Congratulations Mary Barr for being not only the first woman CEO or General Motors, but now also the Chairwoman of the Board!
Sheryl Sanders wants to know why more women are not in senior positions at major companies, or in funded entrepreneurial ventures for that matter. She needs to look no further than five personal characteristics of Mary Barr, as well as Ursula Burns, Chairwoman and CEO of Xerox, Ginni Rometty, Chairwoman and CEO of IBM or Brenda Barnes, former Chairwoman and CEO of Sara Lee, Oprah, Arianna Huffington, Sara Blakely and JK Rowling.
In a culture/society that has not honored women as equal to, or perhaps superior to, men in their leadership abilities, we’ve identified five key factors that distinguish the breakthrough leaders and entrepreneurs that show just why these amazing women rock in challenging environments.
What are these five inner game factors that distinguished the leaders mentioned above – which anyone today can develop in a matter of weeks? We’re not going to dive into the numbers in this brief article, but we’ll clue you into the factors 😉
Low Fear of Failure. In the entrepreneurial world, where most of our research has come, high fear of failure is one of the greatest factors blocking successful decisions and actions. Imagine walking in the building as the first, female CEO of GM, knowing that your decisions effect hundreds of thousands of people and their families. Do you think Mary Barr had some fear of failure? Yes! But she also had such low levels that she could rock despite it.
Low Anger Levels. You can work by yourself with high anger. It even motivates some people up to a degree. But beyond that, anger issues severely limit one’s ability to lead. And we’re not talking about one’s ability to “manage” their anger (emotional intelligence), but clearing their anger issues – which is easier than its ever been. Us women are pretty good at managing or hiding our anger, but what we are talking about here is very little anger at all.
Remember all those men who told us that we weren’t good enough and then turned around and praised our less accomplished male colleagues? What if you could remember them with pity for their narrow-mindedness instead of anger?
It frees up a lot of energy for building the business!
High Level of Consciousness. Awareness, insight, clarity, creativity and focus are all significantly dependent upon level of consciousness, and every entrepreneur or executive mentioned here met these high levels consistently before they had their breakthroughs. It’s like seeing the world from a higher vantage point and knowing when to act and when to bide your time.
Very High Caring for Self & Others. Really? Yes, successful entrepreneurs and executives, as well as coaches, etc., etc., all consistently have a very high caring for others – not just themselves. Caring for Others is a way of life for how women are raised in the Western World, but imagine loving and caring for yourself just as much.
Low Fear of Rejection. Ladies, let’s face it, rejection has been a way of life for a powerful woman for centuries. Thanks to these amazing ladies who continue to blaze a path, we have less rejection to face, but my own church rejected me because I was a little too up front with my communication. As Sheryl Sandberg said, the US culture considers a woman who “leans in” to lead as “bossie.”
That rejection can pile up and justifiably make our fear of rejection high, but for these women, in their inner game, the fear wasn’t high enough to stop them. Can you imagine a woman in the board room of General Motors who has a high fear of rejection?
It’s women like Mary Barr who have helped us find the Blueprint for the Inner Game of Success. It’s only 5 factors that make 80% of the difference, but if you are off in any one of these factors, even if you are successful, you will find it impossible to reach the success of Ms. Barr.
Fortunately ladies, there is a fast and fun way to attain those levels yourself.
Find out more about these 5 Success Factors HERE, as well as how to get yourself to breakthrough levels of all five distinguishing factors in just a few weeks.