Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Dec/Jan 2019 Aspire Magazine Final | Page 75

1. Be generous.
If you are a new business owner just starting
out, be generous with your time. Meet with
people, go to networking events, volunteer,
join your local Chamber of Commerce or the
local PTA if you have children. Generosity
and involvement can quickly build your
reputation and increase your credibility as a
local business owner and community leader.
Generously share your information and ideas
with others, information is powerful and can
help others grow. Always lead with service
and give your best stuff away for free.
If you can afford it, be generous with your
money. This could take the form of charitable
donations to your favorite non-profit or small
gifts to clients and employees. Hand-written
notes, shared articles or homemade cookies
are all ways to be generous.
As a leader, there are additional ways of
expressing generosity besides time and
money. Say thank you often to clients, family
members, friends and others who support
or help you in your business. Be generous
with praise. Take someone out to lunch, just
because you like them and not because
you want something from them. Make an
effort each week to practice being generous!
Something as simple as a fifteen-minute
conversation with your spouse, child, or
business partner can make them feel special.
PRACTICAL ACTION STEP:
Give someone in your circle of friends,
family or colleagues a gift this week
just because you can. Find a small
token of appreciation and point out to
someone what a difference they have
made in your life.
Below you will find what I believe to be
the quintessential qualities of successful
women leaders along with practical
action steps you can take today to step
into being a leader.
2. Be visionary.
Want a definition of a visionary? Research
Richard Branson, head of the Virgin Group
with over 400 companies! His estimated
net worth is over $4 billion dollars. He
accomplished this by being visionary, by
seeing possibility everywhere and by having
a knack for connecting with people. He is
dyslexic and was not a great student but he
did not let that stop him.
He also has a knack for seeing where there
is a need and how he can fill that need. This
is one of the biggest se¬crets to success:
are you creating something that people
want? Whether you are a business coach,
doctor, artist, writer or builder of widgets and
gadgets, are you filling a need? If you are
building a brick and mortar storefront to sell
products, have you done your research, is
there a need for what you have to sell?
So many of us are passionate and
enthusiastic. We have powerful gifts and
big dreams, we have great ideas we want
to share with the world. It takes all of these
elements to get us off of the ground but we
will fail miserably if we are not meeting a
need for a specific group of people.
75