It’s not easy to jump into a leadership position, especially if it is your first time in a leadership role. As a woman, the challenges that come with being in a leadership position can be even more daunting at times than you may have originally expected. Leaders are the ones that everyone goes to with their challenges in hopes of coming up with a solution. So how can women leaders create their own support system that they feel comfortable turning to when the going gets tough?  Additionally, how can women not feel like they will be construed as being intimidating and aggressive when sharing their ideas with others in a leadership role?

In this article, we’re going to dive into five ways that women can create healthy, trusting, and supportive alliances within the workplace.

Offer Support

As we grow and evolve into who we are becoming within our careers, it is important to recognize when others on your team need support.  Often, I have seen other women climbing on top of one another to demonstrate to their colleagues that they are capable of maintaining their position. When in reality, all they are doing is diminishing their colleagues.

It is time for us as women leaders to rise and extend a hand to our colleagues when we see them struggling, or when they seem like they may need support and redirection.  When one needs help, it should never be construed as a sign of weakness.  

“In the workplace, it is essential that women stand up for each other – especially in the face of discrimination or intolerance in order to curate an environment of safety. Empowerment begins with empathy,” says Tiffany Watkins, CEO Vanguard Media Online.

Show Empathy

Have you ever reflected back on a situation and only afterwards realized how uncomfortable it was for you at that time? How were you feeling then?  Showing empathy for others within the workplace is critical to the health temperature within the organization.  If we do not show our hearts to our colleagues in a transparent manner, how will we ever trust one another?  Empathy aligns with creating an environment of listening and sharing information freely because we feel safe.  

Ask For Feedback

As leaders, we often forget or neglect to ask for feedback from our team members. It is critical for us to be able to acknowledge, learn, and in some instances reconsider how we perform certain tasks based on feedback that you are receiving. When we receive feedback, learning occurs. 

Perform Random Acts of Kindness

Thinking from the perspective of a service centered leader, it can be simple and easy to perform random acts of kindness for those around you. Sharing a poem, an inspirational quote, asking someone to lunch who you may have noticed is struggling, holding the door open with a smile, these are all examples of quick and easy ways to perform a random act of kindness. When you perform a random act of kindness, you have joy in your heart by default.

Mean What You Say

Your word is all you have.  If you state something, it is up to you to ensure that you are living up to whatever expectations that you have put on yourself.  Demonstrating this to others is critical in all elements of a highly functioning team.  There may be times where competing priorities happen, but it is up to you to do as you said you would.

Written by Christina DiArcangelo.
Have you read?
Look at the Whole Board by Leo Bottary.
The Data You Need as You Return to the Office by Rebecca Corliss.
How to Be a Better Company Leader in a Post-Pandemic World by Drew McLellan.
The Secrets of An Effective Leader by Maree Burgess.