The World Needs Women Entrepreneurs
There is a gradual but steady global shift that I believe will result in women being the inevitable future leaders of our societies. If not, at the very least the current imbalance will be redressed.
What is needed in business today is a better grasp of (and comfort with) relationships of all kinds. And this is the kind of thinking and problem solving that is most natural to women as typically:
- Women are intuitively systems/relationship thinkers;
- Women seek balance;
- Women care more about solutions than who gets credit;
- Women are experts on collaboration;
- When they are passionate about something, women never give up.
As a result, women entrepreneurs intuitively create businesses that are better for themselves, their families, their employees, their communities, their customers and the world. Women tend to be more holistic about their understanding of their place in the universe. For example, they will operate from a perspective of abundance rather than scarcity, and they appreciate the energy and vibration of their actions in the business (and broader) world. They more readily bring “soul to business” by being more in touch with their spirit and emotions and able to converse openly about them.
Women’s measures of success also tend to be much broader. They are by nature, equipped for the Triple Bottom Line challenge. In fact, they assume that’s the goal, although they can get sidetracked by the attempt to play a game the rules of which have essentially been created by men.
It is holistic enterprises that make women so effective at entrepreneurship. This is enabled by being able to see an issue from so many angles at once.
On a deeper level, women are interested in other people. They invariably notice things that are outside the awareness of most men. They do the right thing, they treat people well, and they listen to other people.
Women entrepreneurs are great. But not because they’re caricatures or stereotypes of some altruistic awesomeness, but rather because they often bring a different set of experiences that are equally valid to what men bring. The more we have of both, the richer everything gets. How could we do without the action and results orientation of men?
And just before we over-glorify women, we should recognise that they are just as diverse and varied as men, coming with their own set of issues and idiosyncrasies. Indeed, many women end up being selfish and obnoxious, just as some men are really sensitive and thoughtful.
That doesn’t alter my assertion though.