Influence By Design

The other day I was walking through Barnes & Noble and I was overwhelmed with the amount of self-help and career advice books that are filling the shelves. Don’t get me wrong, most of us need a little direction from time to time, but so many of these books seem to tell women exactly what they should do to get ahead in business, which may be all fine and dandy, but if you don’t have the knowledge of how to behave as a confident, successful business woman, then I fear that a lot of these actions are a bit of a lost cause.

You may be thinking, “But actions and behavior are the same thing, Karen, what on earth are you talking about?” Let me explain.

Action

Those are the verbs in our lives. Walking, eating, networking, putting in face time, giving a proper handshake. These are our actions and, while many of them come to use naturally, some actions are things we are told will help us get ahead in business. They are external and, to an extent, they can help us make career strides, but without an internal force behind them, they are shallow and have little actual meaning. If you don’t have intent behind your actions, sooner or later, someone will pick up on it.

Behavior

Our behavior is the intent behind our actions and it comes from within. For example, shaking a new client’s hand firmly is something you may have read in a book, but if it’s not coming from the heart, it seems a little calculated. You give someone a firm, enthusiastic handshake when you are genuinely excited to meet them. The action is shaking hands, but the behavior is enthusiasm.

So many books today are written for businessmen, not business women. Imitating the same actions that men take in order to achieve corporate success may result in financial and career success, but it will be built on a persona that has been fabricated to build success. There is only so long you can continue to work this way.

When you start behaving like yourself and treating each new situation with a good, professional intention, rather than action, people will respond to your authenticity. Granted, this may not be the fastest way to climb a corporate ladder, but it is a way to succeed in business without changing who you are and that’s really the most important goal any woman can aim to achieve.

Women in business have business relationships with clients, colleagues, partners, employees, and vendors. Relationships are an essential part of their work, and in order to keep their businesses on an even keel, it is important to know when and how to manage the blurry line between personal and professional relationship status.

Case in point: Nancy hires Violet as her first administrative assistant. Violet would be responsible for customer service, website maintenance, and calendar scheduling. Nancy was not only impressed by Violet's background and experience, but she also felt an immediate kindred, sister-like connection with her. Similarly, Violet felt the same about Nancy and was very keen to do everything she could to help Nancy grow her business.

Nancy and Violet work together for three years. In that time, Violet performed her job well and continued taking on more and more responsibility. Nancy felt supported and continued handing things off to Violet. Since the beginning of their relationship, Nancy often talked about her personal life with Violet, and Violet accordingly listened and supported Nancy. Subsequently, Violet began sharing some personal stories with Nancy. Violet felt Nancy was someone she could trust, someone with whom she really enjoyed working, and she imagined they'd be working together for a very long time.

Violet starting slipping on a few of her duties due to some personal problems. Violet realized this was happening, but she was caught up in a very stressful situation that could not easily be resolved. Still, she knew she’d be back on the ball before too long, and though she felt she might talk to Nancy about such things, she was embarrassed and unsure about doing so. So she kept to herself and hoped all would work itself out.

Then a few weeks later, out of the blue, Nancy called Violet and told her she was letting her go - with no explanation and no offer of a conversation to discuss the matter. She simply said her services were no longer required. Violet was shaken to the core. Although she knew she was not performing 100%, she knew she was keeping up with all the priority work, and the bulk of everything that was necessary for running Nancy’s business.

She was dumbfounded by Nancy’s tone and the fact that there was no option to speak with her about the situation. And though she mourned the loss of a job she truly loved doing, she was more emotionally scarred by the fact that she lost a key relationship with a woman she believed was her friend.

This situation ended up being a no-win for both Nancy and Violet. If you decide to share personal information with others at work, be very careful how and when you do so. Be clear about the rules and boundaries that you need in place to keep the relationship productive and healthy.

[This is only one of the many powerful articles in this week's Influence It! Real Power for Women free ezine. To enjoy the full issue, jam packed with insightful information on strategies to enhance your personal and professional life to achieve ultimate success, you must be a subscriber. Sign up for your own free subscription NOW by clicking here!]

