Why Women Are Positioned To Lead (And Succeed) In 2022
For decades, women have steadily made impressive strides in the political and corporate arenas. Still, there’s a lot of ground to cover before we’re equally represented, especially in the upper echelons of the business
world. But Deb Boelkes says the changes that have occurred in the last two years have women leaders positioned to leap ahead.
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“The workplace is rapidly changing and evolv- ing in ways no one could have predicted just two years ago,” says Boelkes, author of the new book, “Women on Top: What’s Keeping You From Execu- tive Leadership?” “This is a pivotal time for women. The changes we’ve seen in the workplace call for the skill sets that many women naturally possess. We just need to step up and seize the challenge.” Employees everywhere are struggling with stress, anxiety, and outright trauma due to the pandemic. If they’re working remotely, it’s harder for them to connect with coworkers and leaders. And the nature of business itself gets more complex by the day. Supply chain issues, worker shortag- es, new customer behaviors—it all adds up to a brave new business world that women’s natural skills and abilities are perfectly suited to navigate. “Today’s and tomorrow’s leaders need to break mental health stigmas in the workplace and create an environment of psychological safety,” says Boelkes. “Many will be asked to transform a group of scattered remote workers into a connected team. They’ll all be balancing multiple shifting deadlines, responsibilities, and challenges.” The bottom line: Women tend to do all of these things well. We have the communication skills, emotional intelligence, flexibility, and agility to meet these challenges and step into more prominent roles inside orga- nizations. (No, Boelkes isn’t implying that women are better leaders, but that men and women tend to have different innate skill sets. In fact, she says organizations that blend the special gifts of female and male leaders possess a real “wow!” factor.) Here, Boelkes shares ten reasons why women are uniquely poised to lead and succeed in 2022 and beyond: 1. Women are stellar collaborators. The problems we face in the busi- ness world are more complex than they’ve ever been before. This means we need more perspectives at the table to solve them. Rather than com- peting with others, women are more inclined to join forces with them, which makes us perfectly suited for leading teams. 2. Women know how to share the screen. In 2020, those of us who weren’t already familiar with video conferences, Zoom meetings, virtu- al presentations, and collaborative software got a quick-and-dirty crash course. Boelkes points out that while anyone can use these resources, not everyone can use them effectively—but women’s natural skills give them an edge. “Leaders in the virtual workspace need to be comfortable putting forth ideas and information to the group, while sharing that space with others,” she notes. “Women are great at this. We have a sense of give- and-take and reciprocity that draws people out and encourages others to speak up. We’re good at reading non-verbal cues.” 3. Our natural communication skills serve companies well in hard times. Especially in a disruption or crisis, leaders need to be highly visible: shar- ing information, reassuring, showing empathy and compassion, and re- CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 Deb Boelkes
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February 14, 2022
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