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How Women can Achieve Success in Business and Life |
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Entertainment Attorney Marshawn Evans is President of EDGE 3M Sports & Entertainment (www.edge3m.com) and Founder of ME Unlimited, a leading innovation and performance strategy firm. She is author of SKIRTS in the Boardroom: A Woman's Survival Guide to Success in Business and Life.
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Visit her online at www.marshawnevans.com. |
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Marshawn, how can women discover and leverage on their strengths and talents to succeed in the business world? |
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First, it is important for women to know their strengths! You cannot expect for anyone else to recognize your talents if you haven’t already recognized them in yourself.
Second, build your career around strengths. Too often, women spend time working in industries that they hate just to earn a paycheck. There is no purpose, no passion, and, naturally, no progress!
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If you are a good communicator, then align yourself within an industry that allows you to excel as a speaker, a trainer, or even a meeting facilitator. If you are good with numbers, then do not waste your time in customer service! Aligning your career choices with your natural abilities will help you to stand out and excel with ease and efficiency.
Why waste your time traveling a path meant for someone else? That is not operating with excellence. Operating outside your gifting and purpose is like running a race in the wrong lane. You may get to the finish line, but you still will not win. That’s because it was never your race in the first place. The guiding powers of your natural gifts are what keep you in your lane, and help you to run the race marked just for you.
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In SKIRTS in the Boardroom, you indicate that building a dynamic personal brand can be the difference between just having a job and creating a successful career? What are the top personal branding mistakes women make? |
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Often times, women fail to realize the critical importance of having and developing a quality personal brand. Similar to the brand recognition of a product or service, the quality of your personal brand is the sum total of your reputation, image, intellect, and degree of consistency.
I explain how to build a brand, and detail the four biggest branding mistakes, which are:
- devaluing your brand (taking things for granted),
- diluting your brand (providing too much information),
- diffusing your brand (being spread too thin), and
- destroying your brand (being a chameleon with no consistency).
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| What do you think are some of the unique talents and abilities that women contribute to the workforce, especially in a management role? |
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Women are naturally more relationship oriented. As a result, we have a more cooperative style of leadership, and a more inviting method of communicating. That is a very BIG asset! Professionals are more likely to follow a leader who listens and cares about the concerns of others.
As a business owner, my staff is more motivated to perform if they know that I value their opinions. As the CEO the ultimate decision is mine. However, the more buy-in and input I have from others, the more equipped I am to make a better decision, and I have employees that are invested (even enthusiastic) about the outcome.
Women managers can learn from this as well. A relationship-oriented style of leadership, where the manager values the ideas and opinions of others, will always improve efficiency and morale.
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| What are some ways that you would recommend for busy ladies to be able to enjoy a healthy work-life balance? |
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Prioritize! Find a quiet place in your home and in your office where you can go to clear your mind. Maybe it is under your desk, closing your door or a stall in the bathroom. Just make it a priority to find a place, and go to it for refuge.
Women often spend a good chunk of their day in the car – driving to and from work, running errands, etc. This can be valuable time for rest and reflection or wasted time spent on noisy distractions that add little and take much. The choice is yours!
Turn off music in your car when you are driving alone. Women can use that time as a chance to think and reflect. Actively scheduling “me” time in the morning, during the day or in the evening, will help you re-center.
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