Women in business have come a long way since Katharine Graham, the first female to lead a Fortune 500 company, assumed the role of Washington Post CEO back in 1972. Here in Australia, women now comprise 42% of all employees and more than 30% of all business owner-managers. In the large Australian corporations, the story is quite different; women hold the reins at only 10% of today’s companies and 14 of our Top 200 firms.
The data suggest that it’s becoming more difficult for women to make the jump from key executive to chief executive. Macquarie Group founder Mark Johnson believes it might take another 20 years for the scales to tip again in our favour. It’s the story of many of today’s women CEOs.
Being Chameleon-in-Chief
As a founder of the Australian company WeTeachMe, I can’t say I agree with Mark. After all, today’s world and business climate look nothing like they did 20 or 30 years ago. I hope that my own story will inspire courage and pave the way for others to create businesses that will create value, especially for other women.
Before founding WeTeachMe, I had barely just arrived in Australia from Greece, to complete my masters in global media communications at The University of Melbourne. I had no background in business, and some may say I had no “business” entering into the arena of entrepreneurship. And yet, through sheer grit and desire to pursue our passion for education, my team and I grew WeTeachMe into the largest school in Australia, with thousands of classes available and even more learners enrolling every day. Has my journey always been easy? Far from it. A lot is expected from an expat like me. Or from any woman in business, for that matter. If we want to get promoted at work, we need to appear assertive, confident, and even dominant. We become chameleons and adjust our behaviour, according to what the situation requires, as we navigate our way from the war room to the board room.
How to Be an Assertive Leader
Below, I share some lessons I’ve learned along the way, to help other young women navigate the different challenges and demands that a leadership role requires. To be more confident and decisive but also constructive and empowering, incorporate these five habits into your daily conversations and interactions, and learn how to fine-tune your ability to adapt.
Listen for cues. To be a good leader, at times, you will need to be a psychologist, a counsellor, an expert, a sister, a mentor, a friend. At WeTeachMe, I have worked in sales and in marketing. Both roles required me to master the art of active listening and hone my ability to quickly read the room. To be aware of what a customer or stakeholder is thinking or feeling is crucial to building trust and rapport, and helps foster the creation of long-term business relationships.
Mind what you say, and also how you say it. Assertiveness doesn’t mean being overbearing or abrasive. Be direct and communicate respectfully so that the other person can focus on what you’re saying, instead of how you’re saying it. Getting the message across is half the battle. Express ideas from your own point of view. Starting your sentences with “I” can spell a world of difference. Instead of saying “you’re not listening”, put it in your own words: “I think what you’re saying is…” Rather than instructing someone to “work this way” say “I’d like your help with…” Convey your feelings and let your empathy come through.
Learn how to say no. In the early years of WeTeachMe, I wore multiple hats. Most days, I took on more responsibility than was physically possible. Because that’s what a founder does; you go above and beyond the call of duty. From cold calling one minute to providing customer support the next, juggling tasks requires flawless execution. As WeTeachMe grew, I had to give up some of my hats. This was not an easy lesson to learn! Today, with a better understanding of the value of focus, I pick three important things to accomplish every day and then, delegate the rest.
Maintain a professional demeanour. If you’re entering into a negotiation, present your case with confidence, without getting argumentative or emotional. Create a winwin situation for everyone, and they will see you, not as an adversary, but as a partner.
The core parent, the core CMO of the household, the future CEO of the enterprise is millennials, and that's a big deal.
Why it matters is that millennials were the first generation to ever grow up with the Internet in the household.https://www.mattbritton.com/blog#portfolio/194f6c85-00ae-4387-a22b-83e9d965e242
This can help protect the privacy of the primary user- you.
The temporary email address redirects all emails to your actual address, which is how you’ll still be able to receive communications.
The amount of time that you wish to use a temporary address depends on your particular use case.
For example, I have several temporary email addresses set up specifically for websites that I frequently visit, and thus keep the temporary addresses perpetually active, alternating the name depending on the need for change (like spam increase, etc).
THAT SAID, large mail providers like Google are very aware of this behavior, and I have seen it first hand that they restrict all the way down to the IP level of the provider that’s creating the temporary emails.
It really falls onto the provider to monitor its customer's usage, at least from a data security point of view.
Thus, the job of marketing has become more convenient as well as complex at the same time; as marketing leaders have to perform several tasks to reach out to their potential customers.
Despite these differences of modern and traditional marketing practices, many leaders have smoothly carried out all the marketing functions and achieved the desirable results.Being one of the foremost components of business management, marketing is present in all stages of the business.
It communicates business offerings to potential customers and thus, requires strenuous efforts.
This job role needs leaders, who hold attributes such as ability to intrigue, effective sales approach, sound communication, flexibility, resourcefulness, adaptability, and accountability.
By effectively carrying out these responsibilities, there are some marketers, who are pioneering the marketing world with new possibilities.With an intent to exhibit the significant contributions and inspiring journey of some of the world’s most influential CMO’s, Insights Success has compiled its list of “The 10 Influential Marketing Leaders to watch in 2019”.
These leaders have been at the frontline of digital transformation by their novel approaches of communicating a product or services.