Business women are often misunderstood – mainly due to the unique traits they possess as women. These qualities that make them successful can be misread or misinterpreted. Nonetheless, today’s business woman is strong, focused and determined.

Being a successful female entrepreneur requires women to, as Ginger Rogers said, “Do everything a man does only backwards and in heels!” So it is the same in business. Women often have an uphill climb to be taken seriously. They deal daily with double standards and contradictions in the business world.

In the grand scheme of the business world, women are courageously bringing unique traits and qualities that are often misunderstood excellence.

Here are 7 false descriptions of female entrepreneurial excellence:

1. ADD Galore. Women entrepreneurs have hundreds of ideas making it look like they lack focus. This is mistaken for ADD or the inability to concentrate. On the contrary, their flood of ideas is their strength. The more creative she is, the more productive her business.
2. Careless With Details. The successful female entrepreneur sees and values the big picture, but that doesn’t mean she dismisses the details. It’s just that the details bog her down. She is often skilled at details, but her preference or strength lies in seeing the effects on the big picture. It’s all about relationships, whether between people, things or situations.
3. Looking Odd. When the female entrepreneur is highly engaged, centered and entrenched, people see her as unusual or strange. This makes them stay away, afraid of approaching her. She isn’t odd. She’s alone – embedded in thought. This is contrary to the role society has placed her in, which is to be outgoing and approachable. High engagement is what it takes to succeed in a greatly competitive business environment.
4. Never Finishing. Women entrepreneurs, because of their free flow of ideas and tangential thinking, are great at starting things, but that doesn’t mean they don’t finish them. It simply points to their lack of desire to micromanage what they create. Managing it all creates stress, distracting them from their creativity. They recognize it is best to hire someone who can successfully manage the "big picture."
5. Always Chaotic. The female entrepreneur thrives during what may look like chaos to the "average Jane." Others fear these situations, but the female entrepreneur understands that chaos can breed solutions, ideas, and opportunities. As a woman, she is used to large amounts of activity happening all at once. However, she structures her business so that it can support the chaos.
6. Continuous Failure. This is no different than the kid who has to fall several times while learning to ride a bike. The female entrepreneur is invested in minimizing failure, but she’s not afraid of it either. She is a risk-taker, believing in what she can do. She picks herself up when things are less than she expected. She isn’t accustomed to saying, "I’m done."
7. Polly Anna. People often criticize her optimistic outlook. They see her as exaggerating reality. On the contrary, exaggeration and thinking big are as important to the female entrepreneur as believing is to Christians. Her spark is the real source of her profitability. She is great at delegating, outsourcing, and learning new skills.

Today’s female entrepreneur is no longer held hostage to traditional expectations, distorted role-placement and playing the supporting actor role. Rather, she is making strides in the business world, using her innate intuition and new-found sense of empowerment to make a lasting mark.

[This is only one of the many powerful articles in this week's Influence It! Real Power for Women free ezine. To enjoy the full issue, jam packed with insightful information on strategies to enhance your personal and professional life to achieve ultimate success, you must be a subscriber. Sign up for your own free subscription NOW by clicking here!]

As women, we tend to make a lot of commitments throughout our lives. Perhaps you made a commitment to a college degree when you first began your life as an adult. Many of us make a commitment to a significant other for the bulk of our lives and some of us continue that commitment to our children. We dedicate so much of our life (inside and outside of the workplace) to others that sometimes we forget to make the most important commitment of all: the commitment we should make to ourselves.

Now, each women is different, which is what makes us all so fabulous, but it also means that every woman’s commitment is going to be different from the woman next to her. For some, the commitment they make to themselves is the commitment to be a great mom and a loving wife. For other women, their commitment might be to find happiness in their career. Whatever your commitment is, I challenge you to put as much time and effort into it as you do for all of the other commitments in your life. How can you go about making this commitment to yourself?

Put it in writing.

Do you ever notice how a grocery trip always goes more smoothly when you have a list? The same simple concept goes for making a commitment to yourself. Write down the commitment you’re making as well as all of the steps you feel are necessary to achieve the full commitment to your goal. This gives you something to turn to when you start veering off course.

Take it one step at a time.

