Are you looking for self-improvement strategies that focus on the unique challenges women face in the workplace? What’s She Thinks Like a Boss about?
In She Thinks Like a Boss, Jemma Roedel covers three qualities that make women successful in the workforce: strong leadership, skillful communication, and self-confidence. She also discusses the strategies that can help them develop these traits.
Read below for a brief overview of She Thinks Like a Boss.
Overview of She Thinks Like a Boss
Have you ever wondered what qualities make a person successful? In She Thinks Like a Boss, Jemma Roedel defines the qualities of a successful person and offers tips for how to develop these traits. Though anyone can apply her leadership advice, she targets women in particular, arguing that they face unique challenges because of stereotyping, communication styles, and their beliefs about themselves. She aims to help women break through these barriers to become leaders in the business world.
Roedel is an entrepreneur and author based in the UK. In addition to empowering women in business, she’s written children’s books meant to encourage creativity and a business mindset, including Think Like a Boss: Kids Edition. She manages two companies, is a public speaker, and works with women in mentorship programs.
How to Be a Good Leader
According to Roedel, the ability to be a good leader is one of the most important qualities of a successful woman in the workplace. Good leaders guide and shape the people around them, and they help people in teams work together to reach common goals.
In this section, we’ll look at qualities that make leaders effective, including:
- Remembering to look after yourself
- Motivating yourself and others
- Revealing your vulnerabilities
- Knowing what kind of leader you are
Quality #1: Look After Yourself
Roedel argues that to be a good leader, you must remember to look after yourself in addition to taking care of others. If you give everything you have and work yourself too hard at your job, there’s a good chance that you’ll burn out, at which point you’ll be unable to help anyone else. Additionally, it’s important to set a good example for your team by showing them that you can be successful and still have a good work-life balance.
Roedel says that looking after yourself can take many forms. For one, it means remembering that you don’t have to do everything yourself at work. You might delegate certain tasks to employees or ask for help on difficult projects. Self-care also extends beyond work—it means taking care of your physical and mental health by exercising, eating well, and getting enough sleep.
Quality #2: Keep Yourself and Others Motivated
Roedel asserts that understanding how to motivate yourself and others is another important quality of a good leader. If you lack engagement and drive in a leadership role, it can be difficult to come to work and do your best every day. This can negatively impact your team and the quality of their work.
One way to ensure that your sense of motivation endures throughout your time in a job is by assessing your reasons for pursuing the position in the first place, especially when it involves leadership. Make sure you have clear reasons why you want to be in a leadership role before accepting it. For example, you might choose to accept a leadership role because you’re passionate about helping other people achieve their goals. This passion can provide you with continuous motivation as you watch the people on your team grow under your watch.
Roedel says that it’s also your job as a leader to find out what will encourage each member of your team to put their best effort toward your shared goals. Remember that every person is driven by different things. For instance, one person may be motivated by frequent verbal affirmation, while another may get more work done when they have a flexible schedule. Roedel suggests making time for individual meetings with each team member to get better acquainted with them and their motivators.
Quality #3: Show Your Vulnerability
According to Roedel, many leaders avoid showing vulnerability in the workplace because they believe it’ll be perceived as a weakness. However, many benefits come from being honest about your difficulties and uncertainties.
For instance, showing more of your true self to your team and coworkers helps you establish deeper connections with them and creates a foundation for trust. When there’s trust between you and your team, they’re more likely to reveal their concerns and tell you when they’re experiencing challenges. You can then help them navigate the obstacles that prevent them from doing their best work.
For example, if you’re finding it difficult to complete a task, admit you’re struggling instead of pretending you have it figured out. If you can admit when something is challenging, that shows your team members they don’t need to be perfect, and they’ll be more likely to ask for help.
Quality #4: Know What Kind of Leader You Are
Finally, Roedel advises figuring out what kind of leader you are and learning to communicate your style when you take over a leadership role. Clear communication about how you lead helps your team adjust during periods of change. Additionally, understanding how your leadership methods interact with the personalities of your team members can help you identify possible issues that may result from personality and communication differences.
For instance, you might be a leader who encourages your team members to determine their own methods for getting their work done. You’re still there to offer assistance when needed, but you prefer not to interfere too much in day-to-day work. If you’re this type of leader, it’s important to touch base with your team regularly to make sure they’re getting the support they need and be clear about the results you want to achieve with your projects.
