3 shortcuts to empower more women to be leaders
I recently gave a presentation at an event honoring International Women's Day and the content felt too good not to share more widely here. I hope you enjoy!
I just learned that International Women’s Day has been around since the early 1900s as a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. In addition to celebrating the progress of women, it feels important to recognize how we can continue making progress moving forward, because there is still so much work to be done.
We need more female leaders, and not just C-suite executives, although we need those too, but in all facets of life.
Being a leader can look like:
being a mentor, mom, or aunt
being a role model for the young girls and women in your life
standing up for yourself and other women
inspiring and supporting the women in your life
As a life & leadership coach, I work with a lot of women who are leveling up in life and at work, but find themselves holding back because:
they're afraid to speak up for their own wants and needs
they don't think they're good enough to be in the room
they are so busy saying yes to everyone else that they aren't taking care of themselves
So I've gathered three of my favorite tools to empower more women with the confidence to be leaders:
1. Gain clarity of what you stand for with your core values
Your core values are those three or four key words that summarize what is most important to you in life. These values fill your cup, bring you energy, and are what you want more of in your life. They are what you naturally gravitate to, want to celebrate, and want to share with other people. They summarize what you stand for, and even what you want to be known for.
I see core values as something deeper than your priorities. Your priorities are the people, activities, and beliefs that you dedicate time to, think: family, friends, career, church, etc.
We discover our core values by going a level deeper and asking ourselves: what is the value that I get from each of these activities? For example, one of my values is 'connection.' To me, this is all about building deeper relationships with my family and friends, and building new relationships when I meet people.
Once we are firm in our values, we can begin to use them as filters for making decisions easier, both day-to-day and long-term decisions, and standing up for what is most important to us. This may mean knowing which opportunities are the best fit (new jobs, clients, cities to live in), how to prioritize your time, and even when to confidently say no to the wrong opportunities.
2. Know your worth with a pump up list
Women often hold themselves back (consciously and unconsciously) from new opportunities, experiences, and recognitions because they don't know their own worth. We're often so focused on what's next or what we're missing, that we forget to recognize and celebrate what we HAVE accomplished and have far we've already come.
Knowing your worth is all about self-trust and confidence. It's like a mental muscle you're building over time. Even if you don't see massive results immediately, every little step you take and habit you add will help you get there faster. The good news is, you can create your own shortcuts to build that self-trust and confidence in yourself a whole lot quicker with something like a pump up list.
Next time you are pursuing something new, scary, or out of your comfort zone, take a few minutes to create a pump up list. Just like a pump up playlist, a pump up list will help you shake off the doubts that may try to hold you back, and instead you can focus on your worth.
Some questions to get your Pump Up List started:
Why do I already trust myself to do this?
What other achievements have I accomplished? (if I can do those, I can do this too)
What experiences will help me to do this?
What skills do I already have that will help me to do this?
3. Get where we're going faster with support from other women
The key piece to remember here is we don't have to do it alone. A lot of women I work with are afraid to ask for support and instead take on too much which leads to burnout and overwhelm.
We will always get further with the support and encouragement of other people. There are enough resources, support, and time to go around. Remember: collaboration over competition.
Consider, what kind of support do you need to achieve your goals quicker? Is it friends, family, mentors, peers, professionals, therapist, coach.
Who is a woman in your life that you can send some love and support to today? Whether it's a quick text, a phone call, or sending her something. You never know how far your support will go for someone else.
If you're ready to invest in your own leadership journey, book a free discovery call and let's talk about what's next for you.
Brittany Canaski is a highly-rated Leadership Coach, Trainer, and Founder of Hello Velocity where she builds confident leaders and high-performing teams. When she's not building her business, you can find her planning her next travel adventure with her husband, watching Formula 1 racing, or volunteering in her local community of Charlotte, NC.