As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Your commitment to a better self will not happen overnight, as much as you may want it to. Have some patience and take each day as it comes. You will hit some speed bumps, but if you’re not speeding, the impact will hurt a heck of a lot less.

Make the time for your commitment.

Self-improvement takes time and effort. You spend so much of your day fulfilling your commitment to work, to school or to your children that it may seem almost impossible to find the time to make a commitment to yourself. Still, make the time. At first, it will feel awkward and somewhat unnatural to take time out of your day to give back to yourself, but over time, I’m fairly certain you’ll begin to love that time.

From time to time, we all get stuck in a business quagmire. It’s stressful and frustrating for those of us experiencing this block, but we have to overcome it somehow in order to continue to succeed, whether this is your own startup or you are a C level executive in a company.

When I get a little stuck in my day, I like to look up some inspirational quotes to get me excited about my work again and get me back on track. Seeing the insight of others who have been in the same position as I have and come through it is a great way to start seeing the forest through the trees and I thought I would share with you. Here are some of my favorites:

• It is not the strongest of the species that survive, or the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. – Charles Darwin
• You’re most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. – Bill Gates
• Business is more exciting than any game. – Lord Beaverbrook
• · The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it. – Debbi Fields
• · Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness. – James Thurber

I dare you to read these and not feel recharged and ready to steam ahead with whatever project was causing you a little bump in the road!

Many of these people who offered these quotes are giving you this advice after their great success in their respective industry, so you can trust they are giving it on real world experience. Perhaps you take all of these quotes to heart and they help, or maybe only one, but I do hope that you take the time to think about these words of wisdom next time you’re struggling.

 

[If you find value in his blog and want more - you will be excited to read Influence It! Real POWER For Women, where you will find more in-depth strategies and leading-edge information for the influential woman on the go! AND a free report, too! Check it out here!]

Working in the corporate world, women put up with the commute, the dress code, the hierarchy, the intense work, and sometimes the long hours. But what about eating in the lunchroom? How often are lunchtime conversations either boring or bordering on invasive?

It never fails. You thought the coast was clear when you entered the lunchroom to gather your food out of the communal fridge and sit down, hoping for half an hour of peace and quiet. But then the girls would descend, and the next thing you know, they would be chattering on like they were at a slumber party.

Conversations would cover so and so’s boyfriend or husband, problems with the kids, movies, what the dragon lady boss dished out in the weekly staff meeting, and what Sue, the receptionist, wore the other day that had everyone in a snit.

What might have been fun fodder at once time now is seen as a useless waste of time. Lunchtime is supposed to be a break in the day.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with people talking in the lunchroom, but it’s always wise to be aware of seemingly “innocent” conversations where you might let on more than you should about your work or personal life. This is prime breeding ground for gossip run amuck, which could be potentially damaging to your career!

Here are four tips for keeping your lips zipped in the lunchroom:

1. Keep the conversation light. If you have no choice but to eat in the lunchroom, stick only to comments about inane things like the weather, the game last night or the latest technology the office is using. The trick is not to allow people to know too much about you beyond what they absolutely need to. If you let others get too familiar with you, it can pose problems down the line.

2. Don’t play the people-pleaser game. Someone comments on how you look. A quick "Thank you,”"will suffice. Don’t go out of your way and elaborate on your outfit or your lunch menu for that matter, solely for the purpose of being accepted. Some people can be very nosy about what you’re eating! Keep all comments brief with an air of friendliness.

3. Don’t play into other people’s dramas. Oftentimes, you may hear or be a part of conversations about an employee dishing on their latest personal woes. You may feel empathy for that person, but if you don’t keep this in check, before too long, you’ll get enmeshed, along with everyone else, in this person’s affairs - and soap opera city begins! None of this is relevant to your job, so watch how you interact with others, as those important to the stability of your job will also be watching your interactions.

4. Fed up? Get up! Of course the best option for avoiding the lunchroom is going out for lunch, whether that means to a restaurant with a trusted friend, the park, or simply walking and window shopping while you eat. Get some fresh air and a mental break from work. There’s certainly enough happening back at the office to keep you on your toes all day.

On the job, your work persona should reflect professional, straightforward communications. The choice is yours, of course, to impart any personal information to others. By being wise about what you say, you are being conscious about how you want to be perceived in your organization. This also speaks volumes to your influence!

