Empowering women in business is one of my main goals. In fact, if I am truly honest with myself, then I have to admit that it is not just a goal, it is a passion. It’s something I think about most of the time and do my best to make it a reality by taking small daily steps towards the goal.
It seems like there are more female entrepreneurs in Dubai than ever before. Amen to that! As a matter of fact, in 2013 there were 7.6 million small businesses employing nearly 14 million people. Of that total number of businesses, 87% were owned by men while less than 12% were owned by women. Considering these figures, we think it’s imperative that we support the growth of women in business so they can become the entrepreneurs they truly have the potential to be.
Women bring a different perspective and set of ideas to leadership roles, and that’s a good thing!
Studies have shown that women tend to be more collaborative and consensus-oriented in their decision-making processes. They also tend to be more empathetic and less hierarchical, encouraging the kind of teamwork that can help businesses thrive. On top of all that, they’re just generally better at multitasking than men.
So what does this mean for your business? It means that if you want your company to grow, you need to start hiring more women. And if you already have some female leaders on staff, it’s time to give them more power and make sure they have the resources they need to succeed.
Helping Women Grow Their Businesses Helps the Economy
The economy is growing, but at a slow pace. A lot of people are still struggling to get by, and it’s hard to imagine that things will get better anytime soon. But there are some things we can do right now to help the economy grow and one of them involves helping women grow their businesses!
Research shows that when women succeed in business, everyone benefits: there’s more money being spent on goods and services, which means more jobs for everyone else. And when women are able to spend money on themselves and their families instead of worrying about how they’re going to make ends meet? That’s good news for everyone.
Promotion of gender equality from management to the highest level
- I treat all men and women at work equitably and respect and defend human rights and non-discrimination.
- Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all workers.
- Promotion of education, training and professional development of women, a fundamental fact to correctly work on female empowerment in general.
- Carry out business development, supply chain and marketing practices in favor of the empowerment of women in companies
- Effective promotion of equality through community initiatives.
- Evaluation and dissemination of the progress made in favor of gender equality.
These principles that we have just listed emphasize the adoption, by companies, of measures aimed at promoting gender equality and female empowerment, and are based mainly on business practices drawn from real life, are not fictitious, and especially in contributions made by companies around the world.
In addition, it should be noted that they reflect the interests of governments in toto and civil society and serve to support interaction between the different stakeholders, since the achievement of the ultimate goal of gender equality requires the 360-degree participation of all actors and at all levels.
Empowerment of women: the opinion of an expert
What are the advantages of female leadership and empowerment? How to lead organizations as a woman? Without falling into the battle of the sexes, it is clear that we are witnessing a greater rise in women leading companies and projects. It is no longer just the growing professional career within organizations, we also see how more women decide to reinvent themselves and start their own businesses.
As a society, we are witnessing an improvement in many areas. Greater awareness of rights and respect for personal situations after the pandemic, more openness to teleworking, support for the empowerment and economic autonomy of women, companies with greater sensitivity to reconciling family and work, caring for the environment…
We believe that a large part of these achievements are due to the promotion of female leadership and empowerment, which, in general, is characterized by:
- Give a more personal and close treatment to the team, suppliers and customers
- Communicate with more empathy and assertiveness
- Greater efficiency to create work teams
- Have an innate ability to follow several topics at once
- Seek to reconcile family and professional or work life
- Give greater emphasis to cooperation and group work
- Get a greater commitment from your team with your leader
- Reward the achievements of the collective effort and recognize the work of the team
- Strengthen the values shared with the organization and the team
- Caring for the environment and promoting a more sustainable life
Obviously, there are also some characteristics that need to be improved and developed to lead teams and companies. All people, especially if we are leaders, are called to continuous learning to achieve goals and fulfill dreams.
The synergies of female empowerment
Did you know that two years ago an investigation led by the Observatory of Social and Business Trends of the 21st Century University concluded that women create happier work teams, thanks to their empathy and recognition?
I do not want to enter into a “war of the sexes” and competencies, I only want to highlight some of the skills that women have that allow us to lead our ventures and our companies with very good results.
And what are those that help us create and lead successful and happy teams? I’ll list a few:
1.- We have the ability to relate to each other through empathy and appreciation of the other.
2️.- We are more oriented to the person and their needs, so we contribute to improving the work environment in a company.
3️.- We can perform various tasks within the organization with great versatility (multitasking), without losing focus on what is important and, at the same time, keeping other aspects under control.
4️.- We love to talk and, by talking, we resolve conflicts because it is easier to prevent problems from becoming entrenched and growing.
5️.- We usually give better feedback, because we rely on empathy and listening.
6️.- We have the ability to bring people together, motivate them to give their opinion and to participate more in the activities. We are dynamic by nature.