A Growth Mindset Leads to Leadership for Women

How do fixed versus growth mindsets affect women’s ability to see themselves as leaders in the workplace?  That's the question asked of  Julia Lee Cunningham and Sue Ashford from the Ross School of Business and here's Ashford's answer.

As discussed in Ashford’s recent book, The Power of Flexing, leadership comes with many challenges. The skills involved are new for emerging leaders, and the challenges only get more complex as leaders rise in the organizational ranks. Having a growth mindset in which setbacks are considered learning experiences rather than indictments of skill helps leaders to stay “in the game,” continually trying to be more of a leader and to both face and cope with those challenges. A growth mindset helps leaders (and all people) feel empowered when experiencing challenges and setbacks.  

By broadening how leadership is defined and valued, organizations could create more inclusive pathways to leadership roles.

Women Leaders Tend to Collaborate Better than Men

Thanks to a new study conducted by Richard Devine, Gonzalo Molina-Sieiro, Michael Holmes and Siri Terjesen, we now have data that shows women-led businesses, in certain scenarios, do indeed perform better than those run by men.

In the research, the authors started by comparing how female-led companies performed in terms of employee growth versus those helmed by men.

The point of the study is not to show that female-led companies – high growth or not – perform better than men.

Rather, our [the author's] research suggests that women do bring valuable and unique skills and experience to the table that can make a significant difference to business success. Yet, given so few companies are run by women, their skills and experiences are not fully utilized.

Learn more about how women leaders tend to collaborate better than men.

Read the study:  Female-Led High-Growth:  Examining the Role of Human and Financial Resource Management

Photo courtesy:  CoWomen on Unsplash

Leap In!

I just love the article below by Dr. Candida Brush, professor at Babson College.  It's about Cheryl Sandberg's new expression, or book, if you will, "Lean In," which inspires women leaders to move forward in their careers, pursue opportunities and actively accept responsibilities.

Dr. Brush challenges the theory of "leaning in" for women in the workforce by saying it may not be enough for women entrepreneurs.  She goes on further to say:

In fact, they need to “leap in."  It is impossible to be an entrepreneur by leaning- you have to commit, take risks and take action.

Read the entire fabulous article:  "Leaning In is Not Enough:  Women Entrepreneurs Need to "Leap In"

Photo courtesy:  Foxtongue

Women Entrepreneurs Know How to Lead

Collaboration, team-building, leading by example and inclusiveness are becoming increasingly important as companies break down silos and remove layers of management.

There's still a huge gap that most organizations still face when it comes to putting women in senior leadership roles. Women head up fewer than 3% of the Fortune 1,000 companies. This has caused a lot of women to leave corporate America to start their own businesses.

Read more here at:

Women Leaders: The Hard Truth About Soft Skills

Snippet from the article:

"The outstanding women," Fontaine notes, "used a better blend of what we think of as traditional masculine styles—being directive, authoritative, and leading by example and as well as feminine ones. They also knew when to be more nurturing, inclusive, and collaborative."