[This is only one of the many powerful articles in this week's Influence It! Real Power for Women free ezine. To enjoy the full issue, jam packed with insightful information on strategies to enhance your personal and professional life to achieve ultimate success, you must be a subscriber. Sign up for your own free subscription NOW by clicking here!]

Many women are finding themselves in the rut of old patterns of behavior that are causing barriers to their business success. These bad habits are hurting their bottom line, their business relationships and giving them a false sense of security.

Women have so many wonderful characteristics. But sometimes these wonderful characteristics can become liabilities to their business.

How?

Women have been raised or conditioned by society to behave a certain way that makes them the nurturing sex. This isn’t a bad thing, but it can be a detriment when these behaviors are applied in a competitive business world.

Today’s smart business woman is beginning to see that her old ways of thinking and how she sees herself are not conducive to either increasing her business reputation or her pocket book.

If this sounds familiar or you’re not sure if you may be stuck in a rut, it’s time to find out, recognize what these old behaviors are AND what you can do about it.

There are 6 business potholes that women can fall into when building their dream company if they aren’t careful. They are:

Business Pothole #1:

Trusting Everyone. Women are taught to trust until there is a reason not to trust. They believe in giving the benefit of the doubt no matter what the evidence shows. Well, that’s like saying, “I’ll measure once and cut once!”

Before you hand over your faith, do your due diligence. What does their financial statement reveal? Who are their references? Are they reliable or relatives? What do your instincts tell you? What is behind the face value of what you see?

Get all the information you can. Take the necessary precautionary steps to assure that you are buying, hiring or dealing with what you want or need. This will save you a ton of grief, remorse and regret in the future. Listen to your grandmother, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Business Pothole #2:

Being The Hero. Women are the octopus of tasks because they work on several fronts: home, office, business, school, fun and exercise. They buy into the idea that they do better when under the gun! What woman doesn’t enjoy the accolades of successfully doing 17 things at once?

The reality is women are burning themselves out. They find no time to be present in their life, enjoy the sounds of their children or feel the contentment of a job well done without thinking of what needs to be done next. Trying to do it all takes a toll on their business.

To take yourself out of the rat race, give yourself permission to organize your activities, both personal and professional, so that they don’t put your work on hold. You can slow down, prioritize and focus on the few tasks that will make a difference in your business without sacrificing the other beautiful parts of your life.

Business Pothole #3:

Micromanaging. This is when women delegate, then watch over the person’s shoulder. Why? Because women know the value of everything being done right, and they really don’t trust (until they know for sure) that anyone else will do it correctly.

Another reason for micromanaging is the belief that it all has to be done your way. There is the fear of someone else’s way not working, or worse yet, causing irreparable damage. What’s the fear here? Women are usually the ones cleaning up the damage, and who has time for that?

The best way to overcome ‘micro-madness’ is to carefully scrutinize who you work with. See Business Pothole #1.

Business Pothole #4:

Neglecting Mistakes. Women are too quick to accept what is obvious. We trust easily (again, see Business Pothole #1), believe what we hear and quickly forgive and forget.

But there’s a price to that. If you don’t identify the root cause of what went wrong, chances are it will continue to go wrong, which means you will continue having to clean up and forgive and forget.

Mistakes happen for a reason. They are a reminder that something needs attention. What kind of attention is the question. You can look at the superficial features, giving in to the fear of the unknown, or you can tackle the mistake head on. Look it in the eye and see what isn’t so clear at the moment.

Finding out the root cause will benefit you AND your business in the long run.

Business Pothole #5:

Being Rude … To Other Women. This is sometimes a holdover from childhood. Remember the popular girls who seemed to get everything they wanted, including the captain of the football team? They were obnoxious and rude to the other girls.

Well, is this you now? If you were that girl, are you still being her? And if you weren’t that girl, do you believe you have a right to be?

One of the main complaints from women in business is women in business. They find themselves victimized by other women: women bullies, female manipulators, harsh lady bosses, and underhanded competitive female co-workers.

