Empowering other women can naturally empower you and create a leadership pipeline for those who aspire to be in powerful positions. Women grow into powerful leaders and advance to higher workplace positions when mentorship, training, sponsorship, and opportunities are available. An empowered woman has more control over her life, and she can experience growth in her career. Here are 4 ways you can empower women for workplace success.
1. Amplify Women's Voices
Championing great ideas from women and allowing them to be heard by providing a platform for women to share their suggestions or ideas is a good place to start. Ensuring that women are recognized for the outstanding ideas or work instead of someone else taking the credit for it is a great motivation. Inspiration can also come from other successful women. You can invite other inspirational women speakers to the office and encourage them to attend and listen to the talk.
Offer Support in Meetings
It might not be a big deal to speak up in a board meeting for some women, but it could be intimidating for others, especially if men are the majority in the meeting. If you are in a board meeting with other women, back each other up and amplify their voices when sharing ideas or opinions. When you disagree with their view, give them space to speak freely.
Give Recognition and Encouragement
Also, celebrating the strengths of other women colleagues can build confidence. Success requires confidence as much as it also requires competence. Instead of always communicating only what is actionable or negative, taking time to recognize and praise accomplishments is a great empowerment strategy.
2. Provide Mentorship Programs and Connections
Empower your women colleagues and connect them to people who will provide access to knowledge and even resources to improve and grow. The right people will inspire women to keep going even when faced with challenges like being undervalued or overlooked. Women can also gain guidance and advice through mentorship from senior-level professionals on how to advance their careers.
3. Give Opportunities to Women with Potential
When you are selecting leadership roles for a new project, and you know a woman who shows extraordinary potential for the role, put her name forward. She might not have the experience, but she has shown potential, and you know she is capable of performing well. Allow her to prove herself.
Women are often offered roles based on experience, while men are mostly given roles based on potential, even if they don't have previous experience. Giving women a chance to prove themselves even without experience will encourage diversity in promotions.
4. Offer Flexibility at Work
A woman might feel nervous about the impact that starting a family will have on her career. Others might fear that their gender could curb their career advancement. Offering flexible working hours is hugely beneficial, especially for working mothers.
Women will not have to feel nervous about balancing family and work duties. When women have the power to organize their own hours, they can give their work full attention and work more effectively. Women who enjoy work flexibility have better mental health and increased productivity.
The best way you can feel empowered is when you empower others to reach greater heights. When women are mentored, given access to resources, and connected to the right people, they become powerful and more productive. Women can quickly advance into top leadership positions, which is beneficial for the company's bottom line, leading to increased revenue.
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