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The Role of Women Entrepreneurs in Facilitating Women at the Workplace Women in those leadership roles can be a huge help to women entering or existing in the space as they provide a relatable goal to work towards and a path to follow

By Shriya Kolte

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

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An entrepreneur has been defined as someone that organizes and manages an enterprise, usually taking the initiative and handling the risk that running the business entails. For women entrepreneurs, this role does not come as easily as it does for men. Before discussing the impact of female entrepreneurs, it is important to discuss their experience as it feeds into their management style. Historically, women entrepreneurs have been restricted in the fields that they can start enterprises in, if at all.

However, it is important to acknowledge the women that blazed the trail for us to make the progress that we have made till today. Women over the course of time that have made it simpler for other women to move into the corporate space as it has evolved.

This includes cottage industries that began at home, in textiles, home care products, self-care products and other such enterprises that began small but paved the way for women to be able to run banks, insurance companies and similar, large multi-billion dollar businesses. The struggle of breaking through as leaders in any field allows women an understanding of what other women face in the workspace and as such, this perspective is key to what helps them have an impact on their female employees.

Challenges

To speak of the positive effect that female leaders can have on facilitating other women in the workplace, it is important to first understand some of the challenges that women face in the space. One of the problems that have been discussed earlier in the article is having women to look up to in terms of aspiration and role models. While there are more and more women stepping into and succeeding in the world of entrepreneurship, they are still heavily outnumbered by men. For the large part, icons and role models in the world of business are still men. Therefore, women in those leadership roles can be a huge help to women entering or existing in the space as they provide a relatable goal to work towards and a path to follow.

Balancing Act

As much as professional spaces maintain a degree of professionalism when it comes to interactions between employees and superiors, this cannot always be the case. In these terms, there is sometimes a miscommunication or even a lack of communication between male superiors and female subordinates which can sometimes lead to women not being able to flourish as much as they potentially can. Thanks to the accommodating nature that society teaches women to inculcate into their behaviour growing up, they tend to be more inclusive and create a more comfortable environment, especially for female employees. Being comfortable in an environment can enable someone to work to much a higher level than otherwise. Small margins can make a huge difference. While this is not to say that men cannot empathize or put women at ease, a woman can provide a dual perspective based on their own experiences.

Transparency

Personally, building transparency within team communication, setting a clear path for growth for the female employees and giving them the encouragement and recognition they deserve have been excellent strategies in creating an environment that women can succeed in. It is a huge help as an entrepreneur to be in touch with the various elements in your workforce. Finding a way to make women feel valued, included and comfortable can unlock a great degree of potential that does sadly go untapped in a lot of businesses.

It's the Time for the Ladies to Shine

As more and more women step into entrepreneurial endeavours across various fields, it is important to make sure that the unique perspective and worldview provided by gender help shape and nurture the business into something greater. Bringing your female employees into the fold and providing them with a comfortable environment and professional workspace can catapult any enterprise into the big leagues. While this applies for anyone starting or running their own business, irrespective of gender, the edge that women entrepreneurs have is a wonderful tool and something that requires acknowledgement and application. To conclude, there is something very empowering about seeing women inspiring and helping other women as they continue to take the corporate world by storm.

Shriya Kolte

Founder, Imagination Inc.

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