Making women successful on Boards (...in the workplace, in business in life) (Women-led dialogue Series webinar for Women on Boards)

I would like to share 3 main ideas I believe can help women become successful on Boards and in life. They are:

1.   Excellence

2.   Character

3.   Empathy

Excellence: By excellence, I refer to being the best that you can be at what you do. Never stop learning. We should constantly invest in self-improvement until excellence becomes a habit. I resonate very strongly with a quote from Oprah that says, “Excellence is the best deterrent to racism or sexism…”

Character: I refer to this as being authentic and being a principled person. Being authentic is compatible with constantly working on improving ourselves to evolve into the best versions of ourselves, while not trying to be someone else. Similarly, being a person of principles means living by values such as; integrity (being honest, someone who can be trusted); respect (being respectful is compatible with being assertive); focused (target-oriented and not easily distracted); hardworking (working smart too); humble (willing to constantly learn from everyone. Humility is compatible with confidence. In fact it takes confidence to be humble); diplomatic (refers to being emotionally intelligent. Not the same as being cowardly). We should avoid confusing these terms, which are refinements that reveal maturity. As we grow and mature, we must learn to act more than we react. As the saying goes, “life is 10% what happens to us, and 90% how we respond”. We must learn to reflect before responding appropriately.  

Empathy: This refers to knowing how to put yourself in the shoes of others. It is important to be kind and considerate. John Maxwell says, “no-one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”. Kindness does not mean weakness. You can be even tougher and more demanding without breaking people, when you are kind. Being kind is compatible with being firm. It allows your firmness to be constructive and consequently yield the desired outcomes. A good leader is a person of influence being kind makes people willing to give you their best, and be influenced by you.

All three features (excellence, character and empathy), bestow confidence, that is not the same as arrogance, and makes us people of influence and good leaders. If we are careful to harness them, they will facilitate our progress on Boards, careers, business and life in general.