When Women Lead
If you're depressed by McKinsey's report on The Great Break Up - women leaving workplaces... You might appreciate a pick me up from Julia Boorstin's When Women Lead. Yes when #women lead, not leave!
Julia's book features the success stories of women #entrepreneurs who against all the odds, received venture capital funding. The investment in women founded companies, especially those run by women of color is still shockingly low. Even though data from venture capital firms show that women led companies are their best return on investment, outperforming others by 63%.
These women are clearly exceptional, & you might think they possess superpowers. But Julia shows the patterns in their approaches and the skills they possess:
1. They are providing systems solutions to problems rather than quick fixes.
2. They understand the big picture & dig into the context to understand that they need to intervene on the #rootcause.
3. They disrupt the status quo & existing bias because they understand this is the way to make progress and fill important gaps in the market.
4. They then use those business #innovations for social good to improve the provision of services for underserved groups.
5. They understand that their willingness to bring diverse perspectives is uncomfortable for collaborators but they persevere to ensure a more useful & innovative outcome.
6. They recognize the help they have received along the way.
7. They can lead in a crisis because they take the long term view & have empathy for people in difficult situations.
As I listened to this book, I realized so many of the skills, seeing the forest & the trees, preventing the forest fires, & getting to the root causes were ones that came from my #science. In fact, one of the examples was Toyin Ajayi from CityBlock Health.
Yet clearly, most women's #leadership is not being recognized & up to 55% are having their opinions questioned.
I want to give women the confidence & credibility to lead in this way and to build upon their intuition with science backed leadership strategies. See comments for my 5 evidence based strategies.
Julia described her old approach of reaching for the serenity prayer & controlling what she could. But now she realized that acknowledging the barriers she faced & that other women faced, #empowered her to address those problems & find work arounds.
Women have also shared with me that they feel like a victim when they see the barriers at home, work, & in society. But when you understand & can break down those different influences you can:
1. Have more compassion for yourself & others
2. See different places where things could change, you have more options
3. Influence the conditions as they influence you, & have a ripple effect, like these women leaders.
Facing such monumental #change is scary, but there are skills you can learn, & there are other women like you who can support you. That is why I am developing a course & learning cohorts to change the status quo.
