Women in business - time to dial up the authority
“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players..”
Shakespeare, As You Like It
I did many things wrong as a Mother to daughters, but I think I got a few things right. I set out to give them utter belief in themselves and to take on the entrepreneurial spirit I’d inherited from immigrant family to “seize the day” - whatever day that may be. My eldest daughter’s rebellious spirit did not work in traditional education, but I think was the driving force to her scooping seven national young business woman of the year awards by the age of 25.
Now I spend my days supporting, skilling-up and empowering women of all ages to get out there and do what YOU want to do. Quit being defined by other people’s views, family attitudes or anything else that is holding you back. We are all too important, and life is way too short, to stop restrictive beliefs, nerves and sensitivities to get in our way. I believe that developing bounce back is absolutely critical for women to be able to live up to their full potential - research has shown that women’s ambitions are thwarted more than men’s because they take set backs too personally and judge themselves too harshly.
As a former onscreen news journalist and presenter I draw from many years in front of the camera in a rufty tufty male dominated environment, interviewing everybody from the great and the good to the man/woman on the street. Journalism is such a great place to develop bounce back as, most especially in daily news, you don’t have time to mull over mistakes and the only way to get anywhere is to keep on dusting yourself down and you get to realise pretty quickly that success or failure changes according to the time of day and the lens at which you choose to look down - it’s rarely terminal.
“I believe that developing bounce back is absolutely critical for women to be able to live up to their full potential - research has shown that women’s ambitions are thwarted more than men’s because they take set backs too personally and judge themselves too harshly”
I now spend my days supporting, coaching and empowering other women, of all ages, to take down the barriers that are preventing them from being all they want to be. As somebody who, I think it would be fair to say, has proved their bounce back and resilience after some pretty severe life knocks, I’m here to say that you really can get up again after anything. All you need is 1. to accept the reality of your circumstances, 2) adopt the right attitude and then 3) implement the right plan.
As we blink our eyes towards the post-Covid shifting landscape, us women will need the courage of our convictions more than ever before. The backdrop in which we are working and leading has changed dramatically and we can only guess that the pace of change is going to accelerate to a whole new level. Today, the average life span of companies on the S&P 500 index is under 20 years, down from 60 years in the 1950s.
Jobs for life went out way back when, so much more uncertainty as we see more big businesses collapse, old hierarchies dismantled and the relentless march of the gig economy. For some the flexibilities offer huge entrepreneurial opportunities, but we must not avert our gaze from the number of women, especially those with caring responsibilities, who seem to be suffering disproportionately with this new insecure workplace. I was especially horrified to read in this morning’s Times Newspaper that job candidates are being asked to enter a salary auction whereby the job is given to the person offering to work for the lowest amount of money! A whole new low in the gig economy, me thinks.
Us women have so much more work to do in campaigning for a far fairer world as in the infamous words of Madeleine Albright “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”
How we all survive and thrive in this new world order is going to take some working out. I passionately believe in the need for regulation to ensure that women in the most difficult circumstances are not driven further down the economic scale. And I speak as somebody who was once a single parent with no job, no income and no childcare - despite a great private and university education and a well established profession - sometimes the stars align against us and fate just gives us a kicking. Anybody can fall given the wrong set of circumstances and it’s really good for us all to make this our mantra.
“I was especially horrified to read in this morning’s Times Newspaper that job candidates are being asked to enter a salary auction, whereby the job is given to the person offering to work for the lowest amount of money! A whole new low in the gig economy, me thinks.”
Now my business is about performance and showing up as our best possible selves. I am no fan of style over substance, but I also think that substance is unnecessarily neutered when it doesn’t have the right style to reach the right audiences. This stuff matters and it will matter more in a tougher economic/job market where we are all going to have to get better at flexing our personal/professional/business models and get out there and sell our wares. Every day in my business I work with women, and some men, who are being held back because of 1)an almost pathological fear of public speaking, 2)a reluctance to embrace vulnerability and inner reflection - also out of fear and 3)because they don’t realise how brilliant they actually are.
According to the Government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, female entrepreneurs could contribute £250 billion to the UK economy if they started and scaled their business at the same rate as men. Ladies we need to get out there and showcase our talents.
In the infamous words of Madeleine Albright “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”
But there is one issue us women need to take more note of - and that is the tone of our conversations and engagement. However unfair this may seem, if we want to influence, up our authority and impact there are some rules to this game. Michelle Obama is a fabulous example of how this can be managed in an assertive manner. Like many women she had to beware of the “angry” “fist thumping” labels - behaviours that are lauded in men can be quickly turned against us as women and the result is people stop listening and engaging. In her Netflix documentary we are given a sneak preview into PR doing its magic as it kept her authenticity but dug deep to understand at a granular level how she was heard by the people she wanted to influence. Really interesting to note is how she embraced a whole new power wardrobe to inject the final touches to her mega-watt star quality. Her outfits are pure Elvis, Las Vegas - bold, audacious and gorgeous they command an audience to sit up and take notice. PR at its most wonderful, most powerful.
Want to work on your personal image and dial up that authority? Like everything there are pillars to great performance and to those who want to get up there with the professionals we cannot miss any part of the process - like fine design missing any part of the process will show up immediately in the final result.
If you aren’t already, get familiar with Carol Dweck’s work on the growth mindset. Her fascinating research shows the link between success and people who have a passion for stretching themselves and sticking to it even (or especially) when it’s not going well. People with a growth mindset are also known to be happier with life and this mindset is the critical foundations for good performances.
Preparation, preparation, preparation. Prepare your vision and then prepare some more. Keep on testing, flexing until you have that little pot of gold that you know captures the absolute essence of who you are and what you want to be. This is your armour on every and any stage.
Take control of your stage and your God given props - a voice, a body, a face, eyes, ears, imagination and most important of all your heart. How do we work to ensure all of these are aligned to produce the perfect performance. Watch Marlon Brando in the God Father, Anna Magnani in Bellisima (1951) - craftsmen playing every chord in tune.
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Debbie