For midlife female leaders: your keys to success!
Jackie Booth
Supporting Female Leaders To Step Into Their Next Level Of Leadership??Executive & Leadership Coach & Mentor??NHS Leadership Development ??Author
In my coaching and mentoring experience, midlife female leaders are massively undervalued and underappreciated.
Yet collectively, they have the wisdom, experience and a desire to succeed that has the potential to reshape leadership today.
In this month’s newsletter, I’ll be exploring those things that you ‘need to know’ that can help propel you towards achieving your goals and, ultimately, leadership success.
What you need to know as a midlife female leader
Get to know what you want.
More than any other time in my life, midlife has been about self-reflection and self-discovery. It’s helped me to confirm my strengths, values and aspirations.
Taking time to understand yourself better is essential when it comes to professional and personal growth, uncovering hidden talents and dreams and if you’re so inclined, reinventing yourself completely.
Get to know yourself.
When it comes to leadership, knowing exactly who you are is essential.
Knowing what drives you, inspires you, your strengths, your reason why, are all factors that are unique to you.
Knowing who you really are [and what you want] is also incredibly empowering when it comes to leadership. If you’re showing up authentically as a leadership role model, then others will feel safe and inspired to be themselves, as well.
Get to know what you’re good at
Knowing your core skills will help you in your current role, as well as when you're taking the next step on your leadership journey.
You can easily add to your skills set and knowledge base, yet most women I coach end up underestimating the skills and experience they've gained, throughout both their life and their career.
Make your professional growth about the things you really want to learn and the expertise you will enjoy adding to your portfolio.
The days of struggling to do something because you feel you ‘should’ are long gone.
You can l inspire and motivate others with your passion and purpose more than you can with qualifications on your CV.
Get to know what’s holding you back.
When you’re preparing to make a significant change, such as going for a promotion, you can start to feel unsettled, anxious and full of self-doubt.
One of the main things that undermines your self-belief and confidence are your limiting beliefs.
These will show up like an internal critic telling you “you’re not good enough” or “you should be more successful at your age”. ???
Recognising how you might be holding yourself back is key to doing something about it, so you can take action to move forward.
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Get to know your network.
It’s been said that your network is your net worth! And that means surrounding yourself with people who believe in your potential, can provide you with the guidance you need and, importantly, offer useful feedback.
You might not think so, but you’re surrounded by a vast pool of leadership knowledge, experience, and emotional support; all of which you can tap into.
Your network might include mentors, colleagues, friends, and family members who collectively inspire, challenge, and uplift you.
Get to know how resilient you are.
Setbacks and challenges are inevitable when it comes to successful leadership.
You likely have more resilience than you think; something you’ll undoubtedly discover when you’re tested.
A lot of resilience comes down to your adaptability, positive mindset, a willingness to learn from failures and not shying away from change.
Plus, being able to bounce back when things don’t work out builds your confidence for the future.?
Get to know your team.
Collaboration and inclusion are vital when it comes to sharing and valuing different perspectives and ideas, and working cohesively as a team.
I’ve realised that midlife leaders are in a unique position to champion diversity and inclusion within their teams and to make sure that every voice is heard, and every contribution is recognised and acknowledged.
Get to know who else you could help
Midlife leaders are the ones who are best placed to uplift and empower the next generation of leaders. I’ve seen them become mentors and advocates for aspiring female leaders, sharing knowledge, experiences, and insights.
Paying it forward creates a positive impact for others and has the added benefit of enriching your own leadership journey.
Embrace your experience and knowledge - take pride in being a midlife female leader
Midlife female leaders have the power to make a positive difference in so many ways through acknowledging their strengths and inspiring themselves and others to strive for more.
One of the reasons I love coaching midlife women is the abundance of wisdom and experience they have.
And because their value and potential is so often overlooked, I’m passionate about providing the support and mentorship they need.?
What do you think? Comment below and let me know. ?
If you’re a midlife leader ready to build your confidence to more easily tackle your day-to-day leadership challenges, send me a DM.
We can have a conversation about how I can help you and I’d love to hear about your experiences as a female leader, so far.
Jackie
Hear hear. When you've accumulated enough experience you have the confidence to know what's important and leave behind what isn't. Midlife voices are worth listening to.