Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with both men and women. In addition to being in a three-year relationship, I’ve learned what many people already know: Being a leader, you need to be good at multitasking and women definitely deserve the award for honing in on that skill, far surpassing most men. That being said, it’s a huge wonder how most major world leaders are in fact men. So why is it that women are still not in charge? What is the real reason that so many people fear the leadership of a smart and capable woman? The answer ladies, is: Emotion. We are emotional beings and unfortunately, for one reason or another, society has deemed emotional behaviour as a trait of the weak and feeble.
Many entrepreneurial women experience emotional challenges on a daily basis. I know because when I started my company I found it very difficult to manage my emotions, especially when it came to not taking things personally (“I am woman here me roar!”) So what is the key to taming the lioness within and maintaining the indifferent "poker face" when a client is pushing every expressive button in your being? (If I say vodka would that make this article less credible?)
When dealing in the cutthroat business territory, we can often find ourselves faced with situations where we want to react from a personal place, and what differs with men is that although they are just as emotional as women, for some reason they tend to hide it a lot better. It’s the age old story of “crying is for women” engrained in the tiny brains of the baby boys upon the first break of emotional reaction as a tot.
So, because of that stereotype, we women must conform once again to society's “rules of conduct” when it comes to professional behaviour. Now, normally the natural-born anarchist that I am, I would shun that notion right back to Babylonia, however, in this case, I actually think that keeping our emotions in check is beneficial to our growth as women and business people. We need to ensure that these emotions are actually controlled, realized, and eradicated from our bodies for good.
So, back to the initial question: How do we achieve this outrageous task? (No it’s not the vodka – although helpful as a temporary fix). It can be described in one word: Illusions. It’s easy to be controlled by our feelings and it seems like in the heat of the moment we are totally justified by our reactive state. In truth however, it’s a reaction to something else in our lives that is playing out in our own "personal movie." Opposite to us, our “opponent” is eager to push our buttons, triggering the eruption and waiting with bated breath in anticipation.
Image courtesy stock.xchng.
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