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From the heart to the bottom line, women are leading the way to more humane workplaces.
Recently The Center for Women’s Leadership at Babson College and The Commonwealth Institute released their latest research on women-led businesses in the state of Massachusetts (USA).
After reading in the last few months about women’s salary inequity, abuse of women in school shooting incidents and other horrible news it was uplifting to see the celebration of these successful businesses and leaders that are women.
I went to an awards program honoring the Top 100 firms and it was amazing. The keynote speaker, Amy Kaplan, Deputy Managing Partner of the Northeast Region of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP talked about her own life experiences of taking risks and how it blessed her. She placed even more emphasis on relationships in her talk and in her career. Amy spoke about the need to care about everyone you meet – not just those in powerful positions but those in every level of your organization. In one case, when she became partner of her firm, the copy clerks called her to let her know because they were making photocopies of the memo that included her name.
This made me think of the strength we get by giving and by caring about others. Life is basically all about relationships. It’s the number one area we all need to focus on. Why? Because when we focus on others instead of just ourselves our lives are blessed and it radiates out from us. A book I cherish: “Love is the Killer App” by Tim Sanders talks about how you need to love more and care more about others in the business world. He also talks about how that standpoint of caring for others really brings good things into your life. It is a must read and is a quick read – so please do pick up a copy.
Look at Amy. Her life story sounds like it always had caring, genuine relationships in it and with that she has soared to the top of her firm. That’s a nice example of the blessings that come from giving first and from caring.
In my own life I’ve seen how giving blesses. I’ve been blessed when I aided friends and peers who needed business advice, and family needing someone to talk through challenges with and how to approach things spiritually. Because of this I feel blessed by God in that I have what I need – family, friends, opportunities, inspiration, a loving husband and more.
When you are genuinely caring about others you will be blessed. And this has a serious impact on business. Let’s be a part of a revolution in business that starts with caring for others.
PS. For those of you who are wondering about the top women-led businesses, here are some of the stats I liked best from the report :
· "The Top 100 Woman-Led businesses in MA are stronger than ever. [They have done annual research for the last 5 years.] Higher revenues at every decile of the Top 100 list reflect the strong growth pattern from 2004 to 2005.
· The annual revenue growth of women-led businesses responding to the study is striking. Since 2004, more than 55% grew by more than 5% while a full 80% grew by at least 1%. In comparison with the 2% growth rate of the MA state economy, the revenue growth of woman-led businesses is significant.
· Nearly 98% of woman-led firms regularly contribute to local charitable or nonprofit organizations; and more than 1/3 are engaged in philanthropic activity on a monthly basis.
· Interestingly, regardless of firm age or the total number of employees, the greater the percentage of women employees in a firm, the more likely it is to have a higher level of philanthropic activity.
· Although they may closely hold ownership, most (77.3%) CEOs responded that they use participatory style for leadership decision making, seeking opinions of others in their deliberations." Read more from this blogger at Spirit and Entrepreneurship .
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