It doesn't really matter what industry your entrepreneurial spirit and
unique skills have taken you into, as a woman entrepreneur, you now find
yourself in a predominantly male world. It's clear from even your
elementary school days on the playground that boys and girls, men and
women, are just wired differently.
As women, we should absolutely embrace our unique attributes, but there are times in the business world when you simply need to adjust to the male way of doing business. There will be many times when you will find yourself as the only woman in the room, or one of just a handful of women in a room that is otherwise filled with men.
So if you want to be a successful woman entrepreneur, you need to find a way to communicate with men on their level without using your unique attributes in the process. This follow through from embracing the strong handshake and remaining business-like when in the presence of men to having the confidence to speak your mind and express opinions, beliefs, and knowledge that needs to or should be shared with those around you. You should make the effort to engage in discussions and debates with your male peers with confidence. No doubt, you will feel less than confident on the inside when you are in a room that is predominantly filled with the more supposedly more dominant sex, but what you are feeling on the inside doesn't have to be evident to those around you.
If you want to find success as a woman entrepreneur today, you need to be able to compete head to head with men for contracts and clients, and you need to be able to establish working relationships with men in a way that exudes confidence. If you take a moment to reflect on the successful women that you know, you will find that every one of them has this confidence. Take some to reflect on how you present yourself in a business environment, and make positive changes to present a more confident persona – regardless of who is in the room with you!
