The womanly art of business: Get Ahead celebrates International Women’s Day 2022
Women have always had something to bring to business – warmth and compassion can move mountains, build brands and achieve business success.
To mark International Women’s Day 2022, we’re going to take a closer look at what women bring to the world of work, and why their approach is so vital in these troubled times.
Celebrating women’s contribution to the business world
There have always been female business owners, and their number has increased over time. While we are delighted to see this increase, we are also interested to see that it hasn’t been a steady one. Throughout history, times of strife have served to bring women forward. Just as the First World War created new opportunities for women, so has the pandemic. An exceptionally large number of people set up their own businesses during the pandemic, and the majority of them were female.
The increase in the number of female business owners is well worth celebrating. These women are succeeding in business not in spite of being women but because they are women. In these difficult times, warmth, compassion and flexibility are every bit as important as high standards and financial goals. These womanly traits enable entrepreneurs to bend in a high wind rather than breaking. Their nurturing approach enables them to bring out the best in staff in order to take the business to the next level. It enables them to build strong relationships with the people and organisations who will support their growing businesses.
As business owners of all genders review their practices in the light of pandemic, many are adopting a more flexible, nurturing approach. Warmth and compassion are finding their place – an important step that we hope will bring workplace equality closer.
What does womanly leadership mean for Get Ahead?
Get Ahead was founded by Rebecca Newenham in 2010. Since then, she’s built up a fantastic team of virtual experts, male and female. She’s held her team together through great communication on a human level, celebrating achievement with flowers and fizz, and meeting challenges with compassion and understanding. And because her approach is genuine and consistent, it’s served to establish a loyal team who deliver outstanding work.
Even at a strategic level, the desire to help others is central to Get Ahead’s success. Instead of angry, negative goals like Nike’s “Crush Adidas,” Get Ahead’s roadmap focuses on building long-lasting relationships with business owners. The ultimate goal is to grow Get Ahead through helping entrepreneurs do what they love, taking away their stress and giving them back their time.
What does the nurturing approach mean for Get Ahead’s clients?
We’ve seen that Rebecca’s approach translates into high quality output for Get Ahead’s diverse clients. But it has also established a culture of flexibility and understanding that enables us to deliver whatever level of service a client requires. The first part of working with Get Ahead is admitting you need help – only because we listen supportively do clients feel they can open up, ultimately gaining access to the services they most need.
A female business owner who works alone told us that she was delighted that our virtual experts formed a team for her to work with. Flying solo can be lonely – many of us work better with a team to bounce ideas off. We really valued this feedback – if we have done anything that helps a client to be more productive and grow their business, it was the right thing.
Sustained, long-lasting success
Get Ahead might well be a different business if it did not have a woman at the helm. Female business owners are still in the minority, although numbers are increasing. However, if the number is small it is not because women have nothing to bring to business. What the Get Ahead team has seen is that the womanly art of business is a foundation for long-lasting success.
