In my practice, I have clients mainly coming from two walks of life: corporate and entrepreneurship. The women I work with are in ascension mode and play different roles. They build, evolve, and constantly reach new heights.
However, there are moments of stagnation and questioning, which are normal at any stage of professional evolution.
More often than not, my clients are caught up with all the other roles they play in their private lives. Wife, mother, lover, daughter, caregiver, sister, or best friend. At times they feel like this is the only thing they’re doing — changing hats and juggling multiple responsibilities.
In an attempt to be all things to all people, they miss the larger perspective. They work in their business rather than for their business.
This is where I come in and ask them this question:”Who do you need to be right now?”
In the corporate world and entrepreneurship, women play three major roles: the creator, the manager, and the leader.
Trying to wear all three hats at the same time all the time is a losing game. It will only bring excruciating pressure and chronic fatigue, as a bonus.
The smart thing to do here is to focus on one role at a time, depending on the given context, on what your team or your business needs.
Being a creator is a fantastic role, generating new ideas, solutions and delivering outstanding results. But in order for your business to thrive or your career to take flight, you also need to be strategic. Creation without purpose or beneficiaries is beautiful but mostly useless.
Imagine creating a course. It may be the most compelling, valuable and paradigm-shifting course out there, but if no one knows about it or nobody attends it, it has no impact. At best, it can only make you proud for a short period of time.
A creator has to move past herself and create for the sake of a higher purpose.
That’s where you need to embrace the manager role. By (my) definition, a manager is future-oriented, has a broader vision, makes the best use of her time & resources, and plans accordingly.
A good manager takes care of her people, combines their skills, and gives her team multiple opportunities to grow.
A leader, on the other hand, is the one who is willing to walk the extra mile, creating new paths and having those conversations nobody else has the courage to have.
A leader understands the importance of her voice and the attention she’s receiving. Nowadays, people think of themselves as leaders, but when you ask what they do and how leadership plays out in their life, you find out that they are mere followers, doing the same thing as everybody else.
A true leader moves beyond fleeting popularity and uses her voice to get more important messages across. Be it in business or the boardroom.
Whether you are in a corporate leading position or running your own business, ask yourself:
- At this precise stage of my life, who do I need to be to move things forward?
- What role am I willing to embrace and be accountable for?
- And my favorite one – who do I want to be remembered for?
I would love to read your comments or if you want to take the conversation further, you can reach out and email me.
Have a great week ahead,
Bianca