School days are over. The best friend you can have in business is another woman. A woman who understands, cares, and will go the extra mile for you. Develop your people skills. Make the effort to engage and encourage strong and mutual relationships with other women.

Business Pothole #6:

False Sense Of Confidence. Women are told to "fake it until they make it." Well, that may work for awhile, but it’s a short term fix at best. Continuing in this belief will only work against you when people start to discover you are faking it. They find you are uncertain about yourself, your company, your business, and your offer.

The best alternative to faking it is making it. Your perception of yourself has an enormous impact on how others perceive you. Do it for real. Show them ambition instead of apathy, self-assuredness instead of uncertainty, and determination instead of weakness. Actually become the self-confident person that is hiding beneath the layers. What potholes should you be dodging?

[Editor’s Note: Women have fallen into what I call the Permission Trap. To see if that’s you and what you can do about it, click here.]

[This is only one of the many powerful articles in this week's Influence It! Real Power for Women free ezine. To enjoy the full issue, jam packed with insightful information on strategies to enhance your personal and professional life to achieve ultimate success, you must be a subscriber. Sign up for your own free subscription NOW by clicking here!]

If you’ve been in a business environment  for many years, you may have heard of the SWOT method for analyzing problems, projects or the business model in general. This simple, yet handy method is a great tool for any business women to have in her arsenal. It’s time to lock and load and get this tool working for you!

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats and it’s a great way to look at the project in question from many different angles, rather than seeing it from just your perspective.

Strengths:

These are the assets your project or business has coming into the analysis. These strengths can be anything from a unique product on the market or having venture capital secured for your business. List all of the items and skills you and your staff that can only make this project or business more stable and assure its success.

Weaknesses:

What does your company lack? These are the weaknesses that it has. They can become a liability down the road, so it’s best that you address them in this analysis so that you are aware of their existence and can overcome these weaknesses. These weaknesses can be anything from an unclear company structure and hierarchy to a lack of proper equipment.

Opportunities:

These opportunities typically come directly from the strengths that you listed previously. For example, if you’ve got a unique product, then your opportunity lies in the fact that you will be the sole producer of this item for a while and can charge a premium from this fact. If you have secured venture capital, then there is an opportunity to invest extra money in proper infrastructure and hiring highly skilled professionals in your field.

Threats:

What exists that could threaten the success of your project or company? These threats can come from your weaknesses or they can come from outside your company altogether. Perhaps your competition is ramping up to launch a product very similar to your at a fraction of the cost. Maybe there has been some bad press surrounding your project recently. These are all threats that need to be overcome in order to achieve success.

 

[If you find value in his blog and want more - you will be excited to read Influence It! Real POWER For Women, where you will find more in-depth strategies and leading-edge information for the influential woman on the go! AND a free report, too! Check it out here!]

We’ve all experienced it from time to time. There we are, chugging along full steam ahead in our most recent business endeavor and then, out of the blue, adversity strikes. We put on the emergency brake and come grinding to a sudden halt to overcome the adversity that we’re now faced with. But you don’t have to let adversity get you down. Learn to take the challenges posed by adversity and turn them into stepping stone to get you back on track.

Take time to let the situation fully set in. If you don’t set aside a day or week to really comprehend the degree of adversity you’re going to face, then you won’t be able to properly overcome it. It’s important not to meet challenges with denial, but with a sense of understand and realism.

Acknowledge and accept your current situation. Now that you’ve let the reality of the situation settle in, take a breath and accept that the challenges you are about to face cannot be avoided and, in the long run, it’s faster and easier to meet those challenges head on, rather than avoid them.

Develop a plan to overcome your adversity. You’ve made plans for many other business ventures in your life, why shouldn’t you develop a plan to overcome adversity? Outline all of the steps you believe it’s going to take in order to surmount your challenges and then be realistic about the timeline and the amount of energy it’s going to take in order to overcome this adversity.

Recognize that in order to change things, you must take action. If you develop a plan, but never take action, you will never change anything. This is the scariest step, but it’s the most important one in order to overcome adversity and turn failure into a success. Remember, you are a smart, wonderful woman who has overcome many other obstacles in her life; this challenge should be no different.

