The Five Pillars Of Becoming Influential In Career And Community As A Woman
Becoming Influential & Impactful
Becoming influential in career and community as a woman doesn’t have to take you a life-time.
I remember my mother being influential in our family and community. She had great expectations of me, which was my greatest push in life.
Mom’s push was loving and nurturing so much that I mirrored many of the same qualities.
In turn, these traits helped me become influential as a mom, community leader and mentor to many in my career.
We all dream of success and prosperity. The comfort, sense of security and accomplishment that comes with these achievements is generally what we are truly in search of.
However, there’s another side of the coin, in fact, some will set off on their chosen path with solely this aspect in mind.
This is the ability to influence that which happens around you, to have a true effect on those you come into contact with.
And generally become a beacon of positivity, motivation, and an example of what can be achieved through positive actions.
And this is seldom achieved through solely focusing on one facet of your life. There’s simply so much to do.
You’re a busy influential woman
You move from place to place, from work to home, to friends and then to family. We’re all multifaceted but it’s certainly not easy being an all-around woman.
Be that as it may, we are moving further and further into an exciting and dynamic time of change.
Each new generation of women are born into a completely different social climate regarding their gender.
Mature and experienced women are fighting for these changes – often unbeknownst to themselves.
Seasoned women are currently paving the way for the following generations of ambitious and hopeful women by simply living their lives.
Research has shown that the labor force participation of women over 55 years of age has increased from 26.1% in 2000 to 34.7% in 2015.
Naturally, these are untrodden lands, and women can often be left looking for a certain kind of guidance that shows them the way but does not lead them by hand.
Fortunately, there are various core virtues and traits that once curated and cultivated, can raise your platform in all aspects of your life and spread your circle of influence even wider.
Beyond that, there are even certain actions that can be taken to ensure that you continue having a constructive and worthwhile impact on all around you.
In this article, you’ll find just what you need to give you a push in the right direction so that you can stay true to yourself while changing the world around you.
Create a solid foundation for yourself while being influential
Think of just some of the personality traits that come to mind when you picture influential women such as Michelle Obama, Anna Wintour or Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Behind their familiar exuberant smiles and confident aura, there is a scaffold of impressive traits that have taken years of hard work and dedication to curate, perfect, and then implement.
These women have decided upon their influencing style and approach.
Speaking of hard work and dedication, these are just two off the well-known pillar traits that lead to a successful life.
Following closely behind are those particularly interpersonal traits that help you to communicate effectively while leaving a lasting impact.
These traits being sincerity, compassion, honesty, kindness, and integrity.
Of course, then, there are the ‘doer’ traits that give you the substance behind your reputation.
Showing those around you that you’re dependable, consistent, principled, and reliable shifts you from solely being a ‘talker’ and places you firmly in the coveted group of ‘doers.’
Being honest with yourself, how many of these epithets can you assign to your character.
Ask yourself what traits you need to improve on and how they’ll influence your impact on others in all walks of life.
Be kind to yourself as you take on this daunting task of self-reflection.
Begin to make the necessary personality changes.
You should be your biggest support and most reliable confidant throughout this journey of improvement.
Work on being resilient
Those who wish to maximize their influence tend to wear themselves thin over time. They take on so many causes while also continuing to strive for betterment in their personal lives.
The problem is that life is ever-changing.
Everyone is bound to run into an additional obstacle every now and then despite how perfectly controlled and planned out their lives are.
It is what we do during this time that determines our outcome. Whether we down tools and give up or fight through the issue is a matter of success and failure.
This sounds all-too-easy when put into words but we all know just how daunting it can be to implement.
Luckily, there are self-care tricks that can prepare you for even the most turbulent on blips.
Firstly, take time for yourself.
Yes, you’re very busy and don’t have a minute to spare but that won’t help you during times of troubles.
A stitch in time saves nine as they say, and this certainly stands true during times of duress. So, give yourself a mental break for a few hours once a week.
Focus primarily on yourself, unwind and replenish your energy levels.
Not only will your essence and power radiate even stronger, but you’ll also be ready to take on any extra task that comes your way.
And that’s all just in a day of being an influential woman.
Secondly, learn to compartmentalize
Compartmentalization is something that most influential women around the world accredit for being what got them to their position of power and impact.
And there’s a reason for that. Compartmentalization allows us to focus on one thing at a time without any disturbances from lingering thoughts.
This means that you’ll be more time-efficient as you spend less time fretting about other issues.
A way to practice this is by getting into a different mindset for each environment you are in.
In your work environment? Get into work mode and push everything that’s not career-oriented from your mind.
At home? Now it’s time to leave work behind and surround yourself with your loved ones or take time for yourself.
Essentially, this step will require you taking time out for meditation and mindfulness.
Plan your trajectory
Set your sites on who you want to be and who you want to help. Take time out to assess where you are in life and decide upon who you truly want to be.
Perhaps you think trundling on and simply adding more tasks to your to-do list will eventually get you where you want to be.
But some deliberation and thorough planning must be undertaken before any big changes are made.
Once you’ve decided what you want from your career and who you wish to be in your community, it is then that you can amass the appropriate steps towards reaching those goals.
Having an image of your ideal future self in mind as you follow these steps is essential.
And using the valuable traits mentioned previously in this article will soften the road – not to mention that you’ll get to polish them off!
Factor in communication
Of course, if you wish to be influential, it’ll be necessary to form solid bonds and friendships.
It can’t be underestimated how much a good network of trustworthy co-workers and friends can be in life – and it’s never too late to meet new people and make your mark on them.
Work on being open with people so that they’ll feel at ease being open with you.
From this type of honest and raw relationship, many new lessons can be learned that can help you to relate to others in the future.
You can learn something from any communication and working towards understanding humans is vital towards becoming influential.
Understanding the unique problems affecting those in your locality can factor into how influential you are perceived as those around you and this can only be gained by communicating with them.
You will soon find that people will flock to you for answers if you understand their problems and know how to effectively resolve them.
This ‘guru-effect’ can make anyone influential in any domain from their work to family, and all the way to their community.
Get involved
Finally, once you’ve built up a solid foundation of traits, understand the exact path that you wish to take, and have built up a network of loyal people around you – it’s time to really set the ball rolling.
By getting involved in your workplace you are opening yourself up to the opportunity of being promoted by standing out and showing passion.
There should be initiatives that employees can take part in throughout every workplace but if not, now is your time to show off your innovative side.
Create events, be the glue that holds it all together, share your ideas and most of all – have no fear.
Getting involved in your community tends to be an easier task for most as there is always voluntary work to be done, petitions to be signed, campaigns to be ran, and boards to be sat on.
So, put yourself out there and make yourself an asset to those around you. Keep your heart open for your community and they will do the same for you.
The world need more influential and powerful women now than ever, their unique strengths and ideas are being called out for in every domain of life.
Women are being urged to make their mark on the world and change it for the better during these turbulent times where the future isn’t so certain.
So, come to the forefront of the present and make sure that the future is a good one for not only yourself but everyone around you too.
