Recently I was sat on a panel, judging a business competition and one thing struck me… there were no female contestants! It really got me thinking about why there aren’t more female entrepreneurs or women at the top.
I think women make excellent business owners – we’re brilliant communicators, we’re good at building meaningful relationships with people that interact with our business, we’re far more organised than men! But there are a few qualities that have been known to hold us back…the classic example is an opportunity arising and a man knowing only 50% of what’s required and going for it anyway and a woman knowing 80% and deciding she won’t be good enough to do it. I know not all of us think like this, but an overwhelming majority do. This is just one of quite a few traits women tend to have, which hold us back.
I recently watched a great video on TED of Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, she offers 3 powerful pieces of advice to women who are aiming to make it to the top!
1. You’ve got to sit at the table
2. Make your partner a real partner
3. Don’t leave before you leave
You can watch the video below.
I think it’s so important that us women stick together and support one another to really achieve incredible things. We need to encourage each other to go for it, to believe in ourselves and to have the confidence to be brilliant. All of us are definitely capable of achieving amazing things, sometimes we just need a little encouragement.
Enjoy the video!