[If you find value in this blog and want more - you will be excited to read Influence It! Real POWER For Women, where you will find more in-depth strategies and leading-edge information for the influential woman on the go! AND a free report, too! Check it out here!]

Women are learning the value of successful negotiation. However, men initiate negotiation four times more than women. Because of poor or nonexistent negotiation skills, women leave approximately $2000 on the table when buying a car. Women are more pessimistic about the rewards of negotiation than men.

These and similar statistics are reflective of a woman not knowing her worth and having low expectations of her capabilities.

Before you begin the negotiation process and expect success, you need the following top 5 "negotiation" understandings to get what you want.

1. Accept the Right to Negotiate. Make the decision that you are worth protecting. That means stopping people from taking advantage of you. If you don’t see your own value in having the right to win, then rest assured no one else will. You will constantly have an uphill battle.
2. Get Comfortable With Negotiating. Begin to understand that’s how most of the world works – from selling cars to exchanging services. Get rid of any hang-ups you may have such as "I can’t ask for what I want," or "I don’t deserve what I want." Going into any exchange with the attitude that you can and will negotiate for an outcome satisfactory to you is essential in negotiation success. Just ask any teenager!
3. Learn Your Opening. Practice your opening remarks when ready to negotiate: "You need to help me here," or "Let’s talk about making this work for both of us." Plan your work and work your plan. Don’t waste time getting hung up in situations where you aren’t clear, don’t have an agenda (yes, not all agendas are bad), and cannot express yourself adequately.

   Another tip is to work at getting the other person to consider alternatives, ones that you propose. Become adept at your persuasion skills.

4. Don’t Take It Personally. Negotiation isn’t about getting the other person to think you are right. It’s about getting the other person to support and help you achieve your goal. Keep your sights on the goal and don’t let your immediate feelings get in the way.
5. Save the Emotions. Consistency is key here. A steady emotional response, positive or negative, is an asset in conditioning people to respond to you. Rely on their need to please. It’s human nature.

All in all, women are no longer content to feel apprehension about negotiation. They are stepping forward with a new expectation of getting in the game and being a player to contend with.

[This is only one of the many powerful articles in this week's Influence It! Real Power for Women free ezine. To enjoy the full issue, jam packed with insightful information on strategies to enhance your personal and professional life to achieve ultimate success, you must be a subscriber. Sign up for your own free subscription NOW by clicking here!]

When it comes to climbing the corporate ladder, women not only need to be on top of their game but they also need to watch their backs. As we all know, there are sour grapes in every bunch of people we work with. Some of these backstabbers try to either overtly or covertly sabotage you, especially if they see you constantly succeeding. And not all of them are your peers. They can be your bosses, too!

Think of your first interview. Did you check the company out as much as they checked you out? Probably. But what happens when you're up for review? A superior sits on a throne in his office, grading you on your efforts. The important thing to remember is even at these intervals, it’s important that YOU keep reviewing the company as well to be sure you’re getting what you want out of the deal.

YOUR Company Review Counts

Take a look at Jackie, who worked in a two-person office for a large corporation. She was subject to these reviews. Her boss - another woman - was not the warmest person: imagine a slightly less terse Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest! Jackie endured as much as she could, decided to take an assertiveness training course, then asked her boss for a meeting to discuss her concerns. Her boss explained her side of the story, apologizing for her coldness and lack of communication and support for her on the job. She thought Jackie was doing very well. Jackie breathed a huge sigh of relief. From now on things would be different.

WRONG!

When Jackie's first-ever formal review arrived, her boss graded her incredibly low on everything. On some items, she was marked at a zero. Jackie felt humiliated and angry at the same time. All this after she had done nothing but her best at work, plus taking great pains to learn to be more assertive. She fumed, "What was the point of the meeting they'd had?"

Document Your Interactions With Your Colleagues, Peers, and Superiors

There are many women who have done all the right things at work, but those nasty backstabbers twist and turn things so it looks like they haven't. Now in Jackie's case, there wasn't much she could do since she worked in a two-person office. But in larger companies, there are more people and more opportunities for some of those people to make it hard for you to get ahead.

