Thursday 1 August 2013

Tips for being a successful business woman

Read about successful women. There are many successful career women out there - in business and in other fields. Researching and learning about their background and career paths will help to motivate and inspire you. Reading their stories will give an idea of what the path to success looks like and what obstacles you might encounter along the way.

Research women in your field. No matter what field you're in, there are sure to be successful women who've paved the way for others. Finding out about successful women in your particular field will give you a better idea of what a typical career path might look like and highlight some practical steps you can take to become successful.

Consider a field with fewer women in it. Historically, women have been underrepresented in fields such as science, engineering, technology, mathematics and computer science. By pursuing a career in one of these areas, a woman may benefit from certain incentives designed to encourage more women to enter these fields, such as scholarship programs and grants.

Determine how to balance work and family. Perhaps the greatest concern for women in the workforce is how to balance work and family life. Women are usually in their key childbearing years at the same as they are trying to advance their career and climb the corporate ladder.

Overcome pay inequality. Despite making fantastic progress in terms of the number of women in the workforce and the proportion of those who go on to reach managerial and executive positions, there is still a long way to go, especially when it comes to equal pay. The frustrating truth is that women earn significantly less than men, for the same work. Although factors such as education or the decision to have a child can affect pay levels, the main problem is that women consistently undervalue themselves and fail to effectively negotiate with employers for higher salaries.[5] In order to overcome pay inequality, you should:

Be confident. Having confidence in yourself and your abilities is essential in becoming a successful businesswoman. People will view you as you portray yourself. If you project confidence, people will believe that you are confident.

Be assertive. One of the most enduring stereotypes about women in business is that they are weak and emotional. The best way to overcome these stereotypes is to disprove them. To be a successful businesswoman you have to be assertive, otherwise people will not respect you.

Handle criticism well. The capacity to handle criticism and grow from it is a very important aspect of success. However, there is a big difference between constructive criticism and destructive criticism. You need to learn how to recognize and handle each of them.

Find your passion in life and follow it. In order to reach the top, you need to be passionate about what you do. Think about it. It's so much easier to motivate yourself to work hard when you're energized and excited by what you're doing.

Be organized. Success is the result of long-term planning and daily action. Good organization helps you gain control of your time so you can plan and complete the tasks needed to achieve your goals.

Network. Networking can be very helpful to your career. Networking is about making connections and building enduring, mutually beneficial relationships with other professionals. It enables you to find out about exciting career opportunities, learn of new developments in your field or discover the solution to a problem you face at work.

Be creative. Creativity is a core competency for successful business leaders, and a crucial component of the innovation equation. Creativity requires whole-brain thinking; right-brain imagination, artistry and intuition, plus left-brain logic and planning. Creative thinking requires a unique perspective and the ability to provide innovative solutions to the challenges you face.

Get a good education. An education from a high-ranking university can be instrumental in getting you to where you want to be in life. Completing increasingly advanced levels of education shows that you have a drive and commitment to learn and apply information, ideas, theories, and formulas to achieve a variety of tasks and goals.

Be willing to learn. Don't be afraid to admit that you don't know everything. It is important to know where your weaknesses lie and to constantly seek to improve them. Even when you are confident in your abilities, you should always seek to boost your skills.

Be willing to work hard. Hard work is the secret to success. You have to be prepared to work long hours and sacrifice your spare time in order to succeed in business.

Stay persistent. In order to succeed, you need persistence. You need to fall on your face, then get back up and try again. Success doesn't come easy, it takes consistency and determination.

Be brave. You have to constantly push yourself out of your comfort zone to move forward, boost confidence and ultimately succeed. This means you have to take risks and accept that when things go wrong, you can always survive and turn things around. Be brave and you will never look back




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