Women can display the characteristics of a courageous leader just as much as men. Leadership qualities SHOULD include male and female attributes. Although men and women can have tendencies towards different traits, the traits each gender display are not set in stone. Importantly, a broad range of leadership qualities help to add balance to a leadership team and to an organization.
Stereotypically ‘feminine’ qualities like “unconditional love and acceptance” are important leadership skills, according to well-known leadership coach Brian Tracy. Meaning, even though we may think of some traits as masculine or feminine, they are all equally valuable.
The “masculine” traits
Being a courageous leader also requires stereotypically ‘masculine’ traits. One of the barriers to women’s leadership is that many women find it difficult to surmount the fear of being disliked. A woman who stands out can be in for a rough time. She’ll probably receive a lot of insults and maybe even threats to her personal safety. All great leaders possess courage, and a woman who wants to be a leader needs a lot of it.
Authenticity to oneself
One of the most beneficial characteristics of a courageous leader is the capacity to be authentically oneself. Speak your truth from your heart. There are many barriers to women’s leadership, and our people-pleasing mentality can be one of the most harmful. Many women have been trained from an early age to obey others and not put themselves forward.
No excuses
Once you can be unapologetically yourself, you’ll have mastered one of the top principles of courageous leadership. Own who you are and don’t make excuses.
A Courageous Leader
The qualities of a good leader have nothing to do with physical appearance. Your body size or shape is irrelevant (It makes me sad that this fact even needs to be mentioned). What makes a courageous leader is the ability to inspire others with your vision. It’s the courage to say, “I think we should go in this direction. Follow me!”
First, you need to believe in yourself. Then, others will believe in you, too.
If you’d like to learn more about the characteristics of a courageous leader, why not check out my Youtube channel? I’ve been working to overcome barriers to women’s leadership for years and would like to share with you what I’ve learned. If you like this video, you will also enjoy “So… What Does Women’s Leadership Mean?” which you can find here. You can find it here.
At her lowest point, Beate Chelette was $135,000 in debt, a single mother, and forced to leave her home. Only 18 months later, she sold her image licensing business to Bill Gates in a multimillion dollar deal. Chelette is a nationally known ‘gender decoder’ who has appeared in over 60 radio shows, respected speaker, career coach, consummate creative entrepreneur, and author of Happy Woman Happy World. Beate is also the founder of The Women’s Code, a unique guide to women leadership and personal and career success that offers a new code of conduct for today’s business, private, and digital worlds. Determined to build a community of women supporting each other, she took her life-changing formula documented it all in a book Brian Tracy calls “an amazing handbook for every woman who wants health, happiness, love and success!”
Through her corporate initiative “Why Acting Like a Girl Is Good For Business” she helps companies with gender diversification training, and to develop and retain women.
If you’d like to book Beate as a speaker on New Leadership Balance or Creative Entrepreneurship for your next event please connect with me.