courage

Women in business. Interesting topic, isn’t it? I love it!

Some believe business is the domain of men and even though the number of women in various areas of business has increased over the last decade, there is still room for improvement. I have built three companies so far and can confidently say all the businesses had a woman’s touch.

What is a woman’s touch exactly?

I have recently heard an interview with a property mogul. He explained that, in his opinion, women go deeper into the details to understand the whole process and the steps in it. Based on my experience, I can certainly confirm that.

For better or worse, I like to understand what is happening in the process. I say ‘for better or worse’ because going too deep takes precious time and I had to learn to be satisfied with the interpretation of critical metrics in my businesses. It was a learning curve for me to understand that my efforts to become knowledgeable about every teeny-tiny step in a process was merely my way of handling uncertainties and insecurities. I thought knowing all about it would make me more confident. It helped some, for sure, but it didn’t make the difference you would believe.

What made the real difference was to select excellent people and work with great suppliers. The ones who know their job and do their job.

I also understood from the interview that this property mogul thought women put more emotions and passion into a business. Comments similar to that haunted me for years.

Male executives dominate the side of my business where we deal with business transformations; and I heard such comments, not once.

The problem wasn’t the comment itself but how I interpreted it. Whatever those men meant to say when they made such a comment, I believed it had a negative meaning. Also, I wasn’t the only one.

Today, I can proudly say that, damn right, I put more emotion and passion into my business. Just differently.

Businesses, small enterprises, or large multinational companies, are built on passion. The passion of the founder and the passion and dedication of the people within that business. How else would you deliver something better every single day?

Being passionate is a good thing, as long as it drives forward the business. I believe, the problems start when fear and lack of self-confidence creep in, question marks queue in your mind every single day, and doubts build up. I make no mistake, it happens, you cannot avoid it from happening.

Putting more emotion into the business is not wrong; it’s just different. Women and men are different, and therefore they do business differently. Previously, I didn’t do research on how women do business, but I know how I do it. I put compassion in it, and I am well aware of that. Furthermore, I know that my thoughts drive my emotions, and see the difference between an opinion formulated based on feelings and hard facts. So, this is precisely why I think it is fantastic that women build businesses differently than men do.

The world is changing. Technology cuts through the fabric of business and society and people want to be connected more than ever. The level of self-awareness is increasing, and people stay with companies who demonstrate social responsibility. We get closer to the balance of heart and mind every single day. Women doing business is a part of this evolution. I am fortunate to be a part of this evolution.

For more inspiration read the following article Inspiration for women who want to achieve more.