As of 2021, research from McKinsey shows that only 21% of women hold in C-Suite level positions. But the gap is sure to become smaller as more and more women are entering the business world with determination and grit.
Successful businesswomen know the importance of hard work, but these aren’t the only traits necessary for success. Curious to learn more?
Below are 8 of the most important qualities businesswomen embody that have helped them achieve success!
1. Passion for Their Work
No business can be successful without passion. If you don’t care about what you do and you don’t love it with all of your heart, you will not achieve true success.
Passion is what keeps you working hard on the days you feel like giving up. Passion motivates you to take risks and go outside of your comfort zone. Without passion, you can’t achieve your goals.
Regardless of your industry, experience, and talent level, it is inevitable that you will encounter failure. It could take you years to achieve the success that you desire.
And it’s not logic that will keep you working hard – it’s passion.
As a woman, passion is even more important. For most of history, women were expected to stay within the home. Now, women are succeeding in the workplace while raising families and navigating the challenges of balancing success with all of their other responsibilities.
Passion will give you the fuel to keep accomplishing everything that you do.
2. Strong Self-Image
Successful women know that appearance matters. Being well-presented can reveal a lot about who you are as a businesswoman.
Being well-put-together shows that you have control over your environment and yourself. It displays to the people around you that you have self-respect.
Even more importantly, your appearance can convey trustworthiness. When you dress a certain way, you can showcase the fact that you care about your position and you can be trusted with important information and decisions.
People decide on your trustworthiness in a tenth of a second. When you promote the image you want, you gain this trust.
And in the era of social media, your appearance is even more important. Looking polished helps you establish a brand that others can trust and appreciate.
3. Assertiveness to Achieve Goals
To be successful in business as a woman, you cannot be afraid to make your voice heard. Businesswomen who achieve high levels of success know that they must be assertive.
Many women feel that being assertive makes them come off as sounding mean. But assertiveness isn’t about being the loudest person in the room – it’s about sharing what you have to say respectfully without compromising your beliefs.
Being assertive means that you’ll stand up for yourself and make your voice heard when you have good ideas. It also means that you know when to step back and how to deliver a strong message with kindness.
When you share your visions and make your needs heard, you’ll develop a better understanding of your personal values. This will lead to higher confidence and trust in your own decisions, which will in turn lead to higher levels of success.
Being assertive will also benefit your relationships. You’ll gain respect and admiration from the people you work with. They’ll learn that they can count on you to speak your mind with tact.
4. Resilience in the Face of Obstacles
Starting your own business will likely be one of the hardest things you’ll do in life. From navigating laws to taking large risks, opening a business will require grit and focus.
And starting a business is only the beginning. Once your company is up and running, you’ll face numerous obstacles to keep it running smoothly.
To be a successful businesswoman, you must be resilient in the face of obstacles. Don’t let challenges affect your morale, and treat every day as a new opportunity.
Of course, there will be days when it feels easy to give up. But when you feel down, take time to reflect on your passion and vision. This will fuel you to keep working until your reach your next triumph.
Success is closer than you think!
To learn more about the importance of resilience as a strong businesswoman, we encourage reading Suzanne Clark’s first State of American Business Address. In her keynote address, Suzanne Clark outlines priorities for the business community in 2022 and explains how resilience and competition go hand-in-hand.
5. Calmness Under Pressure
The business world can be tough – there may be stretches of time when nothing seems like it’s going right. In other cases, you may need to make a crucial decision that will impact the entire state of your business in a matter of seconds.
Working as a businesswoman means you will face a lot of pressure. You will be faced with unexpected challenges every single day, and you’ll need to use both logic and your intuition to make judgment decisions.
If you want to reach the top of the business world, you’ll need to learn how to handle pressure. One of the most important leadership traits you can learn is how to stay cool during these big moments.
Successful businesswomen have developed methods that help them stay cool under pressure. Whether it’s breathing techniques, exercise, or even journaling, strong businesswomen turn to these tools to help them stay calm and make the right call.
6. Confidence in Times of Doubt
Hand-in-hand with calmness is confidence. A successful businesswoman trusts her judgment and remains confident even in times of doubt.
You’ve probably heard the famous Henry Ford quote: “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t…. You’re right.”
When it comes to succeeding as a woman in the business world, Ford couldn’t be more right.
Succeeding in business is tough enough. You’ll have to navigate unfamiliar territories, learn to make tough decisions quickly, and work harder than you ever have before.
On top of this, you’ll also be succeeding as a woman. This means you’ll be overcoming a long history of male-dominated fields and expectations of what being a woman in business looks like.
You need high levels of confidence if you want to survive and thrive in the business world. Successful businesswomen trust that they have all the tools they need to achieve their goals.
It’s key to remember that successful women don’t expect themselves to be perfect or to know everything. Instead, they live with the belief that they will achieve success no matter what happens.
They understand that the bigger picture will work in their favor, even when the small details seem against them at the moment.
And confidence pays off, not just emotionally, but in measurable success. Those with higher confidence earn almost $30,000 more a year than those who lack confidence.
7. Hard Work
Women who achieve success in business know that nothing will be handed to them. If anything, they may have to accomplish even more to stand out among their male counterparts.
Regardless of who you are or what you do, you will not succeed in business without hard work. There will be times when you may spend all of your waking hours working on building your business.
After your business is created, you may encounter obstacles that could threaten the entire foundation you’ve built. In these times, you may need to sacrifice most of your time to keep your business afloat.
Successful businesswomen are prepared to commit to months and even years of hard work before they achieve all of their goals. They know that no one else but themselves can achieve what they want.
8. Work & Life Balance
That being said, women who succeed in business know when it’s time to take a break.
Burnout is very real. 190 billion dollars have been spent to address the effect of burnout, both psychological and psychological.
There will be moments in your business when all you think about is your company. You’ll feel like spending time with family and friends is taking away from your work. You may even give up hours of sleep to achieve your goals.
But sacrificing your basic needs and time with the people you love will only hurt you in the end. No one is meant to withstand 100+ hour workweeks with little time to relax.
Successful business women not only consider the importance of work/life balance, but they also make it a priority. Successful businesswomen will take time out of their day to relax and take a break from their company.
Thriving As Successful Businesswomen
Thriving as successful businesswomen requires hard work and a strong knowledge of self. Women who believe they can achieve their dreams and are willing to take the steps to get there are well on their way to success.
Interested in learning more about business tips and strategies? Read our other blog posts.