Within half a century, women around the world are now making their mark as leaders in diverse fields like fashion, entertainment, business and politics. While the change is still very slow, it is a far cry from the earlier years of the 20th century when most countries did allow this section of society to vote, become corporate executives or hold public office. From confining to the public perception of being homemakers and taking care of children, women are now overcoming all obstacles in their endeavor to climb the corporate ladder to become Chief Executive Officers of corporate enterprises. Today, countries around the world are finally accepting women in leadership positions.
Heather Weber is a reputed Certified Public Accountant and executive with over twenty years of invaluable experience under her belt in the area of audit of prominent healthcare organizations in New York. She is a perfect example of a working mother making her mark in a male-dominated occupation and say there are certain inherent characteristics that distinguish women as leaders in diverse fields. She explains that young women who aspire to become leaders in their designated professions need to possess the following essential qualities in order to stand out among the crowd. These are as follows:
- Being persuasive
The ability to convince other people to believe and accept ideas that they formulate is a trait that all effective leaders share in common. In fact, women have an inherent ability to read the minds of other people, show empathy and make their contribution in the workplace by being more persuasive.
- Focus of setting goals and achieving them
Women who become leaders in their respective occupations do not hold the highest offices of their organization by accident. They strive to achieve the stringent goals that they set for themselves rather than letting society sidetrack them with personal responsibilities. They find a unique way to balance their personal and professional lives in their quest to accomplish success in both the domains.
- Inherent talent for team building
Women leaders have a unique ability to develop personal relationships form the foundations in building strong teams. They are able to identify potential areas that may result in internal conflict among co-workers and take immediate action to resolve the underlining issues have the potential to create situations leading to discord.
- Self-confidence
Success women who become leaders always feel comfortable under their own skin and have unique self-confidence. Like other male counterparts, these leaders will face the same roadblocks but they have a unique ability to overcome them with pose, grace and confidence.
- Courage to break rules
Women leaders do hesitate to think outside the box when it comes to finding innovative answers to issues that affect their working environment. In many cases, they are not afraid of questioning the prevailing procedures in addition to the status quo that governing an organization if they find them irrelevant.
Heather Weber states that these unique characteristics found in successful women leaders help them to break the glass ceiling and redefine the public concept of role of women in the workplace.
