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The business world remains well and truly dominated by men. There are still only 21 women CEO’s in the fortune 500 companies, and the same percentage (4.2%) in the fortune 1000. However this is nearly twice as many as there were in May 2011 when there were only 12 women CEO’s at the helm of fortune 500 companies; and 3 times the 7 CEO’s that there were in 2005. It is also interesting to note that 32% of women business owners now say that they actually see being a female in a male dominated realm as an advantage. And it seems they are taking full advantage of it. Women are quickly gaining an increasingly large role in future of American business:
- There are now 10.6 million women-owned businesses in the US which is a rise of 53% over the last 15 years.
- Over the past 10 years companies owned by women with over 100 employees has risen at nearly twice the growth rate of all other companies.
- Women-owned businesses now generate 1.3 trillion each year in revenue. This is up from $546 billion 15 years ago which is a rise of 58%.
Indeed, the numbers of women taking the plunge and starting a business of their own has changed the whole landscape in which we live. In the 1960s, people would never have guessed that even conservative women would adapt to the new feminism created way of life. In the modern era, a woman can have strong family ties and run a business as well. The new superwoman has been seen in figures such as Dr. Taryn Rose, Irene Rosenfeld and Indra Nooyi. Sarah Palin is not really a business women (and regardless of her political views), but I think that her ability to be the vice presidential nominee in 2008, while acting as the governor of Alaska, and raising 5 children at the same time is a definite sign of what we women are trying to pull off in this day and age!
Out of all of what I have just talked about the one thing that sticks out in my mind as being most interesting is that so many women are now saying that being a women in this male dominated arena is actually an advantage. But what exactly is our advantage?
In my opinion it
is our female intuition; the connection that we have to our soul, and a
particular sensitivity to the world around us. We find it much easier to listen
to our moral conscience and act by what it tells us. A male ego has some
positives of it’s own, but can so often leave him a totally blind victim of
self-preoccupation. It seems to me that men will only listen to their inbuilt
conscience if what it is telling him works for his ego. Biologist Jeremy
Griffith talks about the human conscience as being ‘our species instinctive
moral sense’ (http://www.worldtransformation.com/conscience) and it is this moral sense that women seem to have a much
greater connection with. Professor Steare from the Corporate Philosopher has
found that “Women prefer to make their decisions based on how it impacts others –
which tends to produce better decisions – while men have a more individual
approach and are more self-interested… men have to put their ego to one side
and show some humility and compassion” (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9206176/Women-are-more-moral-than-men-survey-says.html).
So that’s our advantage. Men in business can have huge blind spots in their decision making, because instead of making the decision based on what is ‘right’ and ‘best’ they are consumed with how the decision impacts them and their tender egos!
So ladies, tomorrow when you come to your first big decision of the day, don’t try to think like a man – instead, as I say to myself all the time, listen to the voice that is deep inside you, the strong, sensible, soulful conscience that just ‘knows what’s right’, not those superficial thoughts that can so often be insecure and fearful. Sure, if you need to, ask a man’s advice, after all women are well known to be extremely good at accepting advice! But allowing ourselves to be guided by this gift that we all posses is a near guarantee to finding happiness and success in all those crazy facets that we have to stay in control of in our modern lives.
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