Women have been given a tough deal throughout history. Today, and they continue to have to work incredibly hard in order to break through the glass ceiling. People like Crystal Clanton have pushed this agenda forward and continue to do so, paving the way for a better tomorrow. Crystal also believes that there are a number of things that women should do so that they become better accepted as leaders in the workplace.
Crystal Clanton on Being a Leader and a Woman
According to Crystal come out the following efforts should be made by all women in the workplace:
- They should be themselves. By being confident and showing this in body language, women show that they have a right to be there and know what they are doing. This also means being confident to admit to your own mistakes when they have them. The added bonus of this confidence and being themselves is that they become a role model for other women.
- They should show their support to other employees. Women are incredibly good at making others feel self-sufficient and empowered. Supporting and guiding other employees makes someone a natural leader.
- They should always lead by example. A woman should behave in such a way that others want to behave as well. They should set the example and allow others to follow. In so doing, they reinforce a culture rather than forcing it.
- It should learn to be people managers. This means getting to know those they manage, asking about their personal background and finding out their strengths and weaknesses, their talents and constraints, and their personal obligations. Effectively, women should get to know their employees’ life outside of the workplace, which creates a greater connection and helps them to cultivate an environment in which people are allowed to be themselves and to flourish.
- They should be careful to not micromanage. The easiest way to do this is to develop delegation skills. When a woman shows that she is not afraid to give work out of hands, she shows firstly that she has faith in her employees and, secondly, she breaks through the stereotype that all women are micromanagers.
- They should be careful to not engage in any behaviours that could be classified as depreciating. Women are talkers by nature. In fact, research has shown that they have a farmer extensive vocabulary than men period however, as a leader, it is very important that women show that they use their words for good and not to gossip or to talk behind other people’s backs.
- They should toughen up. Women are carers by nature, something that they have had to be for thousands of years. This makes it hard to be tougher with individuals. Where a man will have no qualms about firing someone on the spot, a woman is more likely to try and figure out a way to utilize the skills of the individual about to be fired. Unfortunately, in order to lead, a woman must be able to make those difficult decisions and just fire someone.
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