Over the past six months, I have had the pleasure to meet several “powerhouse” women entrepreneurs who have started their own successful businesses from scratch. They each began with an idea and with lots of hard work and have built high six and seven figure businesses.
Each time I have encountered one of these women, I have been amazed at the determination, passion, and energy they exuded in our interaction. As I spent some time thinking more about the details of my interactions with each of them, I couldn’t help but see glaring similarities in the traits they all shared. As I though more about them, I reflected on the many successful executive women I have had the pleasure to coach over the years.
Although all different –they all had these same five attributes:
1. Grounded Self-Confidence
Insecurity, need for external validation, asking for permission, and worrying about what others think was nowhere to be found on the surface in these women. Each one of them exuded self-confidence when they spoke that was palpable. Although I am sure they have all felt self-doubt and insecurity, the predominant energy they carried was one of self-assurance and certainty in their contribution, without appearing arrogant or self-absorbed.
2. Passionately Articulated Purpose
These women were all clear that they were here to create something big and could articulate what that was succinctly and with passionate conviction. Just talking to one of them was enough to get me excited about the business she was in, even when I knew nothing about it. Their single-minded focus, clarity and excitement as they talked about what they did is infectious.
3. Limitless Energy
I consider myself pretty energetic and am known to do a lot of different things at once, but I have to admit, I was getting tired just listening to some of the things these women do. Each was raising a family, running the business, attending networking events, and a maintaining a fitness routine. Not to mention the one who also was a philanthropist, board member and public speaker to boot. The common denominator as I asked about all the juggling was that they were energized rather than tired by it.
4. Bias for Action
When I asked how they started out, although there were different stories, the same theme prevailed. They just did it. Didn’t spend years thinking about it or deciding it. They went out and started doing it. They had a bias for action rather than perfection.
5. Absence of Excuses
None of these women told me anything about why they couldn’t do something. They used phrases like “I just kept trying” or “It was up to me to make it work,” rather than self-defeating language or excuses. It was clear that they each felt that they had the power within themselves to create whatever they wanted to create and had had much success doing so.
Of course business savvy, determination, hard work, and a good plan were all part of their road to success, but these attributes stood out to me as common denominators.
So what about you?
How many of these attributes do you have?
Which one of these do you need to strengthen?
You have tremendous capacity to create what you want to create—are you maximizing that potential impact?
As always, I love to hear from you. Send me a note with your comments/thoughts.
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