If you have any kind of negative interactions with people - even positive ones that feel a little uncomfortable - trust your gut. There is likely some kind of jealously or otherwise malicious intent behind them. If things come to a head, and you need to take the matter to your boss or a committee, it will be your word against the perpetrators. If you've documented everything, you're in a good position.

You don’t have to be fanatical about it; just keep a little notebook with you to record the date, time, person, and incident(s) just to be on the safe side. You never know when something may happen, even when you think things are going great. Stay aware so you have everything you need in the way of evidence should a situation like this come up.

The rise up the corporate ladder should be fun, exhilarating, and ultimately rewarding. In most cases, it is. By keeping notes along the way (both good and bad), you'll have all the necessary documentation you need to weather the journey to the top!

[This is only one of the many powerful articles in this week's Influence It! Real Power for Women free ezine. To enjoy the full issue, jam packed with insightful information on strategies to enhance your personal and professional life to achieve ultimate success, you must be a subscriber. Sign up for your own free subscription NOW by clicking here!]

Women are redefining the meaning of success – on their terms. They’re giving it a much needed makeover. Well-defined success factors or keys to success are important to a woman’s identity, to her sense of accomplishment and to her total acceptance of her success.

Women have defined success, particularly business success, according to other people’s rules. They are challenging the "This-is-my-measuring-stick-and-it-can’ t-be-broken," mentality that women have lived with for too long. They’re breaking the stick. No longer do you have to accept success as a financial number, a career position or a number of years on the job.

The process of defining success can be a rich journey, or it can be a path laden with indecision and uncertainty. Success for women is a journey with peaks and valleys, setbacks and mistakes, achievement and disappointment.

How you define success is actually your key to success. Here is a process to help you reach clarity on your definition of success.

Find Your Balance. Anything in excess is not a good thing. Too much money, power, and sugar can result in a huge ego, unfounded expectations, or high blood pressure. In creating your success definition, remember that there is always a payoff.

In starting and building your business from the ground up, are you willing to sacrifice the time away from your family required to do it? Will you lose sight of your goal because of deficits in another area of your life?

Know Your Altruistic Values. What is important to you outside of yourself? How will your actions affect your friends, the community, and the world beyond? Is what you are doing or who you are contributing to others? Is it moral? Is it righteous?

If you are willing to sacrifice your integrity to attain a goal, you might achieve your goal, but you will not be a success. Keep in mind that at different times in your life, you will have different definitions of success. Sometimes women get caught up in one goal and define their life around that goal when there are really multiple stages of success throughout your life.

What you found to be a feeling of great success while attending college may not be the same as when you are holding your granddaughter.

Success is a determination of what you value at a certain time in your life. It’s evident in how you think, feel and breathe. Are your desires in the forefront, or do you help for the sake of helping, regardless of great personal sacrifice? The only gauge of that is in your soul.

Develop Your Character. What you speak comes from your heart. It’s your internal qualities that drive real success. If you are deplete, not possessing a honorable, high-quality character built on integrity, honesty and selflessness, you will never attain the true success that could be yours.

A dictionary can give you a definition of success, but real success is only determined by you - based on your needs, wants, integrity, values and beliefs. A woman’s definition of success begins with her character. Being authentic is being true to your belief system and your guiding principles.

What will your definition of success be? It could be a money goal, lifestyle change, good health, or use of time. It can be just about anything, but you will need to dig deep and do some serious soul searching to discover what success means to you.

[This is only one of the many powerful articles in this week's Influence It! Real Power for Women free ezine. To enjoy the full issue, jam packed with insightful information on strategies to enhance your personal and professional life to achieve ultimate success, you must be a subscriber. Sign up for your own free subscription NOW by clicking here!]

When new moms decide to get back into the workforce, they have to go through the same hiring process as everyone else. Some companies see new mothers as a red flag. They envision a woman who is constantly having to leave early to take care of her child, will arrive at work looking hurried and frazzled and probably has spit up on their jacket. Is this what you should think when interviewing new moms? ABSOLUTELY NOT. In fact, based on a few key factors, mothers can be a great asset to a company. Here are just a few.

They’re smarter. Studies show that women actually get smarter after they have children. This is also a great reason for some companies to offer good maternity packages. They will be getting the new moms back in even better mental condition than when they left the company to have their child.