How to Communicate Effectively
Now that we’ve discussed the qualities of a good leader, let’s dive into another important aspect of being a successful woman in the workplace: being an effective communicator. Roedel begins by saying that men and women communicate in different ways. For example, women tend to be more open and receptive to others while men tend to dominate a conversation—this may be because women are socialized to put others’ needs first while men are not. Roedel writes that being conscious of such differences can help you become an effective communicator. In this section, we’ll explore three of her strategies for leveling the communication field:
- Not apologizing too much
- Speaking matter-of-factly and objectively
- Conveying authority with your physical presence
Strategy #1: Say Sorry Only When Necessary
According to Roedel, women tend to apologize too much, including for things that are entirely outside of their control. She states that you should only apologize when you’ve actually done something hurtful. When you say sorry too often, it dilutes the meaning of your apologies when they’re actually necessary. To determine whether it’s necessary to say sorry, ask yourself if you’ve done something to damage your relationship with someone. Then decide whether your apology will help to heal that rift. If the answer to both questions is no, then you should move forward without saying sorry.
Strategy #2: Speak Matter-of-Factly
Roedel also asserts that women commonly circle around their points and overly justify themselves when presenting an argument or expressing an opinion. This style of communication is often motivated by a desire to spare others’ feelings. For example, when a subordinate asks for more time on an urgent task, a woman might not say no outright; instead, she might provide context about the project timeline and acknowledge the employee’s hard work before saying no. However, to elicit respect from others with your communication style, it’s important to be straightforward and matter-of-fact. When you state your points confidently without cloaking them in layers of justification, people will place more value on what you say.
Strategy #3: Convey Authority With Your Physical Presence
Roedel states that you can convey confidence and authority with your body language in addition to your verbal communication. This may involve learning to feel confident in occupying more physical space, which women often struggle with. Women frequently feel like they have to blend in at work, but to convey authority, it’s more effective to use expansive body language that stands out.
For example, when you’re presenting, make sure to stand with your shoulders back, instead of rolled forward. When you’re sitting at a conference table in a meeting, try claiming space by sitting in a central spot instead of off to the side.
How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome and Cultivate Self-Confidence
In the previous sections, we examined Roedel’s strategies for successful leadership and communication. Now, let’s look at her advice for developing one of the traits that strong leadership and skillful communication hinge on: self-confidence.
In this section, we’ll define imposter syndrome and explore how it undermines self-confidence at work, particularly for women. Then, we’ll discuss Roedel’s strategies for combating imposter syndrome and cultivating belief in yourself.
How Imposter Syndrome and Other Self-Confidence Struggles Affect Women
According to Roedel, many women struggle with imposter syndrome in the workplace. Imposter syndrome can manifest in several ways:
- You may have trouble believing that you deserve the accolades you receive.
- You may feel like you’re a fraud, and you’ve tricked everyone into believing that you’re meant to be in your current position.
- You might fear that one day, the people around you will figure out that you’re not qualified to be where you are, and everything will fall apart when this happens.
Roedel cites research that suggests imposter syndrome affects more women than men. Many women in executive positions report feelings of imposter syndrome and state that they never expected to be as successful as they are. This contributes to a general lack of confidence in their performance at work.
Struggles with self-confidence may manifest in many other ways that hinder women’s professional success. For instance, low self-confidence often leads to perfectionism, which then leads to micromanagement and, consequently, dampens team spirit.
Women are less likely to advocate for raises or apply for jobs unless they know for sure that their efforts will be successful. Likewise, women often pass the credit on to someone else when they do well.
Strategies for Combating Imposter Syndrome and Cultivating Self-Confidence
Roedel says there are many ways to combat imposter syndrome and improve your self-confidence. Let’s look at three of her strategies:
Strategy #1: Be Afraid and Do It Anyway
Imposter syndrome can stop you from acting because you believe you’re going to fail. To work through this, Roedel suggests that you start doing things even when you’re afraid. If you succeed, it could be a huge boost to your self-confidence and serve as evidence that you deserve to be where you are. If you don’t succeed, you’ll still know that you were brave enough to try, which can improve your confidence as well.
Strategy #2: Start Advocating for Yourself in Small Ways
When you struggle with self-confidence (as many women do), you might find it difficult to advocate for yourself at work. To build up your confidence to self-advocate, Roedel advises that you begin requesting small things. This helps you practice recognizing what you need and expressing that to people who can help you fulfill those needs. Every time you advocate for yourself, your confidence grows. Eventually, you’ll have more confidence to ask for bigger things.
For example, say you’d like to work from home because you focus better that way, but you feel you’ll be an imposition if you ask. You could build your confidence by asking to work from home two days a week to start.
Strategy #3: Collect Evidence of Your Success
According to Roedel, another way to improve your confidence is by collecting notes of appreciation and other positive feedback from others in one physical place. This could be a folder, a notebook, or anywhere else you could keep the notes safe. When you’re not feeling confident, this collection can serve as evidence of your ability to succeed. The items are reminders of your good qualities and the things other people appreciate about you.
