continue receiving more value from her.
It is important to be aware of how much you are giving, but I want to focus here a bit more on asking for too little, or shall we turn that into a positive and make this about ‘Ask for More’. We need to raise our expectations and some of us need to have expectations, to begin with, whether this has to do with salary, how we are treated, and what we are and are not willing to put up with at work or otherwise.
Recently I secured a new contract through my business, but before I said yes to it, I knew it would not be worth my while unless I was paid a specific amount; otherwise, it would be a loss to what was possible. So, I shared the fair price point I expected and they agreed. However, three other individuals also climbed onboard to do similar work as a team and I have now learned what they agreed to which is a lower amount. It saddens me that we lower our standards sometimes because we love what we do or jump at an opportunity or because we do not ask for more. Your worth, our worth, does not change. So why then not ask for what you are worth and try asking for more.
I will confess, I am and have been a giver my whole life and if there is one thing I want working women to know now and not wait until you learn it later like me, it is to ask for more, receive more, and raise your expectations so you never again accept or ask for too little. It is time to expect, ask, and receive more. For all of you ladies out there building your career, business, or leadership, the refinement of these women’s leadership skills will not only increase your confidence and executive presence, but it will also positively impact your bank account and time freedom.
Now it is over to you to put these leadership skills into practice daily where you are owning your power, speaking confidence, and asking for more.
Jody Kennett, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jody Kennett elevates leaders with leadership, communication, and peak energy performance as an ICF-certified coach. She is impacting women in business globally and empowering them to own their power as a leader by combining women's leadership, confidence, and communication coaching. Her specialized training as a certified C-IQ (Conversational Intelligence) coach is transforming conversations, communication, and culture to foster positive relationships and a thriving workplace. As a co-author of The Winning Mindset book, she is inspiring and training people to master their inner-leader and mindset so they can have peak performance. She created Peak Energy 4 Performance to highlight the importance of energy input into not only our bodies, but also our mind, emotions, and environment. Jody is uniquely certified as leadership, life, and health coach bringing 20 years of health and wellbeing expertise to energize leaders and entrepreneurs. She is the coach who will help you 'Lead Your Life', career, and business so you will, 'Lead it, Live it, and Love it!'