They multitask better. This is sort of a no brainer. A child means that you almost always have to do more than one thing at a time. Whether it’s talking on the phone and changing a diaper or making dinner and making sure they don’t stick their finger in an outlet. Those skills translate really well into a work environment. They will be able to handle more tasks than many of the child-free employees and they’ll likely handle it with a lot less griping.

They’re working for a reason. We all work for reasons. Of course, we all work to put a roof over our head and pay our bills. However, a new mother is working with the life of her baby in mind. She wants to provide for them and be able to take care of them the way they deserve. Her drive will be greater and her dedication to work will be higher. If you really want to make her feel comfortable enough to perform, give her “work from home” days. Then she can spend time with her child and also provide top notch dedication.

If you’ve ever started your own business or are currently working for a startup, you know what it’s like to frantically try to get your company off the ground before you run out of money. You’ll do just about anything to get your name out there. You’ll try crazy marketing gimmicks, you tweet like crazy and you work 20 hours days just to make sure your company is a success. Then, when you finally start seeing returns, how do you start growing your company? The answer is to do it organically. Here are some tips to growing your business organically.

Listen to your market. So often, companies rise and fall because they don’t actually listen to their target market. Don’t try and tell your potential customers what they want, make them realize a need they’ve always had, but didn’t realize initially. And if you don’t have the exact product they want, be willing to adapt your business model to suit their needs. Remember, until you become a success, your first customers really have quite a bit of power. Respect it.

Invest in smarts, not numbers. When you find it’s time to start hiring a few new employees, invest in smart, creative, dedicated employees. Sure, you can get two or three less experienced, less motivated employees for the price of one good one, but will you be able to trust them enough to actually let them do their own work? When you have employees that are smart and self-sufficient, you can spend your time worrying about other areas of the business, which is the way it should be.

Be able to evolve quickly. In today’s market, opinions ebb and flow daily, so it’s important that you never stop listening and be willing to change quickly to meet demands. I’m not saying you should sell out your initial idea, just be able to adapt your product to whichever way the marketing trends are blowing.

Go with the flow.There is a natural progression to businesses that are growing. Watch to see where it’s going. Hire to meet the current needs of your business and if you see it being successful in a new area, pursue it.



[If you find value in this blog and want more - you will be excited to read Influence It! Real POWER For Women, where you will find more in-depth strategies and leading-edge information for the influential woman on the go! AND a free report, too! Check it out here! http://karen-keller.com/female-leadership-influence-success/

If you’ve ever started your own business or are currently working for a startup, you know what it’s like to frantically try to get your company off the ground before you run out of money. You’ll do just about anything to get your name out there. You’ll try crazy marketing gimmicks, you tweet like crazy and you work 20 hours days just to make sure your company is a success. Then, when you finally start seeing returns, how do you start growing your company? The answer is to do it organically. Here are some tips to growing your business organically.

Listen to your market. So often, companies rise and fall because they don’t actually listen to their target market. Don’t try and tell your potential customers what they want, make them realize a need they’ve always had, but didn’t realize initially. And if you don’t have the exact product they want, be willing to adapt your business model to suit their needs. Remember, until you become a success, your first customers really have quite a bit of power. Respect it.

Invest in smarts, not numbers. When you find it’s time to start hiring a few new employees, invest in smart, creative, dedicated employees. Sure, you can get two or three less experienced, less motivated employees for the price of one good one, but will you be able to trust them enough to actually let them do their own work? When you have employees that are smart and self-sufficient, you can spend your time worrying about other areas of the business, which is the way it should be.

Be able to evolve quickly. In today’s market, opinions ebb and flow daily, so it’s important that you never stop listening and be willing to change quickly to meet demands. I’m not saying you should sell out your initial idea, just be able to adapt your product to whichever way the marketing trends are blowing.

Go with the flow.There is a natural progression to businesses that are growing. Watch to see where it’s going. Hire to meet the current needs of your business and if you see it being successful in a new area, pursue it.

 

[If you find value in this blog and want more - you will be excited to read Influence It! Real POWER For Women, where you will find more in-depth strategies and leading-edge information for the influential woman on the go! AND a free report, too! Check it out here!]