Page 34 - Shaw Wall of Honor

founded in the 1930s (and seemingly operated in much the same way as it probably did in the 1930s), I didn't know what strong female leadership looked like. I knew what it didn't look like, and I knew I was going to work with women like that again.
From there I moved into insurance and worked for and around incredibly talented men who propped me up, made sure I had face time, gave me authority and fed into my confidence (which wasn't lacking, but more confidence boosting never hurt). Of all of my years working, I only had one formal mentor who was a woman. It was great, until it wasn't.
As a child, my career goal was to be the first woman president, so clearly I didn't see that there was anything lesser about me.
So here are the top things I have learned from spending most of my career in a male dominated field, and striking out into business development on my own, in a male dominated field.
(1) Your network is your net worth
It may be a trite saying, but your network is your net worth. Period. Maybe even more so for women.
As a working mom, you spend quite a bit of time at school events, sporting events, and if you live in a close knit community, neighborhood and/or church events. If you can't rely on networking during this time, when can you?
A Girl Walk Into a Bar
Because of the difficulties socializing in my day job (my other job is kid management and social coordinator of course), I have to REALLY work on my spheres of influence. I have to be targeted in my approach at social outings. I have to ASK connections to introduce me or mention what I do on my own behalf. In order to do this successfully, you have to be truly tied in to your network. Your network and building spheres of influence are even more important than to men, because it's harder to rely on social network.
So how do you do that?
(2) Building relationships, not just a network
Relationship building is crucial. Give more than you take and you will never have to ASK for anything.
Show up. Get to know people. Know their stories, their backgrounds, their families. Think about what you can do for them, and lead with that.
It is always fair to ask for help. Ask for an introduction. Ask for feedback. But when you show up with an offer, show up ready to help; show up ready to bring value to another person, their business, or their life, and then you rarely have to ask. They ask YOU how they can help. That is powerful.
y call this servant leadership. I might call it leading with service to others.
(3) Other women will either be your biggest champion or your biggest threat
pretty hard to write, but true. If you are perceived as a threat, many women will do what they can to bury you, malign you, or hold you back. I think it's lack of self-confidence, personally. It's happened to me and it stung because I thought it was someone who had my back, but it opened my eyes to the kind of people I surround myself with. I have never had a man do that to me. Sure, there have been the occasional idiots who have a hard time giving
34