Self Improvement Articles

The Benefits and Challenges of Working for the Same Sex

As a woman entrepreneur, you might be delighted at the prospect of working with women rather than men, only to discover that is not all you imagined it was going to be. This is because the kind of energy that drives one person to be a leader and another person to be a colleague working under them tends to be a very masculine, driving sort of energy – one that even women possess.

Male versus Female Energy

Men and women possess both masculine and feminine energy. It changes in terms of balance depending on the situation. For example, in the planning stages of a new project, feminine energy might be at the forefront, as people allow a flow of ideas to go back and forth as to how best to tackle the assignment. However, that flow would be of less value as the deadline approached. Things need to be tightened up, buttoned down, and pushed through in order to meet the deadline.

Some women have more masculine energy, others more feminine. Some women “fake it ’til they make it”, thinking they have to be tougher than any man they work with. This can lead to bullying behavior. Some women are even harder on their female colleagues than the men, for a couple of reasons.

One reason is that they are trying to toughen them up; they didn’t have any breaks to get where they were, so why should any other woman. In other cases, it might be due to them having climbed the ladder and wanting to pull it up after themselves, discouraging any woman they work with from aspiring to become a leader too.

One final point which no one can really help is biology and hormones. Let’s face it. Women change at certain times of the month each month until they reach menopause, and even the most reasonable of bosses can become a nightmare at times. But then, so can we all. It’s important to try not to let personal issues get in the way of professional ones, no matter which side of the desk we are sitting on.

The Pros of Working with Women

The benefits of two women working together is that it tends to be much more team-oriented, with a free flowing of ideas. The best bosses are those who are willing to mentor others. They are happy to pass along their skills and don’t feel competitive if another woman joins the team.

Rather, they are supportive and welcoming. They share a common vision of a better company, a better world. They understand the challenges of being a woman in the business world and don’t try to make it harder for you than things have to be – due to a lack of awareness or unreasonable demands on your time when you are desperate to get home to the kids.

An empowered woman does not take her power by robbing it from others, but rather, by cultivating it in herself – often with the help of strong role models of both genders. And that empowerment can lead to success in any career.

Why Is Self-Discipline So Hard?

No one wants to be seen as no fun, too serious, and regimented. When you think of the term “self-disciplined,” you may think of a hard-nosed military-type person. That thought alone can be a big blocker in your mind to becoming a self-disciplined person. It’s no wonder that people have trouble becoming more self-disciplined. They’re not understanding the positive factors of developing this skill.

Let’s look at some reasons why self-discipline is so hard.

Lack of Understanding of What Self-Discipline Really Is

Self-discipline is a combination of skills that are put into effect consistently to achieve the results you want. It’s a long-term practice of a lot of behaviors designed to help you reach your goals. Avoiding temptation regularly so that results can occur is required. You’ll need to develop all these skills to become self-disciplined.

Not Realizing How Important Organization Is to Self-Discipline

As mentioned above, self-discipline is a way to describe many behaviors that lead to reaching goals at a high level. One of the keys to being able to do this is knowing how to organize your schedule in a realistic way, along with putting together logically everything you need to do in a day.

The Fact That Most People Don’t Know How to Break Tasks Up to Make Them Simpler

A person with self-discipline knows that when they have a goal, they need to break it up into smaller tasks that they schedule in their calendar to do regularly until the whole thing is done. They also know that this requires a lot less discipline than most people think.

Underestimating the Importance of Consistency

One of the real keys to self-discipline is to be consistent in your turning down temptation to achieve the long-term goal. For example, you know eating fewer calories on a regular long-term basis will lead to weight loss. Writing one page of content for your novel will eventually lead to a finished book. Small steps make a big difference, but they also must be consistent.

Knowing That Being Mindful Is a Factor in Self-Discipline

If you don’t know when you’re getting ready to give up or give in, or when you are reaching the end of your comfort zone and you’ve never experienced pushing past those blockers, it’s hard to know whether you can have self-discipline or not. You need to be aware of your own feelings and responsibility for any results you get in life or work.

Once you understand that you can develop all the skills associated with being self-disciplined – such as organization, goal setting, time management, and mindfulness, you can start to set up your life in a way that makes it easy to experience self-discipline and the results.