10 Signs That You Are a Disrupter Women with these traits are changing the world day by day. Are you one of them?
By Patti Fletcher •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Remember that video from Apple circulating around a few years ago -- about being grateful for the crazy ones? While I wish there was more diversity in that video, I do love the words. Why? The crazy ones are disrupters, and disrupters are my favorite kind of people. They are the brave ones on the front lines of making change in the world.
Yet when you are a woman who disrupts, you face more barriers than your male counterparts. And when you're a non-Caucasian woman, you face even bigger barriers. That is why I wrote Disrupters. I have spent nearly two decades working alongside and studing women who disrupt the world around them in order to advance people, innovation, and the common good. There are so many women like Pat Milligan, Lisa Morales-Hellebo, Oprah Winfrey, and Lisa Ling who are using their skills, talents, and social capital to disrupt the status quos getting in the way of progress.
Find out if you share some of the same traits of these female disrupters. Chances are, you do!
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shutterstockYou're motivated by purpose -- not ego
"I work really hard at trying to see the big picture andnot getting stuck in ego. I believe we're all on this planet for a purpose, and we all have a different purpose...When you connect with that love and that compassion, that's when everything unfolds."
Ellen DeGeneres
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ShutterstockYou can't stand the status quo -- especially when it doesn't work
"My dad would always say, 'Girl, you've been given gifts. Use them.' And what he meant by that was, 'Don't just be successful. Don't just use your talents for your own success. But make a difference with them. Do something significant.' And when I put those two things together, it just causes me to not accept the status quo."
Beth Brooke, Global Vice Chair, Ernst & Young
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You know the rules don't always apply to you
"Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. And I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women."
Nora Ephron, screenwriter, producer and director
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You define your own factors for success
"Define success in your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you're proud to live."
Anne Sweeney, co-chair of Disney Media Works and president of Disney-ABC Television Group
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You work only where you have something to offer
"You have a calling which exists only for you and which you can fulfill."
Dr. Naomi Stephan, author
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You're not afraid of facing tough problems
"A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water."
Eleanor Roosevelt
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You know work-life balance is a myth and strive for integration
"It's not about balance; it's about integration...really focus on making sure you're integrating all four aspects of your work, your family, your community and yourself...that makes us up as a whole human being."
Padmasree Warrior, CEO NIO U.S.
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You take action before you have all the answers
"Great people do things before they're ready. They do things before they know they can do it. Doing what you're afraid of, getting out of your comfort zone, taking risks like that -- that is what life is. You might be really good. You might find out something about yourself that's really special and if you're not good, who cares? You tried something. Now you know something about yourself."
Amy Poehler, comedian and actress
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You believe in power of the person -- not power of the position
"We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already; we have the power to imagine better."
J.K. Rowling, author
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You have that entrepreneur "it" factor
"Ivy leage degrees and fancy MBAs are not what make an entrepreneur. Grit, perseverance and a superhuman ability to have faith in yourself does."
Kalpani Saroj, CEO, Kamani Tubes
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