Self-sabotage affects all women entrepreneurs from time to time.
I recently had the the opportunity to talk with one of my favorite authors, Lois Frankel, Ph.D., author of the best-seller Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office about that topic and others.
Don’t let the title fool you. The topics she covers and her expertise apply to entrepreneurs as well. After all, she is one!
Below are some of the key lessons from that conversation that all women entrepreneurs should take to heart:
Take steps to cure (or at least alleviate) Nice Girl Syndrome. Nice is necessary for success in any business, but it’s not nearly enough. Women tend to take messages learned in childhood and carry them into the business world. Messages about always playing nice, being seen and not heard, putting the needs of others before her own, or don’t make waves. The first step is to become aware of the behaviors, because many times they are subconscious. The second step is put new behaviors in their place, and the third is to practice those new behaviors until they become habit.
You’re expected to be assertive and tops in your field. When you leave corporate America for the world of self-employment, the rules do change. When you meet a prospective client or colleague, you’re expected to be an assertive (not aggressive) business woman, and you’re expected to be an authority in your field. Adopting this mindset means you give yourself permission to place the right value on your offerings because they make a difference for your clients. It means you invest in your professional development, because it will pay dividends for you time and again.
You’re at least as smart as the next person. Remember the last time a new opportunity presented itself? Did you talk yourself out of it because you weren’t 100% sure you could do it? That’s self-doubt, and it’s common among women. But the guys are saying to themselves, “I can do this, I’ll figure it out.” And they do. Take a lesson from that attitude. You’re at least as smart as the next person. You have a wealth of resources available to you – personal, professional, or educational – call on all of them to make that new opportunity, project, or offering wildly successful.
Want to hear more of that engaging conversation?