The times are changing.
Women have more opportunities than ever before to lead and grow businesses, and the statistics don’t lie! There are more women leading in government and in business than at any other time in history.
Attitudes surrounding women in business are changing, and many women are taking advantage and putting their best foot forward. More women are starting and leading businesses than ever before, and there is a growing body of research demonstrating that businesses that take seriously the voices of women perform very well.
Dive Into Your Dreams Without Fear
Unfortunately, however, many women still feel afraid to capitalize on their potential. Maybe you’re one of them. Maybe you can’t get past the voices throughout your life that told you what you couldn’t be. Maybe you’ve feared what friends, family, and even your significant other might think if you took charge of your potential for business. Maybe you have more potential than you ever thought and simply never had anyone make you aware of it.
Even though the opportunities and statistics all point to women leading well in business, it’s sometimes easy for women to defer to others and deny themselves the opportunities that are right in front of them. Sometimes our need to be polite can distort into self suppression and holding ourselves back, and we don’t even notice it.
The truth is, women were meant for business. Women have skills and abilities and voices and potential that the world is finally beginning to uncover and benefit from, and you deserve to be right in the front of that movement.
Here are a few reasons women have more more potential to succeed in business that they think.
Businesses Are More Oriented to Women Than Ever
In previous times, businesses depended on manual labor, cubicle workers performing a repetitive task, and a few whip-crackers at the top to make sure things got done. Now, things are different. Automation, machines, and artificial intelligence does much of the work human beings used to do, meaning the businesses of today depend more on collaboration, teamwork, communication, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal skills than in times past.
It’s no surprise that women tend to have significant strengths in the areas above. Studies have shown that teams at the executive level that include both men and women tend to perform better for the organizations, for these very reasons.
Additionally, businesses are beginning to connect diversity with their ability to reach their customers. As more women rise in business and join corporate boardrooms, the companies they serve have a greater ability to understand and impact their target demographic groups, anticipating changing viewpoints and preferences among their customer base.
Women Are More Educated Than Ever and Big Companies Know It
Women are succeeding educationally and earning more degrees than their male counterparts, meaning that the talent pool for most businesses is more female than it has ever been.
Women earn just under two-thirds of bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a little over half of doctoral degrees. Women’s enrollment in MBA programs has increased about five times in the last 45 years, and the number of women earning engineering degrees has increased approximately ten times during the same time period!
Company leaders know this and are looking to hire more women than before. This alone gives women a distinct advantage in pursuing their business goals.
There Are Numerous Resources That Help Women Be Successful
Springboard Enterprises, Astia, Golden Seeds, and The Pipeline Fellowship are just a few of hundreds of nonprofits, investment strategy firms, and training platforms dedicated to helping women succeed in business and entrepreneurship. If you want to reach your full business potential, you’re definitely not alone.
It’s Your Potential, Bring It to Life!
There are now more opportunities than ever to succeed in business as a woman. There’s no need to fall back into fear, the expectations of others, or the insidious lies we tell ourselves. The world needs you, whether as an entrepreneur, employee, or executive in the boardroom. Go and take your opportunity! Why not you?
Sunniva Holt
Author