When you think of women in business, you may feel that it is a relatively new trend though that isn’t necessarily the case. Women have been a major part of business and entrepreneurship as far back as 1870 BC, if not further.
Sometime in the 19th century, though, there was a change in the workforce, and women shifted to a domestic lifestyle. It changed so much that in 1973, there was only one woman that was the CEO of a major Fortune 500 company.
Now, it is shifting again, and women are playing more significant roles in business, and they are bringing some changes.
Creating Better Leaders
Studies have shown that, in general, women tend to possess better leadership qualities than men. According to various studies and surveys, women tend to have better initiative and better push for results.
Some suggest that the reason for this is that women often have to work harder for their positions, so they never take it for granted. In fact, they often feel they have to continue proving themselves long after reaching the top.
Having a leader that has a good work ethic and values their team often leads to better results and a happier group of employees, which can lead to people staying longer term at one business and workers feeling more respected.
Having a happy team can lead to making more money in the long run, which means you can invest it back into the business and increase pay. Or, it can be used to reward employees by spending it on private shuttle services for a team-building excursion, for example.
More Communication
Women also tend to be better at communicating. This is, in part, due to their natural ability to be caregivers and nurturers. They instinctively want their workers to do better and be happy, so they will have healthier task management, communication, patience, and empathy than many men would.
This allows for better problem-solving and less harsh punishments. Like with better leaders, having someone to talk to who will actually listen instead of just making up their own idea of what happens can promote happier and more effective workers.
The increase in communication also increases the comprehension of decision-making.
Fewer Risks
Depending on who you are and your company, this can be a negative or positive trait. Women tend to be less likely to take risks than men. If your business field is something that makes a lot of progress from taking high risks, then it is a good idea to have a mix of women and men when making decisions, as they can balance each other out on risks.
This allows for some risk-taking to still be there, but without the big risks that have the potential to shut down or bankrupt a company.
More Diversity
Having just men on a team, no matter their background, age, or race, will not provide the total diversity a business needs to excel. This is especially true with products that cater to a large group of people, genders, and ages.
Having women speak for women can improve products. You can get more advertisements that will call in more people and products that everyone likes. Women also tend to be more domestic and can often speak better for children too.
Women tend to spend more money than men, putting more money back into the economy. This is a good thing for two reasons. The first is that with women having higher-paying jobs, there is more money being circulated than if these roles were still male-dominated.
This also means that women tend to know what kinds of products are hot and what marketing strategies work better as well. Since they are the ones more likely to spend, they are also the ones more likely to be influenced by trends and marketing and can provide valuable insight.
However, that isn’t the only benefit. Big companies like Disney and L’Oreal have found that including women on their teams, as well as increasing diversity in other ways, has been shown to increase innovation and creativity. Their progress has shown that many companies can benefit by having a well-rounded team.
Speaking Up About Changes
When you’ve lived with something the way it is for your whole life, it is hard to imagine it being anything else. This is the worst of what has happened with men leading businesses. Many men and businesses have become stuck in their ways or are following in the previous leader’s footsteps.
Since women have had to fight and struggle to get where they are now, they are also able to clearly see all sides of a business. Many women rising to the top are now speaking out about changes that need to be made.
Some examples are making basic at-home medical testing cheaper and more accessible for everyone, getting rid of animal testing, donating more to charities, enticing people to use their money as a sort of vote on what they support, and furthering diversity.
Some of the women we see pushing for these are major CEOS and faces that even people not involved in business may know, such as Oprah Winfrey, Logan Cohen, and Amanda Signorelli.
| Click Here For More News and Blog |
