Over the course of several decades, there have been numerous studies conducted about the fields and skills in which men and women excel. You’ll often hear that men naturally excel in math- and science-based fields, while women excel in fields more focused on language, creativity, and social interactions.
Throughout most of history, men’s natural attraction for numbers has been seen as an innate edge in the business world, while women’s desire to build relationships was seen as a weakness. People claimed men were able to look at numbers and make “hard decisions” while women were more prone to put people first, potentially harming a business. But that perspective is beginning to change.
Many of the skills we have as women—including our natural skills at building relationships—have proven to be valuable tools in the business world. Here are just 3 of the innate skills that women often have, and why the matter in the business world.
Building relationships
As mentioned already, women’s natural desire to build relationships used to be seen as a weakness, but this is quickly becoming an outdated opinion. Relationships and networking are vital skills in growing a business. Women are able to build relationships more quickly than men, and those relationships are more often purposeful, genuine, and meaningful.
In the office setting, this means nurturing employees, who become more loyal workers. In networking, it means building long-lasting connections with vital business partners, investors, and suppliers. And in marketing, it means connecting with your audience on a personal level. All of these are essential to growing a successful business.
So how do you know if you’re truly building a meaningful relationship with your customers? The simplest way is to ask—and women are more inclined to do that than men, giving them another natural advantage. Just as the old joke goes, men don’t often want to stop and ask for directions. But women will. They’ll be more likely to conduct surveys, no just about products, but about how customers are connecting with the brand. And when that information is managed with innovation management software, it can be leveraged to improve the business on many levels. As you can see, women’s natural ability to build meaningful relationships is a huge business advantage.
Deeper sense of ownership
For thousands of years, women have been given sole responsibility for the raising of children and upkeep of households. This has created an evolutionary tendency in women to take complete ownership of the tasks set before them—and that extends to running a business. When it comes to the business world, accepting ownership for all aspects of your company can make or break it in the long run.
Leaders who take ownership for a company’s failures and successes in equal amounts are more likely to inspire loyalty in their employees, and they tend to be more aggressive at solving problems facing the business. If a business owner doesn’t accept ownership for a company’s failures, they are less likely to address those failures properly. In this way, women’s natural tendency to own up to all aspects of running a business can make them better business leaders and entrepreneurs.
Tendency towards nurturing
Women tend to be more nurturing than men. Whether that is due to an ingrained instinct, or centuries of caring for children, the tendency to nurture is a natural part of most women’s personalities. Though that was once seen as a disadvantage, recent studies have shown that it can actually make women better leaders than men.
A nurturing attitude can help to improve communication, foster teamwork and collaboration, positively develop others, and encourage others to take initiative. By naturally uplifting and developing those around them, women become ideal business leaders, creating a team of individuals who are driven, loyal, and motivated to succeed.
While women may still be outnumbered in the business world, we’re advancing quickly. And it’s because we have natural skills that make us exceptional business leaders.