Why Women Need A New Leadership Model

Guest Contribution by Beate Chelette

Codes of conduct in the workplace have hardly kept up with the 21st century. Since feminism cracked the doors to equality, we have been operating on old rules, old programming, and outdated patriarchal systems.

We see women graduating from college and entering corporate America in record numbers, but to be recognized in the workplace, women still have to take on male traits. We need an updated leadership model that’s better than the century-old code that men created for themselves. We need our own Women’s Code.

Traditionally, men have lead on three basic principles: Power – Persuasion – Strategy. A man in business, at least the successful ones I know, constantly strategizes to identify who he needs to make his team the strongest. He uses persuasion to convince others that his way is the best and his team is the most qualified. He then maps out the road that will lead to his goal. Success, as the result of his decisions, gains him more power and higher status.

Although we can, and many of us did learn to take on the male traits of power, strategy, and persuasion, women who lead on these principles are often considered tough, manly, and a typical career woman. It is just not innate for a woman to act like a man, and those who do are often criticized and judged by their coworkers.

Granted, the traditional workplace was built on male principles because there is no other model to follow, and it worked well enough until now because the workforce has largely been male-dominated. Over the last few decades as more and more women squeeze into the workspace, we are pushing the boundaries on all sides. But, instead of pushing, we should be redefining the rules so that they accommodate what we bring to the table. Are men voluntarily going to bend and stretch the rules for us? No, we have to do it ourselves.

This is the realization that started The Women’s Code. I am a woman who loves to work with men and after I sold my company a few years ago, I realized I acted more like man than a woman. And frankly, that worried me. That is how my shift began.

Once I began the research for my book, Happy Woman Happy World, I realized that women need to define leadership attributes that are natural for us. With a better baseline there will be no more bullies, no more sabotage, no more brutal competition. We’ll collaborate instead; we’ll do it together.

The female leadership principles I identified are: Compassion – Uniqueness – Empowerment. Women should lead on C.U.E. We like community and inclusion, we have compassion for others, and we appreciate the unique qualities that each individual brings and expect the same in return. When we draw on the skills of each team member, we empower one another and strengthen the overall outcome. Success, as the result of our decisions and combined abilities, gains us all more power and higher status.

The Women’s Code allows us to be successful while still being true to ourselves. We need to embrace the ways women innately lead, work, and communicate. The key is to learn how to collaborate with each other, how to support each other, and how to use our individual strengths to build each other up instead of targeting the weaknesses we find.

There are enough of us in the corporate world right now to start the chain reaction that will ultimately lead to true workplace equality. Let’s do this together.

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Beate Chelette is a respected career coach, successful entrepreneur, author of Happy Women Happy World, and founder of The Women’s Code. At her lowest point, Beate was $135,000 in debt, a single mother, and forced to leave her home. Only 18 months later, she sold her company to Bill Gates for millions of dollars. Beate cracked the code and came out on top. In The Women’s Code, she openly shares her secrets to personal and career success and happiness. Beate envisions a community of women helping and supporting each other. The Women’s Code serves as a guide to personal and career success and offers a new code of conduct at home, at work, and at play.

To purchase her book, Happy Woman Happy World, visit Beate online.

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